BlogHer 2012: Social Media for Social Good
We’re back from BlogHer 2012 in New York City, and what an amazing experience we had!
Our theme this year focused on social media for social good – specifically the challenges and joys of global motherhood. Our community partners Save the Children, Safe Kids, Helping Babies Breathe and Text4baby were there with us to highlight the incredible work they’re doing around the world, as were some of our colleagues from our consumer brands such as JOHNSON’S® and BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages. Our partners also spoke during our Saturday morning session on the state of global motherhood, which was moderated by Sharon D’Agostino, Vice President, Corporate Citizenship at Johnson & Johnson. Sharon leads our global contributions group, and she shared the stage with Carolyn Miles from Save the Children, Dr. Sara Berkelhamer from Northwestern Hospital, Dr. Nawando Olayiwola from Community Health Center, and Lisa Belkin, blogger and Huffington Post columnist.
One thing that immediately strikes you when you’re immersed in the excitement of a BlogHer conference is this: blogging is empowerment. I heard and felt that over and over from the remarkable women I met there who are sharing their stories, their experiences, interests, talents and points of view. Part of being empowered is connecting with others, and it was wonderful to meet so many people who care so passionately about what they’re doing….whether it’s mom bloggers (and dad bloggers!), or caregivers, or fashionistas, or people who blog about family history, or couponing, or travel, or managing a disease or condition, or their daily lives. Earlier generations of employees at Johnson & Johnson had these kinds of conversations with people in the community, and Kilmer House, our history blog, has some perspective on how we connected back then and how we’re connecting now through social media.
Through the notes all of you posted on our Inspire Care wall, we learned about what inspires all of you to care. So…what inspires us to care? We’re inspired to care by mothers, fathers, children and families throughout the world, patients, the community…and all of you. Thanks to all of you for stopping by the Johnson & Johnson suite, for your support for the work our community partners are doing, and for inspiring all of us with your energy and enthusiasm. We hope to continue the conversations we started at BlogHer! You can follow us on @JNJStories to learn more about our programs that support global motherhood and read about our partners and their work on the Global Motherhood section of the Huffington Post.
