For those of us here at the convention, how 'bout we share with those who aren't here. If you are at the convention, please share your experiences here. If you have pictures that available, please upload them to the flikr page under the tag "ahd2007". Convention information will also be found at www.rebeldad.com.
Thanks and we hope you here are enjoying the convention, and we miss those of you who aren't here.
Dayv
Ok, has anyone seen the caveman TV show? No, me neither, but I liked the commercials for the first 10,000 times I saw them. Being at the hospitality room at the convention is like going into the Cave on the Caveman TV show because you have a bunch of guys who immensly love their kids and wives (Most have only one, some have -1 and one dad has a male one, but we are still dads!). These guys usually have no one to express the feelings too. Did I really say Hospitality Cave? Many of these Cavemen are not really very evolved when it comes to talking to others without their kids around. Wow, that is me. I must have became that way after staying with my 3 kids for so long (8 years). I think I must have heard enough dumb jokes to last me (and the group of die-hards that closed down the hopitality) for the next 11 months until the next convention. It was some of the same dialog from the Caveman TV show or at least what I imagine it would be like. So, I had a nice time, and expected just a little and got it. Beer, snacks and nice companionship from a bunch of guys that I did NOT have to explain what I do with all my free time during the day. These guys just got it. Those are my kind of Cavemen, and I am home.
Bruce Cantrall, dad to 3!
Northeast Wisconsin at Home Dads (Green Bay)
OK, I am going wall off the wall with this cave thing. (Sorry, I will have to continue, you can't stop me, I am having the Hampton Inn's ROBUST coffee!)
George Brett's Lunch on Friday
So, we had a nice-private room at George Brett's Restaurant. It was a dark, sunken room that was 3 steps below the resturant and had a big TV at one end. If that is not a cave, I don't know what is. We could barely see the menus and the food came with tons of french fries-think sticks. Our waitress was an angel and when we asked her what do all these guys have in common-she nicely lied and said that we were all BROKERS. (HA! With the way we were dress, I knew she did not believe that, but she was only off by one letter, we are all BROKE most of the time!
Meet and Greet on Friday
The Beer Cave was a nice, small room with 2 long tables and a view of the Brewing equipment at Boulavard Brewing Co. The place is really huge, but the room we were in had just enough room for the food line and the beer line. The beer choices were great, there was something for everyone from wheat to pale, to lager, and all the way to the 10% alcohol test beer, which was a Belgium Quad. (They did not tell us that it had that much alcohol until it was last call!) If you asked me, I would have told you a Belgium Quad was a grassy strip of land and trees outside some Brussels University, but we had our resident experts to rely on and it tasted way better than grass and leaves.
I had not gone to this last year because my flight was delayed, but I really enjoyed this and not having to calculate splitting an astronomical dinner bill 30 ways buy guys that have only used elementary school math the last 5 years (Oh, that is me).
I guess I am done with the whole cave-analogy, but it was a cave that got me into this who fatherhood of three thing anyway. (groan and apologies in advance to my Mrs.).
Bruce Cantrall, dad to 3!
Northeast Wisconsin at Home Dads (Green Bay)
Hi, So I should get the award for most eager old-timer because here I sit at 5:04 a.m. on Sat. morning by myself in the hotel lobby sewing up something with those hotel sewing kits and writing one of the first comment on the convention site. (The troops are on the ground and the dad are definitly emBEDed.)
For or Flickr or Internet impaired, using the tag "AHD2007" on flickr.com would be uploading files to flickr with PUBLIC protections and putting a tag on it to let everyone see it. TGo see my photos at the web address would be
What is it like? Dads helping kids by helping Dads instead the usual day-to-day dads helping their own kids. (and dads helping their wifes (love it!) and household-(hate it, gotta do it!)) I sat on the bus last night with a nice dad with a young child who was from Champaign, IL. I asked him about his young child and he asked me if I knew were Champaign was. Of course, I was born about 100 miles away and named 4 towns in his proximilty and gave him some hints on starting his own dads group. 1) Get on the Internet and post to AtHomedad.org get a Yahoo Group, email address, and a web page to advertise and let dads find him electronically 2) Think up a good name that describes your group (usually location) and make up flyers and tiny business card-sized items: give them to everyone you know, pass them out at stores, librararies, ped. offices, YMCAs, restaurants, church groups, city rec depts, schools, and other kid-friendly places 3) Drop some events on the calendar (some recurring, some new with around a weeks notice-maybe more, maybe less) and GO TO THE EVENTS. Go to places you want your kids to go anyway and just GO. 4) Don't expect much to happen at first. 5) Try to get the local newspaper to do a story or just put in a free announcement about your group. Many of the Dads' groups CREEP until you get in the paper because At Home Dads neighbors, in-laws, friends, spouse don't notice you until it gets into print. Weird but true. Once it comes out in print, your group may really LEAP! 7) Contact moms' groups and let them know you exist and try to co-sponsor things with them or ride along with them until you get going 6) Enjoy and maintain your dads group by showing leadership and promote dads who are involved with their kids. This means dads that are divorced (we have them), grandpa's who watch kids during the day (talked to many of them at playgrounds) , dads who work who want to stay involved their kids and may just be a little bit envyous that you are home but would still like to do cool dads stuff with the kids too! and finally, but not least (from 10 ways to be an
Coffee is here, gotta go.
Bruce Cantrall, dad to 3!
Northeast Wisconsin at Home Dads (Green Bay)
The 2007 Meet and Greet at the At Home Dads Convention got started early at our Hampton Inn in our hospitality suite was a great “official”dads meeting of the minds celebration and ice breaker. In one corner of the suite you found all the veteran conference attendees handing out our name badges, sampling beverages and welcoming other conference “newbie” dad such as myself in attendance. I found out about this conference last year when it was still two weeks away and found out it being on Nov. 10; I couldn’t attend because that’s my son’s birthday and there was no way I could leave. This year it is being held a week earlier so I’m there.
Yes, it was just a little intimidating walking down to the suite by myself, but once in the door I quickly realized these guys are just like me! I got my badge and my single Miller Lite to calm my nerves from the long day of travel then going into the vast unknown, solo. Standing there I quickly realized, “hey I know these guys” after reading their name badges; then Brian C came over and while shaking my hand gave me the CD presentation that will be shown during the convention, I got one because I was in the lucky group of dads who 1st submitted photos. Life in the 21st century, I can go to a town I have only driven through once before, to a hotel I have never stayed at and immediately know a bunch of guys I have never met before, but I know them through the presence of an online community of this web site. Pretty cool, complete strangers, yet I know these guys and have a common bond with them.
5:30 rolled around and off to Boulevard Brewery we went. 1st class all the way, they had the tasting room cordoned off for a bunch of dad to sample their wares and to eat some most awesome and needed (food often gets neglected when I travel for some reason) Fajitas.
Our tasting lasted two hours and I only sampled one “Test” brew. A spicy and booze laden beer (12% Alcohol) to be released in two weeks, this beer accompanied my meal and down they went, I wanted a second beer but I didn’t have my goggles with me so I stopped after a single high potent libation. I met a variety of other At Home Dads from Canada to California and in between, most notable were a pair of Eric’s, there was an Eric was from Wauwatosa, WI not even a ½ mile from where my wife was raised, then the other Eric of the Eric and Sonya of our web forum fame here, like the rest of the dads, this Eric was right on and quickly fit in, and he found this conference only three weeks ago but made the trip!
Back at the hotel after a rather rambunctious bus ride home, they continued to party on in the suite, as for me, I grabbed a beer said my goodnights and headed for my room for some needed shut eye.
This is only one perception of the evening and what an evening it was!
Hmmm, I can’t find my USB cable to transfer photos from my camera, bummer!
My Site, http://www.milehidad.com/ and my Blog, http://www.milehighdad.net/
Make Babies, Not War!
I Wanna Know How Forever Feels...
Below is a list of Breakout Sessions I attended along with my critique of the particular session I attended November 3rd in KC at the At Home Dad Convention.
At Home Dad’s Study Results: Dr. Aaron Rochlen and Ryan McKelly of UT Austin
Earlier this year I took part in a study of At Home Dads distributed by this pair of involved dads and thought I would never learn the results, much less than actually meet these guys! I did get an e mail about the result some time ago and I got to meet both these guys, am awesome experience. They put it all into perspective, it is just too bad they only had an hour to present and had to skip a bunch of slides in their presentation. I am not going to post any numbers because that is not my intent or responsibility.
Open Session with Hogan Hilling, this session was videotaped about At Home Dads.
This session was a little intimidating having the camera always on the four of us in this session. Once I got over the fact, I relaxed and joined in. The other guys were fathers of multiples and then there was me with a solo kid, and I contributed when I could if it related to a single child, not groups of kids. Due to Privacy Policies I agreed to, I cannot elaborate.
I missed the third AM session so I could input these notes in the lunchroom. As I sat there and typed, this mom came in with her 21 month old daughter and having that youthful innocence grabbing at the lunch that was being set out along with my computer screen captured my attention and I asked mom how old her daughter was, we struck up a conversation that turned into an interview for the schools newspaper.
What about me? Open forum for at-home dad topics, Convention Staff.
This was a great session, one where I again felt like it just wasn’t me with issues as they were all repeated and greeted with nodding heads. Due to Privacy Policies I agreed to, I cannot elaborate.
Growing your at-home dads group: Phil Andrew and Mike Njus of LinOma Dads (Lincoln/Omaha Dads)
There were just a handful of participants and about ½ of us were already involved with local At Home Dad groups in their city but a lot of good personal experience was passed along. By the sounds of it, starting a Yahoo group for communications is vital in the success of starting a group. You have to approve, moderate or reject any communications passed along by member to keep any hostilities that are harbored at bay so it won’t pollute the member’s inboxes.
After this last session we met as a group and discussed future event locations and dates. By the sounds of it we will meet the first week of November in Sacramento California then the following years or two locations will be in Washington DC. There was talk of holding future conventions in the Dallas Fort Worth Texas area and in Minnesota, no definite location was revealed. Doing so would effectively put the conference in the East, North, South, West and Midwest in the coming years to reach out to the masses of dads who cannot travel to KC every year.
Personal antidotes were then shared that left everybody longing to get back to their jobs.
The formal day finished with a slide show made by Bryan C. It was from photos of the local groups of dads and any personal photos of kids. A lump came to my throat as the first slide was of my son turning on his bike while riding on two wheels; I choked it down and enjoyed seeing all the kids of At Home Dads from around the country and Canada.
In the next bay or two I will look back on this most awesome weekend every At Home Dad should experience at least once if not more. It makes you realize it’s not just you facing the issues, but it is common among At Home Dads everywhere.
I will be back!
My Site, http://www.milehidad.com/ and my Blog, http://www.milehighdad.net/
Make Babies, Not War!
I Wanna Know How Forever Feels...
Joined: 2006-11-03
Dad Points: 633