Today, a few of us here at Dad Central Consulting (and Mom Central) held the inaugural “Power of Dads” Tweetup. We had over 850 Tweets in an hour, and got some good insight into a few questions we’ve been doing some research around.
We had six winners of $50 American Express Gift Cards: @kiltedshaver, @DadaRocKs, @cnaes, @simplyandreah, @dealdaddy, and @portlanddad. Congrats!
You can catch the whole transcript here, on www.wthashtag.com (thanks, @DaddysToolbox!)
One way we hold these is to answer a series of questions, and get feedback from everyone. Here are a few of my favorites:
Q1: How has being a Dad influenced and changed your life?
ivannawin: Q1 speaking from my perspective of hubs... he's calmer and no longer skydives..
kiltedshaver: Definitely changed the tway I think about my family, added a big perspective in responsibility.
timeoutdad: Fatherhood is an AWESOME responsibility!
bigdisneyfan: My husband now has our son to play video games with, they really bond over Lego Star Wars.
CarlThress: A1: Much less self-focused. Decisions and choices are all filtered through "how will this affect my kids?
simplydab: RT @johnporcaro: How has being a Dad NOT changed my life? Most pleasure, most pain, most joy, most grief. Wouldn't change i
artisticbaker: Theres less money to spend on cars/tvs/gadgets - thats one change
Doodle741: Yea, my husband's "leisure time" is mowing the yard or taking care of house stuff. He does enjoy playing Halo
smlcfh: Now that hubby is in the military, any spare time he does get, he writes letters to them. It's the sweetest thing
squirrelburrito: @johnporcaro Our daughter got plenty of p0wnage in utero, but she's more interested in rock band and racing games!
Q2: Who or what influenced your purchasing habits before being a Dad?
dealdaddys: for me it was mostly just what I wanted, better neater stuff mostly technology
thesavingqueen: Q2 His friends and desires influenced his purchase habits. Now fellow dad and his kids influence them
glme: myself
dragonfly777: Before becoming a Dad....wife, friends and co-workers influenced me
DadCentric: Ricardo Montalban. Dude could sell the s*** out of a Chrysler Cordoba
squirrelburrito: @johnporcaro mmm...gadgets...we still get plenty of those, just installed some high wall shelves!
JanetandMaya: Q2: Purchasing habits were "selfish" now more careful esp about product safest
Q3: Who or what influences your purchasing habits now that you’re a Dad?
timeoutdad: Family comes first... always...
TechyDad: My wife and my kids. (Their needs more than "I want this!!!")
tshaka_zulu: A3: The children's needs, sometimes their wants and a lot of prayer. Have to be wise.
portlanddad: Q3 With kids it is now a family thing, we make purchasing decisions together but also have discretionary funds for each of u
squirrelburrito: @artisticbaker No minivans! We're clinging to our awesome little hatchback!
DaddysToolbox: A3 - we think "do we REALLY need new sheets" or should we put the kids in soccer or karate
judgebrix: my lovely wife and my kids ... and then new cool toys :-)
timeoutdad: Q3: My Bank Account... Can't spend more than I have.
thesavingqueen: Q3 Now fellow football dads and my kids influence my purchases.
_mongoose: We've gone to 5 phone lines with unlimited texting and my two oldest will be driving soon scar
ivannawin: hubs buys games he can play with kids and also buys matching jerseys
elivya: @johnporcaro Sometimes just seeing a kid happy is enough to make you forget what you sacrificed.
CarlThress: we went from spoiling ourselves to spoiling our kids :)
tidbitmom: RT @timeoutdad: Anyone else have Suze Orman's voice in their head every time they use a Credit Card? LOL < DENIED! ;-)
dark54555: One thing that has not changed: NO MINIVANS. Of course, with one kid, seating isn't much of an issue regardless.
jaybugsmommy: I think as moms and dads we try to give our kids things we didn't have as children ?
jaybugsmommy: this makes me want to give hubby and dad a Gift all this Dad talk .. or at least tell them I appreciate them!
timeoutdad: @MomCentral Becoming a dad has definitely forced me to become more sociable. That's good.
Q4: Where do you go for advice or information for family purchasing decisions?
kingkontra: Q4 My wife and i decide together for most big purchases
JanetandMaya: Q4 It's fun to see hubby talk with other dads about things like baby monitors, hehehe.
theladya: Word of mouth is best. If our friends and their kids like something, we probably will too
sethandshannon1: our parents and consumer reports
kiltedshaver: My wife and I talk over big purchases; we research, ask our parents and other mentors we have.
squirrelburrito: A4: We don't have outside resources for talking about spending, but we make sure each purchase is a family decision
simplydab: internet, friends/family, esp if it's big $. Needs anal. is critical - do we really need to spend the $ for this?
DaddysToolbox: i'm a GOOD src of info when it comes to techie purchases, food, wine, etc. lots of friends hv older kids & we ask them
DadStreet: A4: I do all the research for our family when it comes to buying things. I also call upon my support at #DadsTalking
TechyDad: I do research online like looking for product reviews on Amazon.com (even if we're not buying from them).
ivannawin: I sometimes do impulse buys on gadety items and hubs always returns them for a better item
thesavingqueen: Q4 My husband relies on me to check the reviews, because of the lack of daddy blogs!
MomCentralChat: My husband is a better wife and Mom than me in so many ways. His family raised foster babies and he is AMAZING!
elivya: @mstyle10 So many people on twitter... someone here is bound to have tried a product, can give opinion!
TechyDad: Review sites mostly, but also sometimes Twitter.
CK_Lunchbox: I go to FAIL Blog for advice.... on scary things not to buy
Q5: How do you connect with other Dads? (Online, at work, at kids sports games)?
squirrelburrito: We don't have a parent's circle yet, and we're the first in our group to have kids. meet dads at parks and other outings.
Kelliebug: Q5. He sees them at work and has buddies that are dads as well. I should get him involved in dad community online!
elivya: From these answers I'm imagining dads... "Gonna go hang with the guys, hon." "Sure! Will you be on twitter or fb?
Q6: What was the last purchase you made after consulting with another parent?
kamewh: A playset for our backyard
My3Sons33: Q6 the last purchase after consulting w/another parent was a baseball bat for our son.
kingkontra: A new xbox after my last 1 died
portlanddad: Q6 Phil & Teds double stroller, talked to a guy in the bookstore about it for 20 minutes, researched, then pulled the trigger
raggammuffin: Q6: i conulsted with my hubs on what brand razorblades he needed
1awesomekid: sheetrock for our bathroom redo!
thesavingqueen: My hubby purchased a mountain bike for my son after reading reviews to choose the best one.
dragonfly777: My last purchase was a keyboard for our PC...a friend had one he recommended. Great purchase
CarlThress: A6: bananagrams. great game. we (my wife, my older son, and I) love playing it.
Cinderellamom: Q6: Husband bought a table saw- an expensive un-needed table saw! after talking to friend
DaddysToolbox: A6 beer. honestly it was.
mochadad: Able to change a diaper with a single hand
DaddysToolbox: .@1awesomekid yes, getting good advice on which sheetrock is good for bathrooms!! hoepfully mold resistant
TechyDad: I do research online like looking for product reviews on Amazon.com (even if we're not buying from them).
A couple of notes we threw out during the discussion:
- Join the @DadCentral Facebook page to stay up to date on all campaigns and going-on! http://bit.ly/rKox3
- Are you a Dad Blogger? Join the @DadCentral Blog Roll by filling out this quick sign up form: http://bit.ly/cHJIwv
- Testing Panel answers surveys/ gets inside information on cool brands – Join here: http://bit.ly/ak5Eoe
Thanks, everyone! We had a blast!
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