American Robin by RunnerJenny

After eight years at Community Partners, I am finally out on my own as an independent consultant, building web sites (mostly in Drupal at the moment) and consulting with orgs and foundations about Internet strategy. CP was an amazing place to work, but funds became increasingly scarce, and we had to close our doors. Though I miss my co-workers and the work we were doing, it was time for a change.

I will likely be posting here again from time to time, but I am excited to say that I have started blogging for Idealware. Idealware is an org that’s been around for several years now and I have always been a fan. It’s a go-to resource for me when I need unbiased, smart, thoughtful advice on choosing software and vendors. I always tell people, “Idealware is like Consumer Reports for nonprofit tech.”  This feels like I am continuing something on in the spirit of my dad and his life’s work.  I am honored to join the exceedingly smart group of Idealware bloggers.

My first post for Idealware talks about one of the areas of nonprofit tech that I feel most drawn to working in these days, Supported Open Source.

At the moment, I am juggling my nonprofit techie work with a cute but obstinate toddler, and a terminally ill parent. One of the most incredible bloggers out there, whose blog (along with NTEN and Beth Katner) I consider essential daily reading, is Chris Brogan. His blogging tips, as well as his knowledge of and insight into social media, is unparalleled. I know he’d say one of the worst mistakes I can make as a new blogger is to not blog regularly enough; to take a break this early is surely unwise. It’s important, he says–and I agree–for your readers to be able to rely upon you for regularly-scheduled content. It’s one of the most important ways to cultivate a voice as a blogger and build a relationship with your readers.

But I have things to say and much I want to learn from readers in a blog-based conversation. I don’t want to let the fact that I am a working parent with sick family to stop me from blogging. There’s a difference between lack of commitment to blogging and life making it difficult for me to post as much as I’d like. Right now, the reality is that I do have to go offline more than some of my colleagues. I am not going to be able to post daily.  I hope that people will consider subscribing via RSS to this blog, or following me on Twitter. I hope that you will find the content and comments here valuable even if I am not as prolific as some.

For the next ten days, I am taking a much-needed break. I am going offline to go to Maine to be with my family. Late next week, I will be back with another post.

In the meantime, do other working parents feel this way? Like you want to participate in the social media conversations more, but your life demands that you spend more time offline? Do you feel like you’re missing out on Twittering your way through webinars and contributing to wikis as much as you’d like? How do you feel about these limitations, and how do they affect your work? Does a lack of free time online keep you from blogging?