Happy Anniversary Hockey Moms! It has been two years this week since we started our website and Facebook page, so it seems appropriate that this is also the week we also officially launch our new website!
Two years goes quickly. Our very first blog post was on February 20, 2010, coinciding with the 2010 winter Olympics. What better time to start building a community of moms (aunts, dads, grandma’s, pretty much whoever wanted to join us) to talk about all that is hockey, from a hockey mom’s perspective? That first week, we invited you to invite others, and invite you did! Just over 2 years later, we’ve had over 68,000 unique visitors to our website, and just this week we passed 7,000 fans on our Facebook page. Pretty fantastic for a bunch of hockey moms, but of course, we know that we are forces to be reckoned with…
Over the past two years, this website, and all of you, have provided me with some fantastic opportunities. I’ve been a guest speaker at conferences, I’ve been on TV, radio, and interviewed for several newspapers, all because I’m a hockey mom with a website. I’ve been able to provide giveaways for many of you since so many brands are anxious to have hockey moms test their products, and I’ve been able to connect many of you with brands for some unforgettable experiences, too! While all of those things are pretty cool, what has meant the most to me over the past two years are the emails you send with heartfelt questions, dilemmas, and even the odd good news story. I am touched with how you share your stories with me, and with the other moms in our hockey mom community. Every single day, one of your comments touches me. Every single day one of you makes me smile.
Moving forward, you will notice that our website name has changed. We are no longer “Hockey Mom in Canada”, we are now “Canadian Hockey Moms” (thanks to all of you who provided feedback in selecting the new name). Why the name change for the website? Well, to be as brief as possible about a long story, some powers that be (CBC) felt that Hockey Mom in Canada sounded too much like Hockey Night in Canada. So, through my trademark lawyer, they asked (??) that I change the website name, and the logo. I find it slightly amusing that Hockey Night in Canada considered our website for hockey moms a threat to their brand, but quite frankly, I have wasted enough time worrying about it and decided just to change the name and get on with life and keep doing what we do. So, welcome, Canadian (and non-Canadian) hockey moms!
We’ve got some great stuff coming your way in the near future. Interviews, giveaways, resources, and lots of other tricks up our sleeves. If you have any ideas for content, giveaways, or if you have questions you want us to post to our Hockey Mom community, you can send me an email at our new address, contactus@canadianhockeymoms.net, or leave a comment on our Facebook page.
And, let me know what you think about the new site! For the record, I want to thank Kent Howard of Kent Howard Design for the great graphics and layout, and Frank Epton of Epton Creative for programming the site. Also, a big thank you to Community Futures for helping get this project off the ground!
And once again, thank you to ALL the hockey moms who have made this sight, and our Facebook page, a great place to share, learn, vent, and celebrate our kids’ hockey!
Theresa