Posts tagged with The Conscious Cat

BlogPaws 2012 Recap

25 Jun 2012

I survived BlogPaws 2012.

After three days of talks about Word Press, WP plugins, SEO, and the like, my head is still spinning. (And my suspicions have been confirmed: Vox Felina is due for some serious revisions.)

Among the highlights were two keynote addresses—the first from Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com, who, to her credit, made cats (including community cats) the first item on her list of issues that the companion animal welfare community needs to focus on. The second was a pull-no-punches wake-up call from Lena West, who challenged all of us to treat our blogging like a business—and in doing so, increase the good we can do.

Easily the best part of the event, though, was spending time with so many bloggers I’d known only virtually until now—including: Tamar Arslanian (I Have Cat); Angie Bailey (Catladyland); Deb Barnes (The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey); Crystal Fogg, who blogs about her “special needs” cat, Moki at The Wobbly Cat; Debbie Glovatsky (Glogirly), winner of BlogPaws’ Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Meow Blog; Stephanie Harwin (Catsparella); Janea Kelley (Paws and Effect); Ingrid King (The Conscious Cat); Joanne McGonagle (The Tiniest Tiger Conservation Cub Club); Christine Michaels (Riverfront Cats); Karen Nichols (Mousebreath), winner of the Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Blog Design; Robin Olson (Covered in Cat Hair), and Dorian Wagner (Your Daily Cute).

The Catification Lounge, the creation of Kate Benjamin, “Miss Moderncat,” and “Cat Daddy” Jackson Galaxy, proved to be an excellent venue for conversations both serious and light (the latter being aided immeasurably by Jill Delzer owner of Ally McPets).

I hope to see you all again at BlogPaws 2013!

Father’s Day Celebrations

17 Jun 2012

It’s a very good year to be a cat daddy—featured in special Father’s Days posts on two the most popular cat blogs! (And I haven’t even had breakfast yet.)

My submission for I Have Cat’s Cat Man Monday feature was posted a day early in honor of Father’s Day. In it, I reveal a little bit about my own cats and their role in the Vox Felina backstory.

“It’s no surprise he grew up to have cats of his own,” writes Tamar Arslanian, the blog’s founder, in her introduction, “but his cat connection goes beyond the ordinary.”

Meanwhile, Ingrid King included me among the “special cat daddies” on her blog, The Conscious Cat.

And I’m in very good company, too—alongside Harry Shubin, a Virginia patent attorney and volunteer coordinator for Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation in Arlington; Al Chernoff, “Alley Cat” from Rescue Ink; and Jackson Galaxy, star of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell and author of the recently released Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean (which I reviewed for Moderncat).

All of which is way better than a tie.

Oh, speaking of ties… Smudge and I are looking for a come-from-behind victory in Stray Cat Alliance’s Cat Daddy Photo Contest, which ends at 6:00 pm PST. There’s still time to vote!

For updates, keep an eye on the Vox Felina Facebook page.

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Thanks to Tamar and Ingrid for their support—I appreciate it more than you know! And a very happy Father’s Day to all the cat daddies out there!