Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Going to Camp Baby: Send Your Questions and Comments

Next week, I'm going to camp. Camp Baby. I haven't been to camp in over a decade- and then it definitely wasn't ever about babies.

Johnson's (Johnson & Johnson's, baby products) is hosting 50+ mommybloggers (all expenses paid) in their corporate hometown of New Brunswick, NJ.

Honestly, I'm not sure what is going to happen at Camp Baby. The schedule will include a facilities tour, a product expo, and sessions with enigmatic titles (e.g. "Girlfriend Makeovers: Defining Baby Beauty").

I don't know why I was invited. Most of the bloggers are more prominent.

I could not pass up the golden opportunity for a few days in luxury and to maybe sneak a peak behind the corporate curtain... Johnson's only caveat for the bloggers is that:
If you do choose to blog about Camp Baby, in the interest of transparency, our policy kindly requires you to fully disclose that Johnson & Johnson paid for your trip and related expenses for Camp Baby.
So, kind readers, do you have questions or comments for Johnson's? If possible, I'd like to share your ideas with the Johnson's representatives I might meet.

I won't tell you what I've been thinking about asking because I want your uninfluenced opinions, impressions, and ideas. Feel free to post comments here- or email me at babytoolkit [at] gmail [dot] com.

I will do my best to represent your ideas (as well as my own) next week.

Word on the street says that Dr. Germ will be attending (sponsored by Purell). I hope so, he's a terrifically funny microbiologist who studies fascinating things like toilet plumes.

***This is the independent opinion of the geek parents at Baby Toolkit . Johnson's is providing Adrienne an all-expenses paid trip (airfare, lodging, food, entertainment, wireless) to New Brunswick, NJ but she is under no obligation to blog about the events or products.


...and yes, I am in the above camp photo, circa 1988.

8 comments:

indywriter said...

Hmm... I'm thinking about what I would want to ask/say in your shoes.

But what I really want to know is:

Is that picture from Band Camp? It looks a lot like the "cabins" I stayed in one year.

adrienne said...

Indywriter: Nope, not band camp. I have no instrumental music background nor the coordination required for flag corps.

Michael Phillips said...

That disclosure clause, is that a standard thing for big companies, or should we be impressed with J&J for including it? I mean I know it is definitely part of the blogging best practices white paper (I want to make white papers...) but I'd never thought of a company encouraging people who talk about its products to mention that the company is subsidizing said talk.

anastasiav said...

*shrug* I think you're a pretty prominent blogger (at least in my circle) - don't sell yourself short.

I'd be interested in knowing more about their stand on phthalate compounds (they've got a big, but very vague, blurb about it on their home page) - in particular why they're apparently more interested in defending their use of diethylphthalate (DEP) instead of finding ways to replace it in their products. (here's the link to their message on the subject.

I was also interested to discover, after poking around on their website, that J&J owns Baby Center - something I had not previously known. Not sure how useful that information is, but maybe it will spark some ideas from someone else.

I hope you have a great time.

Anonymous said...

Please ask them what they are doing about the known probable carcinogen
1,4-Dioxane in their baby wash.

http://healthnewsdigest.com/news/Children_s_Health_200/Cancer_printer.shtml

Anonymous said...

I'd also like to know about the phtalates in their products, I've stopped using the wash/lotions and switched to Burt's Bees. Like anastasiav, I'd like to see it replaced, not defended.

Keep up the awesome blogging!

Unknown said...

Yes, I would like to know about alternative products without harsh chemicals for baby - wash, lotion, etc. Thanks and have fun!

Anonymous said...

I'd want to ask why so many of their products, especially the baby ones show up as unsafe

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

http://www.safecosmetics.org/newsroom/press.cfm?pressReleaseID=21