Here’s the story behind the pictures…
Last week, I attended a General Mills’ Eat & Greet event in MN. After agreeing to go to the meetup back in June, I had second thoughts. Once I saw that several of the other bloggers that would be going to the event focused on frugality and/or cooking, I wondered why I had been invited. I told my husband that several of the bloggers were frugal and he asked, “Then why did they invite you? You’re not frugal.” (Excuse me?!) Well, he’s somewhat right. I’m not especially frugal when it comes to what I buy. I’m not a huge comparison shopper or coupon clipper. I like what I like. My frugality lies in what I don’t buy. I didn’t even mention the cooking bloggers, because I didn’t want to hear another joke. I’m so glad that I went though, because I had a wonderful time. There was a large cross-section of bloggers represented so I felt totally at home. The highlights:
–It was fun getting to see some of my “old” (as in a year!) blogging friends as well as to meet some new ones. There are too many bloggers/blogs to list without leaving someone out, so I’ll direct you to Mommy Goggles post that lists all of the bloggers.
–I enjoyed having a bed all to myself. Enough said. On a side note, we stayed at the Sheraton. It was a lovely hotel. Denene (who is from NYC) and I were amazed at how inexpensive lodging is in MN. (We didn’t pay, but the concierge put our room rate – $109 – on our room key holder.) We joked about what we would get for $109/night in Manhattan – maybe a room in a hostel. It definitely wouldn’t be anything nearly as nice as the MN Sheraton.
– The Mill City Museum visit was very informative. Housed in the ruins of a flour mill, I could just feel the history in the air. (I majored in History in college, so I love this type of thing.) While at dinner, I won a prize for knowing which river ran through the town (the Mississippi). Since I cheated/my tablemates gave me the answer, I shared it with the table.
–On Wednesday night after the day’s event was over, I went out with a couple of my “old” blogging friends, Michele and Melanie. It was fun catching up and sharing what we had been learning in the last year. Midori Sours are still the only drink that I like to taste and Redstone American Grill made a great one. We kept on talking when we back to the hotel lounge until we closed it down (literally – the bartender asked us to shut the door behind us after we left!).
–Visiting the General Mills headquarters was the biggest highlight for me. I am always intrigued by corporate culture. I really think that you can tell a lot about a company by the way they treat their employees. Let’s just say if I were to ever return to working in corporate America, I would like to work for a company like General Mills. I was especially impressed by their company store where there were so many discounted items.
While there, we went on a tour of the Betty Crocker Kitchens and sampled some new products. If I had a kitchen like one of those maybe cooking would become my passion (but probably not!). The thing that I liked most about the sampling was that there was something for everyone. We’re not a big cereal or yogurt family, so those products didn’t stand out to me. The top three things that stood out to me were:
1. Pillsbury simply… Cookies: I rarely use refrigerated cookie dough, but these ones are SO good. I can’t stop raving about them. I will definitely buy these in the future (both flavors – chocolate chip and peanut butter). I especially love that when I flip over the package to look at the ingredients, I can actually understand what they are! It is things like flour, eggs, brown sugar, etc. – things that you would find in the average home. That was the biggest selling point for me. I kept telling the other bloggers “You’ve got to try these. And look – real ingredients!” (At one point, the person manning that section joked that he could just sit down and let me take over. What can I say? I like to share….)
2. The Box Tops Education Program: Why didn’t I know about this program before?! It allows you to support schools by clipping and donating “Box Tops” coupons from a wide variety of purchases. I’m especially excited about their new “My Class Essentials” program. It’s like a teacher’s registry, because the teachers create a list of items that they need for their class. Parent’s can either buy items or donate them through the program. It’s amazing! As a teacher’s wife, I know first-hand how much teachers spend on their classrooms (a lot!) out of their personal budgets. It’s ridiculous. Of course (as someone pointed out), teachers can deduct those expenses on their taxes BUT a deduction and cold, hard cash are two VERY different things. Enough said. I’m getting off my soapbox now. (Earlier this week when I registered Michael for school, I noticed a “Box Tops” box in the main office…)
And
3. Progresso’s high-fiber soups: I liked the Chicken Tuscany one. I like the healthy aspect of fiber, but the ease (it’s a ready-to-serve soup) and the flavor are the main things that would make me buy this line.
-Lastly, I liked that the company really took the time to listen to our thoughts and answer our questions. When one of the other bloggers asked about their outreach to the African-American community, I was thrilled to learn about feedingdreams.com, an initiative that focuses on recognition for leaders in the African-American communtiy.
I also felt free to say what I did/did not like about their social media outreach program. I like that it’s inclusive and that there are thousands of people who are a part of it. However, I shared that I don’t usually participate in many of their food programs. One reason is that I don’t do a lot of food reviews anyway. The other is that I don’t like to do the same promotion that hundreds of other bloggers are doing at the same time. If it’s 20/30 people doing it, great. If it’s 100+, no thanks. I know that there are a gazillion blogs out there, but it’s just that I think “my” readers are special and I want you all to have a (somewhat) unique experience when you visit Mom in the City. I suggested more of a staggered outreach approach. Who knows if that piece of advice will be put into practice? It was just my opinion, but at least they were humble enough to listen.
(Now my mouth is watering for some more of those simply… cookies!)
