dad conference

2020 Dad 2.0 Summit Recap - A First Time Attendee’s Experience

chris

Oct 5, 2020 — 5 min read

As you might be aware from an earlier post.. or maybe this site gave away that I’m going to be a dad!

And, this past weekend capped my first ever Dad 2.0 Summit. Originally intended to be held in Los Angeles, this year’s conference was held virtually and while that might seem like a downside, it turned out pretty well.

Here’s my recap of the 2020 Dad2.0 Summit as a first time attendee!

What is the Dad 2.0 Summit?

In the simplest terms, Dad 2.0 Summit is a conference where dads come together to discuss fatherhood and connect with other dads and brands.

Dads at this conference come from lots of backgrounds. Influencers with 1M+ followings, content creators with blogs and online communities and then me, a new expecting dad trying to grow his online presence through social media, YouTube and this site

Why did I go?

I wanted to connect with other dads.

I wouldn’t consider myself an influencer. I’m also not trying to pitch a brand on one of my ideas. However, I do have a story I want to share and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to meet dads who have experience and have been successful at sharing their story.

Coincidentally enough, I was also watching a Dad Verb video a few months ago and he mentioned he was considering attending the Dad 2.0 Summit. I was already familiar with the conference, but this was the first time I heard someone else bring it up.

This might have been a coincidence but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from all the podcasts I listen to, it’s that if something is said multiple times in different places, you should probably do something about it.

For me, that meant attending the Dad 2.0 Summit.

What kinds of sessions were there?

So many!

There were a few keynotes where some high profile invidivuals shared their fatherhood stories. Comedian Michael Ian Black and actor Rich Kind were this years keynote speakers.

There were also panels and workshops ranging from health and wellness, personal branding, SEO tips and tricks to open discussions about being a dad. My favorite session was called ‘Raising Boys to Be Good Men,’ which was of particular interest to me since I’m having a baby boy.

What did I learn?

Each session had some great nuggets of wisdom. These are some of the ones that resonated with me the most.

Control what you can; don’t stress about what you can’t

My wife and I find ourselves talking about what life with our little one is going to be like and then end up talking about how scared we’ll be if _________ situation would happen. I’m sure many parents can relate.

Here’s the thing: we’re going to have to accept there are certain things we can’t control. As a baby, we might have a say in our little one’s environment, but once they’re old enough to be out and about, we’ll be out of the picture. Ideally, Karla and I will feel a little more at ease knowing that we raised our boy to make sound decisions on his own.

Oh, who am I kidding, we’re still going to worry, huh?

Me and a bunch of dads on the ‘Raising Boys to Great Men’ session. This was definitely one of my favorite sessions at Dad 2.0 Summit.

Be okay with your children disagreeing with you

Richard Kind sharing his fatherhood stories during the Dad 2.0 Summit closing keynote.

Richard Kind was the closing speaker and he told a story about him and his daughter watching TV and having a disagreement about something. His daughter had a strong opinion and made sure her dad knew about.

Richard loved it and talked about how proud he was to have raised a daughter that felt empowered to share her opinion, point things about and challenge authority. In this case, it was her dad.

This resonated with me because growing up, there was no way in heck I could ever disagree with my parents. They always had the last word, whether or not I agreed.

Enjoy the time when they’re young

I always hear this and it never really hits until it’s your turn. Even as I separate my boy’s 0-3 months clothes from his 3-6 month close. He’s going to grow and grow.

To me, one of the ways I’m going to enjoy and remember those moments is to document them. It’s one of the reasons I started NEW2DAD. I want to be able to look back to and re-live certain moments of time.

Your content/brand might not be a good fit for brands… right now.

This was an interesting session for me that was led by David Stanley (@DStan58). He’s a published author who talked to the dads about pitching your ideas to brands. It was an info-packed session that gave me lots to think about.

There’s a lot of times where I find myself writing (like this blog post) and wondering, who’s actually going to read it? Imposter syndrome is real but David did leave us with a nice little mantra.