Mommy bloggers have the Mom 2.0 Summit, where they can network, hear from experts, and meet with sponsors. In 2012, a small but growing cadre of daddy bloggers wanted in on the action, so they created the Dad 2.0 Summit to run alongside the mom-focused event. The summit was such a success, it spun it off this year into its own event, held outside Houston at the end of January. Big brands took notice. “We came out of Mom 2.0 so people knew who we were,” said Doug French, one of Dad 2.0’s founders. “It was an unproven market with a proven team.”
Dove Men & Care signed on as the title sponsor. Its participation was “huge,” French said. The personal-care brand hosted a suite with shaving stations and a whiskey tasting, and it offered a trip to the 2013 N.C.A.A. Final Four as a contest prize. “Having a big brand like that go all in with us was a sign that we were for real,” French said. ConAgra connected with the summit’s 250 attendees even before the event began by sponsoring a cooking contest through its ReadySetEat brand.
“The best thing was, [the sponsorship acknowledgement] showcased dads as capable and engaged parents,” he said. “There’s more to dads than car and beer and financial services.”
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Dove provided complimentary shaves and other barbershop services to conference attendees.
In its first year, the Dad 2.0 Summit attracted sponsors like Kraft to provide interactive activations.
Title sponsor Dove Men & Care created a lounge that offered traditional barbershop services, shoe shines, a whiskey tasting, and sword-fighting lessons with Steven McMichael, who trained the actors in The Hobbit.
