Teaching Kids and Teens About Money

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Articles: 1, 2

Inc. Magazine Feature on PAYjr
2008-05-22 17:57:00
Article in May 2008 Issue of Inc. Magazine !To read article on Inc. Magazine's website:http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080 501/payjr-gets-kids-and-teens-to-pay-with -plastic.html---------------------------- --------------------------PAYjr Gets Kids and Teens to Pay With PlasticThe Pitch: "Kids are spending more time online, and they need to pay for their iTunes downloads and Webkinz subscriptions. Yet many don't have debit cards. We offer three products. PAYjr Visa Buxx is a prepaid debit card for teens. It costs $3.95 a month, and refillsare 50 cents. We also have a prepaid card for kids age 12 and under; it has no monthly fee, but refills cost 50 cents. Only Target accepts it now, but we're working on deals with other merchants. Then we have a customizable gift card for adults. I need working capital and money to hire some key executives and sales reps."Company: PAYjr Owner: David S. Jones, 34 Location: Frisco, Texas Employees: 24 Founded: August 2004 Clients: 30,000 cardholders...
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Credit Cards for Kids -- Can Yours Handle One?
2008-05-08 15:36:00
Article on TheStreet.com---------------------------- -------- It's a conversation every parent dreads. Your teen has come to you and asked ... for a credit card. What now? If you think getting your child a credit card in high school is a way to teach financial responsibility before the onslaught of college credit-card marketing inevitably overwhelms your kid, think again. Getting a credit card while they're under your roof isn't necessarily going to teach teens how to use cards responsibly. High school seniors who had credit cards actually did worse on the Jump$tart Coalition's personal financial literacy survey than their counterparts without credit cards.So if you want your teen to stay debt free, the best solution may be to simply discourage him from getting a credit card. "If a student doesn't have a credit card by the end of their freshman year in college, they're probably not going to get one," says Eric Weil, managing partner at Student Monitor. Bu...
More About: Credit Cards , Kids , Credit , Cards , Handle

Pajama Mommy Write Up
2008-05-08 15:30:00
I thought I would share with all of you a post from Pajama Mommy ----------------------I was just at one of my sister-in-law’s house the other day and she set up a chore chart. I find those to be remarkable useful. Heck, I set up one for myself and I’m a grown up :. Really these are amazing tools we’ve been using the original idea of them “to do list” but someone finally stepped up and mass produced them for families. I think these are awesome. Currently for my to-do list for myself I use my momAgenda, but what about for the entire family? I don’t want someone man-handling my personal organizer. Well I wanted something that is great and I can just print out in a snap for the next week or even month. Granted, I am computer savvy but I’m not a designer. I have people who design for me but I don’t always want to pay them to do every little thing so I decided I wanted some for free. As everyone here knows my motto is: “Cheap, Free, and Easy” well what about combining...
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Lawmakers consider requiring class on financial skills
2008-02-19 16:58:00
Lawmakers consider requiring class on financial skills Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 8:51 AM By O.Kay Henderson Iowa legislators are considering a new requirement that Iowa high schoolers must take a course that teaches personal financial skills. Representative Tom Sands, a Republican from Columbus Junction, is also a banker. Sands says he encounters too many people who lack basic knowledge about saving or budgeting their own money. "I deal with financial literacy everyday...and we really have a huge problem in this country with our financial illiteracy," Sands says. Bankers like Sands have gotten behind the idea of requiring a course in Iowa high schools that teaches students the basics about personal finances. But Jeff Berger of the Iowa Department of Education warns schools would find it difficult to teach such a course. "When you start talking about course mandates in terms of units, you get into conversations about whether or not you have licensed staff to teach those th...
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Funny Picture of Matt's Office
2008-02-18 17:47:00
I've been meaning to post this for a while now but keep forgetting...This is Matt's (our President and Founder) office after the team got a hold of it. Ouch!!!Earn Smart. Spend Smart.DaveVisa BuxxGift CardsOnline Chore & Allowance SystemFinancial EducationChore ChartsChild Safe Browser- Coming Soon!
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Funny for 30+ yr. olds
2008-02-18 17:37:00
I don't where this came from but my wife received it from one of her friends and I just got a kick out of it so I thought all of you other 30+'ers out there would enjoy it as well. If anyone knows the source, please let me know so I can give them credit for it. -------------------- When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways .. yadda, yadda, yadda And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it! But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today... you don't know how good you've ...
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What a 22 Year Old Taught Me About Money
2008-02-11 22:54:00
A few posts ago I wrote about "The Traits of Entrepreneurship" and since then I have had the pleasure of discovering like-minded Vanessa Van Patten, a 22-year old entrepreneur who is already an author of the parenting book “You’re Grounded!” and also writes a parenting blog from a teen’s perspective to help parents understand what is actually going on in the mind of kid’s today to make life a little bit easier. http://www.vanessavanpetten.com/Vanessa and I talked about some of the big issues for parents and money was one of the items at the top of the list. She gave me some of the tips she tells parents that read her book and blog about allowances. Vanessa writes, "I wish I was still getting allowance. Now, as a bootstrapping 22-year-old entrepreneur living at home, I cherish the money and saving lessons my parents bestowed on me. There are four key messages that have stayed with me, that I hope I can tell you, to share with your kids."What My Dad Taught Me About Money 1) L...
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Great new tool for parents - Tutor.com
2008-02-07 04:47:00
ok, we can probably all admit that from time to time, our kids come to us with a homework question that makes us step back, sneak to their text book and quickly review, and then cross our fingers that we are teaching the right way to answer the question. Even if we know the answer...(at least after using a calculator or tapping Google)...we might not know the right way to teach our kids how to come to an answer. What can you do?A good friend of mine just happens to also be good friends with a senior exec. of a new company, Tutor.com, and he brought it to my attention and introduced us. Now, given the fortunate media coverage PAYjr and GiftCardLab has received over the past year, I receive a lot of emails, calls, and introductions to various companies but this one really sparked my interest...ok, I admit it...my 10yr old is bring home some serious homework...and I thought I would share it with all of you because I can really see the value in doing so.I haven't spoken with the com...
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Raising Capital - Part 1 - The Traits of Entrepreneurship
2008-02-04 19:49:00
Raising Capital - Part 1 - The Traits of Entrepreneurship As CEO of PAYjr and Card Lab, I find myself spending much more time than I would like on money raising activities. As a CEO of any startup, your primary responsibilities are raising capital, raising capital, and raising capital. Over the past several years, one common set of comments I get from most people I meet is "how did you do it?" - meaning a combination of:How did I raise the money to get the business started?How did I come up with the idea?How did I have the guts to quit my job and start the business?I believe the "art of raising capital" is a mystery to most people and I'm not going to be like many others who say "anyone can do it". You can buy books, attend courses, even get a degree in entrepreneurship at very prestigious universities but at the end of the day, I don't think many people have the ability to succeed at it. The problem is that entrepreneurship doesn't take a single talent or trait, it takes a co...

Important Lessons to Teach your Children about Money
2008-01-21 18:22:00
How Do You Teach Your Children About Money ? The earlier you learn solid money management skills, the better off you'll be. If you're a parent and money is on your child's mind, it's best to teach them before they exhaust their savings. I propose that you start teaching your child about money as soon as they're young enough to count. Give your child an allowance so that they can start making financial decisions that they can learn from. Provide them with opportunities to make money so that they can discover that their hard work pays off, but if they spend their earnings quickly, they'll have to work harder for next time. You should also teach your child about budgeting, saving their money, and about credit as early as possible. Don't shy away from family discussions, and teach by example. How do you educate your child about money management? Let us know in the comments.Read the full article by PAYjr: Important Lessons to Teach your Children about MoneyI hope you...

I'm the Worst Blogger Ever!
2008-01-17 15:44:00
Happy New Year!Yes, I'm still alive and blogging. Since most of you are parents, you know how stressful and busy the holiday can be, well...it hit me really hard this year. Between trying to manage a very successful launch of our new Visa Gift Card, moving into a new corporate facility, negotiating for our next round of venture capital, dealing with a bad case of strep throat, building numerous Lego projects that my kids received for Christmas and the typical holiday events - I've had a hard time finding time to blog. Having said that, I'm working on some great new topics and statistics that I think all of you will find very interesting so I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things.In the meantime, here are some pictures from our new facility for those of you who might be interested:Front Entrance - (the doors will be glass soon as well if you think it looks odd)Looking from front to backBack half of officeBreak RoomCollaboration area with Ping Pong Table (tha...
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2008: Plan For College
2007-12-31 18:35:00
What is the first thing you should write on your 2008 calendar?Plan ning for College !It is a new year and deadlines are quickly approaching, but don’t fret! Your 2008 ‘going-to-college’ checklist is covered.We have provided some tasks to complete during the college planning process. To further assist, these reminders are separated by student age and month. To download our free FULL calendar, please visit us at http://PAYjr.CollegeAnswer.com.Freshman & SophomoresGet to know your high school guidance counselor Plan a family college discussion Polish your study skills Evaluate your personality, interests and skills Explore careers of interest Obtain a Social Security Number (visit www.ssa.gov) Enroll in challenging courses Participate in extracurricular activitiesJuniorsJanuary-FebruaryIdentify characteristics you want in a college Attend college fairs and financial aid nights Explore College Answer’s FREE Scholarship search Register and study for the SAT and/or ACT March N...

Chores Can Help your Child Learn about Teamwork and a Strong Work Ethic
2007-12-13 16:58:00
Chores Can Help your Child Learn about Teamwork and a Strong Work Ethic Chores can help develop a sense of responsibility and self worth in your child. It should be understood by all family members they are expected and necessary to a household running successfully and efficiently. They can help create a sense of unity and family and is a great place for your child to learn about teamwork. Parents should take special care to handle the delegation of chores to children so they don’t become a source of frustration or create arguments.Allow your child to have an active say in the delegation of chores. Give them choices. We all have household chores that we don’t like to do, but if it’s a chore the child enjoys doing then there’s less likelihood it will create a battle in the end. The child will most likely appreciate having the chance to be heard and having a choice.It’s imperative that you set parameters early on for the successful completion of a chore. They may not perform...

Free Money! and save for college - got your attention?
2007-12-11 00:59:00
Did you know that you could register your debit cards, credit cards, and even gift cards with uPromise and earn up to 8% of your spending back into a savings account? I know there are many parents readers out there with kids and teens, what are you waiting for, this is important enough to take the few minutes and register in order to start saving - it is absolutely, 100% Free .I have had the opportunity to meet the good people at Upromise and they truly mean well. In case you are asking yourself how they can give free money - well, a lot of the places that you shop today really want your business and are willing to pay Upromise a percentage of what you spend as incentive to have Upromise suggest their business. That is where the college savings comes from - the best part is that you also get the rewards from your other card programs so for consumers it is sort of like double dipping.Now that I have shared that with you, please help me by signing up for the wonderful service, I'm t...
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Visa Gift Card - Customize Your Own
2007-12-10 20:47:00
I just love this new Visa Gift Card option!Visa and Card Lab recently announced the launching of a new, fully customized Visa Gift card just in time for the holiday season. Available online at GiftCardLab.com, shoppers can create a customized Visa Gift card by uploading personal photos or designs, or by choosing from an online image gallery to create their own picture-perfect Visa Gift card.Who would buy a boring Gift Certificate now that you can put a full color picture on the front of a Visa Gift Card?Check out some of the card designs I found uploaded to the site - You can even share your designs with friends and family if you want:

Unique Gift Ideas
2007-12-10 20:37:00
Can you believe it is only 15 days until Christmas? Here are unique gift ideas that have been submitted by parents just like you. If you have a unique idea, please send it to davidjones (at) yahoo.com and if it makes the cut, I'll get it posted ASAP. Gift Ideas for KidsAsk your child to make a funny face and take a close up digital picture - upload the picture to a Visa Gift Card at GiftCardLab.com - Your kids will get a real kick out of seeing their face on a Visa Gift Card.Give a subscription to GameFly's game delivery service. Its just like NetFlix for games and trust me, you'll save a ton not buying video games that get old after a few weeks. Click through into GameFly's registration page.Kids love getting proof sets and collectible coins, try GovMint.comMy boys love radio controlled planes and helicopters (ok so do I), I found this place which has Super low prices on RC airplane and helicopter parts and upgrades!Great educational toys are online at KazooToys. These to...
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What else do you need to think about during the holidays? Applications, App
2007-12-04 00:18:00
Our recent discussion on the topic of preparing for college, created a lot of great discussion so I asked my friends at CollegeAnswer.com to provide some additional guidance and information on the topic. I've also asked them a series of other questions that are a result of parents or teens emailing me directly and they have committed to putting together answers to everything I've asked. And they thought they would get away with just creating a version of their site for me at PAYjr.CollegeAnswer.com....lol. No, they really have been great and seem to really enjoy putting together information and answers about these topics so don't hesitate to drop me a line with anything you might want to ask them directly...I'm officially your College Prep "connection". ;)December is the time to complete any/all scholarship applications, college finance forms, and paperwork needed to complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Here are some highlights regarding the three appli...
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Happy Thanksgiving - Time to Shop!
2007-11-26 04:45:00
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving . Its time to put together your holiday shopping lists and I hope that you keep Visa Gift Cards from GiftCardLab.com at the top of your list. We've had a wonderful response from everyone using the site and I myself will be doing the majority of my shopping on the site. Think about all the ways you can use the site to design special holiday Gift Cards. Put your kid's pictures on cards, your pets, a favorite hobby, you name it! Think about all the stress you'll save by buying the simple gift that everyone loves...I also appreciate all of your support in sharing the fact that the site exist with your friends and neighbors.Earn Smart. Spend Smart. Gift Smart.DaveVisa Gift CardsVisa BuxxChore Charts
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PAYjr on Fox Business Channel!!!
2007-11-20 20:15:00
PAYjr was featured on the Fox Business Channel this morning and here is the clip. The online version is a bit shorter than the real version because we were interrupted by breaking news from the Whitehouse - it was President Bush pardoning a turkey...they did come back to me after the break and continue the interview but you won't see it here. Earn Smart. Spend Smart. Interview Smart.DaveVisa BuxxChore ChartVisa Gift Cards

Why Financial Education is important when preparing for college?
2007-11-19 23:42:00
Ever since I did the post "are you prepared for college?", I've received many questions from parents and even teens about the topic so I've decided to do a series of posts on the topic. Lets start with gathering the information you'll need.From College Answer.com:What type of information do you need to know?A good starting point is our Five Steps in Paying for College, our free guide for everyone starting the college planning and paying process. In our guide, we have outlined college financial planning into five key points: Step 1: Understand School CostsStep 2: Determine Eligibility for AidStep 3: Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)Step 4: What you Should Expect to PayStep 5: Discover Ways to PayAs you can see, it is necessary to review and understand your college costs and eligibility for aid before reaching the actual ‘ways to pay’ step. Understanding your expenses and financial terms is as important as finding ways to pay for them. For example, yo...
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Mind if I brag for a minute?
2007-11-16 19:36:00
It is official, we successfully launched www.GiftCardLab.com yesterday. The launched was announced by Visa in a press release and you know Visa does do that for just anything...which means I'm somewhat of a rockstar now...LOLGiftCardLab.com is the first product developed by our joint venture with Serverside Graphics, who is based in London and owns the patents and technology related to custom card creation. Not only do they own some really cool technology, they are also a wonderful group of people and we learned pretty quickly during our Visa Buxx launch that we were going to be great partners and friends. Over dinner one night, which you know included a fair amount of boos...they are Brits you know...we formulated the idea for what is now GiftCardLab.com.For PAYjr, I wanted to provide some scale to our business and with the idea of bringing our cost down on custom cards for Visa Buxx, I figured we could hit higher volume tiers with the added volume of a custom Gift Card. I'll...
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Top 10 Excuses for Not Saving
2007-11-12 17:37:00
I found this posting on a blog I follow Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck and I thought I would share it with you because it sure does ring true.Top 10 Excuses For Not Saving (followed by the reasons these excuses are lame) I’ll save more later (when I make much more money).But I really do need this.Life is too short.What’s another $X?But I don’t want to be cheap!My friends don’t save.Mom and Dad help with all that.I wouldn’t have any idea what to do with any money I saved.I have so much debt!My husband/wife/partner/accountant/financial planner/mailman/crazy roommate/barista/dog is in charge of my household finances. And now the matching top 10 reason those excuses are lame: Did you remember saying that two promotions ago?When was the last time you used it? Okay, how about where you put it? Do you even own it anymore? Do you remember what it was?Then your retirement may be too long.Depends on how long it takes to pay it back. Could be many times $X.Me neither. Instead, be fisc...

Are you prepared for College?
2007-11-03 17:18:00
How are you going to pay for your kid's college? What college do they want to attend? What type of career path matches their personality and therefore which college would be best for them? What else should we be thinking about that we haven't already?These are all questions that we parents can't ask early enough and I've found a wonderful resource that I want to share with all of you. The resource is Sallie Mae's College Answer website. Here you can find loads of information for both us parents, and our kids. Even if you aren't in the mood to educate yourself on college planning today - take a minute and register yourself of Upromise by clicking the Upromise link in the middle of the page. For those of you who are not familiar with Upromise, it is a wonderful way to start saving for college with absolutely no money out of your pocket. Upromise has established relationships with numerous (over 500 I think) stores, restaurants, gas stations, etc. that will contribute mone...
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Back from My Cruise!
2007-10-29 16:16:00
I just got back from a week long cruise so I apologize that I haven't posted in a while but boy did I need a break...My wife and I had our 10th anniversary on 10/25 and we celebrated with a cruise to the Caribbean where we renewed our vows on the beach of Grand Cayman. It was a wonderful trip and it was so nice of my mother-in-law and father to watch our two boys for the week. I'm recharged and ready to go!Doesn't my wife look beautiful!In case you didn't see, PAYjr was mentioned in the NY Times yesterday and GiftCardLab was discussed in Business Week - now you can understand why I needed a break...;)Here are the links so you can share in the excitement:NY TimesBusinessWeekI'm heading out to Boston today so I don't have time for a long post but I'll be back at the end of the week and then I can share some more fun stuff.Till next time, Earn Smart. Save Smart. Give Smart. Spend Smart.DaveChore & Allowance SystemVisa Buxx
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If "we are what we eat" - Teens are Happy Meals and Coffee
2007-10-16 14:20:00
Interesting facts about where teens are eating these days. (these are actual usage stats from the PAYjr Visa Buxx program)Merchants are listed from most frequented to least frequented along with the avg. spend Merchant Average Amount Spent McDonalds $5.55 StarBucks $5.12 Wendy's $6.12 Sonic $5.58 Taco Bell $6.50 Burger King $6.24 Chick-Fil-a $6.38 Subway $6.65 Jack in the Box $6.75 Chipotle $8.25 What I am most curious about is whether these statistics are something we can influence as the provider of the PAYjr Visa Buxx Card. In other words, if we did a partnership with Taco Bell and created an affinity card that provided Taco Bell rewards to teens, would Taco Bell move up in the rankings? Even more interesting is the social responsibility issues of this. I've always taken the responsibility of teaching youth how to manage money very seriously; should we also take the education of healthy living very seriously? Its hard to igno...
More About: Teens , Coffee , Happy , Meals , Meal

Do kids have credit reports?
2007-10-15 18:54:00
Many of you have asked recently about whether a child has a credit report before they are 18 and if they don't...why can people use their SSN to gain credit. I checked with my freindly contact over at Experian and here was their response; I felt most of us could learn something new so I thought it made sense to make a post out of it. Here was their response:Good question. For the child portion of our product, we are monitoring for any credit activity associated with the child’s identity (identity generally includes name, address and ssn). Someone trying to open a credit account or actually opening a credit account will trigger an automated alert to the parents. You are correct in that children do not typically have a credit report on file with a bureau. However, it is possible for one to exist. A credit report could be created for the child for a number of reasons. Typical examples could include 1) the child was added as a co-signer to the parents credit card acco...
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Well Fargo Launches Teen Checking Pilot - Not all its cracked up to be
2007-10-09 15:21:00
Ok, talk about double standards. A product release by Well s Fargo is turning heads in the press community, a new "innovative" teen checking product that helps parents "control" spending. Check out some of the articles referencing the new product below:Checking Account Offers Lessons For Teens by Ben DunsmoorWells Fargo targets teens with new checking account by Mark CalveyWells Fargo creates 'education' bank account by Tom JacobsAs you read these articles, does something strike you as missing? Mention of the fees!!! Yet, every time PAYjr is talked about in the press, journalist are so quick to point out that the card comes with fees. Would journalists prefer that I make all of our fees part of the fine print like these banks with their so called "free checking" accounts? Try searching Wells Fargo's website for Teen Checking or teen credit card for a fee schedule, can you find one? Well guess what, I found one. Wells Fargo charges $15 to your teen every time they go over ba...
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Teen Spending Habits
2007-10-08 23:47:00
Many people and reporters (as if they are not people...my wife is actually in school for journalism...;) ask me what we find teens to be spending money on with their prepaid cards. I thought I would share some interesting information related to real-world spending habits that we have found across the PAYjr customer base: Top Categories by most visits Avg Amount Fast Food Restaurants $ (6.67) Grocery Stores $ (16.17) Service Stations $ (7.34) Eating places and Restaurants $ (14.00) Motion Picture Theaters $ (10.13) Drug Stores and Pharmacies $ (12.42) Record Shops $ (7.44) Top Categories by Highest Avg Amounts Avg Amount Men’s and Women’s Clothing Stores $ (31.46) Miscellaneous and Specialty Retail Stores $ (25.33) Book Stores $ (21.24) Discount Stores $ (18.39) Grocery Sto...
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I've got a Suprise for the first 30 parents that post a comment to this
2007-10-05 23:14:00
Experian read my blog post about their new product Family Secure and sent me 30 promotion codes that I can give out any way I see fit. These promo codes are not for your typical 1 or 3 months free, they are for a FULL YEAR of Family Secure!!! $249 worth of free stuff. I'm really starting to like keeping this blog up. Maybe I should start reviewing plasma screen TVs...Boy, don't you just love Samsung's new 102" plasma TV? I sure do...hint hint..;)Anyway, the first 30 parents to comment back to me with the following information will get the free year of Family Secure: # of kids:Age of kids:How much you pay them per week in allowance:Your email: (so I can send you the super secret promo-code)Until next time, Earn Smart. Spend Smart.Davewww.PAYjr.comwww.Buxx.com
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Tween Mashup - DigitalLife
2007-10-05 16:11:00
Last week I had the opportunity to attend a conference in NY called Tween Mash Up, a conference organized by Ypulse and I must say...I HAD A BLAST!!!I have been to a lot of conferences in my day and I don't want to bad mouth these previous conferences; NACHA Annual Payments Show, AFP, CUNA and many many others but they have never been something I really look forward to. Something about standing around all day talking to bankers, sitting through sessions about check fraud and dressing up in suits every day that can't measure up to a conference like Tween MashUp. I showed up in my best pair of 7 jeans, shirt ever-so-stylishly un-tucked (you know...the way the cool 20 yr olds do it). Not only was I dressed comfortable but the whole environment was comfortable, not at all stuffy like most conferences I've been to. It was soo much fun meeting the people that run the companies/products that my kids love too...my kids actually had fun going through the business cards I collected dur...
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