Scoot! Scoot!

Photo
by Jennifer Tonetti-Spellman

As a successful and savvy
businesswoman (not to mention, a mother of two), Tara Mandy understands the
importance of planning ahead. In March 2009 when she founded StrollerTraffic—a
website which provides expert advice and cool product picks for new and
expectant parents—she intended to eventually include the families of preschool
age children. In November 2011, with the site firmly established as a popular
and dependable resource for parents, Mandy followed through and launched
ScooterTraffic for parents of three- to five-year-olds.

But Mandy hasn’t always been
so focused on the parenting world. Although she loved her previous position as
the Travel Editor of New York magazine, she didn’t feel as though she could fully
perform while taking care of a new baby. Switching gears, Mandy created StrollerTraffic
to allow her the flexibility to care for her daughter Greta.

StrollerTraffic has
achieved its popularity through content that is informative, smart and timely.
In early December of last year, the site’s Holiday Gift Guide offered fun
suggestions for babies and toddlers, like an urbanite stamp set from
DwellStudio, but warned readers that they were on their own for the rest of
their gifting. “We focus our content on moms when they’re in mom mode,” Mandy
explains.

And there are perks to
running a successful website and being a parent, too. Mandy gets answers from
top experts to any question or concern that piques her curiosity. And those
questions lead to interesting posts on topics that other moms care about as
well.

But that doesn’t mean
she’s biased. Although Mandy’s experience as a parent influences her work, she
is careful to keep her own personal choices out of it. As Mandy puts it, “I am
a big believer in “to each her own” when it comes to parenting styles. And I
would never want to make anyone feel slighted or ridiculed by the content
produced on our site.”

When she was first
thinking about how to handle content for the three- to five-year-old set, Mandy
had considered simply making it another edition of StrollerTraffic, similar to
the localized city editions that the brand offers. In the end, she decided to
make a separate website and newsletter with an independent staff. Continuity
between the two sites will be provided as some scouts shift over and bring
their experience to ScooterTraffic, while some experts will write for both
sites. There will also be new city
editors to produce local editions for New York, Los Angeles and Dallas.

To most effectively serve
their readership, each site reflects the needs of their respective audiences. StrollerTraffic
parents tend to be “laser-focused” on the latest trends: the best strollers,
safest car seats and the healthiest food. ScooterTraffic parents are more
concerned with their child’s developmental process: how to teach them to
behave, succeed in school and make friends. Together, the two sites create
quite the comprehensive guide to family matters.

Fans of StrollerTraffic
will feel at home on the new ScooterTraffic homepage. The SCOOPDaily link remains
prominent, though the article categories have changed to reflect the older age
group. The condensed Style & Gear category reflects the decreased interest in
the material among parents of preschool children. This makes room for the new
categories Learning & Play and School & Camp, which represent the increased
emphasis on activities and development. Other reorganizations have produced
Parties & Meals and Gifts & Keepsakes. Health & Safety is the only category to
be carried over intact from the original site, a clear sign of its continued
importance.

While developing
StrollerTraffic with the ever-changing needs of parents in mind, Mandy thought
of using a recognition program that appealed to parenting brands and retail
channels as a way to market her fledgling site to their respective audiences.

“We tested the waters
early on with a few ‘Best Of’ round-ups, and saw the tremendous response and
excitement from the brands that had made the lists,” Mandy recalls. This led to
her producing the first Cribsie Awards in collaboration with Elina Furman of
A-List Mom at the beginning of 2011.

How it works is rather
simple. Anyone can nominate a parenting product for an award. Then the list of nominees
is winnowed down to about 350. “We select the finalists—based on a combination
of innovation, design, utility, marketability and popularity as measured by the
number of nominations,” explains Mandy. Winners are chosen by the public and
announced in April.

But always looking ahead,
Mandy is aware of the importance of progress in her own endeavors as well.Even with the launch of the new ScooterTraffic
website, she is determined to continuously improve the user experience. She admits,
“If I could, I would rip apart the sites and completely redevelop them every
six months.”

From where we sit, they
look pretty darn good.

ScooterTraffic Founder Tara Mandy’s Top 3 Picks For Preschoolers

$200, tykerider.com

Kanken Mini Daypack
by Fjallraven

$27.99,
greentoys.com