As you may know from visiting and exploring our site, GetGameSmart.com was created to help families tackle issues related to online and video game safety –setting up parental controls, having conversations with your children about appropriate media use, and keeping up-to-date on the latest topics such as cyber bullying and even sexting.  But what about the hundreds of thousands of parents out there who don’t go online? Where do they find the information they need to make the right media choices for their families? We decided to meet these parents face-to-face by traveling across the country to five national women’s trade shows in Seattle, Raleigh, Richmond, Nashville, and Novi, to spread the word about parental controls for Xbox 360 and other online safety tools.

At the shows, the GetGameSmart.com booth drew in thousands of women and families as the team walked them through the set-up process for Xbox 360 Family Settings and tools like the Family Timer, handed out resources including the PACT and gave attendees the chance to win an Xbox 360 each day. Not only were the majority of parents surprised at how simple it was to set the parental controls, but they were also excited by the various levels of control they were able to achieve with Xbox 360 Family Settings. The Family Timer proved to be a real crowd pleaser, with many moms exclaiming, “That is such a great idea! I had no idea I could control the amount of time my kids played!” Here are a few more of our favorite quotes from the parents we met:

• “My son is always playing way too much … I am so going to use the PACT!”
• “I love your parental controls and am more comfortable with him playing on the Xbox than anywhere else.”
• “These controls are great! I had no idea you could do all of this.”
• “Control was a worry of mine since I’m about to get an Xbox. Thanks for sharing all this with me!”

Aside from all of the great families we had the opportunity to talk to during our cross-country travels, our team also had a fabulous time exploring each of the cities we visited and hope to hit the road again soon.

Who knows – maybe next time we’ll come to you!