Registration for the conference — which will be held October 2 — just opened. Fifty bucks gets you in until Aug. 15, when the price goes up $15. Specific details on the program, hotel and such are coming.

I’ll be there again this year (I’m registering today), and I’ll make a deal with readers who have never made the trip before: if you pony up and registered before Father’s Day, you can have the swag item of your choice from the rebeldad.com store. Just send along your PayPal receipt (or tell me your name, and I’ll confirm with the convention guys) and the item you’d like, and I’ll hand-deliver it at the convention.

Can’t wait to see you all there.

There are dozens of renowned conferences held annually throughout the world for bloggers, but what none of them have created is a place to gather the new modern media men, specifically, the daddy bloggers, whose influence is fast increasing in the contemporary online space.

The M3 Summit’s goal is to bring together brands, bloggers, and some of the brightest minds in the industry to experience, teach and talk about how the role of Modern Media Man is changing.

The conference has opened early bird registration, and the call for speakers runs through the end of May. This is a legit operation, and the advisory board includes such daddyblogging superstars as Clay Nichols and Jason Avant.

I’m not sure that I’ll be there, as much as I want to rub elbows with dads making a splash online. Even the early bird fee is pretty steep for someone who still does this for fun, and there is the question of flights and lodging and everything else. It starts to make the At-Home Dad Convention (which is not, in terms of focus or audience, really competition) seem like the stellar deal that it is.

I’m also not certain exactly what I’d get out of the event. It would be good to see any old friends that made the trip, but I don’t need any guidance on blogging (mostly, I need *time* to blog). I don’t need to interact with sponsors. I don’t need to expand my audience (which is small but engaged) or grow my revenue (which is, by design, currently zero).

At the same time, I’m hoping it’s a roaring success that convinces marketers that a little more gender neutrality would go a long way to unlocking the dad market.

But I’d love to be swayed. Any of you guys thinking about making the trek?

Q: Where are all the stay-at-home dads in this city? How come we don’t have a support group? — Twowheeler

A: As a stay-at-home dad you are part of a growing breed. Fathers today are spending more time with their children whether they are working fathers or stay-at-home dads. There are even those men who work with their employers to create a flexible arrangement so that they can make up for some child care during the week while the mother works. I personally know of two fathers in my extended family who have chosen to be stay-at-home dads.

Companies and media seem to have picked up on this growing population and have been marketing specifically to these dads. Their offerings of more macho looking diaper bags, “outdoorsy” baby gear and attention in parenting magazines support the fact that it’s not just the woman who shops for or uses the baby/children items.

As far as finding a support group, ask around. Word of mouth can often get your far. Many dads are blogging to communicate their experience and share resources.

Also, the “At Home Dad Network” has a “playgroup search” on its Web site. Good luck!

While I am all for shout-outs about involved fathers are “a growing breed.” But the answer makes it sound like dad groups are hard to find in the Big Apple (“ask around”? *That’s* the advice?). In fact, there is a hugely successful NYC group already out there. They’ve been on TV. They’re a top Google hit for “NYC at home dads,” “NYC stay at home dads,” etc. They’re not exactly hidden.

But Sheehan didn’t bother firing up Google. Instead, she linked to a near-defunct site with an out of date playgroup list.

Sheesh …

Their website, daddyshome.org, just launched today, and they’re busy building in a number of resources, from information on how to form a group to stats to a speakers bureau. Most importantly, they are doing their best to make it easy to found local groups, build those groups and list those groups.

This marks something of sea change. At-home dads, in general, have never had much of a national community, even as the explosion of new media technologies has made it easier than ever to connect with dads across the country and across the world. There are exceptions — the At-Home Dad Convention continues to chug along, some 15 years after it was founded and 5 years after it was left for dead — but, in general, there not been a center of gravity for dads.

This isn’t altogether surprising. Much of what constitutes the “at-home dad community” has been individual labors of love: Peter Baylies‘ brilliant At-Home Dad Newsletter, the once-great slowlane.com site built by Jay Massey, the now-defunct beingdaddy.com. And when the creative forces behind those efforts moved on (as most fathers will), the community sort of evaporates. (I’m no exception. The slowdown in posting over the 18 months before the relaunch did a number on my readership … and therefore any community.)

Thar doesn’t mean that there aren’t great resources. If you don’t visit athomedad.org, you’re missing out. The forums at dadstayshome.com remain vibrant. I’m still here, as is a huge and growing list of dadbloggers.

But Daddyshome Inc. fills a real void, and it is build to have staying power — setting it apart from past efforts — and it’s great to have them aboard. Congrats to Peter, Mike and Matt for working so hard for so long to make this a reality.

Unfortunately, the piece doesn’t really go there. There are a lot of different ways to look at this. Some dads are conflicted about the prospect of going back to work at all. Some dads are garden-variety out-of-work men who have taken on the childcare duties as a cost-saving effort. And some at-home dads are home by choice (but still plan to re-enter the workforce later) and some have been forced into the position. Each of these guys have a different attitude toward going back.

In addition, the issues involved here are gender-neutral. This topic has filled reams and reams of writing of academics and social scientists when it comes to moms, and it’s a shame that none of that information filtered its way into this piece. Sure, it’s new that dads are facing this challenge, but it’s not a new challenge, the answers aren’t new. (In fact, the best answers might come from Ann Crittenden’s wonderful “If You’ve Raised Kids, You Can Manage Anything,” which is a work that seems to have been utterly forgotten.)

Finally, the “expert” used — the great Jeremy Adam Smith — has let me know that his quotes don’t reflect his opinion: he believes that caregiving dads aren’t up the creek when they re-enter the workforce. I have to agree. There are unique challenges for anyone who is making the move, and at-home dads aren’t in a uniquely difficult position.