This – this is the face of a lady ready to work… bring it on Blogging While Brown!
A serious blogger (even bloggers who write humor blogs) has to stay educated on the best ways to reach their audiences as well as making sure that their business flourishes. Oh wait – you didn’t know? For a lot of us, blogging is how we make a living. For me, it is not (by far) the only way that I help support my family, but many bloggers are compensated for providing their readers with great content. By going to conferences, we stay informed on the best technologies, network, and learn new strategies to reach our target audiences.
Blogging is my service… it is my product. – @elisac #bwb2012 #BlogHer #amen
— SocaMom (@SocaMomDC) June 2, 2012
This weekend, people came from Toronto (@beesince83 and @nubiansoulslocs), Kenya, and all over the United States to Blogging While Brown in Philadelphia, PA. This is my second conference of the year, and I have one more (as far as I know), BlogHer, in August. I felt the love as soon as my train hit 30th street station. I got a tweet from local DC area blogger (@pgcblogging) asking if we had been on the same train. We kept tweeting back and forth til we finally found each other over breakfast at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. From there, we met Philly blogger @ShareefJackson, and chatted as the other bloggers picked up badges and got coffee. In a matter of minutes we had shaken off the sleep, and got a chance to talk with author OneChele right before we headed into the first session.
So Friday morning, we jump right in with “Blog to Book” with Angel Laws creator of Concrete Loop and author of Angel’s Laws of Blogging, Demetria Lucas (@abelleinbk) author of A Belle in Brooklyn: The Go-To Girl for Advice on Living Your Best Single Life and Todd Hunter, editor at Atria Books.
I did get a lot of video to share, but I sat right next to @theintellective, which made it near impossible to keep the camera from shaking – his jokes had jokes. Also at my table was DMV blogger From Rae with Love (@fromraewithlove). The DC area was deep at #BWB2012!
After a short break, it was time to hear from Tyrha M. Lindsey, Managing Director for L.A.I. Communications, Jennifer Polk, a Vice President with Edelman Digital and Mananya (@mananya) Soobhawan, Digital Supervisor at Weber Shandwick about working with brands. Yes, sometimes bloggers work with the brands that they talk about. For a lot of us, it is just telling you about the brands that we already use. Other times, brands introduce themselves to us, and we share information about their products with you. But readers, don’t worry. We have to disclose our relationship with the brands that we discuss, and…
My opinions are NEVER for sale. – @afrobella #bwb2012 #blogging #workingwithbrands
— SocaMom (@SocaMomDC) June 2, 2012
For lunch, there was a special treat that many of us Caribbean bloggers could appreciate. I eventually found a familiar face from Blogalicious, DMV relationship blogger (and fellow West Indian) – @BlackLoveRules – and we got to catch up. One of the event sponsors was the Philadelphia Multicultural Congress, so we had Ting, a Carnival lady in her mas costume, and a steel pan player to enjoy during our lunch time. We got information on the Global Fusion Festival (July 16 – 23, http://www.philadelphiamac.org/events/global-fusion-festival) which has had entertainers such as Shurwayne Winchester grace the stage in previous years. I had to try not to dance when I heard this…
After lunch, we heard from Harry Hairston, Emmy Award-winning journalist on Philadelphia’s NBC 10, Lou Dubois, Social Media Editor for NBC Universal affiliate WCAU-TV and Alexis Garrett Stodghill, the New York and Lifestyle editor of TheGrio.com, a division of NBC News about how to transition to TV or include TV appearances in our blogging. After the break, Frederick Mwangaguhunga, founder/CEO of MediaTakeout.com, Lyneka Little reporter with The Wall Street Journal, David A. Wilson, Creator/Executive Editor of theGrio.com and Jennifer A. Williams, Chief Strategist/CEO of J Sharpe Agency Public Relations were influential in getting quite a bit of drama going on Twitter. Hopefully you were following the #bwb2012 hashtag and caught it all.
Following our trolley ride to and tour of the Comcast Tech Center, I hung out with Jacksonville, Florida bloggers @tduhart75, @wmjackson, @diggame, and @theintellective and talked blogging, hometowns, and travel until we were late for the last session of the day – Love is a Battlefield. I caught the end of Kaneisha Grayson author of Be Your Own Boyfriend: Decide to be Happy, Unleash Your Sext and Change Your Life, Damon Young of Very Smart Brothas and Michelle Y. Talbert’s (@BlackLoveRules) panel on relationship blogging. Then it was time for the Networking Event sponsored by Curls Unleashed, where I finally met @nubiansoulslocs and @beesince83. It seemed like we had been looking for each other all day! I headed out early and went back to my room to get some sleep. I fully intended to pass out, but not before tore into the Magnolia Dreams welcome package that I received at check in… Now THAT was a long day.
For those of you who see blogging as just a way for people who have too much time on their hands to talk about what’s on their minds and giveaway free stuff, I have to give you a little bit of info on what we actually do.
(Yep, I am in the video… looking a little confused – but that’s okay!)
People blog for a lot of different reasons. For the most part, bloggers have something to share, and the internet is a platform that allows us to do that. There are people who start blogs to keep family members in the loop on their children’s activities, and others who blog to bring awareness to a cause they care about. Some bloggers consider themselves journalists, other see themselves as storytellers, and still others see themselves as teachers.
I see myself as a little of all of that, but whatever I choose to do, I always take it seriously – whether it is my marriage, my children’s education, my job, or my blog. So as a reader, you can rest assured, that while I am writing at Socamom.com, I am doing the best I can to deliver the best content that I can to you.
Stay tuned for the recap of day 2! Teaser – there’s beef patties, jerk, and soca… 🙂
