Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Blogging While Brown 2012 - 5 Reasons I'm Happy I Went

This past weekend I went to a blogging conference called Blogging While Brown. I have to say that I couldn't have had a better experience for my first blogging conference.

I should mention some background. While I've got a lot of "blogging friends" or "internet friends" (as Husband J says), most of my real life friends have no interest in social media (outside of Facebook), don't understand Twitter and think my blogging is my cute little activity. :) I have to admit that I was looking forward to the conference because I'd be surrounded by people who understand what it's like being an internet content creator (it ain't easy!).

While I've been able to meet a variety of great bloggers, in my past blogging life I've often felt like the only one or one of very few Black or Latino bloggers writing about certain topics (like travel!).  That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but I believe in the fact that a variety of perspectives and visual representations of diverse people should be present in all forms of media including emerging media like blogs. My choice to go to Blogging While Brown ("BWB") was not only about learning more about blogging in general but also to get inspired about my role as a blogger of color in an online world that often sidelines us (just my opinion, of course).

Since I often think in lists, here are 5 reasons why I'm glad I went to Blogging While Brown:

1. I met a really nice down to earth, friendly, diverse group of bloggers.
I've not always heard the best things about blogging conferences. I've often heard from some people that the atmosphere can be cliquey, impersonal or just downright unwelcoming. I have to say that I was able to meet so many cool people this past weekend. The conference was small enough that I could have multiple conversations with people throughout the weekend but large enough that I still didn't meet everyone. Bloggers came from all over the country (shout out to my new Jacksonville, Florida  friends!) and wrote about everything from relationships and beauty to health and politics. Some folks had been blogging or writing professionally for years, and others were new to blogging. It was nice to get perspectives from all levels of experience.

Me with Erika Kendall of A Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss, a great blog about health, exercise, body image, food justice, weight loss and more. Girlfriend has over 72,000 Facebook followers! Talk about reach!!


2. Many of the well-known and successful bloggers openly shared themselves and their experiences. 
I've often heard that when some bloggers hit "the big time", they are not so friendly at conferences like these. Yet at Blogging While Brown, many of the the most successful bloggers with well-known sites were very friendly and accessible. Case in point, one of my favorite bloggers, Patrice Grell Yursik, of the blog Afrobella.

I was such a fan girl when I met Patrice. I'm very happy that she posed with me. 

I started reading Patrice's blog years ago when looking for resources for my wedding blog for Black women with natural hair (i.e., not chemically straightened). While not the first natural hair blogger, she's really the first in that niche to translate her blogging into bigger opportunities. She has partnered with M.A.C. to produce her own shade of lipgloss and has also live tweeted from the red carpet at the Oscars. She's really taken her blogging to another level. She was so nice to me, super down-to-earth and really honest about her experiences during her panel (I missed it, but followed the tweets on the BWB conference hashtag).


3. I learned new things that will help move me forward as a blogger (and even some things I didn't think I needed).
I thought I knew a little about SEO, but I learned a ton about it from Luvvie Ajayi's SEO 101 panel. The panel on blogging and brands was probably the most helpful for the future, and I really liked the honesty of the panelists representing advertising and public relations firms (Big shout out to Jennifer Polk, VP at Edelman Digital, for our nice talk during the conference). Moral of the story for that branding panel: be genuine, honest, and ethical when dealing with public relations agencies and brands. I'll probably never want to publish a book (just being honest), but I thought many of the issues discussed during that panel were important in understanding how to export your blog to another medium. I would have loved a TV panel that talked about more than television news because I think many bloggers can become more than guest talking heads (TV hosts maybe?).
The "Your Personal Brand: It actually IS all about You" panelists from left to right: Adria Richards, Scott Hanselman, and Luvvie Ajayi 


4. The conference paid attention to important social justice issues. While many conferences focus on monetization, branding and content creation, I really did appreciate the fact that the conference emphasized the importance of blogging in moving forward social issues and alternative narratives. From addressing AIDS to community organizing, the conference tackled subjects that are affecting communities of color. I'm working on an online project that has nothing to do with travel or food, and this inspired me to move it forward because the conference reinforced to me the need for vital socially conscious and relevant information online.

5. I never knew what to expect from the engaging speakers and my fellow attendees.
From the hysterical presentation by Scott Hanselman and Luvvue Ajayi, which had me rolling on the floor to the Twitter haterade and in person interrogation of the founder of Media Takeout, Fred Mwangaguhunga, there were definitely parts of the conference that kept you on your toes and laughing in your seat.


Damon Young of Very Smart Brothas. I check out this site from time to time and enjoy the insight. I LURVED his T-shirt. :)


While the conference was great, here are some things I would change:

1. It's not cheap. Although the conference was valuable, it was not cheap ($250 before late registration). Most blog conferences aren't though, so I can't say that BWB was out there in terms of costs. They did include breakfast and lunch both days though. Speaking of food....

2. I'd love more healthy food options for breakfast and lunch. A crudite plate wouldn't be so bad. Some fruit? Help a sister out. ;)

3. I would have liked to know what speakers were going to discuss in the panels beforehand. While I didn't need a full outline, sometimes knowing what was going to be discussed would have helped me make a decision about breakout sessions beforehand.

I have a feeling the conference will be farther away next year, and I hope that I'll be able to attend again some time in the future. I was definitely re-inspired and felt energized about blogging in a way that I haven't been in a long time. At the very least, the conference made me understand my little voice here is important, even if I don't have the hits, Facebook likes and Twitter followers that others say I should to feel important and valued as a blogger.

A big thanks to my fellow conference attendees and to the conference organizers for a stimulating and fun weekend.

11 comments:

Gina M. said...

I agree on the food. I feel terrible after eating carb-laden processed, high sodium conference center food. Next year I'm insisting on low card/ clean eating options. Enough with the danishes and honey buns. If all we put out are nuts and berries, so be it.

Bee said...

GREAT post! You echoed similar sentiments that I had as a first-time attendee. I'd definitely love to attend again next year, so we'll see where the destination is!

Nellie said...

So glad that such a conference is out there and that they have sections on social justice. Sometimes I attend professional conferences that include social justice in their mission and have zero sessions on it at the conference.

sonyamacdesigns said...

Thanks for sharing your experience ... I hope to attend a BBWB conference soon!

lavenderpug said...

sounds like the conference was a really great experience--thanks for sharing!

That Writer Chick said...

I wish I could've gone but I didn't find out about it until the last minute...oh well, there's always next year. Thanks for the recap. Sounds like you had a wonderful experience!

Lisa Johnson said...

This is a great write-up! I've been to several blogging conferences, but not to this one. I'll make it one of these days! I agree that it's so nice to find bloggers of color who write about many different issues. I was so excited to find you and your blog and your content always keeps me coming back for more! : )

Monique @ Mo Travels said...

I'm glad you had a positive experience. I can so relate to the comment, "my real life friends have no interest in social media (outside of Facebook), don't understand Twitter and think my blogging is my cute little activity". Even though I'd gone to a travel conference in 2010, I went to BlogHer last year and felt like I'd finally found my "tribe".

Try Anything Once Terri said...

@ Lisa - Thanks so much! I appreciate that you come back very much! :)

@Monique - I totally hear you! It's fun to finally meet people who you click with, isn't it? I think part of being a blogger is being a part of a larger community.

@MsTrayJay - Hello there! Welcome to the blog. :) Yes, it was a nice time.

@sonyamacdesigns - Welcome to the blog! I totally recommend going to BWB!

@Bee - Welcome! I'd love to attend again as well. I think there's a strong chance that it will be somewhere West though. We'll see.

@Gina M. - Thanks so much for your comment! I hope the conference organizers will think about food for next year. Actually, it would be awesome to have a panel on food justice issues.

Vernetta R. Freeney said...

Thanks for sharing for those of us who couldn't attend. I do like that they talked about activism. Also I like how you stated what you would like to see change. Sometimes people only talk about the good and not point out some improvements. But other than that, I've heard stellar reviews about the conference.

Lee said...

Yeah, we talked about the food when we met the first morning. We need to improve on that. Here's a suggestion...how about a conference committee? I'm just saying!!!

 

Try Anything Once All rights reserved © 2010
I am a HowJoyful Design