GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

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BLOGALICIOUS WEEKEND – Building Our Own Empires in Baltimore

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IMG_2712Last weekend, I communed with one of my blogging tribes at the Blogalicious Weekend in Baltimore, Maryland.    The theme for the conference was BUILD YOUR OWN EMPIRE and we all were excited for weeks before the conference on the promise of the conference offerings.   The speakers and session leaders delivered all that we expected and so much more in sharing information that would help each blogger present to take their blogging business to the next level.    We all departed the conference with a tremendous amount on our “to-do” lists for implementation once we returned home.

This was my second Blogalicious Conference and it validated the commitment I made last year to attend each year.  I met some dynamic and brilliant multi-cultural women who have built “empires” with surprising innovation as bloggers.    There were several opportunities to share and collaborate at this conference and I left there with some genuine contacts to continue sharing with throughout the year.

This was my first visit to Baltimore and I know I shall return because I did not get a chance to visit any of the historical sites there.   I wanted to visit the Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine.  This was where the Battle of Baltimore was fought in September 1814 which was the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write “The Star Spangled Banner” – our national anthem.   As a writer, I wanted to visit the site of such an inspiration but there was not enough time.   So, I must return.  I did eat the wonderful Maryland crab cakes and I must admit that none others can compare.   I also had a crab soup that was so scrumptious that it is worth a trip back just to have another bowl of it.

One of the memorable and validating moments for me occurred when a woman sat next to me in one of the sessions.   She was actually one of the assistants of one of the VIP speakers.   However, she had been bitten by the “blogging” bug and was attending some sessions to learn more about it.    She told me that before coming to the conference she did not understand exactly what bloggers really did and how could a business be developed from blogging.   Now, due to the conference, she was full of knowledge and excitement because she realized “Bloggers are REAL!”

Yes, we are!

 

Blogalicious 2014 – Adding to My Creative Tribe

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Sometimes the thing that pops into your life unexpectedly is the one thing that you soon realize had been missing.    This was the case with my attendance at the Blogalicious 2014 Conference in San Antonio, Texas this past weekend.

This conference had not been on my radar.  I heard about it a couple of years ago and made a note but did not pursue it.   Then this past July, 2014, I was in San Jose at the BlogHer conference and I met the Co-Founder and Chief Curator, Stacey Ferguson, along with several other bloggers who were past attendees of Blogalicious.   In discussions with them I discovered that the 2014 conference city was in my backyard in San Antonio.  So, this past week, I packed up my bags and headed west to The Alamo City along with my good friend and fellow writer/blogger, Anne Boyd, of Am I Vintage Yet (www.amivintageyet.com)

We arrived and the first thing we noticed was that the pace ramped up quickly.   My first impression was this conference was not for the faint at heart.   If you were afraid to dream and think BIG then you were in the wrong place.   There were so many progressive speakers from the blogging world who were sharing their knowledge and energy in helping attendees identify their needs and a path to progress their blog/brand.  I walked away from that conference with so much homework and so many ideas for my blog site.   I made some new connections with brilliant, smart, positive, and beautiful women from all over the country.  Also, I acquired some great blog topics to post so I will be sharing some great information with you over the next few weeks.

It wasn’t all work at the conference.   We did have some fun.   We had a private film screening of the movie “Beyond the Lights” presented by Relativity Media at the AMC Rivercenter Theatre.   The movie is a wonderful love story and you should plan to see it.   After the movie, we had a Q&A session with writer and director Gina Prince-Bythewood.  During the conference days, we also had the opportunity to chat with producer, writer, director Issa Rae (www.issarae.com) and actor Lamann Rucker (www.lamannrucker.com).    One evening we relaxed with a really funny comedienne, Aida Rodriguez (www.funnyaida.com), who gave me some good belly laughs and I thank her for that because I really needed it.    Plus, the sponsors treated us really good with hospitality suites and events that involved food and cocktails.

Overall, it was a fabulous high-energy conference and Blogalicious is now definitely on my path to success.

Communing with My Creative “Tribe” at BlogHer ‘14

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029This past weekend I communed with my blogging sister-girlfriends at BlogHer ’14 in San Jose, California a.k.a Silicon Valley.    This was the second time I attended this conference and I was excited about reconnecting with and meeting new female bloggers.

It is really hard to describe the feeling to be a part of this creative “tribe” of women.   The networking, sharing and bonding is truly unique and dispels the myth that women are competitive with one another.    We strategize on improving our writing craft and monetizing our blogs.   We celebrate our ability and freedom to lift our written voices to inform and engage others.   We honor those who are blazing trails in this arena.   We applaud dynamic women that are making a difference in our society through medicine, business, government and the arts.

There were many great women that shared with us throughout the conference and, just to give you an idea, here are the names of four of them:

  •  Arianna Huffington – Chair, President, Editor-in-Chief of Huffington Post Media Group
  • Richelle Parham – Chief Marketing Officer of eBay North America
  • Kerry Washington – Emmy nominated Actress and star of the hit TV show “Scandal”
  • Demetria Lucas – Author of “A Belle in Brooklyn” and known as the “Black Carrie Bradshaw”.   She interviewed Kerry Washington at BlogHer ’14.

At the end of the conference, McDonald’s threw us a party and Rev. Run of Run DMC was our DJ.   It was a blast!

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I am already looking forward to next year!

Here are some pictures:

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Wonderful News and Honor for Me!

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Hi Faithful Readership,

Please note that I have added a WONDERFUL badge on my blog site sidebar.   I have been honored by BlogHer as they featured my blog post “He’s JUST a Man” in the Love & Sex section of their blog site.   BlogHer is a community of 5,000+ female bloggers with a cumulative readership of 93+million persons globally.   Even though I have been a member of BlogHer for almost 2 years, this was the very first post that I directly posted in that community of bloggers and it was selected as a feature post.  Unbelievable!

Please check out the featured post (the title has been changed to “You Can (and Should) Set Relationship Boundaries”) on the BlogHer site at http://www.blogher.com/hes-just-man.

Also, visit some of the posts of other awesome bloggers on the BlogHer site and share with your family/friends.

This is a very inspiring event for me which validates all of those late nights I spend with my thoughts and laptop.

I just wanted to share!

It’s March – National Women History Month!

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women in business (2)March is National Women’s History Month – a time to celebrate the contributions of women to this country.   This month I will blog about some famous women and their contributions but I will also blog about a few women friends in my inner circle that I feel are doing some unique and fun things.      I have divided them into three categories  – “Creative Cool Women”, “Doing Their Own Thing Women” , and “Informing the World Women”.   Also, this month, I will host a blog interview with author Stacy Overman Morrison on her book “Comfort of Fences”.   Some of my blog readers/friends read the book and submitted some questions for Stacy.   We are all looking forward to her response.

 

So, please stay save my blog site in your “Favorites” and plan to drop by throughout the month.