Lessons Learned From Blogging While Brown (Radio Show)

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in a radio show hosted by author Ananda Leeke.  The topic was "Lessons Learned from Blogging While Brown."

I was joined on the program by several other fabulous bloggers:

-Senam Amegashie
http://www.tweetmeblack.com

-April Davis
http://www.blog-aroundharlem.com

-Faith Dow
http://www.actsoffaithinloveandlife.blogspot.com

-Sabrina Miller
http://www.hitmebackblog.blogspot.com

-Telisha Ng
http://goddessintellect.wordpress.com

-Talia Whyte
www.taliawhyte.com

We had a great time sharing our experiences from the Blogging While Brown conference in Chicago and it's well worth a listen. 

Blogging While Brown 2009: An Interview with Gina McCauley of What About Our Daughters

Have you heard of Gina McCauley?  If you haven't, listen up--this is a woman who's on the cutting edge of the internet and social media and you need to get to know her right now.  If you do know who she is, read the following interview anyway, because I defy you not to be inspired by her story, her passion and her good old fashioned smarts.  Just the kind of black woman the MSM almost never talks about.

Gina's the outspoken publisher of the blogs What About Our Daughters and Michelle Obama Watch, and she's also the organizer of the blogging conference for people of color, Blogging While Brown.  After attending last weekend's successful 2nd annual conference, I had some questions for Gina and she was kind enough to make time to answer them for me.

What did you hope to achieve with this year's conference and do you feel you accomplished what you set out to do?

My goal was to bring people together so that they could meet other people, learn something new and have a good time. My hope before the conference that people would develop relationships with others they could partner with and collaborate. I think we definitely accomplished that. I was afraid that we couldn't replicated the amazing "vibe" from last year, and we didn't. The "vibe" this year was even better than the vibe int he room from last year. People genuinely liked each other, were excited for each other, encouraged each other and enjoyed each other's company to the point that they would leave :)

On the way out the door, three women who live in Chicago who didn't know each other before they came to the conference and attended the bootcamp and conference said they were going to collaborate together and start a group blog. That's so important because blogging can be a very solitary experience. Blogging While Brown makes blogging a family experience. You know you're part of this loud lovely group that loves to get together and chat.

How was this year's conference different than last year's?

First, we added the beginning blogger bootcamp and I think its fair to say that was an overwhelming success. We got raves about that, and we'll be expanding our "nuts & bolts" training next year. We had a really small class that met before the conference began. They got each other. I think it was less intimidating when the entire conference convened because they already had their bootcamp friends. My goal was to take civilians and turn them into lean mean blogging and podcasting machines and we did that.

We clearly had more people this year. We eliminated Sunday morning events, which I think is wise :) We had all conference events in the same location. I actually did very little organizing this year because I delegated logistics to our conference coordinator, Shalon and programming to Shawn P Williams from the Dallas South Blog and literally the conference was able to take without me. I arrived to both the kick reception and the Saturday workshops after they had started and they in full swing without me. So that means from a delegation standpoint, it was successful because I had a good team who made sure the conference could take place without me... AND we had power outlets EVERY WHERE this year! That was something we learned from last year when we blew the convention center power grid during the conference.

Blogging While Brown 2009: Making Money, Making Friends and Making Movies

I learned quite a bit from last weekend's Blogging While Brown conference.

One very productive, not to mention entertaining panel was on branding by Hajj E. Flemings, author of "The Brand YU."  During his presentation, Hajj circulated through the audience Oprah-style and fired questions about slides of a variety of products.

When a photo of a Tiffany box appeared, Hajj asked the attendees the first thing that came to their minds.

 

"Love!" Shouted one woman.

"Expensive love!" Shouted another.

 

After explaining that just the appearance of the Tiffany blue box, without any knowledge of what might be inside created an instant association, Hajj proclaimed, "Branding turned sneakers into Nikes."

 

When using social media he told attendees they should use the same avatar and screen name across mutliple platforms.  For example, his photo on his website, his book, his business card, and his social networking sites, all have him in the same suit, in the same pose and wearing the same expression. 

 

He then went on to emphasize the importance of connections, "Somebody else besides your mother needs to know you're doing great things."   And he added, "Don't be the smartest person in your group."  The implication being that you must find associates from whom you can learn. 

Blogging While Brown 2009: An Interview with Angel Laws of Concrete Loop (Video)

As part of my coverage of the Blogging While Brown conference last weekend, I was able to interview Angel Laws, the founder and publisher of the very successful entertainment blog, Concrete Loop.

Angel started the blog as a hobby and built it into one of Time Magazine's 50 Best Websites of 2008.  The blog covers black celebrities and gossip that for such a long time were ignored by other gossip sites.  Now she says she gets 700,000 unique visitors a day and makes $250,000 a year with her blog.

Angel was part of a panel about making money online and she had some great tips for bloggers:

• Never work with just one ad company.  She works with six.
• Figure out who reads your site and get feedback about your site using polls.
• Remember that keeping readership can be harder than getting it.

Here's more advice from Angel.  On what happens when big success comes:

Blogging While Brown 2009: A Conference for People of Color with Lessons For All Bloggers

"Fish where your buyers swim," said Milton Haynes of Blacks Gone Geek.

Before you hit publish, check your headline, "That's the most strategic choice you're about to make," said Megan Tady of Save The Internet.com. 

"Own your digital real estate," said Hajj E. Flemings, branding expert and author of "The Brand YU Life."

These quotes came from presenters at last weekend's 2nd annual Blogging While Brown conference held at the University Center in Chicago.  It's the kind of advice that's important for all bloggers but the attendees of BWB got that and much more.

BWB was launched last year by blogger Gina McCauley of the blogs What About Our Daughters and Michelle Obama Watch.  During her closing remarks this year she said, "My goal is to give you the tools and connections to do whatever you want to do."

The weekend kicked off with a Beginners Blogging Boot Camp on Friday to teach newbies the nuts and bolts of starting a blog.  The main event took place Saturday and covered a more advanced range of topics.  For example, "Using The Latest Tech Tools To Grow Your Blog," "Building A Strong Personal Brand Online," and "What's Next For Traditional Media?"

Now you might ask yourself, isn't that the kind of stuff all bloggers would like to learn?  What's the point of having a blogging conference for just people of color?

Blogging While Brown: An Interview with Cheryl Contee of Jack & Jill Politics (Video)

As part of my BlogHer coverage of the 2009 Blogging While Brown conference in Chicago last weekend, I did several video interviews with attendees.  Up first is an interview with Cheryl Contee of the blog Jack and Jill Politics.

I'll have more video interviews, photos and posts on the conference up and running as soon as my little fingers can type them. Stay tuned.

Blogging While Brown: Touring Chicago

How does the song go?  "Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town..."

Well the last couple of days I've been toddlin' all over Chicago, using my valuable sightseeing time, before covering today's Blogging While Brown conference for BlogHer.

Even though I was in Chicago once before, this is my first real trip here.  The last time was only a hurried taxi ride around the city during a two hour layover at O'Hare. 

The weather hasn't been very cooperative, but even with all the rain and thunderstorms, it's still raining less than it was in New York when I left.  And I can't complain too much because I got enough sun yesterday to get in an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan in a Seadog speed boat.

Our tour guide was Heather, an English major at the University of Chicago.  She writes her own material and she was not only informative but very funny.  She told us about the "black and boxy," "boxy and black" style of architecture, but also about all the other creative designs that trim the Chicago skyline.

There's the triangular shaped building that's a prison with an exercise yard on top, the three cloverleaf-like Lake Point Tower, the twin corn cob shaped towers that make up Marina City, and of course the third highest building in the world, the Sears Tower.

After seeing those buildings from the water yesterday, it was great to see another perspective of them today from the top of the Sears Tower itself. 

I got there before the skies opened up so the visibility, though not ideal, was good enough for an exciting experience.

Call me naive, but for some reason I was startled by the airport-like security we had to go through to get to the observation deck.  Of course, I shouldn't have been, but it caught me off guard.

I paid the extra $5 for the audio tour and I'm glad I did.  It helped identify all the important Chicago landmarks. 

Several of those landmarks I've seen from the back of Chicago Transit buses the last couple of days.  Yesterday I took the bus to the very cool Navy Pier and today I took a ride through the South Side of Chicago to the Dusable Museum of African American History. 

I figured since it was pouring rain when I left, a museum day was just the ticket.  But of course as soon as I spent forty-five minutes on the bus getting there, the weather had turned bright and sunny.

Two women got into a fight on the bus, which made me feel quite at home.  The bus driver made me pay twice because I took the bus in the wrong direction to the end of the line and then wanted to take the same bus back.  Considering I only went about seven stops the wrong way, I thought she might have given me a break.

The museum was interesting, but just okay.  I get the feeling it's still a work in progress and hopefully their collections will expand after their new wing is opened.  Most of the exhibits were either African in origin or displays of artifacts from the civil rights movement.  There was also a tribute to blacks in the military and a small gallery showcasing paintings and sculptures by black artists.  I was disappointed because I thought the exhibits of paintings and sculptures would be more extensive.

The most startling thing at the museum?  A moving, life size, seated figure of the late Mayor Harold Washington that at first appeared to be real.  It scared the life out of a six year old who started screaming when she saw it and I sympathized 'cause an animatronic Harold Washington wasn't at all what I'd expected.

That's enough for now.  I'll have more on my Chicago travels, and of course the Blogging While Brown conference later today and tomorrow. 

Here Comes BlogHer '09 and Blogging While Brown!

It's hard to believe but BlogHer '09 is only a little more than a month away.  It seems like only yesterday I was writing posts about last year's community keynote and fabulous meals in San Francisco.

But all of a sudden BlogHer '09 is here and I'm getting myself ready for another rip roaring weekend with the BlogHers and BlogHims of America and beyond.

Since this year's conference is in Chicago--a town I've only seen for ten minutes from the back of a taxi cab during a layover at O'Hare--I'm jazzed to get to know Chi-town a lot better.

In fact my first real trip to Chicago won't be BlogHer '09, but Blogging While Brown '09 which is being held June 19-20th.

Coincidentally, this year's BWB is also in Chicago.  BlogHer is one of the sponsors of BWB and I'll be representing them and publishing several posts from there beginning next week.

But back to BlogHer, in the next two weeks there are going to be pre-BlogHer meet-ups in several cities for attendees to get together before the conference and last weekend I had the chance to meet some amazing women from the NYC area. 

The meet-up was only supposed to be a couple of hours but we were having such a good time, we went far beyond that. We talked about movies, TV, politics, technology and of course blogging!

We organized the meet-up via the NYC Area BlogHer Group which now has 49 members.  Be sure to join if you're a NYC blogger and would like to stay in touch with other gotham bloggers.

Here's a list of the attendees at our meet-up and their blogs.  Definitely check them out!

The Bronx Bohemian of the blog:  Bronx Bohemian

The Evil Slutes of the blog:  Evil Slutopia

Bri of the blog:  Unwellness

Jena of the blog:  Jena Wellness

Steph of the blog:  Steph Unwired and Next Steph

Jennifer of the blog:  Connect With Your Teens Through Pop Culture and Technology

I've never had so much fun with a bohemian, evil sluts, the unwell, the well, the unwired and the connected!

So keep an eye out for my posts from Blogging While Brown and BlogHer and if you're going to be at either conference, let me know so we can stay in touch!