This past weekend I attended a conference that raised the bar for future conferences – Blogalicious 2009. Pretty ironic that it raised the bar, since it was founded by three lawyer/friends – the wonderful women of Mama Law - Justices Fergie, Jonesie and Ny. It was such a special time. I’ll share a bit about the things that stood out to me. I won’t mention the people though – there were just so many amazing women (of all races/ ethnicities) in attendance that I don’t want to leave anyone out. Rather, I encourage you to visit the Agenda page to learn more about some of the amazing women who participated in this event. Also, if you are on twitter, follow the hashtag #blogalicious09 to read other attendee thoughts.
This is the second writing of this post. Initially, I was writing about what I had learned from each session (information junkie that I am). However, rather than focusing on a little about a lot, I decided to focus a lot on a little. The three main things that I took away from the week-end were “The Beauty of Being Different”; the importance of representation and recommendation and the importance of blogging NOT becoming your life…
1. On Saturday, Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks was the keynote speaker during lunch. Her theme: “The Beauty of Different” really resonated with me. Basically, she encouraged us to figure out what made us different – our “superpower”. She shared how she shaped her current career by writing out all of the things that she was passionate about and going after them. She urged us to find our own individual voices rather than trying to be who we think that we are “supposed” to be. That’s the only way that we can be who we are meant to be and to live out our own personal dreams. I agree. My roommate for the weekend and I were laughing about how it’s hard to put me in a box anyway. (I’m smart, yet ditzy at times; I’m both girly AND a tomboy – I can play basketball in high heels; etc., etc.) But isn’t that the case for every women? We were not created to be put in boxes!
2. Later on Saturday, there was a Town Hall & Plenary Session entitled “Marketing to Women of Color: The Real Deal”. The marketers and the bloggers on the panel all did an amazing job sharing their wisdom. During the Q&A, I asked a question to the effect of what could bloggers of color do to help other bloggers of color get on marketers’ radar. The truth is that I already knew (part of) the answer. I asked it because I get annoyed when people use the phrase “I was the only one” without doing anything about it. One of the panelists mentioned that we need to “Represent”. I agree that is part of the solution. (Who cares what you think if you’re not great at what you do?) The other part that was discussed was recommending others. That’s what I’m talking about… represent AND recommend. To me, that’s the true mark of influence. It’s not just about getting an invite to everything for you. It’s also about being so good at what you do that others ask for your input regarding WHO ELSE they should reach out to for opportunities. I can’t even begin to tell you how many positive conversations I had on this subject over the course of the rest of the conference. Ultimately, I really do believe that the majority of bloggers want to both “do good and do well”. It’s exciting!
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3. I spoke at the last session “Blog-Life Balance” along with fellow panelists Gina Carroll, Devra Renner and moderator Heather Barmore. The panel just touched the tip of the iceberg. So many women had questions that there was not enough time to ask or answer all of them. Fortunately, I had a chance to talk with several bloggers one on one over the course of the weekend. The question that I was asked the most was if I felt that I had achieved this balance. Short answer: no. I understand the concept, but I don’t even believe in balance across all areas of life. Rather I think about it as a juggle where I attempt to live out my priorities. Do I juggle perfectly every day? Of course not. However, I’m very clear about what my priorities are and I’m constantly trying to make the pieces of the puzzle fit in the best way. I try not to make excuses for when I fall short. Rather, I try to learn from each day’s experiences and do better the next day.
Blogging and social media are very seductive. There’s a sense of immediate gratification. As such, it’s hard not to focus too much time and energy (to the neglect of offline relationships and responsibilities) on it. What helps me is remembering the big picture. At the end of my life, I highly doubt that I’ll be thinking, “Oh, I wish that I had just done that one more blog post/tweet/event/conference/etc.” More realistically, I think the greater regret would be unnecessarily missed moments with family and friends. As a visual, my friend Denene shared something that she had written about missing her mom who had passed away years before. Many of us bloggers were in tears as she read the piece. If she had been sharing a piece about her blog crashing/dying, do you think that anyone would have been crying about that? Exactly…
