Blogalicious: A movement of women owning who they are

November 9, 5:23 PMDC Social Media ExaminerAnanda Leeke

Previous Next

4 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC Social Media Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Photo from morning session on Day Two of Blogalicious, October 10, 2009
Photo Credit: Carol Cain, NYCMama (http://nycitymama.com) - http://gallery.me.com/carol_cain#100008/IMG_3049&bgcolor=black

Something spectacular in the world of social media happened 30 days ago in Atlanta, Georgia. It was Blogalicious,  the inaugural conference for women bloggers of color sponsored by the MamaLaw Media Group, LLC. The W Hotel hosted 177 women and men who gathered to celebrate diversity in the blogosphere from October 9 to October 11.

The conference theme was "Your WOW Factor." It refers to the unique qualities that distinguish each woman blogger in the social media market. The WOW Factor energy transformed the conference into what a blogger affectionately known as A Shorter Mama called "a movement." Yes, Blogalicious officially became a movement comprised of a bold new breed of brilliant and beautifully different women bloggers. These women blog for the same reasons as Funki Girl Diva blog founder Sherrelle Kirkland-Andrews wrote in her conference update: "to give information, to entertain, to build a community, to foster discussion and conversation, to save the world from mediocrity, and to tell stories." Tori, founder of A Kinky Hair Monologue blog, captured the essence of what transpired between Blogalicious attendees in her conference review post: "Everyone was so eager to share and help one another. We laughed, we cried, we partied - but most importantly we LEARNED. It was truly a beautiful thing." 

Tori's commentary is precisely why the Blogalicious ladies embodied the WOW part of the conference theme. W.O.W. is an acronym for Women Owning Who they are through the content, connections, communities, and commerce they create as they share experiences, insights, opinions, humor, creativity, expertise, and information. In short, they represent 21st century sisterhood.

To learn more about what happened at Blogalicious 2009, read the official conference recap and conference updates written by attendees (see list of links below). Watch the Blogalicious 2009 YouTube Channel for conference highlights and interviews with attendees. Click here to view the conference photo album prepared by Carol Cain, the founder of NYCMama blog and official Blogalicious 2009 photographer. Tune into a series of conversations about Blogalicious 2009 with conference attendees on Sisterhood, the Blog Radio in November and December. If you miss the live shows, you can listen to recordings or download them to your computer.

List of Conference Updates by Blogalicious 2009 Attendees:

• A Kinky Hair Monologue - http://myhairmonologue.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogalicious-recap.html
• A Shorter Story - http://ashorterstory.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogalicious-2009.html
• Ask Wifey - http://askwifey.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogalicious-wow-factor.html
• Awesomely Luvvie - www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=150482103398&comments&ref=mf
• Baby Bunching - www.babybunching.com/baby_bunching/2009/10/ok-girls---soooo-excited-because-i-have-just-returned-from-blogalicious-2009-in-atlanta-held-this-weekend-and-organized-by.html
• Bantering Blond - www.banteringblonde.com/2009/10/blogalicious09-best-blog-conference-of.html
• Black and Married with Kids - http://blackandmarriedwithkids.com/2009/10/12/video-blogalicious-conference-2009-recap
• Chatterbox Christie - www.blogtalkradio.com/chatterboxradio/2009/10/12/LIVE-from-the-Blogalicious-Conference
• Christie Crowder - www.christiecrowder.com/2009/10/monday-mavens-turned-tuesday-treasures.html
• CityMama - http://citymama.typepad.com/citymama/2009/10/blogalicious-09-wish-i-could-just-bottle-up-this-feeling-and-take-it-with-me-everywhere.html
• Dancing Hot Dogs - www.dancinghotdogs.com/?tag=blogalicious-conference
• Funki Diva Girl - http://funkidivagirl.com/2009/10/why-i-blog-thoughts-inspired-by-blogalicious-2009
• Gina Carroll - http://ginacarroll.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogalicious-2009.html
• Heart to Heart - http://blog.gracobaby.com/2009/10/17/blogalicious09-how-do-i-love-thee
• HomeGirl - http://homegirl.typepad.com/home_girl/2009/10/priscilla_renea.html
• Kathy Sykes - Part one - http://kathysykes.choseit.com/?p=346 and Part two - http://kathysykes.choseit.com/?p=350  
• Keeping up with the Sowells - http://doingsowell.com/2009/10/18/blogalicious-2009-it-was-good-but
• Krystal Grant's Guide to Life - www.krystalgrant.com/2009/10/my-blogalicious-weekend-pt-1.html
• Liz Henry - www.blogher.com/blogalicious-power
• Ms. Latina on a Mission - http://latinaonamission.com/2009/10/20/karen-walrond-the-beauty-of-being-different and http://latinaonamission.com/2009/10/18/blogaliciouslet-me-count-the-ways
• NYCMama - http://nycitymama.com/2009/10/blogalicious-2009-reflection  
• Passion and Art - http://passionandart.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogalicious-recap-take-two.html
• Prissy Mommy Chronicles - www.prissymommy.com/our_first_baby/2009/10/blogalicious09.html
• Quirky Fusion - http://quirkyfusion.com/2009/10/blogalicious-2009-a-chance-to-be-just-me
• Tales of a Southern Yankee - http://talesofasouthernyankee.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-blogalicious-weekend.html
• Tech Savvy Mama - http://techsavvymama.blogspot.com/2009/10/real-blogalicious-recap.html
• The Broke Socialite - http://thebrokesocialite.blogspot.com/2009/10/so-blogalicious-so-refreshing.html
• The Sexy Geek Files - http://thesexygeekfiles.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/myblogaliciousweekend and
  http://thesexygeekfiles.wordpress.com/tag/blogalicious-conference-recap  
• Thoughtful Cyn - http://thoughtfulcyn.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/whats-wonderful-about-blogs-blogging
• Tiki Tiki Blog - http://tikitikiblog.com/blogalicious-celebrating-women-of-color
• Urban Mama - http://spa.typepad.com/mamas/2009/10/blogalicious-2009-highlights-of-an-inspiring-conference-1.html
   

Copyright 2009 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All Rights Reserved.

Reprint Permission: You have permission to reprint this article in your blog, social networking site, ezine, web site, or offline publication as long as you print the content as it is and include the author bio below.

Author Bio: Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke is a lawyer turned author, social media strategist, creativity coach, blogger, podcaster, artist, and yoga teacher. She currently serves as the D.C. Social Media Examiner for Examiner.com.  Her first Internet encounter occurred when she heard AOL's "you've got mail" in 1995. It was love at first click!  A year later, she began working for The Hamilton Securities Group, Inc., an investment bank and financial software firm, where she established an intellectual property protection program for the firm's Internet products and services.  Leeke served as an online content contributor for NetNoir.com's Gospel and Women's Channels from 2001 to 2002. She launched her first blog in 2005 and used social media tools to market her books, Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One (2007) and That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman's Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (available on Amazon.com in December 2009). She is currently writing Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women's Online Revolution (Summer 2010). Leeke enjoys attending blogging conferences such as Blogging While Brown, Fem 2.0, BlogHer, Blogalicious, and SheGeeky. Her blogs include Author Ananda Leeke and kg yoga life practices. Click here to follow Leeke on Twitter. Watch Ananda Leeke Live!, a UStream channel that features author chats about her books. Take her online yoga classes on Stickam.com and MomTV (beginning November 18). For more information, contact Leeke at kiamshaleeke@yahoo.com.