Recap of Blogalicious DC Meetup: Creating Your Digital Footprint

The second Blogalicious DC Meetup was another great event. Our speakers, Terri Holley, Scrappin’ Michele,ProMomBlogger and moderator Ananda Leeke shared advice, tips and priceless information on Creating Your Digital Footprint with our enthusiastic audience. Everyone in attendance also received an impromptu tutorial on Foursquare 101! The discussion was so lively and informative that we quickly ran out of time. These ladies were so energized to continue the conversation that they took to the sidewalk to chat…Next time we’ll have to plan for an afterparty!

Thanks to the Washington, DC Economic Partnership for lending us their swank space for our event, as well as to Niambi Jarvis and the DC Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives, and Food Arts DC for the delectable refreshments.

If you missed the event, don’t worry – you can check out photos here.

Stay tuned for a meetup in your neck of the woods soon!

Trends in Social Media

We're in the thick of crafting our conference program for Blogalicious Weekend 2010 and we're curious to hear what you think are the hot trends right now in social media. Is it personal branding? Is it mobile? Is it {still} Twitter? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

Calling All Editorialistas!

Blogalicious is currently looking for blog editors to write for it's soon-to-be-launched lifestyle destination site:My Blogalicious. The My Blogalicious opinion, entertainment and news site will feature columns on a variety of topics including: Politics, Relationships, Food, Style, Parenting, Home, Entertainment and Travel (just to name a few!) We ask for a minimum of 2 posts a week on your topic of expertise.

Applicants should have a minimum of 90 days consecutive blogging experience either on the topic or somehow related to the topic.

We are looking for bloggers who are passionate about their topic, who love to blog, and who will commit the time necessary to establish My Blogalicious as a "go-to" site for what's interesting to women of color on the web.

At this time this opportunity is unpaid, but you will continue to gain experience and gain critical exposure as an expert in your field.

If this sounds like you, then send us a completed application to info@blogaliciousweekend.com.

Using Social Media for Good

For anyone on Twitter today, the message is clear: #HELPHAITI.

I logged in expecting to see a few tweets about the tragic earthquake and was immediately taken aback that #HelpHaiti and #TextYele and #Port-Au-Prince and #RedCross are all trending topics. This, this, is where the power of social media really shines through. My heart was warmed to see the support that Yele Haiti, Wyclef Jean's Haitian Relief Organization, is receiving. Mamalaw has long been a supporter of Wyclef and this great organization and we keep the Yele button on our blog to spread the word to all of our visitors. His plea for everyone to donate $5 by simply sending a text is being re-tweeted like wildfire.


The country of Haiti is near and dear to our hearts. Justice Jonesie's family comes from Haiti and she still has several family members that live there. In fact, she just returned from visiting Haiti for the holidays less than 2 weeks ago. My mother volunteers with Project Medishare for Haiti and frequently makes trip to the island to help the poorest of people. I often hang up the phone after our conversations in tears after listening to her describe the sad scenes and unthinkable conditions that she'd witnessed. In short, Haiti is special to us.

And how amazing to see that Haiti is important to the Twitter community too. Our very own Blogalicious supporter @LuvvieIG has rallied her blogging community to generate support for Haiti by challenging everyone to place the Yele Haiti banner on their blogs and to donate both money and clothing to Haitians in need.


Blogalicious Weekend will be donating $.25 to the people of Haiti for each Twitter follower that we have. The mobilization and charitable support for Haiti on Twitter and the blogs today is amazing. And really embodies the essence of social media: Community.


We encourage our community to spread the word about the various ways to donate and to keep the earthquake victims in their thoughts and hearts.


A word to the wise: Don't take your social media influence lightly. With a quick re-tweet on Twitter, a short status update on Facebook or a meaningful post on your blog, you can make a difference in the lives of people hundreds of thousands of miles away. That's the real beauty of social media.

We need your input, please

Planning a conference is not as easy as it seems! There are so many details and so many choices and it's a little daunting that one misguided decision could affect many things. Fortunately, there weren't too many poor choices for Blogalicious 2009 (we hope you would agree).

As we embark on Blogalicious 2010 we are once again reminded of the many, many choices that go along with this process. We narrowed down the city to Miami with ease and I think we are all pretty comfortable with that choice. I mean, c'mon, its Miami - sun, sand and fun; what more could we ask for?

Onto the next big decision - the hotel. Do we want posh and hot or laid back and relaxed, mid city or beach front, fancy guest rooms or great amenities. Granted, it would be fabulous if we could wave a magic wand and get it all, but the truth of the matter is that it's just not that easy.

We visited Miami this weekend in search of the perfect place to host Blogalicious 2010. For us, the accommodations and vibe have to be just right because we want the best for you. We want you to enjoy your experience so we are considering many options. But, we have safely narrowed the choice to a couple hotels, BUT we want your input.

Help us choose the RIGHT hotel. Here are the specs:

Downtown - moderately priced; fantastic rooms with lots of hi-tech gadgets; great in-hotel amenities; posh and sleek; Biscayne Bay views; walking distance to shops, dining and the Bay; a 10-minute ride to South Beach.

Beachfront - moderately priced; plush and spacious rooms; beautiful beach views from rooms; beachfront resort; laid back; family amenities; great outdoor facilities; North Miami Beach; convenient shuttle rides to South Beach and superb shopping.

Tell us what you want your experience to be. Please leave us a comment AND vote. Voting closes on December 12th, and we're looking forward to your feedback.

McDonald's releases “Meet the Mom Blogger Series” on MOMTV filmed at Blogalicious 2009

Watch Blogalicious 2009 attendees on MomTV as they support Ronald McDonald House Charities’ (RMHC) commitment to children, their families and to making the world a better and more caring place. The on-site interviews sponsored by RMHC were conducted by Maria Bailey, CEO of BSM Media. Ms. Bailey views the interviews as "an example of engaging moms in a 2.0 way that creates a relevant dialogue and allow these moms to continue the conversation." Ms. Bailey spoke with influential women bloggers of color such as novelist, Denene Millner of My Brown Baby, and Ms. Latina of Latina on a Mission about their perspective on mom blogging.

For 35 years, RMHC has supported programs that directly improve the health and well being of children by providing a bridge to quality health care. With the approach of McHappy Day on November 20, RMHC is endeavoring to spread the word about the Charity using social media. On Facebook, fans can download the “Give a Hand® for Ronald McDonald House Charities” online widget application, and McDonald’s will donate $1 for each of the first 35,000 Hands shared online. Followers can link to the RMHC web site, or follow the Charity on Twitter using the #McHappyDay hash tag.

Marketing to women of color

At the Town Hall Discussion "Marketing to Women of Color - The Real Deal" our spectacular and gracious moderator, Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, shared some mind-blowing statistics with us about the spending power of women of color. Funny thing is that we all had an inclination about this information already, but actually hearing it in the aggregate was powerful and truly showed the power of women in the marketplace. With her permission, we are pleased to share these statistics with you.

Our hope is that you take note of your power and more importantly of our power as a group. Let your voice be heard and share the news that we are a strong force in the marketplace.

• Latina, Black, Asian, Native American and Middle Eastern women of color control 85% or more of all purchase decisions made today. WomenEntreprenuer Magazine labels this distinct and unique group of women as "multi-influential" because they reach so many demographics.
• By 2010 the buying power of women of color will reach $1.2 trillion, a 20% increase from 2007.
• There are 54 million women of color currently living in the United States and they are responsible for the purchases of 1.5 million new cars and trucks, 90% of all vacation and travel plans and more than 80% of pharmaceutical decisions.
• In contrast to some misleading stereotypes, women of color are big consumers of online technology from social networking, blogging, search optimization, and email. Women of color currently represent the largest group of all new technology users which is a position they are projected to keep for years to come.
• Multi-influential women of color are the fastest-growing economic sector in the entrepreneurial markets.
• The 2.4 million businesses in this country owned by women of color generate $230 billion in gross sales receipts and employ 1.6 million workers.
• They are a highly networked, influential and motivated group of successful women who are quick to recommend another company, brand, service and prospect if they believe it offers value.
• Gaining their trust as a customer and as a supplier of your goods will pay huge dividends.
• According to Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women by Delia Passi, A woman will refer up to 26 individuals to a company, product or service if she is happy with her experience compared to a man who will only refer an average of 11 people even with the highest degree of satisfaction.

Source for information:
Muley, Miriam. “Introducing the Multi-Influential Women of Color.” WomenEntreprenuer.com. WomenEntrepreneur Mag., 7 Sept. 2009. 5 Oct. 2009. http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2009/09/introducing-the-multi-influential-women-of-color.html
Muley, Miriam. “Tap Multi-Influential Referral Power.” WomenEntrepreneur.com. WomenEntrepreneur Mag., 29 Sept. 2009. 5 Oct. 2009. http://www.womenentrepreneur.com/2009/09/tap-multi-influential-referral-power.html
Information presented by Cheryl Mayberry McKissack, CEO of Nia Enterprises, LLC, www.niaenterprises.com blog: www.girlgetmestarted.com, online community: www.niaonline.com

Blogalicious on The Chatterbox Show

The Mamalaw ladies (the founders of Blogalicious) will be live on The Chatterbox Show tomorrow, Monday 9/14 at 10am EST. If you have questions or comments about the conference, or just want to call-in and let us know how excited you are, we'd love to talk with you.

The show, hosted by Chatterbox Christie, is called:

Blogalicious 09: Everything You Wanted to Know (but were afraid to ask)

And while we hope that you do call-in with questions for us, we want you to know that we are always accessible to you. We created this conference for you and we've tried our best to listen to your ideas and concerns and incorporate them into our conference planning.

So, we look forward to chatting with you tomorrow. But if you want to reach out to us off-air, please feel free to Tweet or Email us anytime.

On Twitter:
@blogalicious09
@justicefergie
@justicejonesie
@justiceny

Email:
info@blogaliciousweekend.com
contactus@blogaliciousweekend.com

Sincerely,
Justice Fergie, Justice Jonesie & Justice Ny

Join The Blogalicious Message Board

We hear you... The Blogalicious blog is great for updates and news, but you want to be able to connect with other bloggers planning to attend the conference. Piece of cake! Hop on over to the Blogalicious 2009 message board on BigTent and make yourself at home. You'll be able to look for a roommate, ask questions, and dish about all things Blogalicious. Sign-up is easy and free.

The Official Blogalicious Conference Program: Get In!

Don't miss this unique opportunity to reach an audience of smart, powerful and diverse women who have a penchant for spreading the word about businesses, products and services that appeal to them! Unlike other conferences, by placing an ad in the Official Blogalicious Conference Program, you're not only promoting your "gig" to the conference crowd, but, should you make an impression on them and they give you a mention on their blogs, you'll also be reaching their widespread blog audiences too.

We don't want you to feel limited to advertising a business though. If you want to increase your blog's readership, drive traffic to your online portfolio, or simply announce your arrival to the blogosphere, there is no better way!

Conference Program Advertising Specifications:

Full-Page ad: $400 (B&W) $600 (Color)

Half-Page ad: $200 (B&W) $300 (Color)

Quarter-Page ad: $50 (B&W) $100 (Color)

Business Card ad: $20 (B&W) $30 (Color)

There's an option for everyone!

Email us at: info@blogaliciousweekend.com to place your ad today.

Deadline is September 13, 2009.

People's Choice Panel - Extended

Now that BlogHer is over we can once again focus our attention on Blogalicious and on making sure that this conference rocks! We promised to plan this conference with you in mind and we are doing our best to make sure that there are many interactive opportunities - because, really, how bored will you be if all you did was sit at a conference and listen (or should I say sleep)?

We want to make sure that you get everything you want out of this conference and we therefore announced the People Choice Panel. But as I mentioned our energies were a bit diverted, as were yours, I'm sure, so we've extended the submission deadline for the PCP to August 16th. We also thought that you'll have better perspective on what you want to see and talk about post-BlogHer.

So...here's how it works. The PCP is a panel voted upon by you. Tell us what topic you want to hear, who you want to speak on it (if you have a preference or an idea), and we’ll put your choice up for vote.

Here’s what you have to do: 1) What’s not on our agenda that you think we should include? In a few sentences, tell us what this panel will be about. 2) Do you have any recommendations on who you think should speak on this topic? 3) Submit your proposed panel to us by August 16th. Submissions should be sent to justiceny@blogaliciousweekend.com. We will put all proposals up for vote and let the people decide.

So...let's get it rolling ladies!

Congrats to Penny Pinching Diva!

Our very own Blogalicious Media Correspondent, and thifty blogger extraordinaire, Shynea Hunter aka Penny Pinching Diva is featured as The Coupon Queen in this month's Essence magazine (you know - the one with a smoldering Idris Elba on the cover!) Shynea offers tips and tricks of the trade on how to get the most for your hard-earned money.

Congratulations Shynea!!

Catch the Penny Pinching Diva in person, live on the purple carpet at Blogalicious 2009.

But I'm a White Girl. Can I Still Come?

Why are people so excited about Blogalicious? What makes it so special? We think that it's because it is the very first event of its kind. Women bloggers of color have generally been ignored in the social media space or given short-shrift by marketers reaching out to bloggers and at other blog conferences. Enter Blogalicious 2009.

This event will be an outlet for attendees to voice their feelings and opinions; a place to share hopes and dreams; an opportunity to learn from one another about everything social media. The conference offers a getaway that combines all of the things that you love about blogging with the added element of face-to-face interactions and the intimacy of IRL relationships.

And the great thing about Bloglacious is that women of all backgrounds are excited about its mission and purpose. We think that's fantastic and we welcome participation from women bloggers of all colors. Really. We've been getting email after email asking: "I'm really excited about Blogalicious, but...I'm a white girl. Can I still come?" The answer is absolutely. We want diversity in the blogosphere, in the marketing world, and certainly at our conference. So come on down to Atlanta and join us! You'll be spending time with a group of welcoming women of all shades, all ages, all backgrounds and all levels of blogging expertise.

And please don't worry about how pale you are (this was actually raised in one of the emails we got) and instead, get to worrying about how you're gonna handle all the fun you're gonna have.

One caveat: We want Blogalicious to be a comfortable place for open and frank discussion for all, so if you're shy, don't apply!

Blogalicious 2009: Weekly Wrap-Up

And so concludes another fabulous week...

First, we had the pleasure of adding Burger King and Care4Hire.com to our fast-growing list of event sponsors!

Then, we announced a special conference registration discount code for MamaLaw readers. [FYI - there is just under 2 months left to go before the Early Bird registration closes, so don't delay and register today!]

Also, the love you all have been showing us on the web has been amazing!

• The support for Blogalicious 2009 on Twitter has taken off! We're so excited that so many people want to stay up to date on what we're doing.
  
• We would also like to give a shout out to Angry Asian Man, Blaq Vixen Beauty, and Bilingual in the Boonies for getting the word out to their readers about our event. If you would like to write about Blogalicious 2009 (or if you already have!) please, please let us know so that we can share the love with you too.

Finally, thank you for all of your ideas, suggestions and offers to help make this conference sensational! This week we'd like to give special thanks to Christie & Wifey at The Blogrollers, StyleMom, and Sandie at Urban Mama for bringing their rockin' ideas to us. Have an idea? A suggestion? A request? Let us know. When we say that Blogalicious 2009 is being designed especially for you, we really mean it!

Be Blogalicious!

Ask Suze Orman!

The Blogalicious 2009 and MamaLaw ladies have been invited to participate in Avon’s Exclusive Blogger Audiocast Hosted by Personal Finance Expert Suze Orman, tomorrow! During the audiocast, we'll have the opportunity to ask Suze (as if we're on a first-name basis) questions about women starting businesses in this economy. We're asking our readers for any questions that you would like us to ask Suze and we'll do our best to make sure you're heard! So...if you could ask this finance and media queen a question about succeeding in business, what would you ask?

Deadline to leave your question in the comments is 9am EST on April 23rd. Sorry for the short notice, but we just found out ourselves!