On the last day of Blogalicious 2010, I recorded a video about my 10/13 Twitter launch of #STB10 #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays. Click on the link to watch the video: http://vimeo.com/15741180.
#STB10 #DigitalSisterhood Wednesdays will give women in social media a weekly opportunity to build and strengthen their communities. Each week women will be encouraged to celebrate and promote their digital sisters by using the #FF (Friday Follow) format to list their digital sisters’ Twitter IDs. Women will also be encouraged to tweet about their digital sisters’ businesses, wisdom, creativity, blogs, Facebook pages, causes, videos, web sites, etc.
#STB10 is a hashtag that refers to Sisterhood the Blog 2010. I developed it to track my Twitter conversations, DC-based focus groups, and online radio shows about her Sisterhood the Blog book project. Sisterhood the Blog is a memoir about my Internet experiences from 1986 to 2011. I include how women on the Internet have influenced and inspired my life. I am using the information collected on Twitter as research for my book project. Click here to learn about the book project and Kickstarter fundraiser: kck.st/avHVlu.
Remember to use the #STB10 and #DigitalSisterhood hashtags on October 13 and every Wednesday thereafter.
Follow me on Twitter to track all of the great #STB10 #DigitalSisterhood sharing on Wednesdays: http://twitter.com/anandaleeke.
One of my favorite Blogalicious 2010 moments was watching CNN journalist Soledad O’Brien use Skype to share her thoughts with conference attendees during the October 10th morning session. Very powerful and funny at times. Click on link to watch the video: http://vimeo.com/15739893.
Blogalicious 2010 was AMAZING! 275 people registered to attend the three-day weekend conference held on October 8 to October 10 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Miami Beach. Yes it was on the beach and the weather was YUMMY! Check me out chill-axing in the lobby of the Ritz (see photo below)! It was relaxing, spa-like, luxurious, and beautiful all day and night long! The Ritz staff was great! I could actually live there! Does it show that I am a Ritz fan and aficionado?
I arrived in Miami on October 7. My flight was a late one. Mis hermanas de alma (soul sisters) Xina Eiland and Kety Esquivel picked me up from the Miami International Airport. The first night Xina and I stayed in the Marriott. We had a free room due to her Marriott points. It had an ocean view. So we slept with the terrace sliding door open to get the Miami Beach energy and ocean sounds all night long. It was juicy and relaxing. The next morning Xina and I got up really early and checked into the Ritz before the first general session of Blogalicious began.
Me and Xina at Blogalicious PM reception on 10/8 - spent afternoon at pool chill-axing!
Mi hermana Kety Esquivel
While sitting in the lobby waiting for the registration desk to open, I used Cinchcast to give a pre-conference audio blog update. Click on link to listen: http://www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/99926. After I finished my audio blog I met one of my favorite bloggers Onica, founder of Europhoria Luv. We chatted for a few minutes before I asked her to do an interview about her blog, why she came to Blogalicious, and her definition of digital sisterhood. Click on link to listen: http://www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/99929.
Me and Onica
Before the general session began I met one of my favorite Twitter digital sisters Jewel of The Tiny Jewel Box. We hit it off immediately and ended up sitting at the same table with Xina during breakfast. During our breakfast conversation, I learned Jewel is a DC native with an amazing sense of humor and style! Jewel allowed me to interview her about her blog and digital sisterhood. Click on link to listen to Jewel’s interview: http://www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/99939.
Me and Jewel, founder of The Tiny Jewel Box
I thoroughly enjoyed the morning sessions on women of color in marketing, networking, and Latinas in social media. The open-mic lunch that Xina and I co-moderated was soulful and filled with digital sisterhood love. Click on link to listen to my audio blog update: http://www.cinchcast.com/anandaleeke/99985.
The first day of Blogalicious was really special because I connected with new friends and reconnected with old friends. See the photos below.
Me and Pam Perry
Me, Carrie, and Monica
Justice Fergie, co-founder of Blogalicious
Justice Ny, co-founder of Blogalicious
Me and Boni
Me and Kimberly, author of The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy and The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit
Xina and I headed to the pool after lunch and chilled out in the warm Miami sun for a few hours. We made it to the evening reception at the Ritz’s beach club. That was a lot of fun! During the reception, Ronnie and Lamar Tyler of BlackandMarried.com interviewed me for their Be Blogalicious documentary. I’m looking forward to seeing the film.
Xina loves Miami and has been many times. So she suggested we walk down the famous Lincoln Road for dinner at Sushi Siam. Yummy yummy yummy! See the photo below.
Me and Xina at Sushi Siam
I ended the evening at Kindred Family Soul’s concert and the Parranda! party. The first day of Blogalicious 2010 was a bloggy blast! Come back later this week for more posts on my Blogalicious 2010 adventures.
I am happy to report I have received $216 in pledges from 12 supporters for my Kickstarter.com Sisterhood the Blog book fundraising project this week. My goal is to raise $500 by December 23. This fundraising project represents the first phase in my Sisterhood the Blog book fundraising efforts. My overall goal is to raise $1,600 by August 31, 2011, to cover the cost of my iUniverse, Inc. publishing fees.
Many thanks to my 12 supporters (see list below) and everyone who has spread the word about myfundraising project. Click here to make a $1-$25 pledge to my fundraising project: http://kck.st/avHVlu.
I honored National Hispanic Heritage Month on October 5 with a conversation about Latinos in Social Media (LATISM) and the Latina Bloguera Survey on my BlogTalkRadio show – Blogatique with Ananda Leeke. My guests were Elianne Ramos, LATISM Vice-Chair, Communications and PR, and Julie Diaz Asper, LATISM Chief Research Officer. Elianne and Julie are mis hermanas de alma (soul sistas!). We met during LATISM’s DC conference in December 2009. We have reconnected at DC events and BlogHer in NYC. Click here to listen to the show (1 hour): http://www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke/2010/10/06/blogatique-with-ananda-leeke-people-passions-polit.
It’s been a busy and juicy week for me. My focus has been on women in social media. Monday night was fantastic because I hosted Sisterhood the Blog Radio’s Talkshoe.com show on how women marry their social justice, social entrepreneurial, and/or nonprofit work with social media. I was joined by a powerful group of nonprofit and social justice digital divas. They included:
Aisha Brown, founder of Global Awareness Project (GAP) Consulting, an international social justice consultancy advocating for the political, social, and economic empowerment of people of color – http://www.globalawarenesspc.com and http://twitter.com/gapconsulting;
Click here to listen to the show (1 hour): http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/42015. Be sure to look for the October 4th audio recording in the Past Episodes archives.
My October started with a blast of women in social media events. On October 3, I moderated Sisterhood the Blog’s focus group on how women marry their social justice, social entrepreneurial, and/or nonprofit work to do good with social media on October 3, 2010, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC. Guest panelists included:
•Megan Pagado, Marketing and events manager for the Arts and Humanities County of Montgomery County, arts advocate, and graphic design “dabbler” – www.creativemoco.com and http://meganpagado.magntize.com;
We had a great time chatting about so many aspects of our work! I learned so many things from these dynamic digital divas. Look for video clips from the focus group in a few weeks. In the meantime, check out the Flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anandaleeke/sets/72157624964368519.
Yesterday I hosted the first Sisterhood the Blog #STB10 Twitter chat on digital sisterhood. It was held from 9:00 pm EST to 10:00 pm EST. What fun! Several women showed up and showed out in a great way. We exchanged our ideas and experiences. Wonderful sharing! Check out the Twitter feed from the chat below.
The Twitter chat was so juicy I decided to host five more chats as a way to collect data for my Sisterhood the Blog book project: http://kck.st/avHVlu. The next #STB10 Twitter chats will be held on November 3, December 1, January 5, February 2, and March 2 from 9:00 pm EST to 10:00 pm EST. Please plan to join me for some digital sisterhood sharing!
deegospel Digital Sisterhood is the kinship between women who share a common interest in how to use technology wisely to advance our world #stb10 about 15 hours ago via web
Cinchcast is an amazing audio blog tool that helps me communicate, connect, and craft my niche as a lawyer-turned author, artist, coach, yoga teacher, and innerpreneur. I started using Cinchcast after hearing Bill Cosby’s Cinch blogs. I figured if Mr. Cosby could use Cinchcast to share his thoughts, wisdom, humor, and good works, I could too. After using Cinchcast for a week, I realized how natural, fun, and easy it was to pick up my smart phone and share my thoughts. I became really excited about the tool when I saw how quickly my Cinchs posted to my Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn pages. That’s when I became an unofficial Cinchcast ambassador and evangelist. In the past year, I have used Cinchcast to:
Provide updates about my creative adventures as an author, artist, coach, yoga teacher, and innerpreneur;
Share my weekly lessons learned and insights from running and practicing yoga, meditation, and Reiki;
Promote my books That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery and Love’s Troubadours – Book One: Karma by reading excerpts that celebrate Black History Month in February, Women’s History Month in March, National Poetry/Jazz Appreciation Month in April, National Black Music Month in June, National Yoga Month in September, and National Arts and Humanities Month in October;
Share information and yoga tips that support health awareness campaigns including Heart Healthy Month in February, National Women’s Health Week in May, National Yoga Month in September, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October;
Live blog with the Blogalicious B-Link DC area bloggers at President Obama’s education reform speech during the National Urban League’s Centennial Conference;
Document my BlogHer 2010 conference experiences and conversations with fellow women bloggers;
Conduct interviews with women in social media at conferences such as Nonprofit 2.0, Blogging While Brown, BlogHer, and local meet ups in the Washington, DC area as research for my book project Sisterhood the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution (December 2011);
Teach my coaching clients how to use the tool to blog on the go, connect with and thank their audience and customers regularly, seek feedback, share information, and highlight peers and industry leaders at meetings and conferences.
I am headed to the Blogalicious 2010 conference in Miami next weekend and plan to live blog with Cinchcast. So look for more Cinchs from me in the coming days!
Ananda Leeke 