Fashion, House of Moruka Handbags, Natural Hair, Lifestyle, Events: RECAP: Blogging While Brown 2014

Friday June 27th & 28th marked the 7th annual Blogging While Brown Conference which was founded by the awesome Gina McCauley. It took place at the Schomberg Center for African American Research in Harlem, NYC. This was my first time attending(after a couple of failed attempts). It was a two day conference with a pre-conference session from about 8am to 3pm on Friday. The conference started at 4pm on Friday and continued through Saturday(8am to 6pm). Breakfast and lunch were provided on Saturday along with an after party on each day at Aloft Hotel in Harlem, NYC.

Now let's get down to business. I don't have notes for everything so I'm sharing what I can in no particular order. (I may do a part 2 when I get my other notes together)

"YEEZY TAUGHT US"

What did Yeezy teach us? Well, that you can do what you want to as long as you set your mind to it. Will Hatcher and Sheively Buisson took us through moments in Kanye West's life where his "genius" was portrayed and highlighted the fact that every time he said he was going to do something great, he would actually accomplish it. Because he has great confidence in himself, he refuses to settle for what society thinks he should be like. I can dig it. I totally get where they are coming from and I can feel their passion. (I wish I was able to catch the whole class, I only caught half.) So if you want to be the greatest blogger in the whole damn universe or become an authority in your niche take the steps necessary and follow through. Get yo blog life!!

"YOU CAN'T BE SOCIAL WITHOUT MOBILE FIRST"

Kristin Bolton-Keys and Alicia Dixon taught us about the importance of having a responsive blog template. Most people are viewing blogs from their smart phones and tablets. If your template doesn't play well with these platforms i.e. slow loading, jumbled, unresponsive comment system; you can lose out on valuable engagement with readers. Here are some websites they gave us to check for responsiveness as well as some other gems:

"FAITH IN A MOBILE WORLD"

Host:

Jason Caston, Technology and Social Media Director of T.D. Jakes Ministries.

Co-hosts:

L. Michelle Smith, AT&T U.S. Diversity Corporate Communications

Chip Dizard, Ministry Multimedia Expert

Tiffani Robinson, Digital and Social Expert

This talk was based on using social media in the church. When is it appropriate to use it? How has it positively or negatively impacted churches? Where do we draw the line? At first it was frowned upon to be on your phone during church but now it's OK to take out your phone and tweet something awesome and inspirational that your pastor just said. Also there was talk of live streaming services, having a website, paying tithes electronically, reading the bible from an app on your phone or tablet as opposed to a hard copy bible, among other things. One blogger in the Q&A session who controls the social media for her church said that some of the members decided to do a Harlem Shake video that ended up going viral. The general theme was that social media has been great for churches but there are some things that need to be addressed over time, like when does the sharing become too much? I really enjoyed this discussion because we tend to mostly only think of social media as it applies to the secular world when it is actually just as relevant in the church.

"FAITH IN A MOBILE WORLD"

"TECHNOLOGY KEYNOTE"
by Markus Robinson of Interactive One

More pics!!

@PersonalBravery

@IWannaBeFierce

@IMKJR

April - Moruka Designs giveaway winner who just happened to also be attending BWB.

Adanna Dill - http://www.rattlesandheels.com/

@CurlsandMo taking photos

What I wore:
Hair: blown out braid out
Blazer: F21
Top: DIY
Jeans: Joyce Leslie
Shoes: DSW

So that's it! Did you attend BWB this year?
If not, what year did you attend?
What other blogger conferences have you attended in the past?
Are you attending any this year?