This Is So Much Bigger Than We Realize
By Valencia Roner
While you may not immediately take note of the hundreds of bloggers gathering in Atlanta this weekend, a closer inspection should peak your interest.
That’s because the 1st Annual “Blogging While Brown” conference July 25-27 at the Georgia World Congress Center will launch what many believe is yet another milestone in blacks both in the United States and abroad collectively flexing their “online” muscle.
How much of this is due to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s phenomenal success mobilizing donors and volunteers with just a click of a mouse remains to be seen. But in a USA Today article discussing the recent Radio One study about African Americans, the so-called digital divide that previously was leaving behind minorities and others without Internet access has narrowed greatly. About 68% of blacks spend time online, the survey found, compared with 70% of all Americans, according to other surveys.
Gina McCauley, founder of What About Our Daughters was instrumental in organizing the historic international event and is ecstatic about the unprecedented gathering of individuals already perched atop prime cyber real estate.
"The Internet is a Wild Wild West and we don't have to go through the NAACP," says McCauley, a 30-something personal injury attorney hailing from Austin, Texas. Along with other bloggers who regularly post commentary or video about politics, alternative lifestyles, entertainment, sports and culture, McCauley is among a small cadre of blacks who have mastered the intricate dance of pursuing social change through advertiser supported social networking.
With an intensity that caught Essence Magazine’s eye and resulted in McCauley being named one of the publication’s Top 25 Black Women of 2007, Gina has become the “go to sister” on issues “sisters” want to dissect and take on.
And she’s not alone. Arlene Fenton of Black Women Vote has also emerged as someone to watch who will be at the “Blogging While Brown” conference. A regular guest on NPR’s News & Notes with Farai Chideya, Fenton has even branched into producing and hosting her own Internet radio show, “The Queen’s Council.”
Kevin Ross is traveling from Los Angeles to speak on one of the panels entitled “Can
New Media Work with the Old Guard and Old Media?” Establishing his company 3BAAS Media Group after he and his business associates started blogging at 3 Brothers And A Sister, the former judge and terrestrial radio host turned strategic marketing CEO understands that networking is a prime motivation for many attending. But for Ross, it’s also about finally meeting individuals with whom he has corresponded, or whose blogs he enjoys reading.
“I really like Electronic Village, Dallas South and even the gossip site Necole Bitchie,” said Ross. “These folks are intelligent, highly sophisticated entrepreneurs who are blazing a trail for other blacks who still have no idea as to the opportunities available on the Web.”
While Ross is planning to give a full debriefing of the conference on his popular Blogtalkradio program after it’s over, Shwana Ruth-Bridges, a talented corporate attorney blogger who goes by Attorneymom, will be broadcasting live.
And one of the highlights of this 3-day landmark event will be the technology keynote by Angela Conyers-Benton and Markus Robinson of Black Web 2.0 Their “Ultimate Blog Experience” workshop will help minority blog publishers enhance the functionality and appearance of their blog, implement traffic building strategies, utilize widgets to their advantage, and develop engaging content.
In the comment section of the conference’s blog, one attendee with the initials WD put it this way, “Looking forward to this event! Finally hooking up with tech/blog crazed brown people, lol. Let’s have fun and serious discussions and leave the ‘egos’ home--You know what I'm saying…”
If we don’t, it probably won’t be long before we’re all reading about or watching it at WD’s blog.
It’s name?
Black Internet Television!
Valencia Roner serves as Vice President of Operations for 3BAAS Media Group, LLC. She writes for the blogs Diary of a Content Black Woman, Three Brothers and a Sister, and No Cream, No Sugar. Valencia also hosts the Content Black Woman Show on BlogTalkRadio and will serve as a moderator for one of the Blogging While Brown panels.
By Valencia Roner
While you may not immediately take note of the hundreds of bloggers gathering in Atlanta this weekend, a closer inspection should peak your interest.
That’s because the 1st Annual “Blogging While Brown” conference July 25-27 at the Georgia World Congress Center will launch what many believe is yet another milestone in blacks both in the United States and abroad collectively flexing their “online” muscle.
How much of this is due to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s phenomenal success mobilizing donors and volunteers with just a click of a mouse remains to be seen. But in a USA Today article discussing the recent Radio One study about African Americans, the so-called digital divide that previously was leaving behind minorities and others without Internet access has narrowed greatly. About 68% of blacks spend time online, the survey found, compared with 70% of all Americans, according to other surveys.
Gina McCauley, founder of What About Our Daughters was instrumental in organizing the historic international event and is ecstatic about the unprecedented gathering of individuals already perched atop prime cyber real estate."The Internet is a Wild Wild West and we don't have to go through the NAACP," says McCauley, a 30-something personal injury attorney hailing from Austin, Texas. Along with other bloggers who regularly post commentary or video about politics, alternative lifestyles, entertainment, sports and culture, McCauley is among a small cadre of blacks who have mastered the intricate dance of pursuing social change through advertiser supported social networking.
With an intensity that caught Essence Magazine’s eye and resulted in McCauley being named one of the publication’s Top 25 Black Women of 2007, Gina has become the “go to sister” on issues “sisters” want to dissect and take on.
And she’s not alone. Arlene Fenton of Black Women Vote has also emerged as someone to watch who will be at the “Blogging While Brown” conference. A regular guest on NPR’s News & Notes with Farai Chideya, Fenton has even branched into producing and hosting her own Internet radio show, “The Queen’s Council.”
Kevin Ross is traveling from Los Angeles to speak on one of the panels entitled “Can
New Media Work with the Old Guard and Old Media?” Establishing his company 3BAAS Media Group after he and his business associates started blogging at 3 Brothers And A Sister, the former judge and terrestrial radio host turned strategic marketing CEO understands that networking is a prime motivation for many attending. But for Ross, it’s also about finally meeting individuals with whom he has corresponded, or whose blogs he enjoys reading.
“I really like Electronic Village, Dallas South and even the gossip site Necole Bitchie,” said Ross. “These folks are intelligent, highly sophisticated entrepreneurs who are blazing a trail for other blacks who still have no idea as to the opportunities available on the Web.”While Ross is planning to give a full debriefing of the conference on his popular Blogtalkradio program after it’s over, Shwana Ruth-Bridges, a talented corporate attorney blogger who goes by Attorneymom, will be broadcasting live.
And one of the highlights of this 3-day landmark event will be the technology keynote by Angela Conyers-Benton and Markus Robinson of Black Web 2.0 Their “Ultimate Blog Experience” workshop will help minority blog publishers enhance the functionality and appearance of their blog, implement traffic building strategies, utilize widgets to their advantage, and develop engaging content.
In the comment section of the conference’s blog, one attendee with the initials WD put it this way, “Looking forward to this event! Finally hooking up with tech/blog crazed brown people, lol. Let’s have fun and serious discussions and leave the ‘egos’ home--You know what I'm saying…”
If we don’t, it probably won’t be long before we’re all reading about or watching it at WD’s blog.
It’s name?
Black Internet Television!
Valencia Roner serves as Vice President of Operations for 3BAAS Media Group, LLC. She writes for the blogs Diary of a Content Black Woman, Three Brothers and a Sister, and No Cream, No Sugar. Valencia also hosts the Content Black Woman Show on BlogTalkRadio and will serve as a moderator for one of the Blogging While Brown panels.