Blogalicious and Baby Dolls

I just returned from Atlanta where all the service people were so friendly it almost seemed like they pitied me. I kept looking down to see whether I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe, or a T-shirt on that said, “My Cat Just Died.”

I was there to speak at Blogalicious. It’s a multi-cultural conference for women in social media run by my friend Stacey Fergusen. (I’ve mentioned Stacey before, she’s the one who’s learning ASL so she can better communicate with her deaf sister).

The conference was amazing, so many pro-bloggers I’d never met before. It was like that dream where you discover a room in your apartment you didn’t know was there, “This has been here the whole time? We could have been having so many parties!”

I was on a keynote panel with five other bloggers — Patrice Grell Yursik of Afrobella, Shameeka Ayers of The Broke Socialite, Luvvie Ajayi of Awesomely Luvvie, Denene Millner of My Brown Baby, and Lamar Tyler of Black and Married with Kids. (Hi, guys!)

I was semi-terrified getting on stage because I’m used to knowing all the other panelists and 3/4 of the audience at these conferences, but everyone was so welcoming and friendly. (They must have heard the rumor about the cat.) We talked about how we got where we are in our careers, obstacles, and future plans.

At the end Stacey asked us to share a goal, so I mentioned that I wanted to help Rebecca Crump, who’s a Go Mighty member. Rebecca wants to donate 100 brown baby dolls in honor of her grandmother who made her an “adoption doll” for Christmas when her parents couldn’t swing a Cabbage Patch Kid.

It’s one of my favorite goals on Go Mighty right now, and she’s up to eighty dolls. (Technically eighty three, because I just ordered three.) So if you want to help push her over the top, you can order a doll from her Amazon wish list right here.

Do it for the children! Also to further terrify anyone who needs to use Rebecca’s guest room between now and Christmas.

Right before we spoke, Amy DuBois Barnett of Ebony magazine gave an excellent keynote speech, and my brain has been chewing on it. More on that tomorrow.

Photo from the Blogalicious web site.