8th Annual Blogging While Brown Conference (June 19-20, 2015)

'Villagers' are encouraged to mark your calendars with an eye towards attending the 8th Annual Blogging While Brown conference on June 19-20, 2015 in Austin, TX. Austin is a thriving tech-centric city and is where the Blogging While Brown operation is headquartered. Early registration will open soon.

For information about sponsoring Blogging While Brown 2015, email Joi Gamble, director of Brand Partnerships at sponsorships@bloggingwhilebrown.com.

6th Annual Blogging While Brown Conference - New York City, June 21-22, 2013

The 6th Annual Blogging While Brown Conference will be in New York City, June 21-22, 2013.

Registration for the conference opens January 1, 2013.

If you would like to be a speaker at the conference, the Call for Ideas will open on January 15th and will likely close on February 1st.

Conference Location: Conference keynotes, workshops and panels will take place at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

515 Malcolm X Boulevard
New York, NY 10037-1801
Tentative Conference Schedule: The pre-conference business of blogging session will open on Friday morning and end on Friday afternoon. Blogging While Brown events will begin Friday evening and go all day on Saturday. Typically, there is an informal Sunday brunch for people waiting to catch their flights home. There will likely be informal social events on Thursday evening as well.

Leading African American Tech Association Announces "Transforming the IT Professional" Conference August 1-4

BDPA, the largest non-profit organization of African American professionals working in or having an interest in the computer science and information technology fields, will make Baltimore, Maryland the home of their 34th Annual National BDPA Technology Conference & Career Fair. The 3-day event will rally the top tier of tech titans with thousands of IT professionals, students and corporate participants for an interactive series of innovative expos and workshops on August 1-4 at the Baltimore Hilton.

"Over the years, the National BDPA Technology Conferences have taken on unique personalities based on the venues in which they were held, as well as the character of their host chapters and leadership team," says Monique Berry, president of BDPA. "Attendees have access to top-notch keynote speakers, topical educational sessions, and a myriad of networking opportunities along with recreation; all in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere."

BDPA was founded in 1975 by Earl Pace and the late David Wimberly as an answer to the lack of black representation in the technology field. Today the organization serves thousands around the globe and boasts a diverse array of members including programmers, analysts, engineers, managers, instructors, and entrepreneurs. The national conference stands as one of the organization's cornerstones, embodying its mission to promote fiscally sound practices and improved productivity, facilitating transformational change within its membership, and contributing added value to the lives of its members as the premier provider of quality content and programs.

In what is slated to be the most highly anticipated and attended BDPA conference to date, attendees will enjoy a combination of new and staple events surrounding the latest technologies and innovation trends. Participants will gain insights and enhance their perspective from keynote speaker and "Cyber Czar," Dr. Ernest McDuffie; partake in a free career fair, preview the newest inventions and products at the technology showcase and have their choice of an assortment of workshops, seminars and panels cultivated to inform, educate and inspire.

You can secure your spot at the 34th Annual National BDPA Technology Conference if you register here.

To learn more about BDPA and the 34th Annual National BDPA Technology Conference please visit http://www.bdpa.org/?page=NationalConference

2011 Women of Color in Technology Awards

One of my favorite people in the world is Tyrone Taborn. His company puts on a number of events to highlight diversity in the information technology industry. One of those events is an annual conference that honors top women in technology. The conference this year was held on November 5, 2011 in Dallas, TX.

Here is the video showing highlights of the conference:





What is your take on diversity conference such as this one?

Blogging While Brown Conference Announces 2010 Speakers

I attended the inaugural Blogging While Brown Conference in Atlanta GA. In fact, I was honored to be one of the seminar speakers at the conference that year. The BWB conference is growing in quality with the following announcement of the speakers for the event later this summer in Washington DC.



The BWB conference takes place in Washington DC on June 18-19, 2010. Are you attending?

Black Blogging Rock Stars [Video]

It has been fun watching the evolution of Blacks in the afrosphere over the past three years. Some of the Black Blogging Rockstars got together for a panel discussion at recent SXSW conference. Enjoy this video of that panel discussion:





What was your biggest 'learning' from the video?

Tavis Smiley Quits on the State of the Black Union

I am glad to see that the annual State of the Black Union (SOBU) conference put together by Tavis Smiley over the past 10 years is over. [SOURCE]

I enjoyed it ... as I did the commentary of Tavis Smiley during the early years. In fact, I worked with Mr. Smiley on a similiar effort, Blacks In Technology, back in the day when I was national president-elect of an organization of Black IT professionals.

SOBU had some remarkable moments, including a rant by civil rights activist Dick Gregory. However, the entire conference ... and Mr. Smiley's reputation began to tank when he started pouting about the fact that Barack Obama wouldn't attend the 2008 SOBU.

It seems that Tavis Smiley has been criticizing Barack Obama on every television appearance since then. Obama was cool enough to appear by videoconference at the SOBU conference held last year.

Anyhow, Smiley apparently plans to spend more time in 2010 publishing the memoirs of R. Kelly.

Seriously?!?

Anyone willing to dig into the sewer of R. Kelly's mind is no longer worthy of serious consideration as an activist or journalist. I suppose that Smiley will continue to be a highly-paid speaker on the circuit of Black conferences, banquets and such. It just seems that he no longer as the respect of the Black community.

What are your thoughts about the end of the State of the Black Union conference? What are your thoughts about Tavis Smiley's future as an activist in the Black community?

Power Conference for African Americans: 'We Are One'

I encourage all villagers to make plans to attend the We Are One Power Conference that will be held in Beaumont TX on November 20-21, 2009.

Compro-Tax and the Triplex African Heritage Society combine the 28th Annual CTI Awards Conference and the 11th Annual Cultural and Economic Summit in this remarkable 2-day conference for conscious people of African descent.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this event is the venue itself. In light of the fact that Black folks constantly discuss the obligations of Black businesses to “give back;” considering the fact that Black folks across this country conduct more meetings than most, in facilities owned by others; and in light of the dearth of Black owned venues in which to hold our conventions and conferences, it is worth noting that this year's conference will be held in the Compro Event Center, the full service, Black designed, Black constructed, Black operated, Black wired for the latest technology, and Black owned convention center.

Yes, my brothers and sisters ... a Black-owned business built a convention center – its own convention center. The Compro Event Center, located in Beaumont, not far from Houston, is the result of the determination and hard work of Compro-Tax Founder, Jackie Mayfield and his partners.

I remember attending a BDPA conference back in the day when Tony Brown admonished Black professionals to postpone some of our events and use the millions of dollars we would save to build hotels and convention meeting places. What if our large organizations had accepted that challenge? By now we would probably own meeting venues in major cities all across this land.

We didn't accept the challenge and now we see many Black organizations struggling financially to pay for hotel services to conduct their annual conferences.

What this company has done should be replicated from coast to coast by other Black owned companies. In order for us to be truly economically empowered we must own more assets, especially those related to the tourism and convention industry.

In any case, I hope that villagers will take a hard look at the wonderful speakers and agenda laid out for this 2-day conference in November. This is not a passive, non-participatory, rhetorical event. It is action-oriented and filled from beginning to end with solutions to the problems we face. Hundreds of conscious individuals attend each year, and villagers, a group of conscious individuals, should be there as well.

2009 BDPA Conference: Early Bird Registration Extended to 4/30/2009

Current information on 2009 BDPA Technology Conference

Can the Afrosphere Survive the Age of Obama?

I have never attended the SXSW conference. However, I did follow the twitter traffic and some of the post-conference discussions from some prominent Black bloggers around the nation. I plan to attend next year.

One of the panel discussions this year had a provocative title: 'Can the Afrosphere Survive the Age of Obama?' Soulclap to Curious Tribe for pointing us to this video in which anel moderator Denise Jacobs shares insights about the panel. Check it out...





I do hope that BDPA technology conferences in the future will include workshops geared towards bloggers. I look for continued growth and maturity of the afrosphere over the coming weeks and months. Groups like the AfroSpear should be an active part of the process.

5th Annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit

The 5th Annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit will be held May 21-24, 2009 at The Phoenician Resort and Spa in Scottsdale Arizona is rapidly approaching. One of my AfroSpear colleagues, Kevin Myles, is an active proponent of this annual conference. Another colleage, African American Political Pundit, attended the conference last year.





The Summit, consisting of informative workshops, interactive panel discussions and general sessions focused on issues that are relevant to your personal and professional development. The NAACP anticipates an attendance of over 400 people, visit the Leadership 500 Summit website for more information and to register.

I'm glad to see the NAACP providing these types of forums. It is nice to see that the NAACP is relevant again!

2009 BDPA Technology Conference (Raleigh, NC)

More details can be found here.

Clutch Magazine Offers Summer Blog Academy

I'm pleased to see more and more Black bloggers taking their craft seriously. Dede Sutton, the sister who runs Clutch Magazine (BBR #17), plans to partner with with Black Web 2.0 (BBR #237 and others to create a summer series that helps her readers learn how to succeed online. The seminar will go over just about every element someone should know when entering the online game. Also, it will hip them to the most up to date trends in social media.
Some of the topics to be discussed in the Summer Blog Academy include:

• How to make money from your blog or website.
• Tactics to increase traffic.
• Learn about social media/marketing in general.
• Learn how to set up, design and maintain your site.

It should be an interesting experience. I plan to participate as a prelude to attending the Blogging While Brown Conference in Atlanta on July 18-20.

Blogging While Brown Conference

I have only been a blogger since January 2007. When I first entered the blogosphere the only blogger that I knew was my sister. Over the past few months I have enjoyed the exchange of ideas with bloggers of all nationalities, politics and geography. With one or two exceptions ... every blogger that I've met has been through my computer screen ... out here in cyberspace.

Perhaps it is time for us to meet face-to-face?!

The 2008 Blogging While Brown conference is my opportunity to meet some of these talented brothers and sisters in the so-called real world. The Electronic Village plans to attend this conference next year. Early Registration is now open for Blogging While Brown 2008. In the spirit of Ujamaa I plan to take advantage of the $100 early registration rate. It will never get less expensive!

The purpose of the event is to give Bloggers of Color an opportunity to meet each other for the first time, discuss current issues affecting Bloggers of Color, and learn about the latest technology that will assist them with publishing their work.

Blogging While Brown was created in response to widespread dissatisfaction with the amount of diversity in some of the largest blogging conferences. A critical mass of Bloggers of Color have yet to attend these established conferences, however the initial response from Bloggers of Color to the idea of holding their own conference has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Bloggers of Color are excited about a conference, for, by and about them and look forward to moving beyond the single panel or discussion focusing on diversity that are typically featured at some of the larger blogging conferences.

The conference is in Atlanta, GA on July 25-27, 2008. The host hotel is the Hilton Atlanta Downtown. Pass this on to your friends and readers.

Those of you that share your village voices by posting comments on the Electronic Village are just as important as I am to the growing success of our online community. As such, this invitation to attend the 2008 Blogging While Brown conference is open to any of the active villagers that come here regularly.

Stay tuned! I understand that the Conference Planning Committee will provide guidelines for workshop suggestions and facilitator proposals in the near future. Get on board now because 2008 will be an amazing year for bloggers! Blogging While Brown is the first international conference for, by, and about Bloggers of Color and the readers who love and comment on them.

Will you be in attendance?

Bring Back BLACK

UPDATE: Many wonder what comes after the Jena March. Emerging Minds argues that it is time to Bring Back BLACK. We shared information on this last month. Are you going?

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Bring Back BLACK is developing and implementing a more effective leadership model that better addresses the needs of African Americans who are disconnected from the mainstream in the USA and across the African Diaspora. This leadership model will address the need for more effective political action, and grassroots economic development that benefits African American communities.

Representatives of the Movement to “Bring Back Black” plans to hold a “Birth-Giving” Convention for a new national organization of Black Nationalists and Pan-Africanists to be named the Nationalist Black Leadership Council. The convention will be held at the Dudley Conference and Retreat Center in Kernersville, North Carolina.

What makes the convention unique and unprecedented is that three national organizations will hold their annual conventions in the same location at the same time. The New MATTAH Movement and the National Black Alliance Network will also hold their annual conventions at the Dudley complex in October 2007.