When a blogger attends a conference, whether it's one on better blogging or one related to her niche, I believe it's important to set goals in order to really get the most out of the event. Why? Because no conference is perfect and if you're not intentional in your approach you could get caught up the flaws of the event and lose focus on why you came in the first place. 


Last weekend I attended the Fro Fashion Week conference, which is a natural hair and fashion event held twice a year in Atlanta by Naturally Me! Media. I raised by a mother who preached punctuality, so I was a bit annoyed when the morning sessions of the conference didn't start on time neither Saturday nor Sunday. But overall I believe the conference was a good investment for me as a blogger. Here's why:
  
1. Kim Coles.

Most conferences will have at least one celebrity guest. The skirt! Creative Conference I attended this summer didn't have any movie or TV stars but did feature best-selling authors Claire Cook and Emily Giffin, who are certainly celebrities in the world of publishing. Fro Fashion Week's celebrity guest and keynote speaker was actress and natural hair beauty Kim Coles. One of my goals for the weekend was to get a picture with her for my blog GeorgiaMae.com. Not only did I get a picture, but also an inspiring post to go with it, since Coles gave one of the most uplifting talks I've ever heard at a conference. Read all about it here. 


2.  Bloggers, Brands, and Brunch. The conference featured a lunch designed specifically for natural hair bloggers, which is a large part of what I do at Georgia Mae. The lunch was quite informative and I left with tips on how to boost traffic and comments and how to work with brands for giveaways and events. I was especially happy to meet Jess McGuinty of Jessicurl. 

3. Networking. The best bloggers read other blogs. This conference was a great way to meet other bloggers and discover new blogs like Knaps, which has quickly become one of my favorite sites. 

4. Post ideas. I left the conference with long, long list of post ideas. Here's a post on fall accessory trends I published today, one that I wouldn't have thought to do had I not attended this conference. 


5. Free products. 

Who doesn't like free stuff? One reason Fro Fashion Week is a great conference for natural hair bloggers is all the gift bags of free product samples you receive. And if you're lucky (like me) you might even win a prize pack of products from a company like Darcy's Botanicals. Check out my review. 


So if you're a natural hair or fashion blogger, visit the Fro Fashion Week website to learn more about the conference and to decide if you'll be on the scene come spring 2012. 

Elements of Style is a fashion feature of The Writeous Babe Project that showcase some of my favorite looks and accessories and, since we need to be fabulous on a writer's budget, no item featured will cost more than $100. 
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I've received a lot of compliments on the frock I wore to the Fro Fashion Week Penthouse Party featuring Kim Coles. (Read all about my girl crush on Coles here.) So I thought I'd give you all some details on my outfit. 

Denim dress from New York & Company
Vintage clutch from Cherry Bomb in Louisville, Ky (It only cost me 8 bucks!)
Shoes by Michael Shannon 
Ring and earrings from Target

Erin J. Bailey of Scandalous Beauty Blog knows that blogging is hard work. So she's on a mission to help her fellow bloggers with Erin's Guide to Better Beauty Blogging. As part of this, she's offering a challenge next month called 25 Days to a Better Beauty and Fashion Blog. Even though beauty and fashion is just a part of what I do on my blog Georgia Mae I'm signing up because I'm confident the information will be invaluable and adaptable. 

See the link below for more details and to learn how to sign up:

http://scandalousbeautyonline.com/blogchallenge

My quest to leave more meaningful comments on blogs is going well, so well that I keep coming across all these great posts and articles I just have to share with you. So I've decided that each Friday I'll be giving you a list of five must-read posts as well as a highlight or two from my primary blog Georgia Mae. 


Learn how you make $30,000 a year blogging. 


Find out why Jamie of Jamie's Rabbits loves Birmingham and then think about how you can bloom where you've been planted. 


Learn why it's important to not only share your stories, but to hear the stories of others too. 


Consider this: What would you do if you couldn't fail? 


If you're looking for more blogs to follow, check out Jen West's favorite Birmingham blogs. 


And this week on Georgia Mae, I decide to get rid of my scale. Find out why. 

It's time for the women writers of Birmingham to have a ladies' night out, or perhaps a bloggers' night out!

(Yes, men are welcome to drop in too.)

Step away from your computer for a few hours and join See Jane Write for the first Blogger Bash at Wine Loft. Mingle with successful, emerging, and aspiring local women bloggers and play fun networking games for a chance to win incredible prizes such as jewelry by Christy Turnipseed of the Etsy shop LilSeeds and the blog Life of a Turnip, a grab bag from Karri Bentley of Artistry Skin Care & Cosmetics, and a t-shirt from Alison Lewis' Ingredients, Inc. 

Wine Loft will be offering the following specials for our event:

$5 glasses of select wine

$6 Blogtini (you know you love it!)

$10 for half pizza/salad dinner

Click here to RSVP. 

Follow us on Twitter @seejanewritebhm for updates on prizes and more. 

The hashtag for this and all future See Jane Write Birmingham events is #sjwbhm. 

Hope to see you all there. 

See Jane Write Blogger Bash

5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29

Wine Loft, 2200 1st Avenue North

Thursday morning I walked into work and was greeted by a pleasant surprise.


"I didn't know you were writing for Weld!" a co-worker said holding in his hand a copy of the inaugural issue of Weld for Birmingham, a new weekly newspaper in my Magic City. I knew the issue was out and had even received a few text messages from friends about my story but I had yet to get my hands on a copy or even see it online. But I walked into the main office of my school and there was a stack of papers. A grabbed a few (OK, perhaps a bit more than a few) and ran upstairs to my classroom and closed the door. I had less than two minutes before the kiddos would start trickling in, so quickly flipped to pages 24 and 25 and there it was:

My story, titled Going Natural, takes a look at the natural hair trend and how it is taking shape in Birmingham. (Going natural is a phrase we African American women use to describe the decision to stop chemically straightening, or relaxing, our hair.) The primary focus of the story is the emergence of local social groups that are designed to support women on their natural hair journey (and, yes, it is a journey), groups such as Birmingham Natural Beauties and Birmingham Naturalistas.


The cover story for this launch issue of Weld was about big ideas for making Birmingham better. I believe groups like Birmingham Natural Beauties and Birmingham Naturalistas have the power to do just that, to make this city a better place. These groups are uniting women. They are hosting fun and exciting events in a place where people constantly claim "there's nothing to do" and these groups are promoting local businesses such as LeVia's Hair & Body Essentials and Angela's K.I.S.S. All Natural Hair & Skin Products.


But you don't have to be a black woman going natural to be part of something dynamic in Birmingham. This year I have learned about a number of other groups making Birmingham better in various ways. I'm a proud member of the Alabama Social Media Association and Black Girls Run! Birmingham. DISCO is changing the lives of trouble teens with creative writing. There are also great organizations like YP Birmingham and Birmingham Urban League Young Professionals. There's even a Bad Movie Club that meets on the first Monday of the month to watch those films that are so bad they're good like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures.


I could go on and on, but the point is this -- Birmingham is booming with groups of gals and guys who are uniting to make themselves and their city better. And if the group you're looking for doesn't exist, start it!


I'm excited to be part of a group of writers who are ready to find the magic in the Magic City and share incredible stories in this new publication. I am ready to Weld for Birmingham.

Each month here at The Writeous Babe Project, I am going to give myself some sort of writing or blogging challenge and my hope is that you will join me in a few of them. 


This month is the comment challenge. I got this idea from one of my favorite websites Independent Fashion Bloggers. Their comment challenge was inspired by Amy at Wolf Whistle  who last October set a goal of leaving 500 blog comments during the month. 


Uh, I'm not doing that. 


But I figured that committing to leaving 60 comments this month (that's just two comments a day) would be a manageable goal but still a meaningful one. 


One rule I'm setting for this is the comments must be thoughtful. So saying "Nice post" (which you blogger know you all hate) will not cut it. 


Commenting on posts is a great way to support and encourage your follow bloggers and believe or not you get something out of it too. Commenting can help get your name out there and if nothing else committing to leaving more comments will force you to read more blogs, something every good blogger should do.


So I hope you will join me. Once a week I'll update you on my progress and even share links to some of the great posts I've discovered along the way.