I didn't get around to snapping photos of my new friends. The Pine Sol girls will have to do for now.
This is my third day home from the BlogHer ’11 Conference in San Diego, and I am still measuring days by how long it’s been since the convention ended. Speakers, meetings, parties and swag aside, one of the most exciting parts of gathering 3600 women who blog in one place is the fact that there were bound to be other bloggers interested in the same things as me: Asian culture, Hapa identity, parenting, education, and of course– food to feed those families.
I admit, I was walking through the convention center looking for other Asian bloggers. Some of them I even managed to sit next to and chat with, such as: Lilian Chiang from Chinese Grandma, Siel Ju from Green LA Girl (and BlogHer Green Editor), Anita Sarah Jackson from MomsRising, Cynthia Liu from K-12 News Network, and Thara Narayan Pillai from Rebel Mom.
Those are just a few whose names and cards are handy. And there were many more who I spied across the room and wanted to meet, but didn’t get the chance to. And there are many bloggers who I know would have loved to attend, but couldn’t.
Not all Asians blog about being Asian (or Hapa). And contrary belief, we don’t all blog about food, either! Or maybe we blog about a little bit of all of the above. I was most inspired by a sentiment that came up over and over during the conference — by Cheryl Contee’s during the International Activists session, Jose Antonio Vargas’ during the Immigration panel discussion, or the awesome trio of Carol Jenkins, Fatemeh Fakhraie, and Ricki Lake during the closing keynote– to the effect that: even if you mainly blog about cupcakes or fashion, you can still write about substantive issues that can generate meaningful discussion.
Because I’m still walking on air from all the camaraderie and girl power of this weekend, I’m going to compile a directory of Hapa Mama bloggers, so we can share and support each other. And… have a meetup at BlogHer ’12 in New York!
Contact me with your name, blog and a little about yourself if you’d like to be part of the fun.
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I would have loved to have met you. I have to admit I was looking for asian bloggers too. Thanks for adding me to the list. While I don’t specifically blog about Asian issues there are many topics I plan to explore. I’m a 1st gen chinese american raising 2 hapa (chinese/jewish) children.
Wish we could have met, Angela! I’ll follow your blog and look forward to your hearing about your experiences raising a Chinese/Jewish family. BlogHer ’12, right?
grace – so glad we met in san diego. love to see my asian sistahs, and even better from the bay area! you’re getting me excited about blogher ’12…i’m also a sucker for nyc, so i hope i can make it work. we can round up an asian-american birds of a feather meet-up – that would be awesome.
btw, at blogher i also met the lovely (and asian) tricia from no ugly duckling – she blogs about beauty and fashion in LA and is a sweetheart.
So glad to meet you, too! I was actually thinking about organizing an Asian American Birds of a Feather meet-up, but just ran out of steam at the last minute. Next time, right?