If you missed See Jane Tweet last night log on to Twitter and search for tweets with the hashtag #seejanetweet (and a few are under #seejanewrite because I shouldn’t have been drinking wine while tweeting) for some of the words of wisdom Erin Shaw Street and Kristen Record Heptinstall shared with our attendees. Or just click here!
Month: May 2011
Where Two or Three Gather
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| That’s me with our amazing speakers Erin Shaw Street and Kristen Record Heptinstall |
I am a fiercely independent person. My parents raised me to be that way and I’m grateful for that upbringing because I believe I owe much of my success to it. But sometimes being Ms. Independent brings trouble, or stress headaches at least. Too often I take on huge projects and refuse to ask for help. Even when I’m drowning I won’t scream for a life jacket.
Earlier this year I decided I wanted to begin to make a difference in Birmingham, though at the time I wasn’t really sure what that would look like. Eventually I decided to start See Jane Write, a networking group for women writers in Birmingham. This time I’m not going to make the mistake of trying to do it all on my own.
Last night See Jane Write had its second event: See Jane Tweet, which was a seminar designed to teach women writers how they can use Twitter and other social media tools to promote their work and connect with other writers. The event, held at Matthew’s Bar & Grill, was a huge success and it couldn’t have been without the help of other women. Erin Shaw Street and Kristen Record Heptinstall were amazing speakers who kept the audience engaged, encouraged an interactive atmosphere, and filled us all with their web wisdom. And many of the attendees were there because other people helped me spread the word.
After the seminar I had a chat with Keisa Sharpe, publisher of the website TheNaturalHairDiva.com, about the importance of collaboration. Writing for her website, for example, has brought more traffic to my blog. But this is about something much greater than self-promotion. If I’m going to transform Birmingham into the kind of city that nurtures and supports creative and ambitious women, I need the the help of other creative and ambitious women in town. I need also the help of men who share this vision, men like Wade Kwon, who actually crashed our all-girl event to show his support.
I’m a church-going gal and in Matthew 18:20 Jesus says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” I think this is concept is one that can be applied to a number of things regardless of your religious beliefs or lack thereof. When two or more people are gathered in the name of something greater than themselves, be that a deity or a dream, the spirit of whatever has brought them together will be present and will work wonders. And that’s exactly what happened last night as I saw my dreams for See Jane Write becoming a reality.
More shots from See Jane Tweet
Shameless Self-Promotion
State of the Re:Union is a public radio show and website that sets out “to explore how a particular American city or town creates community, the ways people transcend challenging circumstances and the vital cultural narratives that give an area its uniqueness.” The program’s latest episode is on the Magic City, Birmingham, Ala., and features writing by yours truly. Stop by the site and check out my letter to the city.
There’s even audio of me reading portions of the letter in the show. My reading is about 19 minutes into the show.
Here’s an excerpt of the letter:
Dear Birmingham,
I guess you always knew I’d come back to you.
Wooed by the palm trees of California’s East Bay Area, Seattle’s cool summers and snow capped mountains, and the bluegrass of Kentucky, I left you; for six years I called other cities home.
But I came back to the rich red earth that birthed me.
I came back to taxed groceries, seemingly endless DMV lines and poor customer service. I came back to government scandals and corrupt local politicians who have nicknames like La La. I came back to crime reports that scare suburbanites away from your downtown.
But I am not afraid of you.
See Jane Tweet Rescheduled for May 26
On April 27 tornadoes ripped through the state of Alabama, destroying homes and businesses and killing over 200 people. Many of the women involved with See Jane Write were affected in some way, so we decided to postpone our social media seminar See Jane Tweet. That event has been rescheduled. It will be held Thursday, May 26 at Matthew’s Bar & Grill from 6-8 p.m. Click here to register.
As our state struggles to pick up the pieces and rebuild in the face of such devastation things like social media may seem trivial and insignificant, but I disagree. It is actually because of the storms that I approach See Jane Tweet with fresh perspective and a better understanding of just how useful things like Twitter can be.
When I lost electricity in my home I was still connected to others and still aware of when the tornadoes were getting closer to Birmingham because of Twitter updates from my friends, which I was able to access through my phone. Lives were saved as pictures and videos posted on social media sites proved to people that these storms were serious threats and that they truly needed to take cover. See Jane Tweet speakers Erin Shaw Street and Kristen Record Heptinstall will also share stories of how social media tools have been vital to the coverage of the storms and the aftermath.
As Christy Turnipseed wrote on her blog, “with the new day of social media, it seemed as if we were all one family huddling together keeping one another informed and making sure we were all safe.”
I hope to see you all at See Jane Tweet.
Register for this free event at http://seejanetweet.eventbrite.com/