Friday, May 27, 2011

Best Post of the Week: Week 101


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Staycation Ideas in Gadsden

By Micha



With the gas prices rising taking a vacation hundreds of miles from home may not be in the budget. That doesn’t mean that you have to sit at home all summer. There are many inexpensive places to go and things to do in Gadsden.

Gadsden is well known for Riverfest every June and as a part of the World's Longest Yard Sale, but those aren't the only source of Summer fun. Find seven different places to explore in Gadsden for under $10 a person at Staycation Fun in Gadsden.



Do you have great places to visit and inexpensive vacation ideas in your part of Alabama? Share them with us at Alabama Bloggers!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Best Post of the Week: Week One Hundred!


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

On Using Your Influence.

Today I visited my third destroyed Alabama town.

I thought that as I exposed myself more to the devastation of our state, I would become more used to it and less affected by the destruction, but I was wrong. With each successive visit, I've become more deeply saddened for our state.

Henegar was my first visit. Pratt City was my second. Today was Pleasant Grove.

Two sights from today's visit will be forever burned in my mind:

Two elderly couples, gingerly picking around the rubble that used to be their houses, looking for belongings (on the hill in the far background of this image out of respect for their privacy):

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And a blue bow on a mailbox, perfectly intact, in front of a house that was not nearly as untouched.

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The knowledge that that could have easily been my baby had the storms been just a few miles east is horrific to imagine and compels me to pray that this baby is miraculously safe.


I simultaneously feel emotionally exhausted, wanting to step away for a while, and like I must do so much more - because there is so much that needs to be done.

National Media quit covering our tragedy two days after it happened – A Royal Wedding took the headlines, then the death of Osama Bin Laden sealed the death of our news coverage.

But we as bloggers still have our voice. We can get the message out to the world that Alabama still needs help, and that all of us working together can make a difference.

So I urge you – one blogger to another – make your influence count! Do what you can to help our neighbors that have lost everything!

I highly recommending serving somewhere if you haven’t already, and then showing your readers how they can help.

There are so many opportunities for service, and so many needs to be met. I have personally been overwhelmed by my blog reader’s desire to help – they have responded amazingly to all of the opportunities I have given them.

One very practical option you can offer your readers to help is ordering off of the Christian Service Mission’s Amazon Wish List . One of our brilliant Alabama Bloggers, Beth from Unskinny Boppy, set it up. It’s a great way to meet the immediate needs of the moment, and know that 100% of your donations are going straight to relief efforts.

There are many options out there, so give your readers different ways to help. Show them how their funds are going to help immediate needs, and let them (and you) get involved in serving our state – because we need every hand on deck right now!

Yes, Alabama has come a long way in a few weeks – but the distance we still have to travel will require statewide – and countrywide – dedication.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

See Jane Tweet - Rescheduled!

By Javacia

The social media seminar See Jane Tweet has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 26. It will be held from 6-8 p.m. at Matthew's Bar & Grill.

Originally scheduled for April 28, we postponed the event due to the devastation our city faced after the tornadoes of April 27.

See Jane Tweet is a seminar designed to help women writers discover ways to use Twitter and other social media tools to promote their work, connect with other writers, and get published. Our speakers, Erin Shaw Street and Kristen Record Heptinstall, will also teach participants more about digital branding.

As our state struggles to pick up the pieces and rebuild 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. Our speakers 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 LifeofaTurnip.com, "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 www.seejanetweet.eventbrite.com.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Food Blogger Bake Sale this Saturday!!

Two of Birmingham's top food bloggers, Alison of Ingredients, Inc and Jason of The Messy Epicure are hosting a Birmingham Food Blogger Bake Sale!!

The sale will be May 14 from 10 AM to 3 PM in downtown Homewood at the corner of 18th Street and 29th Avenue. All proceeds from the bake sale go to Habitat for Humanity.

With Alison and Jason cooking, the food is guaranteed to be excellent! But you can cook too - they are opening it up to ALL bloggers to participate, so if you have a special recipe that you're dying to share, join in the fun!

If you'd like to make food to sell or help work the bake sale itself, email jason@themessyepicure.com. They would love to have you! But even if you can't make anything, be sure to put it on your calendar to come by and sample the treats from everyone else, and get to say hi to a bunch of other local bloggers!

This bake sale is a part of a national Blogger Bake Sale Initiative, which can be read about here.

Monday, May 9, 2011

ALsocme: How to Deal with Negative Commenters.

Alabama Social Media Association had their second meeting last week, and the topic was "How to Deal with Negative Commenters".

Social Media guru Mack Collier shared some awesome advice about the subject. Although a lot of his advice was aimed at company/product blogs, he also had some great tidbits for non-business-related bloggers.

One of the most important things he said is to not get caught up in the idea that it's wrong to delete a comment. Your blog is your platform - don't let someone else use it to attack you or your readers!

If you do feel guilty about deleting comments, then simply write a comment policy - clearly explain what type of comments are acceptable, what type of language is acceptable, and that you will delete any comments that are unacceptable.

I felt that this was great advice - for the first year or two of my blogging career, I had the notion that to be an "honest" blogger, I had to leave all comments. Since then, I've realized that this is ridiculous. Although I do try to leave as many as possible, I will not let someone else abuse my sites.

How do you feel about deleting comments?

** For further discussion on the subject, Wade Kwon wrote a post on Birmingham Blogging Academy, interviewing me and two other bloggers who had experience with negative commenting.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Best Post of the Week: Week Ninety-Nine


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

A Few Notes about Tornado Distaster Relief...

1. Instead of meeting to eat for our next #AlaBlogMeet, I want to organize a blogger work day to help with tornado relief. We can either help sort through donations, help deliver donations, help prepare and give out meals to relief workers, or help with the cleanup. I'm thinking a Saturday in Mid to Late May would work best.

a) Would you participate if you were available?

b) What date would work best for you?

c) What would you recommend that we do to help?

2. I rarely cross my two blog's paths, but since we're all bloggers here, I highly encourage you to educate your readers on how to help with the tornado relief, and specifically how to use Social Media to meet specific and immediate needs. I wrote a post on my other blog about that very thing here - please help in spreading the word about how to help by writing about it on your blogs!

3. Kristen Heptinstall of al.com is compiling lists of blogger's responses to the storm. If you've written about the tornadoes, tweet her at @KristenHeptin.
If you haven't linked up and introduced yourself yet, be sure to go here to do so!