Monday, April 29, 2013

Southern Fried Scribes Project - You Can Help!


Matt Jones and Jessica Masterton, two fiction candidates in the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Alabama, are trying to bring free creative writing workshops to Alabama’s Black Belt this summer. 

Greensboro, located about an hour and a half south of Birmingham, is a town of a little under 3,000 people.  Locals may know Greensboro as home to Pie Lab, a cafĂ© offering hot coffee and delicious pastries in a salvaged and retrofitted space downtown, but it is also the site of HERO, Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization, who plans to help host the workshops for high school students this summer.

Southern Fried Scribes, a project born from a love of creative writing, a passion for teaching, and personal experiences with limited creative opportunities as children, will kick off this June and run through the first week of August.  Matt and Jess hope to not only offer students a different outlet and approach to writing, but also to help participants gain confidence in how they encounter and begin to explore their own voice.  Combining directed writing exercises with various artistic mediums, the workshops will introduce students to collaborations between photography, performance, and other fine arts through the works of local community artists.

In August, Southern Fried Scribes will conclude with a public student reading in which all of the participants will showcase the work they have produced over the summer.  Along with the reading, Matt and Jess will be printing, publishing, and providing an anthology of student writing and community work, a book of stories, pictures, and artwork that are all local to Greensboro and Hale County. 

To be able to offer the workshops for free to students, Matt and Jess have been fundraising on Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing website, and have until May 2nd to reach their fundraising goal.  So far, they have received generous support from family, friends, Alabama artists, and the University of Alabama, but with their campaign deadline drawing near, they are trying to reach out to as many people in the community as possible. 

If you’d like to see how you can help, check out their fundraising campaign here and scroll through all of the neat perks that they are offering to people who donate to Southern Fried Scribes.  Receive everything from a flash fiction postcard to a copy of the printed anthology to creative writing mentorships for kids when you donate as little as $5. 

Matt Jones is a Truman Capote Fellow and a fiction candidate in the University of Alabama MFA program. He is originally from Houston, TX and now lives in Tuscaloosa with his dog, Bagheera. Jessica Masterton is a Truman Capote Fellow and a fiction candidate in the University of Alabama MFA program. She is most recently from Minnesota, and while she does not own a dog, she is often covered in dog hair.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Giveaway - Y’all Connect Conference! {$129 Value}

Yall Connect copy


On July 23, Birmingham will once again have a major social media conference: Y’all Connect. Focused on helping companies use social media tools wisely and efficiently, many experts will be teaching the basics of corporate storytelling.

The conference’s director, Wade Kwon, explains the value in this skill: “Many bloggers already know how to tell a good story about their kids or their lives, but businesses often stumble when talking about their own histories. We can help. Instead of selling and marketing, they will find ways to attract fans and customers through good stories and strong engagement.”

The speakers at Y’all Connect will include familiar Birmingham icons as well as national experts, all of whom utilize social media tools with great expertise. So far, this fantastic group includes James Spann, Ike Pigott, Andrea Weckerle, Nichole Kelly, Peter Shankman, Whitney Breaux, Shelly Kramer and Mack Collier.

"Y'all Connect is a conference aimed at CEOs and marketing managers who want to show how their companies stand out,” Kwon explains. “They may have used blogging and Facebook and Twitter, but aren't sure how to use them wisely and efficiently.”

This conference isn’t focused on theory and motivational speeches - there will be practical takeaways so that the attendees can leave and immediately put new ideas to use to expand their business’ social media platform.

"We expect 500 attendees, with half coming from all across Alabama and the rest coming from out of state. I can't wait to show off my hometown of Birmingham," Kwon states.

There will be a kickoff party on the evening of July 22, then on July 23, sessions and speakers will be scheduled from 8:30-6:00, followed by a closing night party. As such, there will be significant amounts of time for learning and networking.

The conference will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, and lodging will be available at a discounted rate in the adjoining Sheraton Hotel.

If you would like to attend, I have one conference pass to give away! To enter, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter Widget below:


[CONTEST OVER]

But if you don’t win, I do have a Promo Code for the rest of you: Enter ALABLOGSWEET for $30 off regular tickets!

This giveaway is open until Monday, May 6 and the randomly chosen winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 7

Best of luck!

Best Post of the Week: Week 199


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!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Best Post of the Week: Week 198


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!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Best Post of the Week: Week 197


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!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

#AlaBlogMeet Postponed Due to Inclement Weather!

We have rescheduled today's Alabama Blogger's Meet-Up until Next Thursday, April 18.

We will meet one week from today at Jim N Nick's Bar-B-Que in 5 Points South. The time will be from 11:30-1:00, and the discussions are always fun!

This month's host is Mitzi Eaker of Mitzi Jane Media. The discussion topic will be: "What does is take to maintain a successful blog from beginning to reinventing or ending? And how do you know when it is time to end a blog?"

Everyone who tweets about the meetup using the hashtag #alablogmeet and @jimnnicksbbq will be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate, and the winner will be announced during lunch. 

Feel free to use this tweet or create your own:

Join me at @jimnnicksbbq (5 Points) for #alablogmeet this Thursday 11:30!
http://www.alabamabloggers.com/2013/04/april-alablogmeet-this-thursday.html
Everyone is welcome to join us! RSVP here or on the event in the Alabama Bloggers Facebook Group.

Monday, April 8, 2013

April #AlaBlogMeet This Thursday!

We will be having our April meet-up this Thursday at Jim N Nick's Bar-B-Que in 5 Points South. The time will be from 11:30-1:00, and the discussions are always fun!

This month's host is Mitzi Eaker of Mitzi Jane Media. The discussion topic will be: "What does is take to maintain a successful blog from beginning to reinventing or ending? And how do you know when it is time to end a blog?"

Everyone who tweets about the meetup using the hashtag #alablogmeet and @jimnnicksbbq will be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate, and the winner will be announced during lunch. 

Feel free to use this tweet or create your own:
Join me at @jimnnicksbbq (5 Points) for #alablogmeet this Thursday 11:30!
http://www.alabamabloggers.com/2013/04/april-alablogmeet-this-thursday.html
Everyone is welcome to join us! RSVP here or on the event in the Alabama Bloggers Facebook Group

Friday, April 5, 2013

Best Post of the Week: Week 196


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!
If you haven't linked up and introduced yourself yet, be sure to go here to do so!