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Blogger Ethics at Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Conference #LALLBLOG13

#LALLBLOG13 - Cooper Building, Downtown LA

#LALLBLOG13 – Cooper Building, Downtown LA

And another thing...! photo source: Allen Taylor Photography

I like werewolves.
photo source: Allen Taylor Photography

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to speak about blogger ethics and social media at the third annual Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Conference (aka. #LALLBLOG13). Ana-Lydia Ochoa (Latina Lifestyle Bloggers Collective founder) and Carolyn West (So Cal Lady Bloggers co-founder) managed to pull off an amazing two-day conference with sponsors such as Coba, Cover Girl (Fleishman Hillard), Latino Fashion Week, Fresh Brothers, and Alegria Magazine.

My fellow panelists were Lee Reyes-Fournier, the co-founder of Couple Dumb, and Stephanie O’Dea, “The Crockpot Lady,” and our dynamic moderator was Vicky Ayala, digital strategist and entrepreneur. I hope that our panel was useful for the attendees. I apologize for dropping so many F-bombs during my panel. I’m very passionate (heh) about verifying regulations and guidelines. My past experience as a senior social media manager for a regulated industry drilled that into me.

The main points I wanted attendees to take back were these:

  1. FTC disclosure update – this is a PDF and you should read the whole thing
  2. A simple disclosure like “Company X sent me this for review; here’s what I think” is OK per the FTC.
  3. I have not seen any language from the FTC that requires a blogger to disclose above the fold. I believe that as long as it is within the post and it is clear, you are good to go. Contact the FTC if you have questions. Get back to me if you find out otherwise.
Lee Reyes-Fournier on the mic! LALLBLOG13 photo source: Allen Taylor Photography

Lee Reyes-Fournier on the mic! LALLBLOG13
photo source: Allen Taylor Photography

The panel before mine featured my fellow colleague, AJ Feuerman, Lisa Rocha (Ilaments), and Jose Resendez who manages the Cover Girl account at Fleishman Hillard. The panel was moderated by super blogger (and all-around nice person, for real) Marie Denee (The Curvy Fashionista). This panel discussed how to work with brands and what not to do (don’t stalk). There was a ton of info thrown out but the main takeaway I got from it is that bloggers STILL hide their email address. If you want a brand to work with you, make it easy for them to find you. Put your email address in a place that’s easy to find on your blog.

Marie Denee (The Curvy Fashionista); AJ Feuerman (Confessions of a Fat Girl); Lisa Rocha (Ilaments); Jose Resendez (Cover Girl/Fleishman Hillard)

Marie Denee (The Curvy Fashionista); AJ Feuerman (Confessions of a Fat Girl); Lisa Rocha (Ilaments); Jose Resendez (Cover Girl/Fleishman Hillard)

Sponsor Coba impressed me. Hello, HORCHATA IN A BOTTLE!!

Mexican wrestling mask on the bottom of the COBA cap! Horchata in a bottle!

Mexican wrestling mask on the bottom of the COBA cap!

The team at Juan’s Restaurante brought in tamales and mole. Hi, my name is Chris Lam and one of my favorite foods is TAMALES! I love you, Juan’s Restaurante. I don’t have a photo of my plate since I scarfed it down. I sense a visit to his restaurant in the near future.

We ended the day with Blue Print juices. Blue Print is another cold-pressed juice company that has made an impression on me. They exhibited at the Natural Products Expo this year, and I thought their juices were tasty. I also sense another juice cleanse in the near future.

Thanks for all you techies who retweeted my tweet. It became a Top Tweet on Saturday! I think it was retweeted 12 times!

Top Tweet #LALLBLOG13!

Top Tweet #LALLBLOG13!

I missed the first day of the conference because I was at the NAWBO-LA annual luncheon where LL COOL J was there! But, Along Comes Mary has a great first day recap. Go read it!

Thank you, attendees, sponsors, colleagues, and of course Ana-Lydia and Carolyn for inviting me to speak and share resources with you. I look forward to connecting with you offline as well!

 

 

** All photos by me unless otherwise noted.

Disclosure: I was invited to speak at this conference; my attendance fee and parking was comp’d by the organizers. 

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2013 Flashforward: 3 Blogs That Should Be On Your Radar

Closer to the end of the year, I was spring-cleaning my Google Reader and realized I had several hundred blogs on my reader. I’d say 99% of the new ones were referred by current blogs I already read.

I thought it’d be fun to highlight three blogs that were new to me in 2012, and that I’d share with you, dear readers.

In no particular order… here they are:

Making It Lovely

makingitlovely-blog-logo

NicoleBalch-April2012

I learned about Nicole Balch really really really late this year. Like, December 31, 2012, making it the last new blog I added to my reader! I think I found her through a link through a link from Apartment Therapy. I tend to read the “About” section first (after the targeted blog post), and Nicole’s said she had a “handyman background.” SOLD! This lady was going to show me how to make things for my imaginary house and SHE was going to do it. Not some guy (or her husband), but HER. She writes about her life in Illinois, her fashion style, work stuff, sponsored stuff, and design stuff. Best of all, she does her own DIY!

I love her before/after photos of her home renovation projects. Especially her kitchen. I’m surprised she hasn’t been pinned to death yet. But maybe she has. Oh wait, she has.

 

Cuddlebuggery

 

cuddlebuggery-blog-logo

Now this book blog is fantastic! I learned about this blog because there were a ton of book bloggers who wrote about book-bullying on GoodReads.com or something. The gist of it is that a bunch of writers, bloggers, GoodReads users created a “no bullying” website and began to bully some of the bloggers on THIS blog. WTF. That’s called bullying, you halftwits.

Kat-cuddlebuggeryWhatever. Thanks to the cyber bullying site, I found Cuddlebuggery and have been a fan. I think Kat and the rest of the gang are usually on-the-money with their reviews. Kat was their public enemy #1, but I really don’t see how her reviews should be singled out in a anti-bullying website. She’s witty, honest, and it’s her opinion. If you don’t like it, move on. You don’t have to like her reviews. Find book bloggers whose sensibilities are the same as yours then.

I highly recommend you DON’T succumb to the drama and just enjoy this blog about YA novels.

 

 

The Demure Muse

 

thedemuremuse-blog-logo

I think it’s hard to find Asian women bloggers who write about fashion. Correction. It’s hard for me to find Asian women fashion bloggers who don’t look frail and weak. I don’t want to read about any Asian blogger who looks like they’ve got zero muscle tone and could use a tan. (That’s probably why I tend to veer towards plus-size fashion bloggers – they actually look like real people, and they also look like they can punch a rapist if necessary.)

thedemuremuse-twitter-logoCut to Katrina – not a plus-size blogger. I don’t remember how I found Katrina’s blog, but I’m glad I did. She’s a Canadian and new-ish transplant to Seattle, and writes not only about fashion but about life in Seattle. I think her fashion is really cute, and while I can’t wear a cat-eared hat without looking like a dork, she can pull them off, and she’s soo cute. (Run-on sentence, I know.) If I wore glasses, I’d wear the ones she’s wearing.

Like Nicole, I like Katrina’s easy style and enthusiasm for fashion. You know that you too could pull her outfits off. Plus she loves Hello Kitty even more than I do. I think she might love Target more than I do too.

So there you have it. Three new blogs I found in 2012, and three new blogs I’d recommend you add to your reader.

Do you have a list of blogs you’ve discovered in 2012 you’d like to share?

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Winner: Hello Kitty Scarf/Luggage Tag Set!

Thank you for joining in the fun and entering my Hello Kitty Scarf & Luggage Tag giveaway

Without further ado, the winner is Mary K. Tran! Congratulations!!

hellokitty_giveaway_winner_comment_121412

There were 26 valid comments and I used random.org to pull a winner.

random.org

random.org

Hello Kitty Forever + Forever 21 scarves luggage tag

F21 + Hello Kitty Forever scarves and luggage tag

I’ve notified Mary via email and will be sending her her choice of scarf print and tag along.

Thank you again for your participation and I hope to throw more of these giveaways in appreciation of YOU.

Read on for my review of the Hello Kitty + Forever 21 collaboration. Or dig around and read about nerdy stuff.

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Buy a Ticket, Meet Some Bloggers, Do Good – Dec 18 SMCLA Event

As you know, I’m a Board member of SMCLA (Social Media Club LA). It is one of the larger chapters of the national organization. We put on monthly events and panels to spotlight different aspects of social media.

Next month is our last event of the year, and we’re featuring local top bloggers in the area with a twist. Reserve your ticket ($10) to our event, and all profits will be donated to our featured charity, InvisiblePeople.TV.

Bonus – bring an unwrapped item or items (valued at $10 or more) that we can donate to the Invisible People community, and be entered for a chance to win a raffle item! See below for the list of items that’ll help IP tremendously!

Our holiday event will be held at Cross Campus in Santa Monica on Tuesday, December 18. I’ll be there with bells on. If you’re a new blogger, veteran blogger, a brand that wants to connect with the blogger community, a blogger who wants to connect with brands or PR, or you’re just here to learn, this is it. Grab your ticket and I’ll see you there!

 

List of items to consider donating to Invisible People – we’ll do the heavy lifting and bring it back to org.

 

  • Full-size or travel-size: Shampoo/Conditioner, Body Wash, Face Wash, Lotion..etc.
  • Laundry Detergent
  • Wash Cloths/Towels
  • Diapers/Formula
  • Laundry Baskets
  • Big Plastic Tubs
  • Dog Food
  • Tarps
  • Rope
  • Duct-tape
  • Flashlights
  • Canned Food
  • Toilet Paper/Paper Towels
  • Ramen Noodles
  • Water Bottle
  • Men’s Socks
  • Hand Warmers
  • Gloves/Hat/Scarf (winter)
  • Sunscreen (summer)
  • Travel-sized Wipes
  • Toothbrush
  • Toothpaste
  • Travel Sized Kleenex
  • Chapstick
  • Q-tips
  • Cough Drops
  • Vitamin C drops
  • Deodorant (men’s/women’s)
  • Razors (no single blade, men’s/women’s)
  • Shaving Cream (men’s/women’s)
  • Bar Soap
  • Peanut Butter
  • Peanut Butter Crackers
  • Tuna
  • Hot Chocolate Packets
  • Granola/Cereal Bars/Protein Bars
  • Various Travel-Sized Items (including hand sanitizer)
  • Feminine hygiene products (maxipads, tampons)

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