Traveling Brown Girls Blog Carnival

The Personal Part

In 2011, I was at a travel blogging conference handing out business cards.  I remember one guy looking at my card and then snickering in a not-so-nice-way.  "OneBrownGirl dot com?" he questionned out loud. "You should really change that name to something else."  *Pause*  

And just in case you're wondering:  No.  I didn't poke him in the eyeballs with my free hand, roll my eyes and/or let him have it.  Instead, I cocked my head to the side puppy-dog style, smiled and thought - without uttering a word - What a dolt.  And yes, he left the area immediately.  Silence freaks people out sometimes.  

The Important Part

In case it isn't clear by my brand name, I'm a Brown Girl.  Oh. And I travel too.  A lot.  I have lots of friends who are Brown and travel and lots of friends that travel who aren't.  Today in this space and in the months to come, however, I'm celebrating Brown Girls who travel and write about it.   But please. Don't get it twisted.  Like my blog, celebrations are never meant to alienate anyone.  I just don't get down like that.  Instead, this celebration is for anyone who is down with Brown.  ;-) 


The Blog Carnival Part

Because everyone loves a party and because promoting under-represented travel bloggers is important, I am thrilled to announce the very first

Traveling Brown Girls Blog Carnival

hosted by *drumroll please*

Yours truly

FUN FACT:  Along with other multicultural travel bloggers, Tracey will produce and host Wandermania on Tour, a series of global meet-ups aimed at inspiring multicultural travel blogger attendees to take their work to the next level via creative and collaborative marketing/social media campaigns.

April Thompson of Absolute Travel Addict

FUN FACT:  April was the only Brown blogger to serve as a panelist at the

2011 Conference on Social Media and Tourism in Verona, Italy. 

Carol Alvarez Cain of Girl Gone Travel

FUN FACT:  Carol was the only American, the only blogger, and the only woman of color to be invited to Italy as media directly by an Italian food brand (and not by the agency representing it).

Monique Rubin of Mo Travels

FUN FACT:  Monique (an American expat living in The Netherlands for the past 13 years) and her business partner have recently launched Toolbox Communications, offering workshops to help develop social media strategies for business, charitable and personal brands.  

Chelle & Crystal of Brown Girls Fly 

FUN FACT:  Between these two traveling Brown Girl sisters, Chelle & Crystal have been to 27 countries on 5 continents.

Like many of our friends and colleagues, we're Brown and we travel and we'd like to gently suggest that the two are not mutually exclusive.  We're blowing off sterotypes, coming together as fellow travelistas, and celebrating Carnival-style, and we want you to celebrate with us too!


The "How It All Works" Part

1.  Travel bloggers (and lifestyle bloggers who frequently blog about travel) are invited to join the Traveling Brown Girls Blog Carnival by writing a creative and stellar blog post about designated travel topics (see below), publishing your post two days before the Carnival date, and then submitting the link and your Twitter handle to the designated Carnival host by the submission deadline.  #soeasy 

2.  When the Carnival date arrives, the designated Carnival host will publish one post that includes the links to everyone's travel post so that all participants are promoted on the post.    

3.  Travel bloggers can show support by (a) promoting the Traveling Brown Girls Blog Carnival in advance of the Carnival by placing the badge somewhere on your blog; (b) using social media channels to get the word out; and (c) leaving comments on each of your fellow travelistas blog posts.

4.  If you aren't a travel blogger, no worries.  In fact, our readers are the main reason we blog, so you can just do what you've always done and show your support by sharing new travel blogs with your friends and leaving comments on the blog posts that resonate with you.  A "Like" is always nice, but a comment is like candy to a travel blogger.  ;-)


The "Why We're Doing It" Part 

The idea is to expose under-represented travel bloggers to the general public, to travel brands and to PR firms and to do it in a supportive and collaborative way, to generate more interest in our travel stories, and to gain more readers.   And yes, we'll do it again with different hosts and different topics and simply keep the party going until we think of something else collaborative and fun to do.  How's that sound?
 

Schedule

Carnival Host:  @OneBrownGirl
Carnival Date:  August 14, 2012

Travel Topic:  Travel Etiquette Revisited: My Top 5 Travel Pet Peeves
Publish your post and then submit to Tracey@OneBrownGirl.com on August 12, 2012

***

Carnival Host:  @AbsoluteADT
Carnival Date:  October 16, 2012
Travel Topic:  5 Travel Tricks & Tips for Travelistas on the Go
Publish your post and then submit to April@AbsoluteTravelAddict.com on October 14, 2012

***

 Carnival Host:  @CarolACain

Carnival Date:  December 11, 2012
Travel Topic:  5 Ways to Immerse Yourself in Local Culture
Publish your post and then submit to Carol@GirlGoneTravel.com on December 8, 2012

***

Carnival Host:  @Monique_Rubin
Carnival Date:  February 5, 2013
Travel Topic:  The Top 5 Travel Necessities No Travelista Should Live Without
Publish your post and then submit to MsWoodenShoes@yahoo.com on February 3, 2013

***

Carnival Host:  @BrownGirlsFly
Carnival Date:  April 9, 2013
Travel Topic:  5 Places I've Never Been (And Why I Want To Go)
Publish your post and then submit to info@BrownGirlsFly.com on
April 7, 2013 



Questions?  Comments? 
Leave them here, show your support, grab the badge, and then join in on the Carnival fun!  #ittakesavillage




Oooooo.  I hope this works.  =/