My First NAAFA Conference (Part 5: The Bloggers Panel)
I was truly honored and flattered to be asked to participate in a bloggers panel at the 2012 NAAFA conference. And then I saw who else was on the panel! WOW!!! I won’t lie, I was nervous. I felt so tiny next to these very driven and accomplished bloggers/authors/activists/etc. But my friends kept telling me that I belonged, that I was worthy and I needed to just do it…so I did! I’m so glad!
Who were these amazing ladies? None other than Jeanette DePatie of  The Fat Chick and The Fat Chick Works Out! and Ragen Chastain of Dances With Fat and Fat: The Owner’s Manual! Yeah, I know! Woooooooooooo! Now do you see why I was nervous? Ha-ha! But they are the sweetest and truly coolest people to talk to and listen to and just be around. Our panel was moderated by the lovely and amazing Julianne Wotasik of NAAFA-LA who kept things moving and asked some great questions, too!
(Ragen Chastain-left, Jeanette DiPatie-center and yours truly-right)
Those in attendance were encouraged to ask any questions they had about our individual blogs, blogging in general, our inspiration and writing techniques and so much more. Julianne asked us what made us start blogging, how we handle trolls or rude/hateful comments, what other blogs we read and plenty more that I can’t remember. D’oh!
In the end my fears melted away and I was treated as an equal. I am so happy that I pushed my fears and insecurities aside to participate, so much fun!
I’m happy for you that it was a good experience for you! But aren’t you going to share some of what you, Sarah, said? I’m curious!
Veronica: Oh gosh! I can’t remember! Ha-ha! Um, let’s see… I know that I said that I started my blog because I felt there wasn’t anyone already in teh fat-o-sphere that I felt was representing the everyday-fatty, the poor fats and that when I began to talk openly about my own abuse survival I not only found my voice, but was touched by so many others who had their own stories to share. Perhaps you (and others) could send me some questions so I might address them properly as my memory has left the building. Ha-ha! 🙂
I didn’t really have any specific questions, I was just curious to know more about what it was like. The same curiosity has been very happy with all the NAAFA posts, btw!:=)