Latism award winners Melissa Bailey, Monica Olivera, Lorraine C. Ladish, Claudia Ahrens & Viviana Hurtado
Last week was a great one for Mamiverse and me, with special honors and awards, thrills, and the priceless joy of bonding with like-minded Latinas!
I’m thrilled to announce that Friday September 20, Mamiverse was presented with the LATISM (Latinos in Tech and Social Media) Award for Best Latin@ Parenting Blog in 2013. I was honored to accept the award in the name of Mamiverse founder Rene Alegria and all of the team both in the forefront and behind the scenes. We had some great competitors who were just as deserving of the award, so it came as a wonderful surprise that validated the hard work we do here. This exciting event took place at the Great Gatsby Gala at LATISM13 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. LATISM, founded by Ana Roca in 2009, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that actively engages digital communities. At the heart of the community, according to its mission statement, is a commitment to integral action for and by Latinos.
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BILINGUALISM & THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING
In addition to the award that we humbly received, Mamiverse participated in different panels. CEO Rene Alegría spoke in The Business of Storytelling, and I contributed to Being Bilingual: How to Keep Spanish and Our Culture Alive At Home, along with Ana L. Flores and Silvia Martinez, moderated by Zulmara María Texeira de Lima. There were many other interesting panels, one of which I enjoyed thoroughly as a listener: Work, Life and Balance, ¿Se puede? that included Michelle Herrera-Mulligan, Editor in Chief of Cosmo for Latinas and Jeannette Kaplun, founder of Hispana Global. The conclusion was that balance is a myth, and that hard working moms and women are always making sacrifices to keep it all together. But knowing that we aren’t alone in wanting to change the world while having a family and even snagging a little nap here or there, was reassuring. We are women after all, not superheroes!
Ana L. Flores & Lorraine C. Ladish
TOP BLOGUERAS RETREAT
If the above was not exciting enough, I was honored to be chosen to participate in the LATISM Top Blogueras Retreat that included a visit to the United Nations. Around 100 Latina writers, bloggers, and communicators from the U.S. were flown to New York and housed in the Waldorf Astoria to learn about leadership, taking our vision to the next level and being empowered by empowering others. Many of us attended with a full scholarship, thanks to the event sponsors. The best part of the experience was being able to connect in person with so many other mothers, entrepreneurs and women with grit, who we mingle with online. Although the keynotes helped, the one on one conversations that took place throughout the retreat were enriching and many of them extremely moving. Many of us had a chance to be interviewed by Ana L. Flores at the Johnson & Johnson #InspireCare event. By that point I had lost my voice after the excitement of winning the Latism award! All in all, the whole experience was memorable. It was an example, again, of Latinas building community and helping one another!
[Lorraine C. Ladish is Editor-in-Chief of Mamiverse. You may follow her @lorrainecladish and @mamiverse]
