As advertised on the BANANA 2 website, a gathering of Asian Pacific American bloggers from across the country will participate in BANANA 2 on February 26, 2011, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the back lot of CBS Studios in Studio City, CA. BANANA 2 is a follow-up to the inaugural meeting in 2009 co-hosted by myself and Lac Su, author of I Love Yous Are For White People, who has enlisted the help of a small group of bloggers and community activists to produce an event highlighting and amplifying the online voices of Asian Americans.
The conference will provide an opportunity for bloggers and their readers to build a stronger community by beginning conversations and building relationships beyond the conference. Conference panels will include topics on using blogs and social media to create meaningful social change, working with businesses and corporations and defining the role of Asian American bloggers. The first gathering featured bloggers from Angry Asian Man, Minority Militant, Neaato (Network of Entertaining Asian American Talent), Hyphen Magazine, Mochi Magazine, Channel APA, Bicoastal Bitchin’, AArising, Antisocial Ladder, Nikkei View, VisualizAsian, Kimchi Mamas, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, DVAN (Diasporic Vietnamese American Network), bigWOWO, Sepia Mutiny and of course our very own 8Asians.
On a personal note, I’m truly overwhelmed to see that our vision was able to grow in such a short amount of time. Since November 2009, I would have never expected our conference to develop into something of this nature, and it makes me proud to see that our community is willing to come out from different parts of the country in order to attend this event. Although I wasn’t as involved as much as last year’s BANANA, I’ve taken the time to see that a lot of planning and devotion has gone into the process of developing our panels and workshops. This time around, we’ve assembled a core of devoted individuals who have worked very hard in order to take our idea to the next level. Instead of one giant panel like last year, we will be breaking our topics up into different discussions. For those of you that plan to attend BANANA 2, I will look forward to seeing each and every one of you! Be sure to attend my panel, as I will be hosting the Pop Culture panel along with my ChannelAPA partner, Kevin Hsieh.
For program information, you can visit our event page and stay updated with our agenda. A complete schedule of panels and presenters will be announced in late Jan. 2011.
Conference admission is $20 per person. Participants will be able to register online here now until Feb. 25, 2011. Readers of 8Asians can also enter for a chance to win two passes here before January 27th!
