Celebrating New Year’s Eve In Times Square With Verizon Wireless #My2012Moment
January 9th, 2013 by Christen
Last year (which was technically only 10 days ago) – I had the great pleasure of teaming up with Verizon Wireless for their #My2012Moment celebration campaign. I had the opportunity to meet and interact with many visitors from around the world – all with one goal in mind – to ring in the new year with over a million friends, family and more in what many call the crossroads of the world – Times Square.
We chatted about everything from accomplishments to milestones and everything in between that made many #My2012Moment for everyone. Some of #My2012Moment (s) definitely included: (Click here for the entire #My2012Moment list…)
- Attending the 2012 London Olympics
- My first ever Parisian escape to Paris, France
- Being Named “Best In The Blogasphere 2012″ by Black Enterprise
…and even becoming the host for Verizon’s New Year’s Eve celebration video on New Year’s Eve was beyond a doubt one of my favorite moments of 2012 and it closed out the year with a bang!
Want to check out the #My2012Moment experience from Times Square? Check out the video in it’s entirety below…
What were some of your favorite moments of 2012? What are you looking forward to the most in 2013? Share below…
We’re Counting Down Our Favorite Moments Of 2012 #My2012Moment
December 31st, 2012 by Christen
It’s true! This year has had truly been an amazing year of highs (and even higher highs) for DivasandDorks.com. From going to 2012 London Olympics to speaking at the National Black MBA Conference and everything in between. While looking forward to a better year than ever before – 2013, we can’t help but to look back at our favorite moments of 2012. Check out below to discover why this has been an unbelievably phenomenal for DivasandDorks.com.
Black Women in Music / Black Women in Hollywood
Thanks to Lincoln & Essence Magazine, we had the chance to rub elbows, talk tech and mingle with some of your favorite starlets, musicians and Hollywood celebrities. Kelly Rowland, Nene Leakes and more checked out the new 2014 Lincoln MKZ during Essence’s Black Women in Music, Grammy weekend in California. Just a week later, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, Tracee Ellis Ross supported and uplifted fellow thespian sisters during the Black Women in Hollywood event during Oscar weekend in L.A.
In The Press – Essence.com, RollingOut.com, BlackEnterprise.com, TheRoot.com, Pose Magazine
This was an incredible year for DivasandDorks.com in the press. As a contributor for Essence.com, I was featured in RollingOut & Pose Magazine highlighting the business behind the blog. BlackEnterprise.com even interviewed an unconventional mentor, (my mother) to reveal the secrets behind successful mentor/mentee relationships. Before the summer was complete, TheRoot.com listed DivasandDorks.com as one of the best blogs of 2012.
Induction in Black Enterprise Magazine’s Top Of The Blogosphere’s Best
One of my favorite moments by far included kicking off this year’s Black Bloggers Month as being revealed as the first inductee in the 2012 Blogosphere’s Best for BlackEnterprise.com.
Kayaking in the Pacific Ocean
During an exciting west coast excursion with Toyota, I had the best time camping and even kayaking, (yes, I really kayaked) in the Pacific Ocean all by myself.
Diva, Dork and Actress?
This year marked a year of firsts in front the camera, as I starred in Ford’s Escape To New Orleans web series and Samsung’s SmartTV informercial series.
Panelist, Host & Keynote Speaker
“When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.” – Michelle Obama
This year has been filled with a lot of hard work, blessings beyond belief, and I was more than excited to share my experiences as a speaker/host/keynote speaker at the Financial (App)titude seminar, Style Bloggers of Color Conference, National Association of Black MBA, Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the Tom Joyner Family Reunion.
Mentorship & Inspiring Young Lives
As an active mentor for The Young Women’s Leadership Schools in NYC and host of D&D’s first “Social Girls Night” – we at Diva And Dorks believe in investing & encouraging young women to pursue their dreams, passions and more (and because of those beliefs, the Divas and Dorks Foundation was officially formed.)
Global Ambassador at the 2012 London Olympics
As Samsung’s official ‘Global Ambassador’ – I was privileged to represent Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics. I got the chance to meet Olympians, take in a few of the Olympic games and experience all the unique sights of London, England.
Last Train To Paris…
For the first time ever, I experienced a dream getaway to Paris, France from the United Kingdom (during the Olympics). The Effel Tower, The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysée all were seen and conquered by the diva!
Divas Love To Travel & Love Their Cars!
This has been an amazing year of travel and automotive adoration on DivasandDorks.com. So much so, that our sister sites DivasOnDestinations.com and DivasDriveInHeels.com were born and slated to launch January 2013!
Here’s to a wonderful 2012 and an even better 2013!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Voting Season Is Here & We’re Nominated! (Vote D&D)
September 17th, 2012 by Tech Staff
Over the weekend, we were pleasantly surprised to be nominated for not one but TWO tech awards from two different entities. DivasandDorks.com is delighted to share that we’ve been nominated by the BlackWeblogAwards.com in the following categories:
Best New Blog
Best Fashion Blog
Best Technology or Science Blog
We have also been nominated by WishFree.com in the Best Technology Awards for Best Tech Blog too!
Now as happy as we are to be nominated, we’d be even more thrilled if we actually WIN! This is where you (our loyal readers, come in…)
If you’ve ever learned anything new by reading DivasandDorks.com… WE NEED YOUR VOTES!
If you love the idea of fashion + technology all in one place on the web… WE NEED YOUR VOTES!
If you’ve ever enjoyed a tweet, Facebook post, Fashion Week, Travel or regular snarky commentary… WE NEED YOUR VOTES!
VOTE BELOW
(NOTE: You must be logged into Facebook or Twitter for your vote to count!)
VOTE FOR DIVASANDDORKS.COM – BEST NEW BLOG | BEST FASHION BLOG | BEST TECH BLOG HERE!
(We humbly thank you in advance for your vote 
Samsung Global Bloggers: Daily Show Episode 14
August 10th, 2012 by Christen
Remember this check in on Foursquare? My team had the task of creating an entertaining 30-second video at the War Museum in London and we came up with a ‘Battle of the Sexes’ competition for the ages! We had adults running relays, kids doing tumbles & flips and more (all for the sake of our team winning the ‘Best Video Award‘.
Check out the Samsung Global Bloggers daily show featuring my team’s new video!!!
Style Bloggers Of Color Take Over Atlanta!
June 11th, 2012 by Fashion Staff
Style Bloggers of Color: Shoe Game Check! Guess Who's Shoe?
If you missed the Style Bloggers of Color conference you missed a grandiose time with amazing men and women who are stepping up what it means to be a successful blogger today. This conference was grown out of an idea in Mattie’s own words, “I figured taking this idea to the next level and creating a dynamic atmosphere + the opportunity to network with brands for my fellow bloggers would be what I wanted most for my birthday.”
SBOC Panelists spill the tea on how to work with brands...
Certainly the atmosphere that Mattie created was magical, a perfect storm of both newbie and seasoned bloggers, vendors catering to one’s deepest fashion and beauty desires, and industry insiders who gave the dish on how to be a successful full-time or part-time blogger. Some of the dynamic panels included:
Content is King, Consistency is Queen, Making your Mark in Social Media, Brands: What they are Looking For and How to Get to Them and One Blog: Many Hustles.
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- SBOC Girl Power Shoe Game Check: Guess Who’s Shoe?
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- Chatting before SBOC panels begin…
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- The first Style Bloggers of Color panel: Content is King, Consistency is Queen
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- Style Bloggers Of Color – Hosted by Matteologie
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- Style Bloggers Of Color with Marie Denee, Tiffani Gatlin, Kimberly Warner and Monroe Steele
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- Making your Mark in Social Media with Amber A. McKinnon of Brown BombshellBeauty.com, Christen Rochon of DivasandDorks.com, Charles Wade and Danica Kimbol of BeEverywhere.com
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- Style Bloggers of Color panelists Kimberly Warner (@KimmyGotSoul) and Tia Williams (@ShakeYourBeauty)
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- Brands: What they are Looking For and How to Get to Them with Nicole Garner (@TheGarnerCircle), Alexis Felder (@CurlyGirlLexi)
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- SBOC Panelists and conference attendees continues the conversation after it was all over…
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- The ladies behind the fabulous accessory line Beads ByAree
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- SBOC Panelists spill the tea on how to work with brands…
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- Mattie James of Mattieologie hosts the Style Bloggers of Color Awards
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- The Style Bloggers of Color Awards
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- Claire Summers of TheFashionBomb.com gives a stirring keynote address at the Style Bloggers of Color Awards
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- Style Bloggers of Color Awards: Most Stylish Blog
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- Style Bloggers of Colors own, Marie Denee, Merli Estime, Christen Rochon & Amber McKinnon
Topics were explored, questions were answered, relationships were made and inspiration was the cloud that hung over the entire conference.
Can’t wait for next year. ~ Style Bloggers Of Color 2013 ~
The Style Bloggers of Color First Annual Conference June 8-10, 2012
May 23rd, 2012 by Fashion Staff
The Style Bloggers of Color Conference, the only conference that caters to the fashion and beauty bloggers of color, will host its first annual conference at the LOFTS at Castleberry Hill in Atlanta, GA on June 8-10, 2012. The three-day event is dedicated to celebrating diversity amongst fashion and beauty bloggers across the country while bringing them together to network, gain knowledge and build support amongst each other.
With sponsors like Google, Jewel Mint and Beautiful Textures, the weekend will include 4 spectacular events. The Style Bloggers of Color fashion show will occur on Friday, June 8th, where Atlanta Style Bloggers are scheduled to be featured models.
On Saturday, June 9th, the Style Bloggers of Color conference will be held, with esteemed and established bloggers as speakers.
CONTENT IS KING, CONSISTENCY IS QUEEN - How you produce dynamic content consistently? What type of content should I be writing as a blogger? Does consistently really help traffic increase?
MAKING YOUR MARK IN SOCIAL MEDIA - What’s the best way to stand out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & more? How do you translate social media activity into dollars?
BRANDS: WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR & HOW TO GET TO THEM - When reaching out to a brand, who should I be contacting? How do I let companies know I’m open to collaboration? What type of blogs do brands want to work with?
ONE BLOG, MANY HUSTLES - How can my blog translate into paying gigs? Will blogging help my small business?
Conference panelists include Rashon Carraway of RashonCarraway.com, Katie Croteau of Google, Marie Denee of TheCurvyFashionista.com, Mahelia de Randamie, fashion editor for Vogue Italia, Tiffni Gatlin of Tastemaker ATL Magazine, Alexis Felder of Curlscoilsandkinks.com, Nicole Garner, Founder and Publicist of The Garner Circle PR, Danica Kombol of BeEverywhere.tv, Amber McKinnon of Brownbeautybombshell.com, Ria Michelle of RiaMichelle.com, Brittany Minor of ClumpsofMascara.com, Christen Rochon of DivasandDorks.com, Erin Scandalous of Scandalousbeautyonline.com, Celia San Miguel of SickaThanAverage.com, Monroe Steele of Fashionsteelenyc.com, Myleik Teele, Founder and President of curlBOX, Kimberly Walker of EBONY.com and Tress Talk, beauty editor Tia Williams of ShakeYourBeauty.com and Charles Wade, fashion and wardrobe stylist.
Saturday evening, Curls Night Out will be held. Sure to be a good time, bloggers will be pampered in a “palooza” celebrating their beauty which will include numerous vendors located in “bars”, such as the “beauty” bar, “shoe” bar and more. Co-hosted by Maeling Tapp of Naturalchica.com and sponsored by Beautiful Textures, CNO will give attendees a time to let loose, network and enjoy the company of their fellow style bloggers.
Sunday, June 10th, the conference wraps with the Style Bloggers of Color Awards Luncheon where winners of each category (which bloggers voted for on The Style Bloggers of Color Conference website) will be announced. Keynote speaker, Claire Sulmers of FashionBombDaily.com, will end the conference on an assured high note while sharing wisdom, experiences and knowledge on blogging with attendees.
For more information on the Style Bloggers of Color Conference, please visit www.stylebloggersofcolor.com. Also follow the conference on twitter, at www.twitter.com/blogcolorfully on facebook at www.facebook.com/
Black Enterprise Votes DivasandDorks.com Best Of The Blogosphere!
May 1st, 2012 by Christen
Talk about kicking the summer off on a high note! You can’t imagine how happy I am to be selected & actually kicking off Black Enterprise Magazine’s Black Blogger Month Celebration!
Dress by: Calvin Klein (Marshall’s $49.99)
It has been a hard road & it couldn’t have been done without loyal & faithful readers like you! Make sure you check out the full Black Enterprise Black Blogger Month Interview HERE and if you’re in NYC – join me and the rest of this month’s inductees as we celebrate Black Blogger Month in style at the 40/40 club at 7pm.
Shecky’s Best Blogger WINNER!
August 12th, 2011 by Christen
As one of the few winners selected by Shecky’s for their Best Blogger Contest – I just had to share how excited I am to be working with the “originators of the swag bag” and “Girls Night Out” – Shecky’s . A while ago, Shecky’s tweeted about the Best Blogger Contest, and I decided to enter. My entry was based on my past experiences with Shecky’s Girls Night Out Events. I’ve attended several of the Girls Night Out parties in New York City last year (and dare I say that I still have plenty of awesome swag including beauty products and more.) Currently, Shecky’s has an awesome blog online and I’m proud to be one of the newest contributors sharing my love of geek-chicdom with their readers as I do here at DivasandDorks.com.
Here comes the fun part…I’m looking forward to sharing the latest in fashion and tech news via Sheckys.com biweekly as well as attending tons more Shecky’s Girls Night Out (VIP style) later this year…as a matter of fact, I may do a little more traveling a maybe see how the girls in Chicago & LA do Girls Night Out…in any event, you can definitely keep up with the D&D mayhem over at Sheckys.com.
If there’s something that you’d like to see over at Sheckys.com – drop me a line and let me know. Shecky’s has tons of great content from “No Boys Allowed” to “Makeover Manual” and I’m ready to add a little Divaslicious content to the mix 
Congratulations to my fellow winners:
Lexi @ curlscoilsandkinks.com
Ehmonie @ whatshaute.com
Simone @ honeebeegifts.blogspot.com
Jaida @ memoirsofthechic.blogspot.com
Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference
August 11th, 2011 by Christen
IT’S BAAAACK! IFB Conference on Sep. 7, 2011 at Milk Studios in New York City. Whether you just launched your blog or already have a bevy of readers, this is the event to mingle with fellow bloggers while learning how to take your blog to the next level (i.e. the top!)
Last NYFW, the IFB Conference brought together over 300 fashion bloggers while 10,000 viewers tuned in from around the world via live stream. Be a part of this monumental event as the sixth semi-annual IFB Conference continues to unite fashion bloggers and examines the evolving influence of the online blogging community. Top fashion bloggers will discuss hot-button blogging issues and a keynote speech from a major industry pro will cap the day’s events. Some of the panel discussions will include:
Evolution of Fashion Media
- Gone are the days when fashion media was all about glossy magazines and red carpet photos. As mainstream media moves online, how do blogs differentiate themselves from fashion sites? This panel–an IFB Conference first–will touch on this and more.
Bloggers Tool Kit
- Learn how to promote yourself through social media and find out which metrics work best for bloggers. Are Twitter and Facebook really all that effective? Find out here.
Is the Social Media Business broken?
- Critics say that social media is dying ,but perhaps it’s just broken. This panel will discuss the role bloggers play in the social media landscape and what the future holds for this rapidly-changing form of media.
Balancing Act: Business & Blogging
- Need tips on how to approach brand partnerships gracefully? We’ve got you covered. We’ll be discussing the relationship between PR/Marketing/Advertising and bloggers, as well as delving into the subject of ethical blogging practices.
More information about the panels, speakers, and keynote address will be available once General Admission tickets are released.
TICKET INFORMATION
- General admission tickets are available now for $60 (while tickets last)
* A limited number of Non-IFB Member/Corporate tickets will also be available at an early bird rate of $299 starting Monday, August 8. Price will go up to $499 starting Monday, August 15, or once early bird tickets sell out.
Registration price includes a full day of panels, lunch and fabulous gift bag!
Can’t make it to NYC? Check out the Live Stream on September 7!
Check out Independent Fashion Bloggers at www.heartifb.com
Challenge: Build A Better Blog & Business
August 3rd, 2011 by ChristenWith a new month upon us, I have taken a fresh approach to building a better DivasandDorks.com site for you! It’s been said that all bloggers and business people want to improve their work – but many never quite get around to it. This idea is simple, by the end of this challenge you’ll have learned 31 aspects of blogging (and applicable to business) practices and apply them to your work immediately.
Whether, you’re a business person or blogger – you’re probably wondering what the challenge entails…
It’s the “31 Days To Build A Better Blog” Challenge
I have officially began these practices on Monday, August 1st (New beginnings – btw, I know there are only 30 days in August – let’s be proactive people!) If you’re looking to score a discount on ordering the 31 DBBB workbook add this exclusive coupon code: FWOB33 here.
This week’s tasks include:
- Write An Elevator Pitch For Your Blog (or Business)
- Write A List Post
- Promote A Blog Post
- Analyze A Top Blog In Your Niche
- Email A Blog Reader
- Write A Link Post
Stay tuned to DivasandDorks.com for a variety of entertaining and thought-provoking posts that will be in the spirit of ’31 Days of Building A Better Blog”. Feel free to join me in the quest for improvement and growth and we’ll see you at the end of the month
