I am counting the days until the #140conf NYC the way most kids count the days until their birthday or Christmas. Why am I so excited? The 140 Conference is a special one — hugs are more common than handshakes, passions are freely shared and ideas are openly exchanged. The New York City gathering is special for me because I will be meeting friends for the first time. Many friends, I don’t know or follow yet but I will also be meeting friends who are my sisters in the Lupus community. We have formed a bond of sisterhood over living with a chronic illness.
Together we will raise Lupus Awareness on the 140 Conference panel “Lupus Ladies of Twitter”. The panel is not going to be a bunch of “sick” people telling you about how I survive with a disease that is best known as a punch line on “House”. Christine Miserandino, @bydls on Twitter, started a website www.butyoudontlooksick.com as well as the #spoonie hashtag to spread and share “The Spoon Theory” she wrote it to convey what it is like to suffer from Lupus to her friends, that it has found a viral life of its own speaks to the powerful message of Christine’s story. Brenda Blackmon, @brendablackmon on Twitter, is award-winning journalist but the story hit close to home when her daughter Kelly was in a coma due to complications of Lupus. The book “A Mom’s Story” is Brenda’s perspective of finding hope in the clouds and much more. http://www.brendablackmonbooks.com/ The fight never stops for Kelly who is now running The Kelly Fund for Lupus, @KellyFund4Lupus on Twitter, is a non-profit that supports the @Alliance4Lupus and other Lupus awareness efforts. http://www.thekellyfundforlupus.org/
My excitement grows every day as I realize that being chosen by Jeff Pulver to be a part of the list of speakers is an honor in itself. Our panel “Lupus Ladies of Twitter” is on June 16th, the second day of the conference and you won’t want to miss it. We are following @DeepakChopra and I can either be freaked out but what an impressive man to follow (literally and Twitter-ally) or I can embrace the scheduling and realize what a cool “opening act”! Either way, I hope to share that to me the real joy will come when I get to meet and hug my Lupus sisters.
When we get on stage in front of the 140 Conference audience as the “Lupus Ladies of Twitter” the pride I feel will be overwhelming and I hope to avoid an “ugly cry” situation. I know many of the community, are like me and will have travelled from across the country to make it to the 92nd Street Y to be a part of the community to listen and share, connect and engage with one another. I would like to thank @JeffPulver and @AlanWeinkrantz for believing in me and allowing me to share my passion for the #140conf with you. As I said at the #Fashion140 “Passion is contagious, Lupus is not!” I look forward to sharing how and why I believe that Lupus Awareness is Fun with you on Day 2!
Amanda Greene is @LAlupusLady on Twitter. Follow her and check out http://lalupuslady.com/ to see how she shares how she finds the flair of sharing that Lupus Awareness is Fun!
Tags: 140conf, Amanda Greene, LALupusLady, Lupus
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