I had a great day yesterday. An excellent day. Fantastical, even. I presented on the Local success panel at the inaugural Agents of Change Digital Conference.

I lounged with Chris Brogan and Amy Porterfield. I made my pals Trish and Erica laugh by exclaiming “It sounds like it’s CLOBBERING TIME.” I was told I was awesome.

When I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I was grateful and happy to be alive. It’s been a long time. And if you’ve been following along with the blag and my life, you’ll know why.If you haven’t, keep reading, it will become clear.

It was a great day. I needed that.

The only fly in the ointment: Edmund is still in Pennsylvania, so he wasn’t here to reap the benefits.

Today I lounged with Elijah R. Young. Then I went to a party, came home to record a video, went out to dinner and then went to ANOTHER party.

Now I am putting the last few tweaks together for my indeigogo campaign. I’m raising money for Lounging with LannaLee, so I can travel to the SmallTown2012 conference: #140conf SmallTown: Exploring the State of NOW in Small Towns. I was accepted to speak, so this is a big deal for me. The money raised will go for traveling fees and promo materials – If I go over my goal, extra money will to toward future trips/materials for Lounging with LannaLee.

What am I speaking about? Here is my submission, it sums it up pretty well.

Another Glorious Day in Suck City: How Facebook and blogging help my family cope with my father’s terminal illness
What I would like to talk about *
Last February we found out my father was very ill, he had stage 4 lung cancer, and was given two months to live. We were able to use Facebook and my blogging to keep people in the loop with what was going on, and conversely our family and friends were able to communicate their feelings to us directly. [blog category here: https://lannaleemaheux.com/category/cancertime/]

My talk will be about how that felt, to have the instant connection with family. How our family and friends were able to share our grief as my Dad became sicker and sicker. How we were able to count our blessings and find laughter in the midst of tragedy.

Why I want to speak at #140conf *
As a speaker, it would be a great opportunity regardless. Because of it’s thrust toward the 140 character and “now” conversation, it’s a good chance for me to talk about the real good Facebook and social media can do. People joke about how “no one cares what you have for lunch” when talking about Twitter and Facebook, and maybe that’s true, but I’ve met some great friends from Twitter and reconnected with many old friends on Facebook. They are both an integral part of my life, and both were critical in helping me and my family make it through the worst time of our lives. Rather than feeling disconnected, we felt connected. I think that needs to be part of the conversation.

Please, I hope you can give. Or Share. Or both. Thanks.

More pictures from the speaker’s dinner the other night. Good times.: