It’s official: Banana 2 conference of Asian American bloggers set for Feb. 26 in LA

The Banana 2 conference of Asian American Pacific Islander bloggers is now officially set for Saturday, February 26 at CBS Studios in Studio City, Calif. If you haven’t heard of Banana, you can check out my blog post and photos from the first Banana gathering, which was an informal affair in late 2009. It was mostly one very large panel on the USC campus in LA, with most of us meeting up for dinner afterwards near Little Tokyo.

This year’s Banana will be an all-day conference with a handful of panels and breakout sessions, as well as a reception afterwards with entertainment (more details to come). And it’ll be held at CBS Studios in Studio City, with (I think) the reception planned for a New York street set for “CSI:New York.” Cool, huh?
I’m organizing a panel titled “Bananas, Twinkies, Coconuts & more: The rainbow of the AAPI blogosphere.” Here’s a draft description:

The Asian American blogosphere (as represented in the richness of Banana’s panels) covers a lot of ground, from the political to the whimsical, from foodies to Asian pop fanatics to bloggers that focus on specific communities. AAPI blogs can be about the Asian experience or exclusively about the Asian American experience.There are even blogs by Asian Americans that have nothing to do with Asian American culture, values or identity. What does it mean to be an Asian American blogger?

Other panels include:

• Building Online Communities, organized by Joz Wang (of 8Asians
• Breakout sessions on Blogging 101 and Blogger Showcase
• Lunch
• Uncovering the Activist in You/Social Media for Social Change, organized by Edward Hong (of The HanSarang Movement)
• Fixated: Topic-specific Blogging, organized by author Lac Su, with moderator: Cynthia Brothers (of Bicoastal Bitchin’)
• Pop Culture, organized by Steve Nguyen (of channelAPA)
• Is there a Payoff? Can Blogging Be a Business?, organized by the IW Group, Inc.

Here are the details of the conference:

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 26, 2011
8 AM to 6 PM (PST)
CBS Studio Center
4024 Radford Avenue
Studio City, CA

We’ll also livestream the conference so you can follow the sessions online even if you can’t make it to the event. But you’ll miss out on the food, folks and fun!

NOTE: Banana is completely open to the public — you don’t have to be a blogger to attend. However, this year we’re charging a $20 registration fee. Why? Because if people pay for something they’ll be more likely to attend, to get their money’s worth. The $20 won’t pay for the cost of putting on the conference — we’re beating the bushes for sponsors for funding — but it will give the event a value to everyone who registers. The $20 covers your lunch and the evening reception too, so it’s a great deal.

You can go to the Banana 2 website and read all about it (the full schedule will be posted as we nail down all the details).

The first Banana was a great experience, and I’ve felt much more a part of a community of bloggers since then. By bringing together that community again and focusing it with more panels and more discussion, Banana 2 will have an even greater ripple effect on us all.

(Partially cross-posted from my Posterous blog)