Now Let Me Ink That Page: Covering #NYFW and Expanding de la Pen

Dear Pennies & Pens,

So as you may know, I am currently somewhere deep within the trenches of covering New York Fashion Week. This is my sixth season covering fashion week, and at this point I’m getting a little jaded. Like season one was cool, then by season two, my blog and brand had grown so I began receiving more invites, then by season three it was getting busy, now at season six, it’s just ridiculous and overwhelming. Like at this point, I am just skipping shit. Like honestly. One thing I should interject and say is that, in 2013, I will be keeping it 100% real (not that I didn’t before but I digress) meaning you will from time to time see some cursing, minor ranting, comedy, and critiques of everything I cover on de la Pen.

I’m going to expand de la Pen and transition it from a blog to an online lifestyle magazine. As you know, I have already begun to delve into sports, film, and music coverage and I will definitely be featuring more of that. Although I have to say that my entrance into sports has been an interesting one. I’ve always loved sports and was an athlete (track, soccer, and dance) once upon a time. Being that I’m a twitterholic, I usually tweet quite a bit and I noticed that my football tweets always got responses and I was gaining followers. So I thought why not feature sports on de la Pen?

The sports world has a different idea however, lol. I approached a few NFL teams about being added to their media list and applying for credentials to cover games and was promptly shut down. Apparently, bloggers aren’t regarded highly in the sports world because they don’t even allow us to be on the media distribution list or apply for credentials. For those who don’t know, a media distribution list just means that when the PR rep sends out a press release & images with news, you receive it if you’re on the list. Sounds simple right? And as far as credentials, if you have a following usually you are allowed to at least APPLY for credentials but if you’re a blogger, it’s a no go in the sports world. So what’s a Pen to do?! Blog about it! LOL!

No seriously, I’m not letting any of that nonsense deter me from my goals. It’s not my fault these NFL teams have decided not to work with bloggers (or maybe it’s just me, after all I don’t have much sports coverage published), so I’m going to spend the next few months researching and reading everything about sports, teams, and athletes, I’d like to cover. Funny enough, the best sports coverage I’ve seen comes from sports blogs like the Bleacher Report who also has a dope app. So I’ll be building my knowledge and content, just as I did in fashion.

Okay now back to fashion week as this post has gotten ridiculously long, it’s #BananasInPajamas. I have been attending events and shows nonstop since February 6th and I’m so ready for this shit to be over already. I’m at the point where I’m only going to shows of designers’ I really want to see or if I have relationships with the brand/PR team. If it’s a new designer, I will be googling them to see if the show is worth my time. And if they have no website or social media presence then I have my answer. No matter how great you are, if you have no web presence in 2013, you are failing at life and business. If you need help building that web presence, contact me at LoudPen@thenetworkfam.com (no seriously) because I am a Publicist and I can help you. Also check out my company, The Network here: www.thenetworkfam.com.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter: @LoudPen, Foursquare: @LoudPen, Instagram: @LoudPen, and Tumblr: The Blogging PR Girl to see live coverage of New York Fashion Week. All event and show reviews will be published after fashion week ends. This is to ensure the highest quality reviews and coverage.

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything.