Caribbean Bloggers Week 2016 Seeks to Amplify the Region’s Online Voices · Global Voices
Atiba Rogers

Screen shot from SiliconCaribe.com website.
Jamaican tech entrepreneur Ingrid Riley believes it's high time the Caribbean's bloggers emerged into the sunlight and made their voices heard in the online world.
She and her award-winning Caribbean tech media and events brand SiliconCaribe are launching Caribbean Bloggers Week 2016 (#CBW2016) from December 5-10, 2016. The theme of the first CBW is “The Power of Digital Influence,” and the main goal is to provide an outlet for Caribbean bloggers and bloggers of Caribbean descent to be recognized. They are out there, and they do have voices.
SiliconCaribe Editor-in-Chief and founder of Caribbean Bloggers Week Ingrid Riley. (Screenshot from SiliconCaribe.com)
Ninety per cent of the action will be online, where emerging and professional digital influencers will be profiled and interviewed.
The week-long event will also organize blogger meetups hosted by bloggers of Caribbean descent. Odessa Chambers, owner of the lifestyle and entertainment blog oaccessjamaica.com will host the meetup in Kingston, Jamaica. Port of Spain's Mel Gabriel, who is a writer, editor and owner of CaribbeanLookBook.com, will be the Trinidadian host. The New York meetup will be hosted by Mikelah Rose, founder of StyleandVibes.com. In London, the meetup host will be Ursula Barzey, founder of the Caribbean travel and luxury blog CaribbeanandCo.com.
The CBW might just be the ideal opportunity for Caribbean writers and commentators to step out of the shadows of their Facebook threads, hashtags and retweets, and start making a greater impact in the global online dialogue.