This week the Philadelphia contingent of SheWrites marked the first birthday of SheWrites.com. It was a small group with diverse writing interests. The event began with introductions and connections. As the conversation progressed we found that there were ways we could help each other in our business, writing process, strategy and creative approach.
Fairly early on one of the participants asked, “How do you use SheWrites?” It turned out that one participant is new to SheWrites, and two others have only visited the site once or twice. That’s when I began to evangelize. I told them of all the ways SheWrites has helped me as an emerging writer.
Now maybe I’m really good at this. Or, maybe I was so self-depricating the participants felt bad for me. Either way, everyone seemed to relax and have a good time. Everyone walked away with contact information and new ideas. And, I had an excuse to go to the bookstore and buy a SheWriter’s book. I’d say it was a good time had by all.
Jessica Keenan Smith is a patient advocate and epilepsy community leader with more than 15 years of experience. As Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy and Executive Director of ASENT she bridges the gap between the scientific and patient communities, with a particular focus on the needs of the epilepsies. Jessica Keenan Smith is Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy, an award winning online resource for people affected by epilepsy to share stories and access in-depth information on the disease. Since 2009, Living Well With Epilepsy (https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com) has been featured in Forbes, Wired, NBC, NPR and the cover story of Epilepsy Advocate Magazine and has partnered with companies such as UCB, Lundbeck, Sunovion, Eisai, and more. Ms. Smith is also the Executive Director of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics (ASENT) (https://asent.org), an organization that brings together leaders from industry, academia, government and advocacy who are engaged in bringing drugs and devices to market across all neurologic disease states. In this role she is responsible for leading a successful scientific journal and annual scientific conference with speakers from all over the world.
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