To say that I am not a morning person is an understatement. But I must have been overly excited for Blogher because I bounced out of bed and rushed to get ready.
We started by registering and obtaining scheduling information and were then given a great breakfast.
There were plenty of options, even for those with dietary needs.
After being welcomed by the Blogher Food 2011 team, we were given the opportunity to choose between several sessions that were categorized in 4 categories:
Voice: Fortity Your Culinary Prose
Visuals: Branding and Design 101 for Food Bloggers
Vittles: Fast, Healthy, Family-friendly: Not the Oxymoron You Might Think!
Vocation: How Bloggers Work with Brands and Media
It was really hard to chose, but I decided to go to the Visuals seminar. Luckily, all of the seminars are posted on the Blogher Food 2011 site and if you click any of the links above you can read a summary of what was taught and discussed.
Irvin Lin and Sabrina Modelle inspired me in so many ways, the one thing that stood out to me most is the importance of a logo mark and creating a sleek, unique site that defines you.
Throughout the conference we had the opportunity to try products from different sponsors as well as have the opportunity to introduce ourselves and create relationships.
Of all the sponsors, Scharfeen Berger was my favorite. They gave you an opportunity to choose a baking product and 2 kinds of chocolate bars to take home. If you have yet to try their chocolate no need to fret because I may have a giveaway up my sleeve
Dole provided different items to taste throughout the day such as salad, fruit cups and at 3 pm…banana margaritas! Hey, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!
POM Wonderful was another great sponsor and I obviously was excited! They were giving away bottles of original, blueberry and cranberry juice as well as coupons and recipes.
Bob\’s Red Mill was showing an array of products and samples.
Then it was time for lunch and even though I had been snacking all day, I was excited to eat!
Here was my plate before:
And after:
While we had lunch we listened to an amazing speaker, Molly Birnbaum, author of How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way. Her unique story described an accident where she suffered multiple injuries, including her sense of smell. As a chef and food enthusiast she learned to use all of her senses to create an in depth understanding and appreciation for the food she was making and tasting. When I tweeted her and asked at what moment did she realize that her smell was lost, she said, “The exact moment I realized was weeks later. My stepmother baked an apple crisp, held it under my nose, and there was nothing.”
After lunch our choices were:
Voice: Off the Dish: Writing About Food in Travel, History and Experience
Visuals: Vlogging for Beginners: Bring Your Cooking Videos to Life
Vittles: Cooking Without Recipes
Vocation: Effective Social Networking for Food Bloggers
After lunch I attended a seminar about cooking without recipes.
Sarah Breckenridge, senior web producer for Fine Living, taught us how interchangeable recipes are by allowing us to pick the ingredients and make a unique dish based upon the choices we made. She also taught us about flavor notes that pair well together and how those flavors can be inspiration for creating new ideas.
Next, we had the choice of attending:
Voice: The New Generation
Visuals: Take Your Food Blog Mobile
Vittles: Recipe Development and Adaptation for Special Dietary Needs
Vocation: SEO Smackdown
I hopped between Taking your Blog Content Mobile, which discussed using different applications and programs you can use on your phone to make your blog more accessible and The New Generation, where young bloggers discuss their role in the blogosphere and what it is like growing up blogging.
It was then time for some more tasting from sponsors!
We loved these Bays English muffins topped with feta cheese, jam and walnuts. They were crunchy, sweet, savory and came together perfectly for a great afternoon snack.
We stopped by Quaker Oats where Danica got a little friend with Mr. Quaker.
Each time we had the opportunity to check out the sponsors there were different snacks for us to munch on.
Snacks includes cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, kalamata olives, pita chips, natural potato chips and black bean dip – all of which was fresh and satisfying.
After attending an interview that touched on Food, Health and the Environment, we had a few minutes to refresh ourselves before we attended the welcome reception.
We then stopped by a dinner hosted by The Pioneer Woman (no she was not there) to get everyone excited about the new Tasty Kitchen. Not only was there great food, swag, t-shirts and bloggers, but The Pioneer Woman’s sister was also there!
As if we didn’t have enough food, I went with Danica, her husband Jay and Robin to Ted’s Montana Grill.
I had to try some sweet tea, it just seemed like the right thing to do in the south.
We decided to try several things that way we could try more things. The homemade chips and dip were amazing! And they were unlimited.
We also tried bison sliders, steak with green beans and squash casserole and a chip salad. I think the salad was my favorite although everything was delicious!
And to end our amazing fun filled day we ended up at the Sun Dial, a revolving bar on top of the Westin.
The view was gorgeous and gave you a breathtaking view of the city at night. These pictures do it no justice!
There is plenty more to tell about so stay tuned for more!
