Food Blog Forum Atlanta – Two Thumbs Up!
Pork Belly in the Making!
Chef Rathbun cooked up some awesome Pork Belly Tacos!
Besides all of the great food and wine, we were treated to a very informative and humorous cooking demonstration by Chef Kevin Rathbun. I could not believe that Chef Rathbun hung out with us all night. I thought that was very cool. I guess he thought we were alright, too!
Many thanks to Chef Rathbun for his participation and generosity. It definitely made the event a memorable one. By the way, we all were really happy to get the recipe for “Thick Cut” Grilled Bacon with a Sweet and Spicy Sticky Sauce. I think most of us are still thinking about those pork belly tacos! I for one, am still wearing mine!
Those were some awesome White Chocolate and Craisin Cookies!
The next day’s seminar was at The Shed at Glenwood. They did a great job of keeping us fed and watered all day long starting with coffee, muffins and fruit to lunch that included three kinds of sliders (Angus Burgers, Fried Green Tomatoes and Goat Cheese and Chicken Salad), pasta salad and deviled eggs. Cindy Shera (the manager) did a great job with 100 people tucked into her restaurant. Thanks to she and Chef Lance Gummere for making it a great day. We also had lots and lots of cookies from Byron Bay and Walkers Shortbread to keep us going during the afternoon session.
It took two SUV’s to get all the swag goodies to The Shed!
Our host for the seminar on Saturday.
Diane Cu and I checking in the attendees at The Shed
Besides the food and the amazing swag bags…you should have seen the giveaways! A set of Calphalon cookware, a Kitchen Aid stainless steel mixer, six other Kitchen Aid appliances, Le Creuset Dutch Ovens, a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, Chef’s Catalog gift cards and the list goes on! Wow! Too bad I wasn’t eligible!
So much swag…oh, my!
The first session on Building a Dream Career with Scott Hair (Steamy Kitchen) was very inspirational and it set the tone for the rest of the seminar. Everything was so upbeat and positive. Jaden’s personality lights up the room and you instantly know why she has been so successful.
I found the two panel discussions, Working with Media Outlets and Brands and Building a Personal Brand, to be very helpful as I think about making some changes and moving forward with my own website.
The first panel discussion included John Kessler (Atlanta Journal Constitution), James Andrews and Lauren Thomas from Be Everywhere.
John Kessler, James Andrews, Lauren Thomas and Jaden Hair
The second panel on Building a Personal Brand featured Virginia Willis (Virginia Willis Culinary Productions) and Alisa Barry (Bella Cucina).
Alisa Barry (Bella Cucina)
Virginia Willis and Alisa Barry
Looks like a fun event Gwen!
This conference was really put together well from beginning to end. Kuddos to all that made it happen. I have some great take aways from it not only from a learning standpoint but also great products in the swag bags. Excellent recap and big thanks!
Gwen, You truly put together the perfect food blogger’s weekend. The food was delicious, the speakers were amazing and the swag was plentiful. I loved meeting all the bloggers (and finally getting to meet you!) and can’t believe how much I learned. I can’t wait to apply it to my blog! Thank you SO much again for all the work you put into making this the success that it was!
Gwen ~ just want to say again just how wonderful this event turned out to be and I am so happy we made the effort to be there! Everything was just outstanding and you did a terrific job – CONGRATS!!!
Wow, looks like you guys had fun! I wish I was there! 🙂
Thank you for all of your hard work. I had a fabulous time – it was just way too short!
Thanks Gwen for ALL of your hard work. This was an amazing event and I’m so glad I was able to attend. Please keep in touch. We are so close with me in Birmingham. Great Recap!!!
I miss you guys already!!! thank you so much for everything…it was one of the very best food blogging conferences ever! xoxo
It was all because of your hard work that we all got to have so much fun Gwen! Two thumbs up to you 🙂
You’ve summed up everything beautifully and now I want to attend the conference again! Great knowing you and meeting you in person. We’ve got to stay in touch.
Looks like everyone had a great time. Hopefully I can make it to the next one!
Great write-up, Gwen! Thanks for getting all the details posted. It not only helps those of us that were there to remember, but I’m sure those that couldn’t come feel like they weren’t left out. Hope to see you again, soon.
Well done Gwen!!! What a massive achievement – you should be proud of yourself, I sure am!!! 🙂 Btw – you are absolutely GLOWING in the pictures!!!
thanks for organizing a fabulous event! and kudos to your hubs Roger too for the great photographs!
You should be so very proud of yourself! I was thinking about you and the conference this weekend, and it was so exciting to see all the pictures and to hear about how it went. Everything looked amazing, and I only wish I could have attended. I’m sure you are tired…so rest up and enjoy some peace!
Gwen – it looks like you put together an awesome event that spanned a couple of days! I can tell by your perfectionism and organization you display on your blog that it carried over to the planning and management of this forum. Thanks for recapping the event!
I am truly amazed at how much hard work (and love!) you put into this event to make it happen. And it could not have gone any more smoothly. It was seriously a blast, and I can’t stop thinking about how fun it was! You totally deserve so much credit, and I can’t say thank you enough for taking the time to do this! I learned so much and met some amazing people (you included!) Can’t wait to meet you again sometime! 🙂
Gwen, Thank you so much for all your hard work in putting together the event! The whole experience was wonderful and so memorable!
I love those cookie boxes!
Gwen, Thanks for the recap. I was too busy soaking in all of the information, I didn’t take any photos.
You did a fabulous job planning and coordinating this event. Thank you for all of your efforts. All of the speakers and participants were wonderful! I learned so much my head is still spinning.
Gwen this was a great recap! Thank you so much for organizing this event and making it possible for those of us on the East side of the States to be able to attend a wonderful event!
Thanks for organizing such a spectacular event. I had a wonderful time and I learned a lot. It was nice meeting you!
looks like a lot of fun
Gwen.. like everyone said here, thank you so much for your dedication to making this event such a great success – REPEAT! I took away so much information with it.. but most of all, it gave me the opportunity of meeting such great new friends and peers.
Pat yourself on the back, girl… lots and lots of times.. you truly deserve it!
Looks like a great event. I’d like to come next time…Atlanta is not far from So Florida.
Gwen, thanks for all of your hard work! We learned SO much in such a short amount of time! And met SO many new friends too!!
What a fun and informative way to learn more about food. I want to go next year!!!
Gwen, from the beginning I knew I would kick myself for not attending but I just don’t know how I could have done so, looks like it was a great success and very powerful. thanks for this followup, the leads will give me some insight of what I missed….
Gwen,
Thanks for inviting us to “live stream” the Food Blog Forum”.
Thanks to the great program by Jaden, Diane, Scott and Todd.
It was a fabulous day!
John
ShowcasePhoto&Video
I wish I could have made it but we had a big deal in the works for our business and while I love my blogging, the IT business is what brings in the money so I can buy the food I make. ::sigh:: Being an adult and having to set priorities stinks sometimes. Thanks for such a helpful recap. Makes me really intent on going next year.
Gwen, looks like all that hard work paid off!
And thank you so much for a recap! And for the other bloggers who did a recap… That way, the west coast kiddos could read up and pretend we were there. :o)
[K]
I smiled my whole way through reading this post. After speaking with you this summer I know how much hard work you put into organizing this event. It looks like and A+++ Five star success. It is so fun to see how many great folks attended. Wish I lived closer I would have been there in a heart beat 🙂
Love what you say here:
“limit your focus, love what you do and to be authentic. Positive thinking and energy plays a large part in your ability to be successful.”
By the way: you look radiant in these photos.
Hi Gwen:
Thanks so much for your hard work in organizing this fantastic event. We learned so much and had so much fun! The Food Blog Forum definitely exceeded our expectations.
Thanks for helping to bring such a great event to the southeast! Your hard work was evidient in the success of the weekend and all of us greatly appreciated it. It was great to meet you!
I’m still sad I missed what seems to have been one amazing forum. Thanks for such a wonderful recap. Fingers crossed that this event will happen again. No doubt this would have been incredibly helpful to me!
Great job!