*wipes blueberry crisp crumbs off face*
Hi again IT’S MEEE. Yes, guys, it’s Saturday, and I’m breaking blog schedule and popping in with some newsies.
As much as we love being at home in our T-shirts and jeans (okay fine sweats) all day, Bjork and I are getting all profesh and hitting the road this fall for some food slash blog conferencing. Beep beep!
When we were living half a world away in the Philippines, I started to get that sort of buggy feeling about wanting to (brace yourself for the obnoxious term) network and eat num food and make friends by going to some conferences. But at the time when I was wanting that, I was, uhm, like, way over in the jungle getting my world rocked and eating full cartons of mangoes.
Last fall after we came back to the States, we headed out to an IACP conference in Seattle for some awesome learning and speaking and people meeting (AND THE FOOD. worth it.) You guys, it was so fun for us to travel together and have this cool conference experience and we totally got the itch to do more of this sort of thing.
Buuuut behind the scenes it was kinda super stressful because after a very full weekend meeting people, presenting, and learning, we took a red-eye flight home (no no no no no) and then – wait for it – I went to school the next morning. I tried to be Awesome Elementary School Teacher Who Is Patient With Kids while making a mental note that we better keep conferences reserved for the time in our lives when we not only in the homeland country, but also not so overwhelmed with multiple jobs.
So here we are coming full circle and then some – our primo conference time is right now! We’re in the US, blogging and related entrepreneurial things are both of our primary jobs right now, and as a result, we’re both super pumped to be attending and speaking at two conferences this fall. I am crossing my fingers that you and I will find each other at the snack table at one of these events as we’re both reaching for the same goat cheese crostini and our hands will touch and we’ll look up and… fate.
Blog Elevated – September 25-27th
TEXAS. Bring it on, y’all. I have only been to Texas once but here goes round #2 since we’ll be attending and speaking at BlogElevated in Galveston at the end of September. Woot! This conference is a weekend event and as a Minnesota girl, I can say that I’m pretty excited to be heading out to AN ISLAND (squee) for all the bloggy things.
The fun thing about BlogElevated is that it’s for all kinds of bloggers, not just food bloggers. So everything that Bjork and I are speaking about will obviously be from the perspective of a food blog but geared towards anyone with a blog. Some of the awesomeness of this conference includes:
- Blog Like a Rock Star – Dayna Steele
- Monetizing Your Blog – Bjork Ostrom *mwah*
- Bookkeeping and Business Basics – Helena Swyter
- Pricing Your Worth as a Blogger – Amy Locurto
- eBooks for Bloggers -dats me
- Representing Brands with Style – Fred Goodall
- Photography Props and Set Ups Everyone Can Use – hey again
There are also Creative and Social Media tracks – and lots more events in between to keep us smart/happy. Since we’re only about a month away from this one, please tell me where a person should buy her first pair of cute cowgirl boots? Or no. Too much?
Wait wait wait for this little Rafflecopter widget to load just below this sentence and – boom! – you can enter to win a free ticket to BlogElevated 2014.
Chopped Conference – October 24, 2014
Bring on the barbeque! That’s what you eat in Kansas City, right? I am super pumped to be attending and speaking at Chopped Con with Bjork because in addition to meeting a boatload of food bloggers from the Best Midwest, there are a few panels with some of my favey food bloggers who I have never met because I have hermit tendences and I am going to hunt them down once and for all and give them hugs and kisses. Just… turn away.
This is a one-day conference on October 24, and it. is. power. packed. Think fun and educational and delish. I think just the air in this room is going to taste yum to the max – obvi a side effect of packing food bloggers into a room together. Some party conference highlights will include:
- The More You Know, The More You Can Eat! by conference Keynote Speaker, Carolyn O’Neil
- iPhones, Hashtags, and Filters, Oh My! Building and Expanding Your Social Media Presence on Instagram. Participants on this panel: Bev Weidner, Kristen Doyle, and Christina Lane
- The Art of Food Writing by Jill Silva
- Taking Your Food Blog from Good to Great by Lindsay & Bjork Ostrom (hiiii mom!)
- The Food Blogger Time Turner: How to Work With a Virtual Assistant by Milisa Armstrong
- Building Your Blog Power Hour: How to Work with Brands. Participants on this panel: Cheryl Sousan, Ali Ebright, and Kathryne Taylor
- Oh the Places You’ll Go: Why Food Blogging is More Than The Sum of Its Parts (i.e. revenue) by Kristen Doyle
This is a one-day powerhouse conference – I surely hope I will be seeing some fellow Midwestern, maybe even Minnie-sota bloggers there HINT HINT HINT. Check out this little Rafflecopter dittly to load under this sentence for the free ticket to this conference up for grabs. Free as in zero dollars yeh yeh booyeh.
That’s all for this Saturday, favorite peoples of the internet! Thanks for reading, attending conferences, friending us in person, and loving food.
Oooh I so wish I could go to either/both of those!! We’re home for the first… but aren’t going to be making a trip to Texas. I was hoping you’d announce you were talking at IFBC, because I WILL be there! Boo!
Have fun! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
IFBC. Do I know IFBC? Looking it up now. Hope you are well, world traveler! 🙂
As if I wasn’t homesick enough (Oklahoma) this makes me wish I was back there so I could go to both conferences! I do hope you’ll make your way up to Michigan or at least a bit closer sometime next year!
Those conferences both look like great topics and speakers! Have fun!
Can’t wait to see you again, Lindsey, and meet Bjork at Chopped Con! Let me know if you need any KC recs or have any free time to hang out! xo
YES! I can’t wait! 🙂
Looks amazing! Wish I could go to the conference but I’m stuck here in England haha!
Stuck?! Millie. Come on now. England seems like a dreamyland. 😉
These look a-ma-zing! I was just thinking the other day that it might be time to hit the road and meet some other bloggers!
So if I were to win… do you have to be 18? lolz. But I want to go so bad! My blog seems to finally be starting to gain traffic and going to a conference would help me even more!
Wish you’d come a little further west….to California ….pleeeeze. Wish I could attend in TX. Safe travels! Have fun!
Oh I wish we were coming that way, too! I heart Cali!
I just squealed for joy! I will see you in MY city (Kansas City). I’m excited to hear your presentation and hope I can meet ya. Might I strongly encourage you to stay for a Chiefs game on sunday?
Marissa
So fun! What a great idea! Can’t wait to meet you Marissa!
So I can’t go to either conference (BOO!) BUT Country Outfitters is a great place to find you some boots 😉
Sad face! Did you go to the Influence Conference this year? or has it not happened yet? I was really wanting to go to that one but I think the dates overlap with another conference or something.
I live in Texas and I would LOVE to see you guys!
Fun! hope we’ll be seeing you there!
I’m in the same boots as you and Bjork were awhile ago…that is, halfway around the world. The conferences look great and maybe we’ll meet up in 2016 or so once I arrive back in the good ‘ole U.S. of A. In the meantime I’m getting geared up to soak up and share everything possible about Asian cuisine. Hold onto your hat cowgirl!
So fun – enjoy all that delicious food! Conferences will still be here when you get back! 🙂
Wow! Nervous or excited? Wish I could be there – looking forward to hearing all about these wonderful conferences!
Excited! I’ll probably sweat a little bit and need five hundred glasses of water in the hour leading up to our presentations but usually once we get going it feels fun and natural! 😀 I just imagine everyone is a fourth grader.
Yay! How exciting. Too bad you’re not coming to the Association of Food Journalists conference in Memphis in about a week.. I could finally make you be my best friend, JUST SAYING.
🙂 And yeah.. barbecue in Memphis. That’s literally all that’s on the menu.
I’m so happy to be able to hear you guys speak at Blog Elevated. It should be a great conference. I’m looking into Chopped as well, such a great lineup of speakers!
Thanks Joanie! Looking forward to meeting you!
Congratulations you two! What great news. I am excited for you.
Cavenders, if you have time to go while in Texas, is the best place to get boots in my opinion. The sales people are really helpful. They give you choices on toe shape, heel height, and design, then put you in a boot and make sure it fits properly. I used to live in Houston, and every time we took someone to Cavenders, they left with boots within 20 minutes.
https://www.cavenders.com/
Have fun at your conferences! They sound fun/delicious!
So sweet of you! hahaha – imagining myself in boots makes me giggle. Thanks! 🙂
I don’t plan on ever blogging professionally, but I think that going to these conferences would be really interesting, if not just to meet other people who are as passionate about blogging as I am, or even more so! Lots of inspiration to go around 🙂 -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s
Agreed Audrey! I am excited to just do some face-to-face time with other bloggers!
Have fun at these, they sound so great and you have earned the right to enjoy this!
Re: boots, I’m afraid I have to vote no to this. Except for choosing some cool fun ones to take home. You are sure to look like a tourist there, and the last thing you want people to think is the old “all hat and no cattle” thing. Poseurs are always so obvious. You are better off dressing in your more polished city duds than trying to imitate the locals.
Congrats Lindsay & Bjork! You two really are an inspiration. Crossing my fingers that I win! 🙂 Would love to attend some conferences in the future.
So, if it were me trying to find cute cowgirl boots? I would go straight down to the flea market on the weekend where the vendor might not speak any English and the booth might be right next to the section with used car parts and washing machines but there would be all shapes sizes and colors of boots to choose from. But that’s waaaay down here in south Texas where I live, only about five miles from the border where we can usually get things like that for, well, much better deals. 🙂
Conratulations on this new adventure. Please consider extending some of your trips to explore the destinations. The world is best experienced during your prime, and the memories will never fade.
Thanks Wendy! Great advice!
Kansas City? One day? That has the potential of being doable for me! Love Kansas City.
Do it! Would love to meet you Debra!
Hi Lindsay,
Galveston doesn’t have a ranch/cattle background and is way down on the coast. Don’t believe I’ve seen cowboy boots being worn down there. Now, here is Austin it is a different story. Whatever, have a wonderful time in this very diverse state.
Thanks for the tip Geri! 😉
I wish I could go. There is so much to learn from you guys!
Good luck…
Cheers!