It’s been nearly two weeks since the BlogHer Food Bloggers Conference hit Miami and I’m still processing it all. If you don’t know about BlogHer (I didn’t until recently), it’s a media company comprised of a network of some 5,700+ bloggers and social media influencers. BlogHer has a huge blog conference every year for all types of bloggers—this year in Silicon Valley on July 23-24th. They also have BlogHer Food, just for food bloggers like me! This year BlogHer Food was held a short 10 minute drive from my home in Downtown Miami. How could I possibly miss it?
I’ve been to my share of conventions, but BlogHer Food was an entirely new experience. There were keynote speakers, business-building strategies, discussion panels, cooking demonstrations, and food was everywhere. It was two long days of blogging boot camp with a side of food tasting and endless business card exchanging.
The BlogHer conference was a big deal to me in more ways than one. It was also the longest amount of time I had ever been away from my son (at 17 months). For two days, I was at the conference. I spent nights happily packing my car up with bloggers to play tour guide.
I made sure to stop home a few times for a quick change of clothes and a few cuddles.
Lunch sponsored by McCormick spices with a delicious spice-guided menu. Followed by keynote discussion: What Superfoods Are, and How They’re Going to Change the Health Destiny of America.
Speakers included Jaden Hair (Steamy Kitchen), Dr. Melanie Palomares (City of Hope) and Dr. Wendy Bazilian (The SupeFoods Rx Diet).
I attended an enlightening panel discussion, Turning Online into a Product Line with Laura-Jane Koers (The Rawtarian) and Jadah Sellner (Simple Green Smoothies). Later that day, chef, author and blogger, David Lebovitz took the stage for an interview.
The second day, I enjoyed a kitchen demo, The Flavors of Miami. I thought I knew all about cooking Miami-style, but it turned out I learned a few things about Puerto Rican and Cuban cooking from instructors, Carla Cancio-Bello (Cuban Cuisine UK) and Meseidy Rivera (The Noshery). Thanks Ladies!
A few of my fellow bloggers and I escaped for a lunch break to Juvia on Miami Beach for a bite. Its a restaurant perched on top of the coolest parking lot I’ve ever seen. and I’ve always wanted to visit. We took a stroll on Lincoln Road and headed back to the conference for more. Here I am enjoying the view with Lina of Skandalous Cakes and Crystal from Sweet Sassy Palette.
Did I mention all of the food? BlogHer and the sponsors took good care of us, providing breakfast, and seemingly unlimited food throughout the days. We never stopped tasting.
The closing party was held Saturday night at Cafeina Wynwood Lounge with hostesses Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman), Jaden Hair (Steamy Kitchen) and Elise Bauer (Simply Recipes). Flamenco dancers performed and everyone got down on the dance floor.
The sponsores at BlogHer Food were insanely generous. My arms were loaded down several times during the conference and I ended up winning a KitchenAid stand mixer! It was like Christmas. To share the love, I’m giving away a big bag of swag from BlogHer Food.
Because you visit Love and Duck Fat, I’m encouraged each and every day to put in the time it takes to keep it going. Even if you never drop me an email or leave a comment, I see those little blips on my Google Analytics and know you are there (sometimes I even wave hello).
So what’s inside the big bag of swag? Here’s the rundown:
Stay tuned for more recipes coming your way from Love and Duck Fat! Thank you for visiting and be sure to follow my social media pages for more.
There’s a lot going on this week, so I took a moment to write up a quick update since I won’t have enough time to add my usual recipe posts.
First of all, I’m attending the BlogHer Food Conference in my hometown of Miami this weekend. Its two full days of food blogging boot camp, attended by many of the top bloggers in the country.
BlogHer is a media company with a community of thousands of blogs. They work to empower female publishers in all publishing genres. There will be keynote speeches, panels to attend and lots of FOOD to taste and photograph. This year David Lebovitz is speaking along with many others.
This is my very FIRST blogging event and I’m looking forward to all the fun and opportunities. My business cards are ready to be picked up and I’ll be sure to wear comfy shoes. Be on the lookout for play-by-play Twitter and Instagram shares this Friday and Saturday to see what I’m up to.
I want to send a big THANK YOU to my husband for gifting me a ticket to BlogHer Food this Mother’s Day, and listening to my nonstop bloggie talk, and watching our son while I’m off at the Conference. Love you!
To add a little more excitement to my week, one of my recipes was featured on The Today Show website, Today.com!
Did you think I was going on the Today Show? Nope–it’s not THAT exciting 🙂
May 15th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and they included my chocolate chip cake recipe in their story, Chip away! Try these 9 scrumptious recipes starring chocolate chips. Let’s take another look at that cake.
Have a great weekend
♥Marni
