Food Blog South 2011

A couple of weekends ago, BeeBop and I made the short drive from Atlanta to Birmingham for the first ever Food Blog South. This was a weekend I’d been looking forward to for months and I was so excited and nervous that the time had finally arrived! This was the first blogging conference I’d ever attended and I was determined not to let my lifelong shyness keep me from getting everything I possibly could from the experience.

We arrived on Friday afternoon at the official hotel for conference goers, The Hotel Highland. The hotel is a renovated historic building in downtown Birmingham that is furnished in a unique, contemporary style. The rooms were comfortable and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We highly recommend it if you’re heading to Birmingham for either business or fun. After settling in at the hotel and reviewing recommendations for dinner, we decided on Chez Fon Fon which was just a short walk away. Chez Fon Fon is a French bistro with a definite old-world feel. BeeBop ordered the croque monsieur and I had the lobster with savory leek bread pudding. All I can say is “oh, my goodness!” Incredible. You have to try it if you’re in that area.

Saturday morning started off early at Woodrow Hall, the conference venue. Originally constructed in 1914, this venue has been restored but retains all its old charm – lots of beautiful wood floors and exposed brick everywhere. A great atmosphere for a conference celebrating southern food bloggers.

Christy Jordan, author of Southern Plate

After a welcome by the talented storyteller, Tanner Latham, we all chose which breakout sessions to attend. And the very first one was “Marketing Your Blog” with Christy Jordan, whose blog Southern Plate has become a sensation. I had run into Christy at the front door of the hotel earlier that morning while we were both waiting for our cars to be brought around. She showed me her new shoes – cute! – and I told her how much I enjoyed her blog. She’s just as down-to-earth and genuine in person as she is on her blog. During her session, Christy emphasized the importance of having a consistent voice, particularly if you are interested in working with brands. A large food brand wants a partner who is predictable and from whom they know what to expect. She also spoke about the importance of using keywords in posts, ways in which StumbleUpon can help drive traffic to your blog, and how to appeal to a diverse audience. For example, she mentioned that she no longer uses pastel, girly colors on her blog since she discovered that she has a large male readership.

Virginia Willis making a point in a recipe

The second session of the morning, and I have to admit my favorite of the day, was Recipe Development with Alison Lewis and Virginia Willis. These two ladies have biographies and experiences that could fill two blog posts, so I’ll just say that they were more – much more – than qualified to speak about recipe development! The tips they gave on recipe writing were so helpful! I really never thought that much about the elements of a recipe: title, head note, ingredients list, instructions, yield, prep time, cook time, variations, etc. After this session, I now have a basic formula to use when writing up a recipe and it makes so much more sense! I was honored later in the day to have Virginia sign my personal copy of her cookbook Bon Appetit, Y’all. I even found out that she grew up not far from my hometown. Small world!

There were many, many more sessions throughout the day. John-Bryan Hopkins, the Foodimentary guy, did an hour long session on Social Media. Andre Natta presented Blogging 101. The awesome Lisa Ekus-Safffer‘s session Blog to Book: Could You? Should You? How-To, was enlightening for anyone who has ever entertained thoughts of writing a cookbook.

Jennifer Davick and Marian Cooper-Cairns demonstrate a typical setup for a food styling and photography session

One more favorite session for me was Food Photography and Styling with Jennifer Davick and Marian Cooper-Cairns, the photography and food styling team from Southern Living Magazine. They so generously shared the knowledge which makes each issue of Southern Living the beautiful end-product that we all know and drool over. The two things that stuck with me from a full hour and a half of their session? Style simply and shoot with North light. Seriously.

I could go on and on some more about the different sessions and I haven’t even mentioned the keynote address by Kim Severson of The New York Times. I haven’t told you about meeting some of my favorite blog authors (Chris from Mele Cotte, Tami from Running with Tweezers, Helene from Tartelette, Paula from Bell’alimento and Merry-Jennifer from The Merry Gourmet). But, what I really want to convey through this post is what I personally took away from the conference. And that is this: we do this because we have a passion for our topic. Whether you are blogging about southern food or whether you are a food blogger who just happens to be from the South, we all have a desire to share what we eat, cook and serve with those who are kind enough to visit and read our blogs. And we don’t have to do it in a vacuum. Sometimes it can seem a little lonely, especially when the visitors don’t show up, but there are so many of us out there willing to share what we know, willing to help when someone runs across a problem, or just willing to listen when a fellow blogger needs some support. We’ll keep doing it simply because we love it. And we’ll see each other again at Food Blog South 2012!