My Sweet Things

We had such a wonderful time at the Food Blog Forum Friday social. I knew that Saturday was going to rock, and that it did!

The Saturday Seminar was held at the trendy restaurant The Shed at Glenwood. It was voted one of the best places to eat for under $30 in Atlanta and I have to agree. The food was delish!

When we arrived, we checked in and received a raffle ticket. Raffle?! Sweet. We tossed our names in the basket and headed to our seats. That list above has all the event sponsors. A great generous group they are!

Every seat had two large bags from the sponsors full of goodies! That was an unexpected surprise!

Here is a peek inside one of the bags. Cheese Straws from Fresh Market, Calphalon tongs, mini pinching bowls, spatulas. There are too many things to list! See that card on top? It’s a recipe card from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen. Too cute!

Scott Hair started our morning with a motivational, fun, discussion on building our dream careers.  There would be lots of notes taken this day! See Scott? I was paying attention when you talked about participant retention! We participated in fun exercises that really set the tone for the whole day! Our first set of speakers  included John Kessler of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as James Andrews and Lauren Thomas with Everywhere, a social media agency. They discussed working with media outlets and brands. Very informative!

Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Alissa Barry of Bella Cucina and Virgina Willis shared their stories of how they are living their dreams. We also learned how we can build our personal brand.

After the second session they held a raffle drawing and guess whose name they called? Justin Holzer! Come on down! You are the winner of a Cuisinart frozen yogurt-sorbet and ice cream maker!

This photo is from the Cuisinart site, but you know I will be all over it when it ships to our home!

So, they called another name and…..Donna Holzer, come on down, you are a winner!

A basket full of Walkers cookie treats! After all that  winning excitement we had a lunch break and doh! I did not take any food photos, but we enjoyed sliders, pasta salad, deviled eggs, and sweet tea! The Shed did a great job hosting lunch!

During our lunch break, I took the opportunity to meet and personally thank the Food Blog Forum Team: Todd Porter, silly Jaden Hair giving me rabbit ears, and Diane Cu.

I brought along Steamy Kitchen’s cookbook and sweet Jaden signed it for me.

You might recognize that lovely to my left. Angie Dudley, aka Bakerella! She attended the conference and she was super sweet. Justin and I enjoyed talking to her while we all enjoyed those sliders!

It’s a good day when two of your favorite authors/bloggers sign their books for you!

Blogger peeps socializing during one of our breaks. Back in the corner, Showcase Photo and Video let us play around with the different lenses they brought along. They were very helpful with the specific questions I had in regards to wide angle and macro lenses. Oh, macro lens please!

So with full bellies, photos, and book signings, we were now ready for the afternoon session.

Todd Porter and Diane Cu, aka White on Rice Couple, presented two sessions on light, workflow, food photography, gear, and food styling. I must say that with my love for photography, I was soaking up all this information. If you have not visited their site, go now and see what beautiful images they create. So very inspiring! They did a live shoot demo frame by frame that was so very helpful.

Jaden spoke for the last session and she discussed blogging business strategies. She shared her story of how she started blogging. I truly admire her determination, courage, and dedication in the pursuit of her dream.

The lovely day wrapped up with a Q & A session with Diane Cu, Todd Porter, Scott Hair, and Jaden Hair. The event was so inspiring and many thanks to the  Food Blog Forum for all your sweet smiles and kind words. You made me feel like a part of your community and the opportunity to meet other bloggers who are so warm and friendly was icing on the cake.

The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  ~William Arthur Ward

I have been inspired!

It’s all good. ~Donna