I have officially attended my first food blogging conference, or as my brother calls it, “nerd fest.” Apparently my son feels the same way, because he once referred to blogging as a “nerdy woman thing to do.” I have this fantasy where my family doesn’t realize how amazingly successful I’ve become, and they say, “How long are you going to keep spending all your time on this nerdy little hobby of yours?” and I reply, “My blog makes a gazillion dollars every year, so there!” and they all sit in stunned silence with their mouths open, only I wouldn’t actually use the word “gazillion” because I have a pet peeve about using words that don’t really exist, and I probably wouldn’t say “so there!” because it’s a little juvenile. But I would want to.
What are the best parts of attending a food blogging convention in Seattle? There are several. But remember, every rose has its thorns, and every food blogging conference high has it’s low.
High: Meeting new people. People like Meghan over at Mostly Noodles, not only because she is awesome, but also because she was one of the few people I spoke to more than once.
Low: Realizing how bad I am at meeting new people. I can turn an acquaintance into a friend in nothing flat, but turning a stranger into an acquaintance is where I struggle. And I was reminded of that at least a thousand times this weekend.
High: Eating awesome food, and more awesome food, which was plentiful and available, though not necessarily cheap.
Low: Realizing I would soon be going home to Utah, which has a lot of fine qualities, amazing food not among them.
High: Staying at the same freaking awesome hotel where the conference was held. This place was big, gorgeous, and came with amazing service.
Low: Sleeping alone. Sleeping alone AND going to bed early, because I was up at the crack of dawn to catch my flight. It’s a double whammy of patheticness. (Yes, I realize patheticness isn’t a word, and that’s kind of hypocritical; I don’t need any comments about it!)
High: Pike’s Place Market.
Low: There are no low’s to Pike’s Place. Maybe that my BFF Jen wasn’t with me. I tried to convince her to start her own food blog so she could join me, but she didn’t.
Maybe next year?
Hi Jen! I found you on Facebook somehow, you had “liked” something I was looking at… anyhow, I wanted to drop you a note to encourage you to keep going! A couple things: first of all, blogging is not nerdy, if you want nerdy you go to Comic-Con. Now THOSE are some nerds! I am a little jealous that you went to Blog Her Food because, being a new blogger myself, I want to learn from people who are already doing it. But like you, I am TERRIBLE at meeting new people. So, keep on keepin’ on with that, my husband who can talk to anyone says it gets easier the more you practice. So there’s that. So keep on writing and I’ll keep on following! Here’s to both of us making a gazillion dollars blogging! 🙂 (or at least making a living out of it!)
I would be nervous too, in fact I attended my first food blog camp recently and going in was thinking, what the heck am I doing here but after a couple of hours everyone was so friendly and the weekend was awesome!
Thanks..
Hi Jen, I also attended BlogHer food in Seattle, it was my frist BlogHer conference ever and it can be a little intimdating to meet new people. I felt better once I knew that most of the attendees were also new to the conference so i stepped way out of my comfort zone and started introducing myself to anyone I was sitting next to. By the end of the weekend, it was amazing how many familiar faces I saw at the party on Saturday! I found your photo collage when I was looking for an image for BlogHer food and used it on one of my posts. I have linked back to your blog and credited you in the image – if you are not comfortable with me using the photo just sent me a quick email and I will take it down.
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