3 Reasons To Go to the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC2017)

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Ever wondered about attending a food blogger conference? Here are three reasons why I did, and three reasons why maybe you should.

Wondering if attending a food blogger conference, like the International Food Blogger Conference, might be right for you? I just got home from Sacramento, California, (America’s Farm-to-Fork-Capital) where I attended the International Food Blogger Conference.  I’d like to share with you my thoughts on why I attended. I’ll also tell you why I probably will go back again to the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) in 2017. 

To Learn and Grow Professionally:

IFBC offered two sessions that were of particular interest to me. The session on Food and Travel writing was the most fascinating and helpful to me. I also enjoyed the session on Food Waste. The presenters at each of these sessions offered valuable, practical suggestions, which I hope to incorporate into future posts. I also hope to use a few of them as I pitch my ideas to brands, organizations and publications for topics I’d like to cover. The conversations that occurred at our tables, immediately following those sessions, were also important. We had a chance to bounce our own ideas off each other: ideas that had come to us based on having heard the same presentation. A casual remark, made by another attendee in passing can become a catalyst for an entire chain reaction of thoughts. I gained fresh ideas, fresh inspiration, and was offered practical, helpful hints.

Two new friends from IFBC Sacramento: Adriana and Jenny.

To Attend the Pre-Conference Excursions:

I am so very, very glad that I decided to show up a couple of days early! I was concerned about the extra money I’d be spending at the hotel and on meals. But truly, the excursions were, for me, one of the very best parts of the conference. I visited the only facility that grows endive in the US, California Endive Farms . I also visited a family owned pear orchard called Stillwater Orchards. And finally, I visited the beautiful Capay Valley Ranches,  where they grow olive trees, almond trees and grapes. That afternoon we visited the mill  where they press and bottle their olive oil. Each visit was fascinating – and hot! We were there during a heat wave! I began to appreciate the massive amounts of technology and science that are needed to manage food production successfully. I hope to share more about each of these excursions in future posts.

One of the centerpieces at the dinner provided for us by the city of Sacramento, America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital.

To Have an Opportunity to Network:

And by networking, I believe that it’s important to make real life connections with fellow bloggers, and with businesses. If you’re looking for ways to connect with others who do what you do, as a food blogger, this is the place! So many of the opportunities that have come my way have come as a result of reaching out, and being willing to get to know, and to make myself known to others.

I thought the city of Sacramento did a terrific job of making us feel welcomed, and of driving home their message of labeling Sacramento as America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital. They hosted a lovely dinner outdoors for us using all locally sourced foods. (By the way, did you know that California grows over 400 types of fruits, and vegetables in its fertile fields?)
The thing I thought that the hosts of the conference did best was to connect us as attendees with such food producers as CA Cling Peach Board, CA Almonds, CAPears,  Marin French Cheese, Lindsay Olives, the Capay Valley Ranches (who grow olive trees and almond trees and grapes), the American Pistachio Growers,  California Walnuts, and  California Figs. These are the kinds of natural, unprocessed ingredients that I use most in my cooking, and they’re the kind of organizations I WANT to partner with and develop recipes for, and serve as an ambassador for. 

The table set before us by the city of Sacramento and the Hyatt Regency. What a gorgeous spot to have dinner under the stars!

What I Hope Might Be Different Next Year:

My only disappointment about this conference is that I would have loved to have seen more sponsors from the kitchen/cooking supply/culinary world attend. Companies like KitchenAid, OXO, Williams-Sonoma, Best Buy, Lodge Cast Iron or Le Creuset, for example, would have been perfect companies to have attended and partnered with this conference. There was a local-to-Sacramento grocery store that served very generously as a sponsor: Nugget Markets, and Raley’s , which has locations in Northern and Central California, also kindly sponsored us as well.  But I also would have loved for the conference to have partnered with grocery stores that had a more nationwide reach. Whole Foods Market is found in 42 states, and Kroger grocery stores, which operate in 34 states, both come to mind, and would have been some other great partners for the event, since many of the attendees were from outside of California. I loved that Clarksburg Wine Company sponsored us, (really enjoyed their Chenin Blanc!) and I hope that next year, even more of those great California wines will be represented. 

Sacramento has been kind enough to volunteer to host us again, next year, for 2017, and I’m interested to see who the sponsors will be, where the excursions will be, and what the topics will be. I’m hoping that the same sponsors will want to come back again, and then some! If you are a blogger who posts regularly, the early bird pricing for tickets ($100.00 off the already low ticket price of $195.00) is available through August 31st, so you and I both need to go ahead and act on that pricing quickly! It will be held slightly later in the year, from Sept. 29th – Oct. 1st. Here’s a link that will help you make up your mind: IFBC Sacramento, 2017.