Food Blog Forum, Orlando, Florida

Saturday, March 17, 2012
8:00 AM – 4:30 PM (EST)

We’re excited to announce our fifth Food Blog Forum event – this is our second time in Orlando. The event is a full-day seminar on Saturday, March 17, 2012 for food bloggers. And we’re so thrilled that Walt Disney World is our Hosting Sponsor!

This event is produced by Food Blog Forum with Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Todd & Diane of White On Rice Couple, Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen and Dawn Viola.

Food Blog Business | Food Styling & Photography | Food Blog Design | Food Writing

Food Blog Forum Orlando is a full-day seminar on Saturday, March 17, 2012, at Epcot Center, designed specifically for food bloggers.

We’ll be covering the most relevant topics for food bloggers, including food styling and photography, photo editing, recipe writing and development, food blog design and social media.

In addition to the information and skills you’ll be able to immediately implement, we’ll have several networking and social opportunities throughout the weekend.

Schedule

Friday, March 16, 2012
Friday Evening – Welcome Reception at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa sponsored by Walt Disney World

Saturday, March 17, 2012
8:00am-4:30pm
Coffee and continental breakfast provided by Walt Disney World

The following sessions and panels will occur in the morning, before lunch.

Food Photography & Styling: Sharing your food story through your creative voice
Diane Cu & Todd Porter
Everyone has a unique food story to share through images. Crafting your visual voice and sharing your authentic story in compelling food images is what makes your unique style stand out. Learn how to define your own food photography style and food storytelling. Elements of lighting, composition, style, basic propping, editing and story will be discussed to help you make your best photographs. Be inspired to craft images that are original, fresh, authentic and uniquely you.

PRspectives
Jaden Hair, Rachel Barbarotta, Arianna Bastianini, Tom Smith
A lesson in PR 101, from various perspectives. This panel brings together bloggers, brands and PR professionals to give you an inside look into the process of working with brands and forming relationships that can benefit both the bloggers and companies they work with.

How to Write Bigger, Better, More Badass Food Posts
David Leite
In this solo panel, learn what it takes to write the kind of posts that move people to leave comments as well as to forward, tweet, stumble, and Facebook the hell out of them. Not to mention getting awards and recognition. Use David’s checklist to evaluate how successful your posts are and how to improve them.

From Hobby to Professional: Taking your Blog to the Next Level
Dawn Viola
Do you want to take your food blog from hobby to professional? Food writer and research chef, Dawn Viola, will show you how to develop your unique food writing niche, find your blogging voice and harness free marketing tools to establish yourself as a professional writer.

LUNCH

A (Healthful) Taste of Disney! Sponsored by Walt Disney World

Experts Round Table (After Lunch)

Dive deeper into the topics that interest you most. We’ll have our speakers and other experts available to you during a series of four 30-minute “speed-networking” sessions. Ask questions and get advice from our experts in a more personal setting. Explore topics such as Social Media, Technology and Design, Photography & Styling Live Demonstration, Basic Photo Editing and File Management, Pitching to Editors, Writing Cookbook Proposals, Recipe Development, The Business of Blogging and more.

Closing Party

Saturday, March 17, 2012 (Evening)
Sponsored by Walt Disney World
Private dessert party at Epcot Center with front row viewing of Illuminations

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Brunch At Whole Foods Market Orlando

**Schedule, sessions and speakers subject to change.

Speakers

Jaden Hair is a television chef, food columnist and award-winning food blogger at Steamy Kitchen. You can watch her cook twice a month on Daytime Show, syndicated in 120 markets. Jaden is a food columnist for Discovery Health, TLC and for Tampa Tribune. Jaden is a cookbook author of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. With 90,000 followers, Jaden is one of the most influential people in food on Twitter. She has been featured on the Today Show, CBS Early Show, Martha Stewart Living Radio, Oprah.com, and Parents Magazine. Jaden was recently named one of the hottest women in food by SlashFood and also one of the best food bloggers on Forbes.com. Twitter: SteamyKitchen

Todd Porter and Diane Cu are professional photographers and filmmakers specializing in food, travel and lifestyle. They are founders of EvoMultimedia.com and produce photo/video content for editorial, magazines, newspapers, cookbooks and advertising clients. These include The Oprah Winfrey Network, Whole Foods, Williams Sonoma, Cooking Channel, Food and Wine Magazine and Sunset Magazine. Fueled by their love of storytelling, love of local people and culture, they capture and document powerful food stories from around the world. Diane and Todd share their personal food stories, recipes and snippets of life around them on their award winning food and photography blog, WhiteOnRiceCouple.com. They also love home cooked meals made with love and are geeky gardeners with about 40 fruit trees to their backyard collection.

David Leite (pronounced leet) is the author of The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe’s Western Coast, which won the 2010 IACP First Book/Julia Child Award and for which he received the 2009 National Leadership Award from the Portuguese-American Leadership Council of the United States (PALCUS). When not agonizing over his next book, he writes about everything from champagne to Welsh food to high tea to being a super taster for publications including the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Pastry Art & Design, Food Arts, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, Charlotte Observer, epicurious.com, and Ridgefield Magazine, where he was the food editor for three years. He’s also the resident food geek at The Morning News. David is a frequent guest on the Martha Stewart Living Radio program Living Today and often reads his work on public radio’s food program The Splendid Table hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper. He’s a regular guest on WTNH-TV, appears on The Today Show, and was profiled on Radical Sabbatical on Fine Living Network.

Dawn Viola is a research and development chef and food writer. She serves on the board of directors for Slow Food Orlando and works with local and national companies as a healthy recipe consultant with a focus on local, sustainable and organic ingredients. Dawn’s work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications such as FoodNetwork.com, Babble.com, The Orlando Sentinel and Edible Orlando Magazine. She has appeared on Food Network, Cooking with Emeril, and is a frequent guest on Martha Stewart Radio, Fox News and The Daily Buzz. Dawn also blogs at DawnViola.com, recognized by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for her commitment to cooking with organic ingredients.

Rachel Barbarotta is a seasoned advertising and public relations professional with five years of experience in digital and social media. She is currently a Social Media Strategist and Community Manager representing Whirlpool brands KitchenAid and Jenn-Air out of Digitas New York. Prior to that, Rachel worked for global agency Euro RSCG where she represented several brands including Dos Equis and Charles Schwab. Rachel is an active member of the food blogging community at The Fabulous Foodie where she shares her dining adventures in New York City and beyond as well as a  published food writer for The Strong Buzz, Wild Table and Bite of the Best. When she’s not busy finding new ways to connect people with the brands she represents, you can find her traveling, eating and passionately rooting for Boston sports teams. Rachel also serves as a social media consultant for some of New York City’s most popular restaurants.

Arianna Bastianini heads OXO’s social media efforts as part of the Brand Communications team. As a company that has grown primarily through word of mouth over the past 20 years, OXO believes that bloggers are an invaluable resource, making blogger outreach one of Arianna’s main objectives. Originally from Venezuela, Arianna received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in New York City and has held PR and advertising roles at Columbia. Additionally, she specialized in social media while running online campaigns and outreach for CNN International in their Hong Kong offices.

Additional Round Table Speakers include:

Elise Bauer – A food blogging pioneer, Elise Bauer founded the food blog SimplyRecipes.com in 2003 and has grown it into one of the most well read food blogs in the world.
Julie Deily – Software Engineer and Food Blogger; The Little Kitchen
Angie Dudley – Bakerella
Katie Farmand – Editor of Edible Orlando
Lindsay Landis – Web/Graphic Designer, Author of the upcoming The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook (Quirk Books, June 2012) and Food Blogger – Purr Design / Love & Olive Oil
Alison Lewis – Food Writer, Cookbook Author and Food Blogger; Ingredients, Inc.
Kendra Lott – Publisher of Edible Orlando
Heather McPherson – Food Editor for the Orlando Sentinel
Jennifer Perillo – Recipe Developer, Consulting Food Editor and Food Blogger; In Jennie’s Kitchen
Kelly Senyei – Associate Editor of Gourmet Live, Author of the forthcoming Food Blogging For Dummies (Wiley, spring 2012) and Food Blogger; Just a Taste

Thank you to our Sponsors

Interested in sponsoring this event? For sponsorship opportunities please contact Julie Deily at julie [at] thelittlekitchen [dot] net.

The FBF Orlando ticket price includes:

• Admission for attendee to Friday night welcome reception
• Admission for attendee to all-day Saturday seminar
• Admission for attendee & up to 4 family members* to Saturday night closing party
• Admission for attendee & up to 4 family members* to Sunday brunch at Whole Foods
• 1 Hotel room for Friday & Saturday nights
  
• Disney park tickets for attendee and up to 4 family members* for Friday, Saturday and Sunday

*Up to 4 family members only applies if you sign up under attendee & family registration.

Accommodations

We will be staying at the beautiful Polynesian Resort.

Walt Disney World provides round-trip ground transportation from the Orlando International Airport for its resort guests.

The Polynesian Resort is convenient to the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa as well as to Epcot Center via monorail service.

How to Register

Due to registration number restrictions, Food Blog Forum Orlando 2012 will be open to active food bloggers only as well as one writer per blog.

To register, food bloggers must first complete an application (we switched applications to be rolling, so we can start a wait list – please feel free to apply if you qualify & want to attend). Once approved, a registration link will be emailed to you. This link is unique to your registration invitation, may not be shared, and is valid for 48 hours from the time it is emailed.

$125 for Solo Attendee Registration (There’s a possibility that you will be sharing a hotel room with another attendee.)
$165 Attendee & Family Registration

Registration fees will only be collected once your application has been selected (not at application time).

(Event registration fees are non-refundable and are non-transferrable.)