Blog Brûlée 2016 (& announcement)

Quick announcement! After traveling this past week I was reminded how hard it can be to stick to simple health goals during hectic times.  So, I decided to put together a healthy holidays program for HH readers and clients!  I’m running something similar for a local gym so I thought I would extend the option to you guys!  I know we can all use a little extra support when times get hectic.  Our program will run October 9th through December 31st 2016 so make sure you sign up ASAP! Learn more and sign up here!

Blog Brulee is a small conference for members of Healthy Aperture and/or Recipe ReDux.  Attendees are hand selected by the founders and invited to attend.  I paid a registration fee and travel to attend, however, food and other events were generously sponsored.

Blog Brûlée Friday

I was so incredibly excited to attend this year’s Blog Brûlée for so many reasons.  I was actually accepted last year but was unable to attend, so, this year felt like Christmas was finally here!

Since it is hard to fly to Vermont from the west coast a few of us flew on Thursday night, that meant we had Friday to explore, hike, and play.

• Then Friday night it was time to hit the ground running Deanna Segrave-Daly from Teaspoon of Spice gave us some awesome tips on capturing stunning iPhone photos using her favorite apps camera plus and snapseed.

• Then, Regan of Healthy Aperture spent some time taking us through the basics of Videography.  I absolutely want Hungry Hobby to jump into the video space so this session was really helpful and clarifying.

Is it kind of like learning a new language?

Blog Brûlée Saturday

• Saturday morning breakfast began with a presentation by one of the events sponsors Siggi’s and who better to present than Siggi himself?  We actually got to strain yogurt ourselves which I thought was pretty cool!

• The food photography session was absolutely incredible.  It seems like regardless of how many times I read it in a book I couldn’t really get the set up right.  Seeing Katie Webster of Healthy Seasonal Recipes set it up in person and having someone explain out loud was incredibly useful!  Just a few adjustments in equipment & technique for me to try, I’m excited to see how much better I can be! Then Gretchen Brown of Kumquat walked us through post processing, I can never get enough tips on that end either!

• After lunch, Katy Widrick shared with us the most important tips for Search Engine Optimization.  The woman is a blogging guru, I’ve been following her for a while now so I was excited to finally meet her in person.  One thing to think about for bloggers out there, are you adding a rel=nofollow tag to your sponsored posts?  Make sure you do so that you don’t get put in google jail!
• Then, a session on Creating Compelling Content by Sally Kuzemchak of Real Mom Nutrition.  Suzy is a second career dietitian who worked as a magazine editor for many years.  Ultimately, she encouraged us to have a strong voice in our writing and create content that inspires as well connects our readers.
• We also had informational sessions from event sponsors rel=”nofollow” , Aldi (totally feel like I’m missing out in AZ), Davidsons (hello to safe cookie dough and poached eggs), POM Wonderful (post workout miracle?) and the National Peanut Board (who doesn’t love peanut butter?) throughout the day as well!  Oh, and the most amazing smores bonfire ever! Can’t forget that!

• Saturday night’s dinner was one to remember.  We had a fabulous dinner thanks to our event sponsors and a great time connecting with all attendees at the “after party.”

Blog Brûlée Sunday

• Sunday kicked off with a session from Instagram guru Amanda Finks of The Wholesome Dish and Pinterest guru Aggie Goodman of Aggie’s Kitchen.  They shared with all kind of tips and tricks on how to become successful on each social media platform.  I can always use more tips on managing social media!
• Next up, Anne of Fannetastic Food shared with us her tips for monetizing when working with brands.  This was one of my favorite presentations for two reasons.  One, I’ve been following Anne’s blog for about 5 years now so it was really awesome to meet her in person. Two, because when it comes to media kits and working with brands I sometimes feel clueless.
• We wrapped up the conference by discussing the ins and outs of establishing contracts and compensation when working with brands.  Regan Jones of Healthy Aperture and Robin Plotkin of Robinsbite poured down their 30+ years of experience on us, I felt like a sponge trying to soak up anything I could.

Blog Brûlée 2016

This conference was by far one of my favorite conferences I have EVER attended.  I felt like I was exactly where I should be surrounded by like minded people.  Sometimes running a blog can feel like you are spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere.  Attending this conference helped me make lasting connections with people who are doing the same thing.  It also gave me so many ideas on how I can make Hungry Hobby better and more useful for you guys!

A big thank you to the event sponsors and founders Regan Jones, Robin Plotkin, Gretchen Brown, and Deanna Seagrav-Daly providing an out of this world experience

Blog Brûlée Attendees

Here are all the wonderful ladies I got to attend the conference with!

• Ginger Hultin, MS RDN CSO ··· Champagne Nutrition
• Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CD, CDE ··· Your Choice Nutrition
• Tawnie Kroll, RDN ··· Krolls Korner
• Jodi Danen, RD ···  The Average RD
• Christy Brissette, MS, RD ··· 80 Twenty Nutrition – Healthy Eating Made Simple
• Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD ··· Nutrition A La Natalie.com
• Elizabeth (Liz) Shaw, MS, RDN, CLT ··· Shaw Simple Swaps
• Stephanie McKercher, MS, RDN ··· Grateful Grazer
• Annemarie Rossi ··· Real Food Real Deals
• Kristy Hegner, MPH, RD ··· Chocolate Slopes
• Lauren Sharifi, RD LDN ··· Bite of Health Nutrition
• Jessica DeGore RD LDN ··· Dietitian Jess
• Bailey Sissom ··· Simply Sissom
• Rebecca Clyde RD, CD ··· Nourish Nutrition Co.
• Amber Ketchum, MDS, RD ··· Homemade Nutrition
• Dianna Sinni, RDN, LD ··· Chard In Charge
• Emily Cope-Kyle, MS, RDN ··· Emily Kyle Nutrition
• Kristen Smith, MS, RDN, LD ··· 360 Family Nutrition

If you’re a Registered Dietitian blogger or healthy food blogger interested in attending Blog Brûlée next year, check out their website, BlogBrulee.com, for more information on how to get involved!