Speaker applications and content suggestions are now open for the 2017 International Food Blogger Conference and will remain open until March 13th. We are ready to hear from you to create an exceptional schedule and content sessions for next year. If you are an expert, have a story that needs to be told, and can impart some necessary wisdom upon our community, then we want to hear from you! For 2017, we are specifically seeking advanced content that will resonate with our many returning attendees.
CONTENT CATEGORIES
You will be asked to select from among the following content categories:
- Blogging & Social Media: There are dozens of excellent potential topics involving blogging and social media. Keep in mind 2017 will be the ninth annual IFBC so we have covered many topics. Topics that will be most successful are those at an advanced level or are covering new ground.
- Writing: Food writing is always a great topic and the secret is to come up with new or innovative ways to impart skills to the audience.
- Business & Career: Many food bloggers wish to launch from their blog to a part-time or full-time career in consulting, events, or even wine making (or have already done so); and presentations helpful to those interested in business and careers can be proposed here.
- Food Industry: These sessions will not include serving food but can include a wide range of topics, from current trends in the food world to innovative food marketing techniques to best practices for interviewing food industry leaders.
Please note this process does not include keynote speakers. Please contact us directly if you have suggestions about a keynote speaker. If you are interested in conducting a session that serves food, please contact reno@ZephyrConferences.com.
WHO SHOULD SUBMIT
Everyone is free to submit suggestions, whether you have attended the International Food Blogger Conference before or not. Please note we are not able to pay travel or hotel costs for speakers.
SCHEDULE
- Open call for speakers – February 21 – March 13: We will accept proposals and suggestions.
- Session review – March 14 – 17: We will review all content submissions. We do not have enough room to include all submissions, and so will make decisions on which are most applicable, combine similar sessions, and edit others as we deem appropriate.
- Alumni voting – March 18 – 25: We will ask IFBC alumni and those currently registered to vote on submissions.
- Content & Speaker Announcements – March 27: We will update the IFBC17 agenda and begin to contact speakers whose sessions will be included in the conference. Speakers must pay their own travel and hotel costs.
Submit Your Content now and please remember to Register for IFBC17, September 29 – October 1 in Sacramento, California. Early bird pricing remains available through March 31, 2017.
I would love to see a hands on food photography class. Rather than having a photographer address all of us in a large group, a workshop at which we’re encouraged to bring our cameras to learn hands on how to take better food photos.
This would also be great for an Instagram class, using smart phones.
As far as a keynote speaker, Keighan Gerard would be fantastic! Her blog is a favorite and her photos are incredible! She’s won several awards and I think she could share a lot of great information.
I would like to see more advanced information and better known photographers. It seems in the two conferences I went to that I learned some but always left wishing subjects had been taught on a deeper more advanced level. A very hands on photography class leaving cell phones away from the conversation with in depth information about propping, lighting, post processing and more. Far more in depth classes on the marketing of your blog. I did not go last year because I did not see enough change from the the last two Seattle events.
Francois, you will find this strange but that is so nice to hear! I just wrote a post two days ago, waiting to be published, about how we are changing our content process and will focus on more advanced content at the conference. 🙂
Having said that, the photo sessions are a bit more complicated since that really requires a small-group workshop, which is hard to plan for with the space we have available. But we’ll definitely shoot for an advanced photo session.
Stay tuned – we’ll publish that post next week.
I know this might not be something everyone wants, but I would really like to take part in a discussion about how we, as food bloggers/influencers, can take the lead in conversations about food policy. I’m not at all trying to get political, trust me. But, I come at my blog as both a food blogger AND a trained chef. Just like chefs, food bloggers can have a big voice and some authority when it comes to educating audiences about how the ever changing legislative landscape affects food policy, which does affect our food system and every American household, one way or another.
Again, I know that type of discussion isn’t for everyone, but I would even be willing to set up a breakfast at a nearby restaurant for those who might be willing to dig into this topic a little.
Jordan, it sounds interesting. If you want, suggest it in our Call for Content and we’ll put it to a vote of our Alumni! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 🙂