The 2022 International Food Bloggers Conference will take place March 17-20, 2022, in El Paso, Texas. The agenda below will change as we continue to plan a fun and safe conference in 2022. Please take a few minutes to read our new Safety Procedures with COVID-19.
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Thursday, March 17
3:45 PM – 11:00 PM: Welcome Reception in Juárez, Mexico: Meet at Hotel Paso Del Norte (10 Henry Trost Ct, El Paso, TX 79901), which is a 6-minute walk from Hotel Indigo, at 3:45 PM. We will leave at 4 PM and take an electric street car to the border, walk across (to save hours waiting in line!), and take a private bus to Juarez. Please bring your passport for ease (or at the very least your state-issued ID), a jacket and walking shoes.
Friday, March 18
Breakfast On Your Own
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM Registration & Expo
9:00 – 9:10 AM Conference Welcome by Sarah Wohlner of the IFBC
9:10 – 9:15 AM Welcome from CEO/President of Destination El Paso
9:15 – 10:05 AM Food Writing in 2022 and Beyond Panel: A lot has changed since the last IFBC. In this panel, we will check in with our fellow bloggers as well as learn from them. Topics include pandemic changes, establishing a niche, identifying your community, social media, and more! Panelists are Rachel Steenand, Shaunda Necole, and Wendi Spraker with moderator Doug Levy from Wine & Food World.
10:05 – 10:30 AM Break
10:30 – 11:00 AM Food Cinematography: Learn how to create cinematic food content for social media. You will learn about composition, lighting, color science, and editing styles with Shihan Chowdhury.
11:00 – 11:30 AM Story on a Plate: Food Styling Tips: Whether you’re a foodie, food blogger, or chef…If you’re looking to elevate your food styling skills, this workshop is for you. Learn simple food styling tips and transform the way you style food and how to photograph food with your Smartphone using simple techniques with Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack. This is not a camera technical class. This will be a hands-on workshop and together we will set up scenes with stories behind the food.
11:30 AM – 11:35 AM Sponsor Announcement with Recon Food: Recon Food is a new social media app creating a positive space for users to connect and share their love of food. Check them out!
11:35 AM – 12:05 PM How To Create a Successful YouTube Presence: Join JP Lambiase & Julia Goolia, of the comedy cooking show HellthyJunkFood, as they tell the story of how they built a presence on social media through content creation. Topics covered will include how to start up, how to build, and maintain discussing Content Ideas/Titles, Thumbnails, Editing, and Posting.
12:05 – 1:45 PM Lunch with a Private Chef
1:45 – 2:15 PM 5 Steps to Streamline and Organize Your Business: Learn how to quickly and easily streamline your business operations by nailing down your systems and processes and getting organized once and for all with Corinne Schmitt & Christina Hitchcock.
2:20 PM – 2:25 PM Sponsor Announcement with Cooksy
2:25 – 2:55 PM Multiply Your Impact And Income With Pinterest Marketing: Wondering why those collages of images are so powerful? Can’t believe the hype? Shaunda Necole will show you why Pinterest is one of the best and most powerful drivers of traffic, income, and opportunity for your business.
2:55 – 3:25 PM Mastering Short Form Content Strategies Across Different Platforms: Learn about using the right strategy to get your short form content seen by a larger and more engaged audience from James Lamprey. Discover how different platforms can be used to reach your target audience. Learn how to build a community of viewers who look forward to your next post. James will also share his tips and tricks to making content and utilizing good time management skills.
3:25 – 3:50 PM Break
3:50 – 4:50 PM Small Group Discussions in the Park sponsored by The Cherry Marketing Institute: Join us for a casual conversation in the park. We will split into smaller groups and dive into the details of specific topics like monetization, video editing, social media and more. This is your chance to learn from other attendees and meet each other. During these casual talks, our friends at The Cherry Marketing Institute will be serving dried and preserved sweet cherries.
4:50 – 5:00 PM Break
5:00 – 6:30 PM Taste of El Paso & Expo: The Taste of El Paso is for many the highlight of the conference. Taste of El Paso offers conference attendees an opportunity to sample some of El Paso’s best restaurants under one roof. Savor authentic tacos from Tacos Chinampa and Birria Culiacan. Try The Tap Bar’s world famous nachos. Quench your thirst with craft beer from DeadBeach and Old Sheepdog breweries. If beer is not your style, you can also indulge in regional wines from Wine Attitudes or chamoy-smothered “mangoneadas” from Craze. Indulge in the best vegan Mexican food from Lick It Up and don’t miss Ruli’s International Kitchen’s delectable fusions – plus so much more! Where else can you sit in one outdoor space and have the best restaurants of a city come to you?
Dinner On Your Own: See organizers for suggestions on nightlife in El Paso, including breweries and drinks.
Saturday, March 19
Breakfast On Your Own
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM Registration
9:10 – 9:40 AM How to Monetize Your Live Videos: We all know that making videos and going live with them is the best way to create an authentic connection with your audience. But did you know you can also make money from live videos? In this session, Kathy Hester, established cookbook author and live video expert will show you how she’s used this medium to build her Healthy Slow Cooking Facebook group up to almost 30,000 followers and how she is now monetizing her live videos through virtual cooking classes. Get over your fear of live video with tips & tricks from Kathy and learn how to plan, execute, and price your virtual cooking sessions.
9:40 – 10:10 AM Ecamm Discovery Session: Learn about Ecamm Live, an all-in-one live streaming & video production studio. With Ecamm Live, video creation is easy, professional, and fully customizable. If you can think it, you can create it in Ecamm Live.
10:10 – 10:40 AM How To Negotiate Sponsored Posts (And Get What You Deserve!): Many food bloggers are already negotiating with brands for sponsored posts. As a talent manager and agent for 8 multicultural, multigenerational female clients, Johanna B. Voss has successfully closed over $3 million in business, on behalf of her clients. In this session, you’ll learn exactly what to ask for, how to keep the door open for future opportunities, how to navigate tricky situations, how to say no with grace, and how to upsell yourself. Johanna will share real-life scenarios that have helped her create a series of negotiating mottos that will serve you at your next brand partnership.
10:20 – 10:55 AM Break
10:55 – 11:25 AM Diversify your Blog into Tours & Activities – how to monetize your existing content: Travellers are eager to get back on the road – locally and internationally. The number one rising tour activity is food! Learn how to convert your existing content into a self-guided tour with Janice Sousa, CEO & Co-founder of indie Travel. Use your existing content to drive additional revenues and expose new travelers to your blog. Tours & Activities is a $180bn market – make sure you are positioning yourself well in this growing market.
11:25 – 11:30 AM Sponsor Announcement with CookingPal: Learn about our sponsor CookingPal
11:30 – 12:00 AM iPhone Food Photography and Editing with Lightroom: Join chef Zuliya Khawaja for an iPhone food photography session where she will be demonstrating her tips and tricks on how to take beautiful food photos using your iPhone. Zuliya is a plant based chef, food stylist and photographer. Her blog @naturallyzuzu on Instagram has over 150k followers. She shares her plant based recipes and her food photography across all of her social media platforms including recipe tutorials on TikTok and Pinterest.
12:00 – 1:35 PM Lunch On Your Own
1:35- 2:05 PM Third-Party Writing – Should You Make the Leap?: Should you make the leap into third-party writing? Elizabeth Smith – a freelance food, wine, travel, and lifestyle journalist, writer, copywriter, and editor – will share her experience and lead a Q&A discussion regarding third-party writing work of all kinds. Some of the questions you will find answers to in this session include: What kind of opportunities are available? How do you secure third-party writing jobs? What kind of experience or background do you need? What are the pros and cons of writing for a third-party? Do you need a business website? A portfolio? What are market rates for contributing journalists and writers? What are the best practices for capturing the story behind a chef, restaurant, winemaker, winery, brand, or destination?
2:05 – 2:50 PM Ask the Experts: All Things TikTok Panel: TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, but is it worth learning and posting for your brand? Join TikTok sensations Victoria Tschopp, James Lamprey, Shihan Chowdhury, Patrick Zeinali and Karim Saad with moderator Kathy Hester as they break down what it takes to see success on TikTok including voiceovers, strategy, idea creation, algorithm and so much more.
2:50 – 3:05 PM Break
3:05 – 3:50 PM Monetization Panel: Transforming Your Hobby: Wouldn’t it be nice to turn your content creation hobby into a side hustle that pays the bills, or at least groceries? In this panel, our experts will discuss how to make monetization work for you! From publishing books, creating paid courses, affiliate programs, and sponsorship, we’ll cover it all! Join panelists Patrick Zeinali, Elizabeth Smith, Zuliya Khawaja with moderator Mike Vrobel as they talk about all the other interesting ways to make money while serving your readers and followers.
3:50- 4:35 PM Lightning Talks: Following on the success of the 2018 event, we will have 4 of your fellow attendees get up on stage to deliver five-minute, Ignite-style “Lightning Talks”. With 20 slides each advancing automatically on 15-second intervals, speakers have to be on the top of their game to deliver fun, informative, often hilarious talks. We’ll do a call for speakers 6 weeks before the Conference.
4:35 – 4:40 PM Conference Close by Sarah Wohlner of the IFBC
6:00 PM El Paso Dinner Excursions: Our friends at Destination El Paso are working to set up small-group dinner excursions to some of the hot dinner establishments in town. Experience downtown El Paso’s finest and fun dining establishments! We have set up reservations at some of the most exclusive locations in the downtown area featuring unique and delectable menus that will leave you wanting more. From tapas style menus, world famous nachos to signature cocktails, our array of restaurants will serve up simply some of the best food you’ve ever experienced. The only thing better is the hospitality you will enjoy from our restaurant community.
Sunday, March 20
Breakfast on Your Own
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM Post-Conference Excursion to Las Cruces, New Mexico: Red or Green?” That’s New Mexico’s official question and it has little to do with sports teams, fashion trends or traffic lights. It has everything to do with our trademark cuisine and what flavors will tantalize your tastebuds with any given meal: red chile or green chile? In Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley, chile is a staple food product, an essence of our culinary world. Sure, there’s the green-chile cheeseburger – that’s elementary. Here, chile (red or green) is found on the menu of virtually every restaurant, food truck, brewery, and winery. Want chile-spiced
- Attendees: Meet at Hotel Paso Del Norte (10 Henry Trost Ct, El Paso, TX 79901), which is a 6-minute walk from Hotel Indigo at 9:45 AM. We will leave promptly at 10 AM. Please bring a jacket, water bottle and anything else you might need thought-out the day.