Allan, Author at International Food Blogger Conference

El Paso and Diversity in Food Blogging

November 22, 2019 by Allan

Diversity and the acceptance of people who are not like you has taken on a huge role in our world today – not always for good reasons.

Diversity affects everything, including food blogging. We at Zephyr Conferences believe the issue is so important we wanted to quite clearly state our position: our conferences are not only open to everyone but we believe diversity of participants helps improve the experience.

As a small business that believes in the benefits of diversity, it is relatively easy to be impartial. We naturally do not screen our attendees, speakers, or sponsors based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or anything not related to the conference itself. What is much harder is to proactively solicit diversity, which we attempt to do, for example, when choosing speakers.

In 2020, diversity is also affecting our choice of destination for the International Food Blogger Conference. El Paso County, our host, is 92% Hispanic or Latino. We think that is a good thing and it affected our decision to choose El Paso. Having a predominantly Hispanic population impacts the local music, culture, drinks, and – most importantly for us – food. We are excited to visit this important an culturally rich city for all it has to offer.

Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with us. On August 3, 2019, a gunman shot and killed 22 people in a Walmart store. The gunman specifically targeted El Paso because it is largely Hispanic. This tragedy, which happened after we had chosen El Paso as our host destination, just makes us more determined to have the IFBC in the city and to help promote its great food scene to the world.

We are just one little conference organizing company running what we think is one great food blogger conference. But when doing so, we try to make sure we are contributing to the betterment of the world.

IFBC Hiring Content & Speakers Manager

September 17, 2019 by Allan

A few months ago, we published the IFBC19 survey results. The results were excellent and attendees loved most aspects of the conference but, if we have one area to improve, it is getting better content and speakers. We are ready to make that happen.

For 2020, we will hire one of you in the IFBC community to determine the content and speakers. This person will do a review of other conferences (and not just food blogger conferences), examine research on what is hot, peruse through recent attendee surveys, write a plan for creating outstanding content, put out a Call for Content, and contact targeted speakers.

The job is not extensive and will perhaps require a total of 40 – 80 hours of work spread over three to four months. We will agree on an hourly pay and you will also receive a free registration to IFBC20. The ideal candidate will have attended IFBC and at least two other food blogger conferences, have distinct ideas on what the IFBC could do to improve its content, and have familiarity with top level speakers.

If this sounds up your alley, please apply with this short application by Monday, Sept. 30. We’ll review the applications with a goal of hiring a content and speakers manager by late October. Questions? Email Sara at sara@zephyrconferences.com.

Survey Results from IFBC19 in Juneau, Alaska

July 29, 2019 by Allan

We at Zephyr Conferences are a bit unusual in that we like to post a recap of our conferences and share some of the positives and negatives of it as seen by you, our attendees.

We have used the same 5.0 rating scale for the last 22 years, first with our active travel tours and for the last 12 years with our conferences. This allows us to compare all sessions and events at a conference with each other and with other conferences. And we make things difficult on ourselves by weighting the scale to be difficult, with a four meaning “very good” and a five meaning “outstanding”.

What You Loved

The Events: We asked our attendees to rate 12 separate events at IFBC19. For 11 of the 12, you rated the event a 4.30 or higher. Six of those events scored a 4.70 or higher. These are truly amazing scores for a conference full of people who have different likes and tastes. The events, excursions, and food rocked.

Food: 95% of you rated the food at IFBC19 as better than (63%) or equal to (32%) other food blogger conferences you have attended.

Fun: 100% of you rated IFBC19 as more fun (68%) or the same amount of fun (32%) as other food blogger conferences you have attended.

Operations: Your scores for Communications and Organization are excellent. Thank you. Although we are a small company, we do think we are pretty good at running an event, whether it be a bike tour in Italy, a wine media conference in Australia, or a food blogger conference in Juneau.

What We Need to Improve

The good thing is that there is really just one thing we need to improve for IFBC20 in El Paso. The bad thing is that it is likely the most critical component of a food blogger conference.

The content and speakers were rated highly this year, the third highest out of 11 total IFBCs. Yet this area still generated the most suggestions for improvement. In other words, while our content and speakers are very good, we need to improve to be outstanding.

I will take personal responsibility for this as I was in charge of determining content and securing speakers this year. And I have to face the reality that while I used to run a food blog, I gave it up when I moved recently (it was location specific) and I simply am not in touch enough with what food bloggers want.

The Conclusion

Overall, IFBC19 was great. By a more than two to one ratio, attendees preferred it to other food blogger conferences they have attended. Clearly, after stops in Sacramento, New Orleans, and Juneau we have the events and food down. If you have not attended IFBC recently or never have, you are missing out on how great a food blogger conference can be.

And while you rated our content and speakers high, we need to do better. For 2020, we are going to take a new approach. We are going to hire one of you in the IFBC community to determine the content and speakers. We are going to ask that person to do a review of other conferences (and not just food blogger conferences), examine research on what is hot, peruse through recent attendee surveys, and come up with a plan for creating outstanding content and securing outstanding speakers in El Paso. If you are interested, send us a note or sign up for updates as we will be posting about this soon.

IFBC19 Kicks Off With Food Tours, Helicopters, and Glaciers

June 20, 2019 by Allan

The 2019 International Food Blogger Conference kicked off today in Juneau with four pre-conference excursions: two tours courtesy of Juneau Food Tours, a brew tour at Alaskan Brewing, and a helicopter tour to Mendenhall Glacier.

I was lucky enough to participate in the helicopter ride and glacier visit, put together by Alaskan Brewing. After a thrilling helicopter ride over old-growth forests and ragged mountains, where we saw mountain goats perched on the hillside, we descended to Mendenhall Glacier. Set up on the glacier were two Alaskan Brewing tents with beers, literally on ice, and small local bites including salmon roe, oysters, and smoked cod.

I heard great comments from participants including the following:

“I can’t think of a better way to start a food blogger conference.”
“If you aren’t impressed with this, I don’t think you will be impressed by anything.”
“This was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life.”

These excursions are one of the huge benefits of changing locations most years, as the IFBC does. If you attended an excursion, please make sure to show your excursion organizer some love in your blog and social media. If you didn’t make it to Juneau next year, we are already planning great excursions for 2020 – to be announced on Saturday!

Two-Way Communication at IFBC19: Small Group Workshops

June 6, 2019 by Allan

Most conferences, be they food blogger events or otherwise, involve one-way communication from a speaker who is expert in a subject to the audience. Audience involvement is generally limited to audience Q&A, which is really just a prompt for more one-way communication.

That is not necessarily bad because experts usually have great things to say. However, in the age of social media and in a time when Millennials have driven companies to “talk with” rather than “market to,” we at Zephyr Conferences like to add in opportunities for two-way conversation.

From 2:00 – 3:20 PM on Saturday at IFBC19 in Juneau we will have four small-group discussions in which our attendees can bring up their own issues and ideas. Each of the four groups will have a leader who is versed in that subject and attendees can still use the opportunity to ask questions and seek advice. But this is also an opportunity to have a discussion instead of a lecture.

You are free to wander in and out of the four discussions or stay in the one that motivates you the most. Sessions include:

Technology: This includes topics such as Wordpress plugins, SEO, Google Analytics, site backups, caching, database maintenance, or anything else that is on your mind. Our Small Group Discussion leader is Lisa MarcAurele of Low Carb Yum.
Social Media: We can discuss everything from Instagram to YouTube, from gaining followers to scheduling your posts. Our discussion leader is Shannon Epstein of Fit Slow Cooker Queen.
Making Money: There is more to monetizing than simply using an ad network. Let’s discuss how to make monetization work for you! From creating books and other products, pitching to brands, creating paid courses, joining affiliate programs, and licensing recipes, we’ll talk about all the other interesting ways to make money while serving your readers. Led by veteran blogger Jana Seitzer of Whisky + Sunshine.
All Things Blogging: This is the only small-group discussion not oriented towards advanced bloggers. This is your opportunity to ask anything you want about blogs and blogging. Our group leader is veteran food blogger Vianney Rodriguez from Sweet Life.

Come prepared with your questions and ideas!

El Paso and Diversity in Food Blogging

IFBC Hiring Content & Speakers Manager