International Food Blogger Conference

Survey Results from IFBC19 in Juneau, Alaska

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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.

 

Attendee Quotes from IFBC18

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What did our attendees think of IFBC18 in New Orleans? We’ll let them tell us with these dozen quotes from a dozen different attendees.

This is my first out-of-Utah food blogging conference and first time at IFBC. This was the FIRST conference I feel I got my educational ROI. I am not a newbie to food blogging. I actually learned tangible, applicable, do XYZ type of information. That is never the case at these things. IFBC presenters gave me real, practical, step-by-step advice to become better; that was a refreshing thing that will have me returning to IFBC again.

IFBC inspired me to work harder and push further to blog as a business. It showed me ways to bring in income, up my game, improve my work, and increase my influence. I met great people and enjoyed myself while learning and gaining insights and contacts for my work. Loved the NOLA setting and the dynamic and generous speakers.

I had an overall wonderful time with the conference. Convenient and quite awesome conference venue, excellent speakers/presenters, excursions, and people.

I felt it was thoughtfully and well organized. A great combination of educational sessions, experiences featuring the hosting city and chances to mingle with other conference attendees.

Had an amazing time! Staff was great! Attendees were very warm and welcoming! I’ve already registered for next year!

As a first time attendee, I was very impressed. The conference was well organized, the topics were right on target, the speakers were fantastic, and the venue was perfect.

I had an amazing weekend! I’ve never been more inspired or excited about blogging!!!

I had a wonderful time, the people and organizers were all amazing, and I really enjoyed the other speakers.

Really good conference. I left with so much great information (especially Pinterest and Storytelling by Video) and renewed inspiration. Always fun to meet other food bloggers as well.

As an introvert that didn’t really know anyone at the conference I appreciated the mixers and planned activities; they gave me reasons to talk to people and mix. Those relationships ended up being amazing and I loved learning about everyone.

The Friday evening Taste of New Orleans was spectacular. It was great for food bloggers to get a flavor of the NOLA local restaurant food scene.

There are one or two conferences I would put on par with yours in several areas, but overall you were much better than all the others.

Survey Results: What You Thought About IFBC18

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We have used the same post-conference survey and five-point rating scale for the past 11 years, for all five conferences we at Zephyr Conferences run. So when we see your ratings and read your comments, we take them seriously. In the spirit of openness, here is how we did at the 2018 International Food Blogger Conference in New Orleans.

Where We Excelled

  • Organization: Our 11 years of experience running conferences pays off. 87% of our attendees rated our organization as Very Good or Outstanding. Thanks goes in large part to Sara in our office who is responsible for actually running the event!
  • Communications: We make it a point to communicate with you, our community, before, during, and after the event. This was one of the highest-rated aspects in our post-conference survey.
  • Keynote Speaker: Michael Twitty from Afroculinaria was our highest-rated session of the entire conference. He provided an inspiring and emotional talk.
  • Content in General: 77% of attendees said our content was better than or the same as competitor food blogger conferences.
  • Overall Event: 76% of attendees rated the overall conference as better or the same as other food blogger conferences and 79% rated the IFBC as more or the same amount of fun. It helps to move the conference to locations like New Orleans and Juneau each year!

Where We Can Improve and How We Will

  • Food: The IFBC is known for having the best food of any food blogger conference, in part because we move the conference each year and gain the support of local partners who want to put on a great show. Unfortunately, in 2018 we did not have the strong local support we usually get and this affected our ratings. For 2019, we are already working with our Juneau partners who have committed to provide an opening reception, a Taste of Juneau event, and a gift suite of food products. This will all be supplemented with our other sponsors and partners.
  • National Brands: While people loved the large number of New Orleans food companies at IFBC18, we had fewer national brands at our conference this year and our attendees noticed. We will work to rectify that. Calling all brands – our attendees want you at IFBC19!
  • Advanced Content: We were told (not for the first time) that presentations were not at an advanced enough level. This despite having us specifically ask our speakers to present more advanced content. For 2019, we will not rely on our speakers but will be adding seven full hours of content specifically geared towards advanced writing, social media, and technology. To make sure we deliver, we are labeling these with an graphic on our Agenda.

Overall, we are pleased our 2018 attendees enjoyed the conference and look forward to an even better event in 2019!

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