YOU GUYS! I had an incredible time at a brand new conference yesterday and just wanted to share with you all some of my pictures and thoughts about the day.
But first things first - the conference is happening again next year and tickets are half off until tonight at midnight MST! Go to the Everything Food blog conference page to purchase tickets.
A friend had invited me to volunteer with her. She ended up having to cancel and I almost did too because my Saturday's are precious and I try to only do whatever I really want to do! I'm soo glad I did not cancel though because it was the most amazing day ever an I'm not even a food blogger!
The conference was held at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. I checked in, got my volunteer shirt, met 2 of the girls I'd be volunteering with and got to sit and eat some breakfast, thanks to Chick Fil A! I wish I had taken a picture but I was nervous and kind of on edge because I did not know too many people and was a little stressed out because I had gotten there late. I saw my friend Lindsay and sat at her table to eat my food which was a chicken breakfast sandwich and fruit with caramel. SOO GOOD. They also had some breakfast minis and greek yogurt with crushed Oreos for topping. All the girls at her table were incredibly nice and wanted to get to know you. They were all friendly!
I went over to the Megaplex theater and got to welcome people into 1 of 3 rooms where 2 classes each were being held in the morning on Saturday. I just had to welcome people to the room and answer any questions that they had. Shortly after 9 I could pick which class I wanted to go sit in. What!? I didn't think I'd get to do that - what a treat!
I went to Food Video Basics 101 taught by Ashlee Prisbrey first
The next class I went to was Amp Up your Ad Income: Insider Tips to Make More Cash per Pageview - Andy Marzka (AdThrive)
I actually learned a lot in each class and came away with some valuable information.
Next was lunch sponsored by Cuisine Unlimited and it was so fancy:
Salad that had a cheese and apples in it
Utah Honeycomb Cake!
Angel food cake cupcakes cut in half which also included sliced strawberries and a delicious whipped cream.
I also tried 1 piece of watermelon flavored with mint and I think it had feta cheese which I do not like but the taste of the watermelon was so so good!
I sat for an olive oil tasting but could only swallow the first one. Olive Oil is not my thing unless it is used in food or I dip some bread in it I guess. Apparently this stuff is pretty legit and Filippo Berio did a great job of teaching us.
Super excited to see that lick'd pops was there! I got to sample their popsicles at a food event recently at the Leonardo Museum. Their popsicles are fantastic and I love their packaging and style.
Then filled up a little cup halfway with toppings - I picked dehydrated strawberries and marshmallows
Just like this!
Then they dipped it in chocolate - I picked milk chocolate but I guess she heard white chocolate so that's what I got. Then I had to quickly dump my toppings on before the white chocolate hardened. Oh boy it was so delicious!
We were all ready for dinner, this time served by Brown Brothers.
They had a salad bar where you could add toppings to your lettuce and quinoa
Here's how mine turned out! I added avacado, edamame and diced tomatoes. I wish I could have eaten 2, they were that good!
They also served these tacos but I was not as huge of a fan of this as
I was the salad.
The closing speaker was Mary Crafts-Homer and her story was so inspiring! She is very personable and passionate and really got everyone listening to what she had to say.
Next - Kami and Sabrina gave some closing words but that didn't mean the night was over yet. Huge kudos to these 2 for making this event happen. It was fun to hear a little of the background of how the Everything Food conference came to be.
I stuck around for the giveaways of course and everything they gave away was so great!
What did I win on the list? Something I have been wanting for quite awhile!!
A SHOTBOX!
If you have not heard of this amazing box, click the link above. It's a collapsible photo studio with LED lights and it is super easy to set up! Tony said I could take it to restaurants to take pictures of my food. Haha!
I was shaking so much when they called my name. Soo crazy cool. I've been looking at them a lot lately and have considered buying one but just had not done it yet. Ahhh this will be fun to use for sure!
The conference was not over yet - there was a Cupcake Battle hosted by Justin Willman as well as he performed a magician and comedian show but I was not able to stay around for that part.
I am so incredibly happy I went to this conference. It was a blast to volunteer, I wish I had been able to go all 3 days. I met some very cool new people I can now consider friends, learned a lot from the classes and just in conversations with people (who knew there was more than 1 kind of paprika?) and the whole vibe of the conference was just so great. Everyone was so so nice and friendly! I can't wait to come again next year. Very impressive to have that great of a time at a first time conference. You gotta go!
No comments:
Post a Comment