Camp Blogaway

Five Effective Opportunities to Promote Your Blog or Sponsor at Camp

September 8, 2009 · 1 Comment

Blogging conference, here you come! Is this your first? An old pro? Not everyone is a natural self-promoter, yet putting a little effort into your visibility can greatly enhance your attendance value.

Many of our campers have succeeded in landing a business to “sponsor” their attendance – GREAT!  At Camp Blogaway, we work hard to ensure attendees meet and mingle, but YES — bloggers are encouraged to “think marketing,” too.  Here are five ways* to maximize your visibility, or that of your sponsor at Camp – they’re easy and cheap!

  1. Bring business cards. Blog name/logo, URL, your name, email, twitter, Facebook. No need for phone or address.
  2. Make use of the Networking Table for flyers, business cards — especially if you have been “sponsored” to attend. Consider standing out on that table. How about a Signature Recipe? A postcard from Camp? Invitation for a fun contest? Luggage tags?  Whatever you do should be easy to carry home and good enough for someone to not toss in the trash. 
  3. Give away a nibble. How about a candy with your card attached? An imprinted lollypop, or other cute snack. Two things are important here – first, that your goodie doesn’t appear to give an impression you are a “sponsor of Camp,” and second, proper packaging. Don’t be the one whose goodie leaked or melted in suitcases.
  4. Wear your logo. This is easy. Just buy a packet of Ink Jet T-Shirt transfers and iron yourself up a logo shirt or apron. FUN. 
  5. Follow-up. Attendees will receive contact info for all our bloggers, sponsors, speakers, staff.  Making a real effort to reconnect once home is a valuable way to help you make things happen for your blog.

*Note – While here, we request attendees respect Camp Blogaway’s wonderful sponsors by ONLY promoting your blogs or personal sponsors via the methods, above.  Registered campers receive additional info on this topic in their Registration Packet.  Any questions, just email Fearless Leader patti@londre.com and she’ll give you a hand.

Many thanks to attendees TastestoppingEarthbound Chronicles and Stockpiling Moms, for their input on these opportunities.

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About

January 1, 2010 · Comments Off

Welcome to the Premier Bootcamp for Food and Recipe Bloggers

Foodies, chefs, caterers, Mom Bloggers, cookbook authors and more, take note: May 14-16, 2010 is THE weekend when bloggers from across the country will convene near Big Bear in the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains of sunny Southern California for intense learning and sharing.

No stuffy banquet halls or windowless presentation rooms at this food bloggers camp. Charge up your camera and pack your sense of adventure. This really IS camp — we’ll get down and dirty dealing with issues concerning YOUR blog, and tackle struggles hands-on. This is a club worth joining!

Network with fellow food bloggers.

Network with fellow food bloggers.

High spirited camp fun is sprinkled throughout, so be prepared to unplug, blow off some steam, soak up skills, meditate about your craft and return home ready to rock and roll. Your $325 fee includes 2 nights lodging, 5 hearty meals, receptions, sessions, activities and valuable workbook. Here is a printable itinerary, take a look.

Want updates? Join Our Email List. Space will be limited.

S'mores. We told you, this is camp!

S'mores. We told you, this is camp!

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Speakers, Topics & Activities

December 31, 2009 · Comments Off

Our mission is to deliver impactful education by the best instructors who are experts in their fields.  We continue to update, so check back often…

View Speakers
View Vivaldo
View Food Bloggers Unite

MODERATOR PATTI LONDRE — Benefits to Running Your Blog Like A Business and How to Work with PR Folks.  Nationally recognized food PR expert, passionate recipe blogger for Worth The Whisk, graduate home economist, President of The Londre Company PR and owner of the “sister camp” to our event, Camp GetAway for Mothers & Others.

DENISE VIVALDO — Food Styling Tips & Tricks for Bloggers.  Co-author of upcoming The Comprehensive Food Styling Handbook, co-creator and instructor of Styling and Photo Techniques for Food Writers and Bloggers, owner of renowned Food Fanatics styling studio, co-author of numerous culinary how-to books, seasoned 20+ years food pro, UCLA Culinary Program professor, graduate Chef de Cuisine from California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, catered more than 10,000 parties, cooked for such guests as Prince Charles, Bette Midler, Suzanne Somers, Cher, Aaron Spelling, Sly Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, began culinary training at the Ritz Escoffier and La Varenne in Paris, and personal friend to Julia Child.

DANNY JAUREGUI How My Single Post Drew Over 20,000 Hits In One Day & Other Optimization Insights.  Much-admired LA-based food blogger of Over The Hill and On A Roll recognized by Saveur Magazine, Random House’s Knopf Double Day, and Lifehacker.org.  Phenomenal Food Bloggers Unite – One Stop Resource for Food Bloggers garners high praise for valuable tips for tech, food photo, and writing. Dishes up significant insiders’ know-how via chock-full e-newsletter, considered one of the top in our field.  Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Drawing at Whittier College.

BARBARA GIBBS OSTMANN — Recipe Writing Essentials, Copyrighting & Attributions. Award-winning journalist, expert on recipe writing style, co-author of The Recipe Writer’s Handbook and the Food Writers’ Favorites cookbook series with 5 million+ books in print, speaker and writing coach, former food writer for New York Times Regional Newspaper Group, food editor of St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

ART RAMIREZ — Demystifying Your Camera, Steps to Shooting Stunning Food Photos & Photoshop Food Pix Fixes. Highly regarded Photography Instructor and Photoshop Expert, 30+ years experience, news photographer, chief photographer/photo editor for Scripps-Howard newspapers, specialist in custom image printing for the entertainment industry, Photography and Photoshop Instructor for So. Cal’s premier camera equipment chain, Samy’s Camera.

TastestoppingCASEY BENEDICT — Food Porn at its Best and Worst.  Showcase of the wonderful world of food porn, featuring Tastestopping’s vast collection of bloggers’ submissions. During our Welcoming Reception, feast your eyes on the hard work of your peers, and pick up some “lightbulb moments” to ponder in YOUR food photography.  Tastestopping

More speakers to come, meanwhile here are:

TOPICS WE PLAN TO COVER

Your blog is YOUR voice, your style, your ideas. We’re not telling you how to run it. But we can help you make it your best with valuable techniques, tips and even a few tricks. Our mantra?  Learn, baby, learn.

  • Benefits of Running Your Blog as a Business - is it a hobby? A creative outlet?  An income-generator? In all cases, it’s also a “business” when you focus on setting it up that way.  Why? Benefits! We’ll cover what, how and more.
  • How & Why Bloggers Work with PR Folks – food corporations have Public Relations peeps. And PR folks really want to work with you. It’s not a bad thing, but there are good and bad ways to go about it. Learn about the world of food PR and where your blog can fit.
  • Essential Recipe Writing Guidelines– there really ARE standards for writing sound, workable recipes (zzzzz in Home Ec class may be coming back to haunt you). Learn techniques here.
  • Attributions & Copyright - do you use recipes from magazines, cookbooks, TV shows, websites, other bloggers? Do others use your content? Do’s and Don’ts, let’s get it right.
  • Photography Techniques & Hands-On Camera Workshop – first, we’ll demystify camera settings. Then lighting, depth of field, props. Finally, exercises immediately practice what you’ve learned, including the S’mores Snack Subject (master that elusive Ooey Gooey).
  • Photoshop Magic – maximize your understanding of Photoshop and how programs like it can work magic on your food photos.  
  • Food Styling Tips & Tricks – pro food stylists have lots of tools and gizmos to make their commercial foods picture-perfect, but we bloggers EAT our subject matter once shot. The same tricks rarely apply! What techniques will make your dinner sit up and behave for the camera? Tips, tricks, secrets revealed.
  • Technical Tribulations – every day, new ways to goose your SEO come along. Bloggers, you can ramp up your traffic. 
  • Monetizing Mania – our roundtable format will generate insights into how blogs make money. If it’s on your radar, we’ll get to the bottom line.

Additional Activities – What’s “camp” without a chance to blow off some steam?  We have fun ways to meet peers, network, exchange, drain your brain.  Return home refreshed, rejuvenated, connected and even antsy to get back to that computer. Start days with a refreshing Sunrise Hike, score a treasure with our Prop Swap, get burning questions answered during Quickfire Q&A, publish your Group Photo in future blog posts, and more.

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5 New Years Resolutions for Food Bloggers

December 19, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Food Bloggers, here are five solid goals for your 2010 list:

1. Vastly improve my food photography.
2. Refine my content quality: recipe writing, style, voice and proper attributions.
3. Grow my readership via smarter SEO techniques.
4. Gain precious face-time with food bloggers to expand my circle of support and contacts.
5. Strengthen my grasp of the blogging “business” and what’s out there for me – corporate contacts, PR folks, tax insights, monetizing.

For a serious kick-start, plan to attend Camp Blogaway Bootcamp for Food & Recipe Bloggers May 14-16 in the beautiful mountains of sunny Southern California (near Big Bear).

The jam-packed itinerary addresses all this and more at a great value: $325 registration includes two nights’ lodging, all meals and sessions, valuable workbook, plus all the fun you can stuff into a weekend away from the hassles of work and home. Early January, we’ll finalize registrations, so HURRY and pre-register.  

Courtesy of The Londre Company PR and Camp Blogaway

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Carpooling to Camp Blogaway

October 11, 2009 · 6 Comments

Carpool to CampRegistered campers receive detailed driving directions to Camp Blogway in their registration packets, but we know a lot of you will be flying in.

This is the place to connect with other campers to carpool and share rental cars from airports. Start your conversations via a comment. We suggest you allow fellow campers to contact you directly once you post here (via email or DM) to work out your plans, as Camp won’t be organizing any carpooling details.

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Attendees

October 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

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