This past weekend Cherie and I attended the first ever Food Bloggers of Canada Conference. The event was presented by Canada Beef and was held at the Hockley Valley Resort. It was amazing! From Friday to Sunday, it was all about food, networking, seminars and more food. Did I mention that there was a lot of food? 🙂

Once Cherie and I checked into our room, we made our way to the lobby to mix and mingle with other bloggers. I was pleased to meet up with Rhonda (Olive and Ruby) – we had been chatting on Twitter just a few days earlier. We had an immediate connection, because we both have blogs named after our Grandma’s, and one of her Grandma’s was also named Ruby!

I found it a wonderful feeling to sit around with a group of people and have an immediate connection to them. Normally when you meet new people, one of the first questions is “Where do you work?” or “What do you do for a living?”, but not here. There was an instant bond formed as we asked each other the name of our blogs. It was so incredible to know that these fellow bloggers also had a passion for food.

The evening started with a cocktail and hors d’oeuvre reception.  It was a great way to meet up with everyone who was attending the conference.  There was an amazing assortment of food and wine.  From the reception we entered the ballroom to a delicious dinner of poutine, prime rib and trifle.  We were inspired by the keynote address by David Leite as he told us to be ethical and passionate.  From there we went to, you guessed it, more food as we indulged on milkshakes and cookies (Thank You Kitchenaid!).

Day two was packed with sessions and panels. My favourite part of the day was the Tech for your Blog session. Thanks to Melissa and Dave for providing great blogging tips! I can’t overlook the fantastic hands-on photography session. I loved being able to play around with props (and food) and being reminded about the Rule of 3 and the use of negative space.

Dinner on Saturday was delightful beet salad complimented with a bacon and onion jam. You knew that bacon had to be somewhere on the menu. This was followed by a wonderful dinner of turkey wrapped in prosciutto and a decadent dessert of Maple Crème Caramel. Outstanding! If that weren’t enough, we followed that up with a late night buffet of munchies provided by Campbell’s.

Sunday’s sessions consisted of an interesting panel discussion on the topic of publishing and a great dialogue around recipe development. The conference closed with remarks on the future of Canadian Blogging by Dana McCauley.

This weekend was amazing. I loved being able to connect with people instantly over a love of food and sharing that passion with others. I learned a lot of tips and tricks that I can apply to my own blog.

A heart-felt thank you goes out to event organizers and Food Bloggers of Canada co-founders Ethan, Melissa and Mardi.

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