IFBC - Day 2

The day got an early start...sessions started at Theo Chocolate at 8:30 am.  The chocolate factory is in a great location near the water and the vendors had a great breakfast for us.  The pastries and fresh fruit were dee-lish and POM provided a large bin of pomegranate teas.  The coffee was good too!

Each session today provided us with great information about different aspects of food blogging:  The Art of Recipe Writing, Search Engine Optimization/Building Traffic/Social Media, Writing with All Five Senses, Law & Ethics of Food Blogging, and From the Source: People Who Will Change the Way You Think About Food.  The Power Point presentations from these lectures will be available on the IFBC site after the conference so check back soon.

The Wi-Fi was amazing and much appreciated.  We blogged & Tweeted & Facebooked all day.  There were plenty of electrical outlets on each side of the room and people were very considerate about sharing plugs when battery power got low.  I have never Tweeted so much! 

Go Royal Restrooms!  The porta-potties were very nice (and roomy). So many people are blogging about this that I won't.

Today's shout-outs go to:

• Dr. Jean Layton - the Gluten-Free Doctor (http://www.gfdoctor.com/)
• Wendi Mosteiko - Bon Appetite Hon! (http://www.bonappetitehon.com/)
• Melissa McLean Jory - nutritionist and gluten-free expert @ Gluten free for good(http://www.glutenfreeforgood.com/)

I ate my first gluten-free product today, a lemon muffin that wasn't dry and tasteless as I had anticipated.  It was actually good and I met quite a few gluten-free advocates.  We had some great discussions about gluten-free high-altitude baking challenges.  If anybody has any high altitude gluten-free cake recipes, please share!

Portable farm!

Platter of Theo Chocolate

My favorite Theo Chocolate

Thanks Foodista!

Thanks to all the 2010 sponsors!

International Food Bloggers Conference

I registered for the International Food Bloggers Conference today.  It is hosted by Foodista and is being held in Seattle August 27-29, 2010.  I am looking forward to interacting with food bloggers from all over the world.  Here is a descripton of the event from the IFBC site: 

The International Food Bloggers Conference is the premier event for food bloggers, chefs, journalists, editors, publishers, food-lovers and more! The conference, co-hosted by Foodista.comfoodista.com and Zephyr Adventures, will explore the intersection of food, writing, and technology. This year, the weekend event will be held at Theo Chocolate, the first and only all organic and direct trade chocolate factory in the United States. James Oseland, editor-in-chief of the magazine Saveur, will give a keynote speech. Returning premier sponsor Sur la Table is set to provide each attendee with another spectacular goody bag of kitchen tools and gadgets. To top it off, there will be lots of fabulous food and wine!

Leading bloggers, authors, editors, publishers, and technologists will speak on a variety of topics, including:

■The Art of Recipe Writing

■Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Building Traffic and Social Media

■Food Writing with All Five Senses

■Law & Ethics in Blogging

■Pitch to Publish

■Digital Food Photography

Blog Disclosure

This past week I have been reading about legal issues associated with blogs and most articles suggest posting a disclaimer on the blog. So....the information provided in this blog is for fun and entertainment only.  I go to great lengths to credit and provide links to everything posted here that is not my original work.  If I choose to feature a specific entity or product it is because I believe strongly in that product and want to share it with my readers.  I have never received any type of compensation for text or images posted on this blog and will not do so in the future.

Now that we have that out of the way....thank you very much for participating in the cupcake universe!

 Sweet Things Cake (logo)

Carpe Cupcakes! meets the Julie/Julia Project

What does this post have to do with the cupcake universe?  Not much about cupcakes specifically, but a whole lot about blogging. 

I watched Julie & Julia last night and really liked the movie but was bothered at the end that no explanation was given for why Julia Child did not like Julie's blog.  Carpe Cupcakes! recently received a very negative comment so I can relate to Julie's being crushed that her idol didn't like her blog.  I believe in posting all comments - positive and negative - but it still stings when a reader expresses dislike for what you are doing.  In the spirit of blogging, I decided to try and find out more about Julie Powell, Julia Child, and The Julie/Julia Project. 

The Wikipedia definition of a personal blog is described as  "an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual and is the most common type of blog. Personal bloggers take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life, or works of art."

My career as an ER nurse was beginning its 30th year when I started Carpe Cupcakes!  My goal was to add something to the growing community of those who are passionate about cupcakes.  This blog chronicles my adventures with all things cupcake and my baking and decorating of cupcakes, which I do most often as a hobby and infrequently as a wedding cupcake business.  Julie Powell started her blog project because she felt her life had become boring and she wanted something meaningful to do.  Julia Child started cooking because she had moved to Paris with her husband and wanted something meaningful to do.

What is my point?  Blogs are individual journals filled with personal opinions and comments and may or may not contain facts.  You may or may not like what you read.  When I finished watching Julie & Julia I felt Julia Child's negative response to Julie's blog was unfair.  The movie portrayed Julie and her blog as a sweet attempt to cook through Julia Child's cookbook masterpiece Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I spent this many hours reading Julie's blog and I now see Julia Child's point.  Julie's blog is filled with language that many would find offensive and she did not exactly follow the recipes.  Julie was probably not as respectful to the passion of learning French cooking as Julia would have wanted.  But...it is Julie's blog and it is her conversation about how she chose to cook her way through the recipes in her idol's cookbook. 

This blog is only six months old and I am still learning a lot about blogging...on the job training of sorts.  It contains my opinions and observations and I do not expect everyone to agree with what I have to say...especially about cream cheese frosting.  But I do thank all of you for joining me on this cupcake journey.

Bon Appetit!