Blog Brulee 2016 Recap

Hey guys! I spent the weekend up in Vermont for the annual dietitian and nutrition blogger workshop/mini-conference called Blog Brulee. It’s a small, intimate setting, which I love, and this was both the 3rd year of the conference and my 3rd year speaking at it. (Disclosure: as a speaker, I was paid an honorarium and my travel and lodging were covered.) It was a big honor to be asked back again – it’s one of my favorite conferences to attend because I always learn so much and it’s a blast to network with fellow communications-focused dietitians.

As before, the weekend took place at beautiful Smuggler’s Notch near Burlington, Vermont. During our break on Saturday, a bunch of us enjoyed walking around on the trails on the property. I love Vermont in fall!

The agenda was a great mix of content – lots of actionable items. Even though I was there as a speaker I attended all the sessions as usual and have quite a long to-do list of things to follow up on – there’s always more to do when you have a blog!

Here’s more about the weekend agenda and the food.

2016 Speakers and Sessions:

• Me! – I spoke about How to Work With Brands as a Blogger (<—post I wrote a few years ago on the topic if you’re interested) again this year.
• Gretchen Brown and Deanna-Seagrave Daly taught us the basics of photography and photo editing for both DSLRs and smartphones. If you have an iPhone, download the Camera+ app (for taking photos) and the Snapseed app (for editing photos) – they are great! Snapseed just added the option to put text on your photos, too – fun! Here’s a before and after – the left is obviously unedited and the right is edited. :)

• Katy Widrick deciphered the logistics and jargon related to SEO (search engine optimization) and how to improve search traffic to our blogs. (Psst: she has a great e-book on the subject: Make Your Old Content New Again. You might also like this post on my site on the subject: How to Get More Blog Traffic and Keep Readers Engaged)
• Regan Jones walked us through the basics of self-produced videos. I especially liked this “anatomy of video editing” slide she shared – so helpful!

• Regan Jones and Robin Plotkin educated us on the basics of contracts (as related to brand partnerships) and things to look for (like exclusivity, use of likeness), etc.
• Katie Webster showed us her tips for food styling. Her photos (and recipes) are gorgeous – she has a beautiful Maple Cookbook (affiliate link) that she photographed entirely by herself. Mad props! Here’s a behind the scenes shot of her setup. Her biggest tip? Buy a tripod (affiliate link) if you don’t have one! Gets rid of a lot of that blurry camera shake situation. :)

• Sally Kuzmechak discussed how to tell a story and build an engaged and positive community on Facebook (here’s her page: Real Mom Nutrition on Facebook)
• Aggie Goodman gave tips for building a substantial Pinterest following (here’s her page: Aggie’s Kitchen on Pinterest)
• Amanda Finks shared her best strategies for growing your Instagram presence (here’s her page: The Wholesome Dish on Instagram)

Such a great lineup! Outside of the sessions, we also had some great food, as usual, thanks to the event sponsors as well as the venue.

I was excited the annual tradition of s’mores was still in action! Perfect weather for it – sunny but cold!

Dinner on Saturday night was one of the big food highlights – we started with an amazing kale salad, followed by the entrée of our choice (there were 3 options – I had the salmon with grilled polenta and roasted root veggies, and dessert was ice cream. Plus wine from Aldi!

As always, the weekend went by WAY too quickly. I wish we had had more time – I always love being surrounded by such smart, driven women. It always re-inspires me to continue working hard and following my own dreams career-wise!

Above with fellow previous Cabot Fit Team members (wish we’d had time to get in a run together!) – from left: me, Katie, Deanna, Jess, Amanda

Thank you again to the conference founders, Registered Dietitians Regan Jones, Deanna Seagrave-Daly, Robin Plotkin, and Gretchen Brown, for having me back again this year! And thank you to the event sponsors for making it all possible. <3

I will leave you with a list of the 2016 Attendees – check them out if you want some great new dietitian/healthy food blogs to follow! :)

• Ginger Hultin, MS RDN CSO ··· Champagne Nutrition
• Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CD, CDE ··· Your Choice Nutrition
• Tawnie Kroll, RDN ··· Krolls Korner
• Jodi Danen, RD ···  The Average RD
• Christy Brissette, MS, RD ··· 80 Twenty Nutrition – Healthy Eating Made Simple
• Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD ··· Nutrition A La Natalie.com
• Elizabeth (Liz) Shaw, MS, RDN, CLT ··· Shaw Simple Swaps
• Stephanie McKercher, MS, RDN ··· Grateful Grazer
• Annemarie Rossi ··· Real Food Real Deals
• Kristy Hegner, MPH, RD ··· Chocolate Slopes
• Lauren Sharifi, RD LDN ··· Bite of Health Nutrition
• Jessica DeGore RD LDN ··· Dietitian Jess
• Bailey Sissom ··· Simply Sissom
• Rebecca Clyde RD, CD ··· Nourish Nutrition Co.
• Kelli Shallal MPH, RD, CPT ··· Hungry Hobby
• Amber Ketchum, MDS, RD ··· Homemade Nutrition
• Dianna Sinni, RDN, LD ··· Chard In Charge
• Emily Cope-Kyle, MS, RDN ··· Emily Kyle Nutrition
• Kristen Smith, MS, RDN, LD ··· 360 Family Nutrition

If you’re a Registered Dietitian blogger or healthy food blogger interested in attending Blog Brulee next year, check out their website, BlogBrulee.com, for more information on how to get involved.

Do you regularly attend conferences/workshops within your profession? I always leave them feeling so reenergized and inspired! I’m also attending FNCE, the big annual national Registered Dietitian conference, in October, so I’m looking forward to seeing many of these women again there – as well as some of the amazing Blog Brulee alumni! :)