Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Bruce Seidel

Bruce Seidel is the CEO of Electus’ YouTube Food Channel. He is responsible for running the channel, leading all creative, programming, scheduling, production, marketing and interfacing with advertising clients. Prior to joining Electus, Bruce was Senior Vice President of Programming for Cooking Channel; before Cooking Channel, Seidel served as Senior Vice President of program planning and special productions at Food Network where his life-long passion for food, cooking and entertainment helped transform the network into what it is today. Seidel is a graduate of the University of Southern California.

Hungry on YouTube
@HungryYouTube

 

Kelly Senyei: The Insider’s Guide to Recipe Writing and Development

Kelly Senyei is a multimedia food journalist, stylist, photographer, and chef. She is the creator of the blog JustaTaste.com, author of Food Blogging For Dummies (Wiley, spring 2012), and is presently the Associate Editor of Gourmet Live at Condé Nast. Kelly received her master's degree from The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and a Diploma in the Culinary Arts from The Institute of Culinary Education, where she conceptualized and launched the school's first official blog, DICED.

Kelly makes regular, expert appearances in all types of food media and her work can be found on Gourmet Live, NBC, FoodNetwork.com, Glamour.com, Food2.com, and more.

 

Marissa Brassfield: Creating Supercharged Content to Drive Traffic and Build Your Brand

Marissa Brassfield is ridiculously efficient. She's a productivity expert, high-performance author and specialist in communication efficiency. Described as "a master of time management," "a force to be reckoned with," and "a symbol of motivation, talent and productivity" by clients, Marissa helps cutting-edge teams do more in less time. As an author, Marissa has written over 7,000 online articles, generating over 30,000,000 views for publications like Trend Hunter and Foodista. She also spent three years as the Editor-at-Large for TrendHunter.com, where she edited over 20,000 articles, which generated more than 120,000,000 views. Marissa is currently the Director of Content Strategy at Foodista, where she guides, trains and inspires the editorial team to execute campaigns that drive traffic, engage the community and bolster the Foodista brand. Marissa's skill at analyzing and hacking workflows extends beyond the startup world. She also ignites boardrooms and supercharges workgroups with her 10-step road map to being ridiculously efficient in the workplace. With her infectious energy, Marissa helps teams dramatically increase the effectiveness of meetings, align their colleagues with consistent communication, and save time with email and written messages. Follow Marissa on Twitter @efficient and read more about her breakthrough approach to productivity at Ridiculously Efficient.

Andrew Scrivani: Digital Food Photography

Andrew is a New York based freelance commercial and editorial photographer, food stylist, writer and blogger. He has been photographing for the New York Times Dining Section since 2002 as well as the Recipes for Health column by Martha Rose Shulman on The New York Times on the Web Fitness and Nutrition section since 2008. He most recently completed the photography for Melissa Clark’s new book Cook This Now and is one of the featured photographers for the recently launched GILT Taste website. You can read his columns on Food & Photography at The New York Times Diner’s Journal blog and his own personal blog makingSundaySauce. Andrew also teaches workshops and speaks nationally on Food Photography and Styling, which is a natural extension of his life before photography, as a high school teacher and coach.

Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewScrivani
Find him on Facebook!

Rand Fishkin: SEO for Recipe and Food Blogs

Rand is the CEO & Co-Founder of the web's most popular SEO Software provider; SEOmoz. He co-authored the Art of SEO from O'Reilly Media and was named on the 40 Under 40 List and 30 Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs Under 30. Rand has been written about in The Seattle Times, Newsweek and PC World among others and keynoted conferences on search around the world. He's particularly passionate about the SEOmoz blog, read by tens of thousands of search professionals each day. In his miniscule spare time, Rand enjoys the company of his amazing wife, whose serendipitous travel blog chronicles their journeys.

Follow Rand on Twitter: @RandFish
Follow SEOmoz on Twitter: @SEOmoz
Find SEOmoz on Facebook!

Warren Bobrow: Mixology for Dummies: How to Mix Cocktails at Home That Will Make Your Bar Tending Friends Take Notice

Warren Bobrow is the Food and Drink Editor of the non-profit Wild Table on Wild River Review located in Princeton, New Jersey. He has published over three hundred articles on everything from cocktail mixology to restaurant reviews to travel articles. You may also find him on the web at: http://www.cocktailwhisperer.com. He's also a published food writer. He's written food and cocktail articles and news for Edible Jersey, Chutzpah Magazine, Voda Magazine, Tasting Table, Serious Eats, Total Food Service Magazine, The Daily Basics, Leaf Magazine and Modenus. He also writes for Williams-Sonoma on their Blender Blog, and is a frequent contributor on Foodista.com. Warren was # 30 in Saveur Magazine's 100 for his writing about the humble Tuna Melt.

Follow Warren on Twitter: @warrenbobrow1
Find him on Facebook!
 

Diane Morgan: Writing and Selling a Winning Book Proposal

Diane has been involved in the world of food for more than 30 years. She is an award-winning cookbook author, freelance food writer, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She is the author of seventeen cookbooks including her soon-to-be published cookbook, Roots: The Definitive Compendium with more than 225 Recipes. Her other titles include: Skinny Dips, The Christmas Table, The New Thanksgiving Table, Grill Every Day, Salmon: A Cookbook, Pizza, Delicious Dips, The Thanksgiving Table, Midnight Munchies, Cooking For The Week, The Basic Gourmet, The Basic Gourmet Entertains, and Dressed To Grill: Savvy Recipes for Girls who Play with Fire, all from Chronicle Books. In addition, Diane’s cookbook, Gifts Cooks Love, was written in conjunction with Sur La Table and was published by Andrews McMeel.

Diane has been a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times food section and has written for Oprah’s “O” magazine, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, Cooking Light, Clean Eating, The Oregonian, Northwest Palate, and Edible Portland. She has appeared on theToday Show, ABC World News Now, CBS Early Show, The Food Network, Smart Solutions onHGTV, Seasonings onPBS, andGood Day Oregon.

Diane's website: DianeMorganCooks
Follow Diane on Twitter: @Diane_Morgan
Find her on Facebook
Keren Brown: Building Community Online and Offline

Fueled by insatiable curiosity to uncover every food-related spot and meet every foodie in Seattle, Keren Brown began by enrolling in cooking classes. She would spend mornings in class, afternoons scouring the shelves of the city’s cookware shops and specialty grocers or judging food contests, evenings in restaurants, all the while chronicling her journey on her blog, FranticFoodie.com. Driven by relentless energy, she created the Seattle Food Blogger Events—monthly meet-ups for local food bloggers—and launched a series of networking and educational events, known as Foodportunity, for the entire Seattle food community, bringing together writers, culinary industry professionals, restaurateurs, food companies and food-passionate people. In addition to her own blog she writes for MyNorthwest.com. Keren Brown was named “Doer of the Week” by MarthaStewart.com and featured in the Puget Sound Business Journal and Portland Business Journal. Keren Brown is the author of the Food Lovers’ Guide to Seattle: Best Local Specialties, Market, Recipes, Restaurants & Events (Globe Pequot Press), a guide to all the best restaurants, bakeries and specialty shops in Seattle.
 

Dr. Jean Layton: Gluten-Free Living: Great Changes to Enhance Your Healing, Health and Recipes!

In diverse jobs from chef to doctor with stops along the way in Candyland- as assistant candy buyer for Macy's Northeast and marketing, I've used my analytical skills to address an ongoing goal, "There has to be a better way."

Currently I maintain a private practice with my husband, Ed the acupuncturist at Layton Health Clinic in Bellingham, Washington. When not seeing patients, I work to give the gluten-free people a voice in the social media world, educating and encouraging them to thrive gluten-free.

I provide educational materials from research to recipes on my blog Gluten-Free Doctor. I happily develop recipes to highlight the amazing flours and foods that are gluten-free, then go in and help restaurants with setting up a proper work space to keep their clients happy and healthy.

Order Jean's fantastic book here: Gluten-Free Baking for Dummies!

Follow Jean on Twitter @GFDoctor
Find her on Facebook: GFDoctor and Healthy Gluten-Free Kids

Jameson Fink: Sweet and Spicy, Salty and Cheesy: A Wine Pairing Adventure

Jameson is the Wine Editor for Foodista and has over eight years of experience working in the retail wine industry. He's traveled to vineyards in France, Italy, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He is also the wine contributor to Dabble Magazine. You can also find him bringing you Wine Without Worry on his blog at jamesonfink.com. And, as you can tell by his photo, he also likes potato chips with a nice White Burgundy.

Follow Jameson on Twitter: @JamesonFink

 

 

Kathleen Flinn: Hungry For Words: Food Lit and Memoir Writing

Kathleen is a Seattle-based journalist, food writer and sometimes teacher; her first book The Sharper your Knife, the Less You Cry examines Paris’ renowned Le Cordon Bleu.

She presently serves as the chair of the Food Writers, Editors & Publishers section of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She’s also a member of the American Society of Journalists & Authors, Society of Professional Journalists and the Author’s Guild.

Learn more about Kathleen's newest best-selling book: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
Follow Kathleen on Twitter @KatFlinn
Learn more on her website: http://kathleenflinn.com/

 

Cheryl Sternman Rule: How Bloggers and PR Pros Can Best Work Together

Cheryl Sternman Rule is the author of the new cookbook Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables (a collaboration with food photographer Paulette Phlipot) and the voice behind the blog 5 Second Rule, winner of the 2012 IACP New Media Award for outstanding Culinary Blog. A freelance writer since 2004, Cheryl has contributed to a wide variety of national magazines and websites such as EatingWell, Vegetarian Times, Health, iVillage, Culinate, and many more. As a blogger, freelancer, and author, she has created fruitful partnerships with several organizations she believes in but understands that doing so can be tricky. She looks forward to un-trickifying it (technical term) with all of you at the conference.
 

The Ladies from Vida Vegan: Niche Blogging

Janessa Philemon-Kerp, a lifelong vegetarian who grew up eating nutritional yeast and alfalfa sprouts, is the blogger behind Epicurious Vegan. In addition to planning Vida Vegan Con, she keeps busy outside her day job of restaurant management with reading, drinking champagne cocktails, adventuring, bike riding, taking photos, and trying to practice restraint in buying in international plane tickets. She loves kale and cookies equally. @janessapk

Vida Vegan co-founder Michele Truty is the author of Vegtastic Voyage (and a bunch of stuff securely locked away on assorted flash drives and not-so-securely stuffed into assorted notebooks). She’s been vegan for six years, after a long journey since her last hotdog 27 years ago. When she’s not getting in trouble with companies for bad-mouthin’ their products, she’s reading, editing, listening to records, or just trying to leave the world a little nicer than she found it. @vegtasticvoyage

Jess Sconé rarely admits these things, but she does have a legitimate last name and a day job. Jess has been writing Get Sconed! about her everyday culinary adventures in Portland since 2005.  She spends most of her time buried in notebooks, co-directing Portland’s Vegan Iron Chef and Vida Vegan Con. She really likes cats,  snowflakes, Muppets, horror fiction, and visiting farmers markets. Jess is originally from that fish-shaped island in New York. @getsconed

Chef John Mitzewich

Chef John received his culinary degree from Paul Smith's College, NY, in 1983, and was honored as the school's "Outstanding Chef Training Student." After 15 plus years in the food industry, John was hired as a Chef Instructor at the prestigious California Culinary Academy. After five successful years of teaching, he left to follow his dream of teaching a larger audience online.

His multiple award-winning blog, Food Wishes an Allrecipes.com production, has become one of the most visited video recipe sites online, and is home to over 550 original recipe videos. Chef John is also the most-watched cooking teacher on YouTube, with over 100,000 subscribers and 30 million views. Food Wishes has won Saveur Magazine's Best Food Blog Award two years in a row.

Follow Chef John on Twitter @FoodWishes
Find him on Facebook!

Judith Dern: E-Book Publishing

Judith has served as senior manager, digital books, at Allrecipes.com the world’s #1 digital food brand, supervising content development and the production of 13 exclusive digital-only cookbooks. At Allrecipes, she is part of the Brand Marketing team where she writes posts for Allrecipes’ Fresh Bites blog and supervises outreach for key food media. She has also provided marketing support to launch Allrecipes’ 16 international sites. A published author with three cookbooks to her credit, most recently The Food and Cooking of Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway & Denmark (2011, Lorenz Publishing, London), she has also contributed to 10 other cookbooks as an independent writer, plus written numerous national and regional articles about food, Scandinavia and textiles. A member of IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals), she is the chair of the New Media section.

Follow Judith on Twitter @AR_Judith

Bruce Shaw: Bloggers as Cookbook Authors: What Do Publishers Want?

Bruce acquired The Harvard Common Press in 1980 and has been the president and publisher for the past 30 years. He is responsible for the development of the company’s vertical focus in cooking and has built The Harvard Common Press into a nationally recognized publishing company. He is also deeply involved in a number of cookbook outreach efforts, not least of which was the First Annual Cookbook Conference, focusing on the past, present, and future of recipe and cooking content. Bruce is also an active member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals as well as a major investor in an online recipe start-up, Yummly.com.
 

Adam Salomone: Bloggers as Cookbook Authors: What Do Publishers Want?

Adam is the Associate Publisher of The Harvard Common Press, a Boston-based independent focused on cookbooks. Related to this vertical, Adam oversees the company’s digital strategy across individual book/author brands. He has been involved in a number of outreach efforts related to cookbook publishing, including active involvement in organizing the First Annual Cookbook Conference, which explored the past, present and future of cookbook and recipe content. Related to this, he has also participated in a three-hour symposium on the present and future state of the cookbook for The International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Follow Adam on Twitter @HCPdishes

 

Carrie Welch: How Bloggers, PR Pros and Brands Can Best Work Together

Carrie is co-founder of Portland-based Little Green Pickle, a public relations, social/interactive media and website design firm specializing in the food, lifestyle and entertainment industries. She loves food, wine and people. Upon graduating New York University, she was hired as an Administrative Assistant at the burgeoning Food Network, just beginning its rise to a top 10 cable network. Over a 10-year career, Carrie worked her way up to Vice President, overseeing all consumer press, talent relations, digital PR, social media, and charitable efforts. Carrie launched successful shows for now ubiquitous celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Alton Brown, Paula Deen, and Duff Goldman.

In addition, Carrie co-created the New York City Wine & Food Festival with charities Share Our Strength and The Food Bank for NYC and Southern Wines & Spirits, which continues to raise over $1 million to help end childhood hunger each year. She also co-initiated Food Network's first public affairs program, "Good Food Gardens," that brought teaching gardens to underprivileged kids and families in schools and community centers. She has also studied wine and spirits extensively, completing the Wine & Spirit Education Trust Advanced and Intermediate Certificates.

Carrie moved to Portland, OR in 2010 with wife Jannie to work in its creative, ingenious food industry and loves Portland more with every bite.

Follow Little Green Pickle on Twitter @LittleGreenPick
Like Little Green Pickle on Facebook!

Bill Flitter: Content Marketing and Distribution

Bill is the Co-founder/CEO of dlvr.it and a serial entrepreneur with years of experience in online advertising, publishing and content marketing. Bill pioneered various content syndication technologies that have generated revenue for The New York Times, CNET, Inc. while helping Fortune 500 marketers including Microsoft, Ford and Dell reach new audiences. Bill's newest venture, Dlvr.it, helps brands and publishers become relevant into today’s fast moving content streams.

Bill founded Email Shopping Network and directed its sales and marketing activities until its acquisition by eUniverse in 2002. Bill has spoken at numerous events including the International Foodservice Editorial Council,Syndicate Conference, Search Insider Summit, AdForum, the Business Marketing Association, American Marketing Association, Ad:Tech, the American Press Institute to name a few. He is often quoted on industry trends and his expertise has been cited on MarketWatch, Adweek, Advertising Age, ClickZ and other publications.

Raised in Wisconsin on farm, Bill graduated with a degree in advertising from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh where he started the Scholarship for the Advancement of Interactive Advertising. He serves on the St. Perpetua School Board where he also coaches his son’s basketball team.

Follow Bill on Twitter @bflitter

Heather Jones: How Bloggers, PR Pros and Brands Can Best Work Together

Heather Jones is a veteran public relations consultant for chefs, restaurateurs and culinary artisans.  In her nearly 20 years in the PR biz, she has placed clients in such reputable spotlights as NPR, Food & Wine, Sunset, Wine Spectator, Parents, The Wall Street Journal, and Men’s Health. Heather was a key contributor to the International Association of Culinary Professional’s 2010 Conference, serving as Host Committee Vice Chair. She spearheaded the organization’s first-ever social media campaign, which was recognized with a Silver Anvil Award by PRSA, and piloted a conference video diary initiative. Her personal coup however, was guiding Ruth Reichl (her culinary Oprah) around Portland’s burgeoning food cart scene.

Heather is a refugee of the Bay Area, narrowly escaping a decade in technology PR. In 2001 she launched Heather Jones Consulting as a clever ruse to eat for a living. It appears to be working.

Follow Heather on Twitter @hjconsult

Lisa Golden Schroeder: How Bloggers, PR Pros and Brands Can Best Work Together

Lisa is a 30-year veteran of the food industry, starting in the test kitchens at General Mills, Inc., then working as a food journalist and cookbook editor, food stylist, and cooking teacher. She’s passionate about nurturing a love of good food and cooking in families, starting with teaching kids to garden. Lisa has authored and contributed to numerous cookbooks, including At Home with Bread, Sizzling Southwestern Cookery, and a series of children’s textbooks teaching history through food. She launched The Tweezer Times at her web site, Foodesigns.com, in 2001, as an online e-zine (before blogs existed) focusing on commercial food photography and styling, which lead to co-founding the International Conference on Food Styling & Photography at Boston University. She now blogs professionally, is a brand ambassador, creates strategic recipes, and food styles for Just Bare® Chicken, a national line of all-natural fresh chicken, working closely with brand communicators and PR agencies. She will share her insider perspective on blogging as part of a larger brand strategy and how she leverages her culinary, writing, and styling skills on behalf of clients.

 

 

 

Martha Holmberg: E-Book Publishing

Martha Holmberg is a food editor, writer, and content consultant, and the communications director for the International Association of
Culinary Professionals. She is the former food editor of The Oregonian newspaper, the founder and editor of MIX magazine, and was the editor-in-chief of Fine Cooking magazine for 11 years.

She has several cookbooks in the pipeline: the newly published Crêpes, to be followed in October by Modern Sauces, Fresh Food Nation in 2013, and a cocktail technique book written with uber-bartender-blogger Jeffrey Morgenthaler to be published in 2014.

She is a frequent contributor to Fine Cooking, and a guest teacher and speaker at professional events, including The Greenbrier Food Writers Symposium. In 2008, Saveur magazine included her in its “Top 100.” She earned the Grand Diplôme from Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

Follow Martha on Twitter @MarthaHolmberg

Sarah Stringfellow (SAY Media): It’s not selling out, it’s getting paid: the evolution of food publication monetization
Sarah's passion for creative, ambitious artists began in music and has grown to encompass food and the writers who love it. As Media Development Lead at SAY Media, Sarah identifies the future of culinary publication and empowers these producers with the tools to turn their craft into a real business. Prior to SAY, Sarah worked with artists at events such as Bonaroo and the Treasure Island Music Festival, established music programs connecting bands and brands at Imeem , and developed content strategy and marketing initiatives for musicians and labels as Business Development Manager at Justin.tv. When not working closely with writers and content creators, Sarah can be found cooking, enjoying new music, and training for her first Tough Mudder (sometimes all at the same time.)

 

Gabi Moskowitz: It’s not selling out, it’s getting paid: the evolution of food publication monetization
BrokeAss Gourmet, founded by Gabi Moskowitz, is the premier food and lifestyle blog for folks who want to live the high life on the cheap. The blog features recipes that are always under $20, along with great advice on inexpensive but delicious beers, wines, cocktails and other topics relating to the BrokeAss Gourmet lifestyle.
 

Follow Gabi on Twitter @BrokeAssGourmet

Find BrokeAss Gourmet on Facebook

Tori Avey: It’s not selling out, it’s getting paid: the evolution of food publication monetization
The Shiksa in the Kitchen, founded by Tori Avey, explores the history of Jewish cuisine as well as other historical and anthropological culinary topics. I am fascinated by the story behind the food– why we eat what we eat, how cultural foods have evolved, and how yesterday’s food can inspire us in the kitchen today. I also post free recipes that include step-by-step photos.

Follow Tori on Twitter @TheShiksa

Find The Shiksa in the Kitchen on Facebook

Amy Worley: E-Book Publishing

Amy joined Andrews McMeel Publishing as Vice President of Marketing in January 2009. She loves using her experience in customer acquisition, social media and online marketing to promote Andrews McMeel’s beautiful, award winning cookbooks, including John Besh’s My New Orleans and My Family Table, Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food, Bon Appétit Desserts and Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook. She’s currently working on Fall 2012 titles, such as: Fire in My Belly by Top Chef fan favorite Kevin Gillespie, Canal HouseCooks Every Day and Hubert Keller’s Souvenirs. Prior to joining Andrews McMeel, Amy was the director of digital marketing for H&R Block, spent 6 years in account leadership positions at the interactive agency, VML, and was the managing editor of American Art Review.

Follow Amy on Twitter @worleygirl

 

Alexa Malott: Break Out of Your Recipe Routine: Where to Discover New Meals to Blog About

Alexa is the Director of Social Content, Products, and Strategy at Glam Media, which owns and operates Foodie.com. She fell in love with all things food and drink while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon where she majored in English Literature.  At Glam and Foodie, Alexa gets to channel her passion for food and technology into creating a creative new community for food lovers.  Since moving away from Portland, Alexa has settled in San Francisco where she lives with her husband and a retired racing Greyhound.  When she's not eating in SF, she's traveling and eating anything from guinea pig in Peru to haggis in Scotland.  Her two loves are hot sauce and pinot noir (but not together!) and she'll never steer you wrong with a restaurant recommendation.

 

Currin Berdine: Break Out of Your Recipe Routine: Where to Discover New Meals to Blog About

Currin serves as the Head of Community Management and User Support at StumbleUpon. She was born and raised in Dallas, TX and therefore will always have the word "y'all" in her vocabulary, and will always hold extremely high standards for Mexican cuisine. Eventually she moved to Nashville, TN to study Engineering Science and Management at Vanderbilt University, though sometimes feels like she majored in Collard Greens & Grits Studies. Like American pioneers before her, Currin knew her future lied out west and headed to California. She enjoys live indie music shows, traveling the world, biking around San Francisco, and -- because she's always adapting to the foodie environment -- prefers organic and local eats.

Follow Currin on StumbleUpon!

 

 

 

John Roulac: The Search for Real Food

John W. Roulac is the Founder and CEO of Nutiva®, the world’s leading brand of organic hemp foods and coconut oil. Nutiva® was awarded one of Inc 500/5000’s fastest-growing companies in America in 2009 and 2010.  A longtime advocate for holistic living, he is the author of four books on hemp and composting (with a million+ copies sold). He helped jump-start the modern home-composting movement in the early 1990s, successfully sued the U.S. DEA to keep hemp foods legal in 2001, and has founded three nonprofit ecological groups.

Follow Nutiva on Twitter @Nutiva

Find Nutiva on Facebook