Expectations from the 2015 International Food Bloggers Conference #IFBC

Left to right: Bobbi of Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen, Me, Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Kiss My Smoke, Joan of Chocolate Chocolate and More

The picture above was taken last September on the Friday afternoon of the 2014 International Food Bloggers Conference by Alice of A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen. I had just moved to the Pacific Northwest a couple of weeks earlier and was just getting settled into my new residence which is the reason I wasn't able to attend, but Mrs. Stuntman and I compromised and I was able to meet some out-of-town friends for lunch that flew in for the event.

This year, it's a different story.

I will be attending the 2015 International Food Bloggers Conference organized by Foodista and Zephyr Adventures so I thought I'd review some of my expectations for the weekend, using my experience at #FWCon as a guide.

1. Probably the biggest difference from the standpoint of travel is that I'll be able to sleep in my own bed while I attend. No airports with flights or hotel rooms for me. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that a few of my neighbors commute into the area of the hotel every weekday.

2. I've asked around and some of the feedback I got was that the host city is part of the attraction which is something I hadn't considered. It's almost an embarrassment of riches considering I moved from one of the best areas in the country for food to another best area for food so I have almost taken it for granted. Unfortunately, I have a habit of taking for granted things that are near to me. For example, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years but I don't remember visiting Alcatraz. (Maybe as a kid? I can't remember.) I guess there is a certain irony because, it's not like there's no tourist attractions in Orlando.

3. I'm looking forward to the keynote address by New York Times food writer Kim Severson, but it will also be interesting to compare the content of the sessions here with #FWCon. Will the same information be shared?

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, what I look forward to the most is the networking opportunities the conference provides. Looking at the list of attendees of this year's conference, I'll know only a handful of people going in but I do have a background in sales and plan to employ those skills to expand my blogging network.