New at FoodBlogSouth 2012 will be Honing Your Edge: Media Skills and Branding for Bloggers and Culinary Professionals.
- This seminar will take place the afternoon before the main conference, from 1 to 5 pm on Friday, January 27.
- Registration for Honing Your Edge is $99.
- You do not have to sign up for the main FoodBlogSouth conference to attend.
- Ten percent of all proceeds from Honing Your Edge will be donated to Desert Island Supply Co., a children’s writing center in Birmingham.
To register for Honing Your Edge, please click here.
It’s no longer enough to stick to your keyboard, hover behind your kitchen stove, or be solely on the viewfinder side of your camera.
As food bloggers and other culinary professionals seek to build their platform, monetize their blogs, and pursue opportunities to go from blog to book, it is critical to know HOW to use media to increase your on-line presence.
Offered in a classroom setting, experienced media trainer and literary agent Lisa Ekus and culinary television producer and cookbook author Virginia Willis will present a comprehensive media skills seminar tailored for food writers and culinary professionals.
Beginning with an overview of today’s media environment, they will examine television, print, and radio interviews from all angles, as well as personal appearances and cooking demonstrations. You will learn what’s in a media toolkit, how to create your message points, and how to stand out and be noticed. They will also cover strategies for taping for YouTube including recipe selection, breakdown, blocking, and message techniques. This seminar will help build the skills and confidence culinary professionals need to work effectively in today’s competitive environment.
Additional Opportunity: A limited number of participants will have the opportunity to send in a link in advance of the seminar of up to a 4 minute video segment for review and constructive critique, live DURING the seminar.
Additional Bonus: All attendees will receive a 10% discount off any post-conference consultation with either Lisa or Virginia.
To register for Honing Your Edge, please click here.
About Lisa and Virginia:
Lisa Ekus is the founder of The Lisa Ekus Group, an award-winning public relations firm and literary agency that has been “promoting a world of culinary talent” for almost 30 years. A member of numerous professional organizations, Lisa travels and lectures frequently around the country. She is also an experienced media trainer and offers both on- and off-site programs for culinary professionals.
Virginia Willis is the author of the acclaimed cookbook Bon Appétit, Y’all! Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking (Ten Speed Press, 2008). Her next book, Basic to Brilliant, Y’all: Recipes and Recollections of a Southern Culinary Journey is the lead book for Ten Speed Press for fall 2011. A graduate of L’Academie de Cuisine and Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne, she previously she honed her attention to detail as kitchen director for Martha Stewart Living Television, where she supervised the food segments for the Emmy-award winning television show. With MSLTV, Virginia was also responsible for preparing private meals and events for Martha and her guests—including, among others, President Bill Clinton, Aretha Franklin, and Julia Child. As executive producer for Epicurious on The Discovery Channel, she traveled the world taping fantastic stories about food, from harvesting capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano to making authentic mustard in Dijon.