(I’m keeping this post on my site as a memory from the early days of blogging. Many of the links here go to sites that are no longer being updated or no longer exist. And sadly, some people who are pictured here are no longer with us. But I still enjoy having these memories of a time when blogging was a kinder, gentler pursuit than it is now.)

 

I had a really great time at the 2008 BlogHer Conference in San Francisco, hanging out with over 1,000 women bloggers, including more than a few of my favorite food bloggers. Taking photos of people is not my best skill, but I’m trying to improve! Here are shots of some people I met, and after the photos are links to posts about the conference from other bloggers.

First up, not a food blogger, but I was very excited to meet Jennette Fulda from Half of Me, since I love her blog, and I kicked off her book tour on Kalyn’s Kitchen! We had a nice dinner together on Friday, along with the famous SueBob of Red Stapler fame. It was a fun way to start out the conference (especially after the flying day from hell, courtesy of Delta Airlines.)Friday morning started with a chance to meet the fabulous Lydia from The Perfect Pantry, and we hit it off immediately. We had a nice breakfast together, then went to the Food Blogger’s Birds of a Feather session. I was leading and had been keeping a list of food bloggers, but there were a lot more people there than we had been expecting! (The get well signs for Paz are a surprise, and I’m hoping she is not reading blogs for these first few post-surgery weeks. Keep the secret, everyone, so I can post them for a guest post on her blog.)

No, Bertolli is not paying for product placement on this blog, but they did sponsor a blogger lunch with Rocco DeSpirito, who was pitching this new pasta sauce in a pouch. Food bloggers are tough critics, but we thought the sun-dried tomato sauce was definitely the best of the bunch.

I have to admit, I was not a Rocco fan when he had his TV show, but he was beyond gracious about holding the sign for Paz, and even inquired about how she was doing. I was set to be unimpressed, but I found him very likeable and charming. He did a cooking demonstration using one of the sauces in a pasta dish with shrimp. (Rocco, you can cook for me any time.)

The lovely Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy was volunteering at the conference so we didn’t get to hang out with her too much, but she got to attend the lunch with Rocco, and gave him a tip about salting the pasta water generously, the way it’s done in Italy. (Rocco was flirting with Sara; you heard it here first!)

Saturday morning the always wonderful Elise from Simply Recipes gave her famous standing-room-only session on Building Blog Traffic. (Follow that link and read it if you’ve never been able to attend this presentation at BlogHer.) With Elise in the photo above is Susan from Food Blogga, (left) who I loved meeting earlier this summer in San Diego.

After Elise’s presentation, the food bloggers all planned to sit together during the lunch break, and we did have fun! Above (left to right) is Biggie from Lunch in a Box, Amy from Cooking with Amy, and Jennifer from Jennifer Jeffrey. What could be more fun than hanging out with so many great bloggers!

I may be losing track of my days, but I think it was at lunch that Lydia and I ran into Stef from A Year of Crockpotting. (She was recently on Rachel Ray, go Stef!)

More lunch fun, with (left to right) Claire from Cookthink, Shuna from Eggbeater, Kathy from Panini Happy, Jennifer, and Janice from Meal Makeover Moms. (Yes, there was a lot of talent in the room.)

Still lunching with talented women. This time we have (left to right) Gudren from Kitchen Gadget Girl, Biggie, Lydia, Andrea from Andrea’s Recipes, and Susan.

Sunday was the Unconference, a fascinating process where any attendee can propose a session. Right away I spotted Genie from The Inadvertent Gardener, who just happened to be finishing up her Weekend Herb Blogging post!

After hanging around the Unconference for a while, I headed to Americano, where Amy and I had invited BlogHer attendees and San Francisco food bloggers to meet. Another fun gathering, and pictured above (left to right) is Anna from Cookie Madness, Simona from Briciole, Christine from Christine Cooks, Amy and Claire.

More fun and good conversation at Americano with (left to right) Biggie, Gudren, Kristin of Offbeat Eating, and Christine.

Some of my favorite San Francisco bloggers, all hanging out on the same bench. Pictured (left to right) are Amy, Sam from Becks and Posh, Jen from Life Begins at 30 and Sean from Hedonia. (Yaay for Jen, who was featured as an expert on the Eat Local Challenge in the latest issue of Fine Cooking.)

Last, but absolutely not least are (left to right) Lynda from TasteFood, Ed from Is it EDible, Susan, Chuck from Sunday Nite Dinner and the gorgeous photo site Food Gawker, and Gutenberg and Chubby, the famous Bunrabs, managing to remain incognito even among all the snapping cameras. (I was especially excited to finally meet Ed, after I missed him last year!)

More About BlogHer 2008:
List of Food Bloggers at BlogHer 2008 (if you’re a food blogger who was there and I don’t have you on the list, please leave a comment on that post with your name and blog url.)
Announcement of Food Blogger Meet-up (with photo links) by Cooking with Amy
SueBob’s Red Stapler Photos on Flickr
BlogHer Day 1 by Jennifer Jeffrey
BlogHer Day 2 by Jennifer Jeffrey
Food Blogger Meet-up by Cookie Madness
Food Blogger Meetup: San Francisco by Kitchen Gadget Girl
The Report from BlogHer ’08 by The Inadvertent Gardener
Food Blogger Meet-Up by Bunrab
A Report from BlogHer ’08 from Web Teacher
New BlogHer Friends by Owlhaven
Packing Cupcakes and BlogHer ’08 by Lunch in a Box
Shuna fish Lydon Interviewed at BlogHer by Eggbeater
BlogHer Thanks and Thoughts by Andrea’s Recipes

(I will update this list when I see more posts about BlogHer 2008)

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