SA FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE PART 1

Well, the sun rose and set on Sunday and the first ever SA Food Bloggers Conference has received the proverbial nod and been claimed as a resounding success by those in the know (aka those who were there!). PHEW!!! What a relief! A lot of hours of work went into the co-ordinating and I have a great new respect for those who do this on a regular basis! After neglecting my family, my blog and myself I have come out the other side and am so thrilled with the outcome. It was a new challenge to me and I was determined that it would be successful. Those who know me well know that I am very much a behind the scenes kind of girl. I will work very hard in the back ground, I like taking the photos and not posing for them. I will listen to others speak but I prefer not to speak (publically I mean!). The anonymity of blogging has been very appealing to me in the past so this was a massive step out of my comfort zone. But that is what being on the right side of 50 and the right side of 60 does for one I guess!! I really have been enjoying the newfound confidence since I turned 50 way back when. I said then that it was my very best year but I think it will be surpassed by 2010....What an amazing experience! I am thrilled at how it all turned out and I think everyone there thoroughly enjoyed their day. I personally have come away from the first SA Food Bloggers Conference with a lot more knowledge and savvy on blogging and social networking and I will be sharing some of what we learned with you all.

Today I am just giving you two small bites from our grand day........
The beginning [setting up at the Giggling Gourmet Cooks Playground]

and the finale [a surprise appearance of a fantasy macaron & nougat croquembouche

designed and made by The Roundhouse Restaurant]

And of course up on the big screen was all our fabulous sponsors

A latecomer among the sponsors and a wonderful addition to the already groaning goodie bags was

Thank you so much Kapruka for the fantastic sponsorship of a bottle of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil for each delegate. I can't wait to try out all my goodies.....
A very very big thank you to every one of the fabulous sponsors for believing in me and for making my dream a wonderful reality
To the speakers Jeanne [Cooksister], Nina [My Easy Cooking], Jane-Anne [Scrumptious SA] & Sam [editor food24.com] I thank each and every one of your for your effort, for your time, for your dedication to this project. You each added so much to the day.

To the inimitable Jenny Morris - thank you! Thank you! Thank you!! The venue & the FOOD were fantastic!
And to all of those who attended - Thank you for joining us, I am so grateful for each one of you. It was wonderful to meet new friends and become reaquainted with old ones. I wish I had had more time to socialize. I hope you left there refreshed and raring to go with a new confidence and verve, as I did

I will be back with part 2 in the series of SA FOOD BLOGGERS CONFERENCE 2010

Until then,
Colleen xx