There’s a post out there that is critical of IFBC after the author attended a whole whopping two sessions, then walked away. The first two, to be exact, based on what this person wrote. The two kick off sessions and you discount the conference. Yeah…um, let me insert the popular photo of McKayla Maroney here.
Okay, people that have been to IFBC, or any of the other Zephyr-affiliated conferences, scrape your jaws up off the floor. You know as well as I do that this is a preposterous idea and that you can’t always just walk away from the conference and completely black list it from your list of conferences to attend in the future.
- Warning: You are now entering a No Male Bovine Excrement Zone!
These conferences are a chance to take bovine excrement and turn them into, at the very least, meatloaf; if you’re adventurous and willing to take a chance, you can turn it into Filet Mignon (or something that looks like it). How do you do that? It’s simple. Take the opportunities you’ve been given and work them. This isn’t like elementary school PE class where someone gets picked last for the kickball teams because they’re the “unpopular” or “clumsy” kid. No. This isn’t even high school. It’s more like college. You pick what you want to do, then you either give it your best effort and succeed or you blow everything off, wonder WTF happened when finals week comes around and fail all your classes.
As a wine blogger, I didn’t know what to expect coming into IFBC. I mean, I did, being that I’m familiar with the format that Zephyr Adventures uses for their conferences. That being said, I still didn’t know what to expect, being that I was, once again, a Zephyr conference rookie. So what did I do? I did the same thing I did in Portland. I started talking to folks. Random folks. I didn’t care if they were into wine or not. We had something in common, being that we were at the conference. The Farmstr event was a great way to break out of my shell and meet new people. There, I had a chance to meet cool people like Jana from Merlot Mommy, Adriana from Adriana’s Best Recipes, Heather from United States of Motherhood and Chef Rebekkah, who is a private chef in Seattle and a supplier for Farmstr. And that was just the first night I was there!! As time went on through the weekend, I was able to meet even more cool people, including those who I’m calling my inspiration for wanting to pull both food and wine bloggers in the PDX area together for a “Mastermind Group”, just as Corbett Barr suggested to us at WBC14 in Buellton.
My takeaway from this rant is this…you have two options when you go to a conference like this. You can take bovine excrement and turn it into a delicious Filet Mignon or even an acceptable meatloaf if you’re not ambitious enough to try making the Filet. Or, you can sit there and hold that steaming pile of bull poop and smear it around because you’re unsure of what to do with it. Me? I’ll take the bacon-wrapped filet with a glass of Château Beaumont Cru Bourgeois, please.
[…] to make the most of the weekend, I made some fantastic connections with those who I mentioned in this post, plus new folks like Chefs Perry & Chris from Haute Mealz (Chris also has his own blog: […]
Hi Alina, I loved meeting you! Many thanks for mentioning me in your article. Looking forward to continue in touch!
No problem! It was fantastic to meet you too!! Cheers to our paths crossing again!
Why male?
When referring to bovines (cattle), bull = male.
Bravo! This was my first IFBC and couldn’t believe someone would leave before things really got started. I had a great time and networked my butt off. No, I did not enjoy every session but I still learned so much! I am going to join you with that fillet and wine. 🙂
Sounds good to me!!
Brilliant post! Well done, Alina.
And I totally second the mini reunion idea!
Well, they got out of it what they put into it 😉 Which was pretty much zilch..lol!
PS: It was fun meeting – and doing coffee and wine drinking with you on Friday!
I agree!
And yes, it was! We should have a mini reunion sometime before next year!
bravo. I read that post and wondered how could IFBC be this offensive to someone. You don’t like something, challenge it and speak up. Survival is the best revenge.
Exactly! I was appalled that this person gave up two sessions in…and not even breakout sessions. Keynotes! :/