I recently organized a media dinner for Rashers as they opened up a second location on Ossington.

I’ve probably organized 10 media dinners over the last few years but this event was particularly special.

Here’s my tips on how to put on a great media dinner:

1. Include as much info in the invitation as possible: dress code? start time?, finish time?, is it a sit down meal or just passed appetizers? can extra guests be accommodated? hashtags for the evening? twitter/instagram handles? is parking available etc?!

2. Keep it small. This event was limited to 12 food bloggers and it was just the perfect size.

3. It makes a huge difference if the restaurant can put up a sign: “Sorry we are closed for a private event this evening”.

4. Stick to the schedule. Most bloggers have day jobs and have commutes to get home! The media dinner at Rashers ended in just over and hour and everyone was really really happy about that.

5. Welcome Bloggers. It’s a nice touch.

6. Allow bloggers to take photos of the food before it’s served so then everyone can enjoy their meal. Signs in front  of each dish allow the bloggers to go home and remember what the photo was!

7. Hand out name tags. I’m a huge fan of name tags as I’m having a hard time remembering everyone I meet at different events!!

8. Try to reach out to bloggers before the event on social media channels and retweet their blog posts!!

9. Include a gift card for the blogger to return to your restaurant another time in the gift bag. Don’t forget to include a menu in the gift bag and a business card with all the contact info for the restaurant.

10. Make sure you have enough staff. This will ensure that the event runs in a smooth fashion and ends on time.

Seriously the event at Rashers did all of the above and I walked away from the event beaming.

Oh ya – it helped that my belly was full of bacon goodness as well.

For more information:

www.rashers.ca

Address: 182 Ossington and 948 Queen St. East

Twitter/Instagram: RashersTO

Facebook: www.https://www.facebook.com/RashersInc/

Disclosure: Rashers was a client however all my opinions are my own.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the ingredients for hosting a pickle party. I have to admit I’ve never thrown a pickle party before but this party was so successful that I’m thinking of hosting another one!!

a) Select a few brands of pickles. For this particular pickle party, I included: Nathan’s Famous Kosher Pickles, Marty’s, and Putters.

b) Invite some pickle enthusiasts! Of course this meant I included some blogger friends (http://safaffect.wordpress.com/ and http://theyumyumfactor.blogspot.ca/) and some friends who weren’t bloggers! It was a great mix.

c) Put together a menu. This wasn’t so easy seeing as my kitchen is dairy. However I put together a menu that included….party sandwiches, cheese and crackers, roasted tomatoes on toasted baguette slices, and nachos and salsa! My table included green flowers and green/white napkins. Yes – I’m normal. LOL

d) Serve Vodka. Naturally we had to compare two brands so we compared Absolut to Skyy Vodka! Pickles and Vodka are a natural combination. LOL

e) Include a new food product to share with your friends! Please welcome www.mexicoboulevard.com! I sincerely want to thank www.brightideascanada.com for introducing me to these products.

Seriously it was a ton of fun to host this party.

PS the full sours were a hit but in all honesty all of the pickles were a hit with my guests. There wasn’t a pickle left!!

Disclosure: Many thanks to Marty’s Pickles and Nathan’s for supplying me with pickles!

The conference is now over and it’s time for a NEW definition of BlissDom.

B is for BELIEVE: The message to believe in yourself, to stay true to yourself…was repeated over and over. I couln’t agree more how important this statement is.

L is for LOVE. There was a lot of love going on during the conference!! Hugs were even being given by panelists. I loved when Jeff Pulver declared in his session that “hugs would be given out in the lobby between 2 – 4  p.m. All you had to do was show your badge”.

I is for Inspiration: There is nothing like being surrounded by hundreds of bloggers to give you inspiration. On Sunday I went to Ezras Pound (one of my favorite independent coffee shops) to write 4 blog posts in a row. Can’t remember the last time I did this…clearly I was inspired!!

S is for Sharing: The food bloggers roundtable was an important session for me, as I had the oppotunity to listen to other food bloggers share their experiences, their expertise etc.

S is for Sponsors: I give full credit to those companies who sponsor BlissDom (the conference) or individuals (so that they can attend the conference). These companies “get it”.

D is for Dynamic: Everyone who attends this conference is dynamic. I often sit at the back of a session and marvel at the energy that is in the room!!

O is for Optimism: Over the two day conference, I realized that Bloggers are really optimistic people. We love blogging and are truly optimistic about the paths that we have chosen.

M is for Memories: BlissDom is also about creating memories. Here’s a few memories that I captured by camera:

I’m already looking forward to next years conference!!

On Oct 13-15, hundreds of women (from Canada and the U.S.) who are bloggers, social media pros and PR divas, will get together at the Toronto Hilton to attend a conference called BlissDom.

This is my definition of BlissDom:

B….is for BLOGGING. Many of the women who attend this conference will be bloggers. They are passionate, engaged and love to share and network. This conference will be the perfect place for them!!

L….is for LEARNING. Throughout the conference, there will be roundtables, speakers, and panels that will cover a variety of topics such as:

• Taking Your Craft To The Next Level: A Little Sprinkle of Viral Dust. Making Your Message Blaze Against the Medium
• Being In A Borderless Digitial World
• She Works Hard For The Money. Why and How You Should Be Making Money From Your Blog.

I…..is for INTERACT. BlissDom will be all about interacting!! It will be a fabulous opportunity to interact with other bloggers, publicists, and women who just love social media!!

S…..is for SOCALIAZING. I suspect there will be a party or two. Enough. Said.

S…..is for SOCIAL MEDIA. Women who attend this conference will be on TWITTER and will be tweeting using the hashtag #BlissdomCanada. You too can follow along, even if you aren’t there. HINT.

D….is for DISCUSSION. There will plenty of discussion!! Participants will want to discuss photography, WordPress, business cards and more. There simply won’t be enough time. (this always happens).

O….is for OPPORTUNITY. BlissDom is all about giving women the opportunity to learn and connect. No doubt, participants will walk away from this conference filled with information, new friendships and a deeper understanding of  social media.

M…is for MUCHO INFORMATION. Participants will walk away with MUCHO INFORMATION (I know I know…I made up this word) that will help them become better bloggers. They will learn from each other and from the speakers and will definitely will be recharged when the conference is over.

I am thrilled to be able to attend this conference and will be blogging about my experience on Friday Oct. 15….i.e You will be able to find me at the nearest Starbucks on my MacBook at the end of the conference!

OK everyone, set your PVR’s and tape CityLine on Tuesday March 29th at 9:00 a.m or at 2p.m. Why? Coz CityLine is airing a segment on “bloggers” and you might even see me in the audience clapping and smiling!!  They invited  beauty bloggers, food bloggers, mommy bloggers and decor bloggers to be part of the studio audience and then did a segment on each topic. I truly love when companies “get” social media..

The beauty blogger: talked about her favorite beauty products. I used one of the products already for the last 20 years (Voluminous mascara by L’Oreal”) and now Im in love with the lipstick she recommended.

The food blogger: made an amazing banana bread with a secret ingredient that I would have never guessed in a million years.

The decor blogger: talked about Canadian furniture, and demonstrated a DIY project.

The mommy blogger; talked about why mommys have embraced twitter and blogging.

It was lots of fun to be part of the audience and lots of fun to meet other bloggers.  Infact, I sat beside a food blogger (foodjunkiechronicles) that I have been following on twitter (@foodieyu) for the past year so it was great to meet her IRL (in real life).

I loved how they told the audience NOT to put away their iPhones and Blackberries as they knew we would want to be tweeting and taking photos. I wish my mom would be so understanding. (she hates when I tweet).

After the taping, we were all treated to a lovely lunch at the new Ritz Carlton. A perfect ending to a perfect event.

Congratulations to Kate Moore (the producer for CityLine) for putting this Bloggers Segment together and for embracing the blogging community.

ps. thank you to @foodieyu and @YYZdesign for the photos.