Why the SA Food and Wine Blogger Indaba Could be the Best Thing for your Blog…

It doesn’t matter where you are on your blogging journey… if you have been blogging for years or weeks or even just dreaming about beginning a blog, one of the most important ways to grow your blog is to meet up with other bloggers. They will enthuse you with their passion for blogging, they will encourage you with fresh ideas, and they will follow you and support you. In turn you will discover a bunch of ‘new to you’ blogs to follow and and fresh bloggers for you to encourage yourself. If there is one rule for growth in blogging, that sounds really pithy but experience tells me that it is totally true, it has to be “share the love.” And if you are looking for bloggers to love then an almost instant way to meet them is at a conference or meet-up.

I am an avid follower of some of the finest overseas conferences and you can glean a lot from “outside” a conference, but you have to know that nothing beats actually attending one. When you blog from the Southern tip of Africa, believe me, there are not a huge amount of blogging conferences to attend. In fact, I have only ever been to one and that was the previous SA Food and Wine Blogger Indaba. Eighteen months later I reap the benefits of friendships forged there every single day.

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So local bloggers, your chance has arrived, I thought I would mention the South African Food and Wine Blogger Indaba, 2014… happening on Saturday the 22 February. This is not the time to be a shy and reclusive blogger, there are 364 other days of the year for the that… this is the day to meet, connect and learn… all that you can about the ins and outs of blogging, writing, etiquette, photographhy and “who exactly is who” in the local food industry.

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Of course, you do not have to be a food blogger, you can be a blogger that occasionally blogs about food… in fact if you have ever mentioned what you ate for breakfast or blogged about a cake you wanted to make… then that is food blogger enough. The joy is that you will mingle with a whole bunch of bloggers and a lot of them will be foodies – blogging and fine food – what a fabulous combination.

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The line up is so exciting, as usual they have the best of the rest all in one spot: A collection of the best brands to meet and greet, tons of South Africa’s amazing and unique foodies… and of course heaps of local bloggers.

There will be a host of fabulous talks: Working with Brands; Simple SEO Tips; Social Media Strategy; Turning your Blog into a Book; and much much more…

Followed by an afternoon of amazing hands-on workshops: Writing, Food-Styling, Food Photography, Decorating, Growing your Own… the list goes on.

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And after that there will be an auction supporting the South African Guide Dog Association, with fabulous prizes (I speak from experience) and goodie bags beyond imagining, last year we did not receive one, or two… but three bags loaded with freebies and new products to try and enjoy.

You can click on the image to find out more about the event, what’s happening, how to sign up and so on. And just so you know, though this may be over-sharing, because I am entering for sure, our friends at Yuppie Chef is giving away a ticket right now on their site… just saying!!!

This is not a sponsored post, I am writing it because I am so excited about this upcoming event and I think it is a fantastic way for local bloggers to meet other bloggers and brands and just to connect in general.

3 Replies to “Why the SA Food and Wine Blogger Indaba Could be the Best Thing for your Blog…”

  1. Thank you so very much for this awesomely written revisit of Indaba 2012. Brought back memories and made me look forward to the next one now. Planning is reaching a crescendo…only 16 sleeps remain! 😉 You are a treasure Se7en!

  2. Hay Colleen, Thank you so much. I can imagine that it is just crazy times over there in the home of preparation. Wishing you all the very best for the upcoming Indaba… I know it is going to be food blogger’s heaven – you are a legend for putting all this together!!!

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