The Food Allergy Blogger Conference, Another Great Year

It’s been just a week since I arrived back home from the Food Allergy Blogger Conference (FABLogCon) in Denver, and I am suffering from withdrawal. There is something special and comforting about being in a room where everyone “gets it.” Where there is no need to explain. Where every bit of food served is something you can eat. Where everyone’s story is different and yet the same.

The third annual (yes, Jenny, I used that word again) conference was a raging success!

There is way more than can be said in a single blog post, but I will do my best to do it justice.

Thank you to all of the amazing sponsors, especially top-tier sponsors Sanofi, Enjoy Life Foods, Sunbutter, EAT, Mylan, and Ogilvy. A conference like this simply isn’t possible without sponsorship. Here’s a peek at some of the SWAG I brought home:

The food at the Denver Renaissance was amazing. Everything was gluten-free and the staff was great at making sure my meal didn’t contain soy. Thank you Chef’s Keith, Keith, and Charles!!

I was lucky to have won the prize package from Coconut Secret:

I am especially looking forward to the coconut aminos. Could this be the soy-free soy sauce I have been looking for?

I had the opportunity to share the stage with Alisa Fleming, Chandice Probst, and Sally Ekus on the topic of pitching your ideas. These ladies rock!

I am glad that I was able to spend some time (finally) with Michelle Palin, Holly Yzquidero, and all my new friends. It seems there is never enough time.


I spent most of my time in the blogger track and came home with pages of notes of things I need to do/fix/learn.

I’m bummed that I missed Missy’s Social Media Bootcamp (rack that up to a Delta Airlines snafu), but I have the charts to review.

As always, thanks to the social-media-savvy girls who never fail to teach me something new – Keeley, Cindy, Annelies, Michelle – and to Ritesh for making my to-do list twice as long as it was prior to his session.

Thanks to Mary Fran Wiley for teaching me how to put alt-text in my photos in blogger (how did I not know this?) and going above and beyond to help me get social share buttons on my website.

Thanks to Erica Dermer for making me laugh.

Thanks to Ritesh for working behind the scenes on the tech (and doing it in a way that no one even noticed).

The biggest thanks (of course) go to the Queen of the Conference, Jenny Sprague. Her passion and vision sustain us all.

There were so many people I missed this year, including Tanya O’Brien, Peggy Trefts, Pam Jordan, Lori Sandler, Lynda Mitchell, Gina Mennett-Lee, Laurel Francouer, Homa Woodrum, Selena Buntzer, Lisa Musician, Rachel Hayden…. I could go on. But I hope we see you next year (yes, Jenny, I said it again).