How Liz Della Croce Plans and Hosts Food Blogger Retreats | The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

How about on the side of events that you're doing with other bloggers, publishers, creators and then having brands come alongside you to sponsor those?

Yeah. So I recently hosted my 6 food blogger retreat and I think that food blogger retreats started coming around probably a good eight years ago, maybe more for sure, but probably more on my radar about eight years ago. And you know, I think that retreats are becoming more and more valuable these days as well. One with COVID conferences went by the wayside.

Yep.

And you know what didn't change is that the food blogging industry almost exploded overnight as people were at home more. So our, our need for the conferences didn't go away. In fact it doubled down, but the conferences went away. And I, you know, I felt like it was even more important to find ways for us to get together safely and that type of thing. But yeah, I, I've been doing them for six years and each one is a little bit different. There's a lot of different ways you can do it.

Yeah. What have you found to be the most successful way to do?

Well, I. And so, and here's the thing is that it depends on the attendees. So one thing I learned early on is that every food blogger values something different. And I really recommend when you host these, that you poll your attendees to find out what they're looking for. And I'll tell you what I enjoy. But as a host, it's not really necessarily about just what I want. It's also about what the attendees want. Both the bloggers or the brands or just the bloggers. Because you can also do retreats that have no brand involvement. And I just think it's important to be both self aware of what you're looking for, but also aware of what your group wants. Because the worst thing is to spend months of time planning something that misses the needle of the attendees. So just like understanding your client, understand what bloggers needs are and you can only really do that by asking them and finding out.

And what, what question do you find is most helpful when you are asking?

Yeah, well, I mean one is do you want, do you want brands involved? Do you want. I've done retreats before. I've done one with Gina Skinny Taste and Luxie's Clean Kitchen. I've done them with all different bloggers. And everyone, sometimes they want brands, sometimes they don't.

Yeah.

And it's a matter of do you want the brands to have a say in the, in the event? So for example, like you know, do you want to be required to cook certain foods or showcase certain foods or write a blog post after. So just so you know, there's, there's no right or wrong. It's about the type of retreat you want to plan because it does look very different if you involve brands versus if you don't.

Yeah.

So what I think you're getting at though is what do I prefer? I love having the brand be part of the retreat. But just so you know, if you're listening, you can make a retreat that has no brand involvement and you don't have to write about it, you don't have to photograph anything. That's great too.

Yep, yep. The purpose would be different as a facilitator in that in one situation you'd be facilitating in a way where it's kind of. And I have actually a pretty similar thing that's coming up at the end of October where some people are flying out to Atlanta and it's like, I don't know, eight people, super varied businesses and just getting together and kind of do like a 30 minute hot seat for eight people during one day. And then we all go back and it's connections and it's, it's great. But it's like there's, it's like at somebody's house and like everybody's just staying at a hotel, so it's not the same place. So it's, there isn't any like financial piece to it and you don't pay to be a part of it. But there's also no like money. It's just like pure connection. In that case, there's somebody who's facilitating and takes the burden of facilitation just to make it happen. In the case of events with brands, there would be potential revenue that could come from that with you as a facilitator. But my guess is there's also expenses because then you're probably covering like a lodge or something like that. Is that generally true?

Oh yeah. So yes, exactly. So essentially the. There's pros and cons to both ways. So when you have brands involved, the pro is that the bloggers don't have to pay for their hotels, for example. Yeah, they're the. Because what we do is we put that sponsor money towards the house and we do retreats in a house. I've done them in hotels, but we wanted to be able to like cook together, like mingle in the living room. So the benefit of a brand is that it lowers the expense for the attendees.

Yeah.

Versus, though there are retreats I've been to, we're like, let's just all pay for it. And then, you know, we don't have to deal with the brand part. Yeah, I personally prefer having some brand involvement. So now I tend to only kind of do them that way. But, you know, never say never. There might be a time in the future where I do a retreat that doesn't have a brand involvement. But, yeah, there's pros and cons.

Yep, that makes sense. And one of the questions that I get asked a lot is the general spirit of it is like, how do I make blogging friends? Like, it's like you see on Instagram, you see on Facebook. Wait, all these people got together and like, they posted this beautiful sunset picture using a drone, and there's like a dolphin jumping in the background. And then here I am in my sweatpants at home watching Netflix, and it feels like, gosh, that would be really fun to be a part of that group. But in my response often is like, usually you have to be the one that does it. Like, you have to facilitate it in order for it to happen. That's the best way to get connected. And then you have those people who then have their own network of people that can connect you in other places. But it's really hard for somebody just to be like, wait, I think I'm going to invite this person just randomly. But it's also kind of a hard thing to do to facilitate, to invite people. So how do you do that? Well, how do you know who to invite? Oh, yeah, like different levels. Like people who are at a certain point versus just starting. What is, what is the makeup of attendees look like? And how do you put together a good group?

Good questions. So important. So to your first part, I echo what you said, is that if you want something, you've got to really create it. If. If the opportunity is not coming to your doorstep, don't just sit there waiting for it. I, you know, I remember someone had posted in a Facebook group, hey, I would love to do a retreat. Who wants to plan it with me? And I said, yes, I'll do it.

Yeah.

And that was my first retreat with Amy Sugarman. And yeah, it was so much fun. And, you know, it was from there I realized how much I enjoyed it. Now, full disclosure, Bjork. I have a hospitality background, so I come from a hospitality planning world and event planning world. So this is my wheelhouse. This is not everyone's wheelhouse. Just like photography is not my wheelhouse. We all have our thing, so I'm. I have an event planning background. So this is just a natural way. Just like, I have a tourism background, which is why I do some travel writing. Right, sure. You know, I come from hotel sales, so I do a lot of partnerships with hotels. There's certain things we have from our previous lives.

Yeah, yeah.

But it's cool to find ways you uniquely to help it benefit your. Your peers.

So which I think that is an important takeaway to think about. How do your previous skills. I think of Lindsay as a teacher.

Yes.

And she did photography workshops. Literally, it's. And she just transferred her. And you would see it pretty concretely in how those skills transferred from fourth graders to, like, adults. It's just a different subject. And so I think it's important for us to think about what is our. What are. What have we been good at? What are we good at? And how can we apply it to the thing that we're, you know, currently working on or wanting in the future? Yeah.

Right. My husband has a teaching degree, too, and that's why he does food blog audits. He literally is just obsessed with, like, teaching others how to do a better job at SEO.

Yeah.

I mean, he has a day job. Like, I almost was like, don't. You don't have time. But he loves to teach. Right. His audits go on forever because he wants to make sure you know how to do it yourself. But to your point, you have a.

Site for that if you want to give it, like a promo.

He doesn't, but anyone can reach out to me at the Lemon bowl and I can connect you. He'll probably be so mad that I'm, like, saying it out loud. But, yeah, he. He's so funny. He. He does not have the sales hat that I do. He's like, don't promote it. Don't tell. Yeah, but no, he's. He's amazing. And honestly, he. He loves to help people. I think it's one of those things he, like, feels badly charging anyone a dime. He's that type of person. But. Yeah, but you can hit me up. But it's similar where we all have different skills that can transfer into this world. And so going back to the retreats, I quickly realized I love to host them. I'm good at planning and organizing groups and coordinating logistics. And so I just decided to keep doing it. And chances are, if you. I recommend you don't do it alone. So at least get one or two other people to help you.

I started out and facilitate. Yeah.

Yeah. So three people is a good. To start with. I now can do it. With just one other person. But in for years I was. I always needed at least there need to be three of us just to divide workload because it takes about four to six months of planning and about 500 to sometimes up to 800 emails.

Sure.

Just be transparent.

Yep. Between talking to the place where you'll stay coordinating with bloggers, if you have brands involved, obviously a lot more. Are you managing all of that in one kind of central spot? Like do you have a asana trello?

I've never used. I use teams for my business. I love teams. We are all on the Microsoft suite. So we use teams. We use the. The planner, the. To dos the tasks. But I've actually never done it for the retreat I actually use a big Google sheet. I think that's because most people I'm planning with aren't on teams.

Sure.

So we just found the Google sheet was easiest. And in transparency it's my, you know, this next one I'm doing will be my seventh one. And so by now I've kind of got it down.

Yeah. Yeah.

But I do think that there's so many different tools and systems people could use. But really we use a spreadsheet and we literally now copy it and. And just.

Sure. Just. Yep. Erase it and then just fill it in again. Makes sense.

Oh, and then we have to talk about. You talked about. You asked about attendees.

Yeah.

This is a big one, Bjork. Because nothing can kill a party like having the wrong group of people stuck in for a few days.

Totally. Yeah.

And you know, because that's the thing. This isn't like a conference where you can like peace out, go to your hotel room or go out to dinner and like leave conference. You can't leave the retreat especially they're rarely in cities. They're usually like, we were just in Breckenridge in the mountains.

Yeah.

You know, it's meant to unwind and unplug. So just you want to make sure you. You want to unwind and plug with these people.

Yeah.

Answer your question. Because that is also the most common question I get who attends, who gets to attend. Etc. So first and foremost it's all people at the same level of experience. And I've done it both ways where I've invited newer people. But the problem is that it's not an equal exchange of knowledge. And what ends up happening is that one or two bloggers end up just basically answering everybody's questions for the whole time.

Right. It ends up being a consulting week for them.

And that can be just Kind of depleting and, you know, not beneficial to that person because no one's getting paid to go. So for that person to be basically not getting anything out of it, I'm really. I'm really keen on everyone getting an equal exchange of information. So. Another thing is it's not ideal for introverts.

Yeah.

Well, I've attended many.

Who doesn't want to talk and be around people. Yeah.

It's not great. I've been on both retreats, press trips, events. And you have the blogger that they're either, like, not coming to the dinners, not going to the events, they're holed up in their rooms, or they're in the sessions and they're just on their laptop writing down everything we're saying, but.

Not sharing, like, their comfort places. Like not being vocal. Yeah, correct. Sure.

And. And it's just. That's not fair for everybody else who's giving away all this other knowledge that they've gained over a decade free of charge.

Yeah. So how do you know that? Like, how do you having conversations with people?

Well, I know it because I typically invite people I know or that my co host knows.

Sure.

So I. I am at the point where it's just too risky and not worth everyone else's situation to risk inviting people. But I have no background knowledge, and if I don't know them, I reach out to someone that does.

Yeah, yeah.

Because in fairness, I always like to invite people I've never met before, but I make sure someone I know and trust can vouch for them.

Sure.

And that's just because I.

Again, you don't reference check. Kind of.

Yeah. It really is. Because the other thing, too is if they have a bad attitude or they're dramatic. You know how girls are like, you don't want to be in a house.

And guys. Yeah.

By the way, I always invite lately a guy.

Sure.

Which is so good because it, like, helps the energy. It's another diverse, you know, perspective.

Yep.

So anyways, I. I love to bring a guy. I wish I could have, like five guys, five girls. But there really are fewer male food blockers.

Sure, sure. Yep.

Yep.

That makes sense. So do you. Have you ever written about them? Like, is there any places that I'm going to? Or. Okay, I will. It would be. It's something that a lot of people want to know and a lot of people would, you know, be curious about. And. And it's a great. It's a great way not only to connect relationally, but also some of the biggest learnings that I've had are through experiences like that. A group of people together, not at their computers, not on Zoom. Like talking while eating cereal. Like whatever it might be. Yeah, right.

It's kind of what we did last time. And I can link to this is we. We actually this time had a video videographer come and do testimonials of the ATT Cool, the brands and the bloggers. And Tessa from Handle the Heat was at our last one and I wasn't around the interview, so I was watching it for the first time, hearing their feedback. And she said a retreat is basically everything she loves about a conference, minus what she doesn't. And she said her favorite part of the conference was always like the cocktail hour or like and the lunch break like, or walking back to the hotel room. Those casual conversations in the formal session.

Yeah.

And she's like, the retreat is basically all of that stuff you love. And then Dan from the Food in My Beard was also there and he said in his interview that unlike a conference where you can't really dictate the agenda or the sessions or the topics, at a retreat you get. We actually do hot seats like you just talked about. And so that hot seats, whatever you want to talk about. And if you're at lunch, like you can like there's so much more free flow conversation. We do a lot of just Q and A panels where people can ask whatever they want. And at a conference you can't really dictate the sessions, like what the topics are. And that's what's really nice about a retreat.