FBC News Update – February 15, 2016

We're just over half way through February so we thought it would be a good time to check in with you all and hand out some updates and introduce a lot of new members!

Weekend Links and the Food Lovers Newsletter

For the last few months we've changed up our weekend links up to be all about recipes.  They run on the FBC site on Saturdays and on Sundays we push it to our FBC Food Lovers newsletter.  The recipes are themed each week - this past weekend was bread.

If you're interested in submitting a recipe for our weekend links and weekend newsletter, the weekly callout happens every Sunday or Monday in our FBC Members giveaways, linkups and social shares thread on Facebook.  This week we're looking for Sweet Potato recipes so if you have one, visit the group.  If you're not a member, you'll have to request to join!

10,000 Instagram Followers

This past week we hit to big milestones - 10K Instagram followers and 30K Twitter followers.  For those wondering, no, that does not happen overnight.  It's taken us 4.5 years on twitter to hit that number and 2 years on Instagram.  So don't give up if you feel like those numbers are unreachable - it just takes time and a lot of hard work.

But, the best part of reaching those numbers? It gives us an even bigger reach to help promote the work that all our members do every day! And that's pretty awesome!

FBC2016 Updates

We have been getting a ton of questions the last few weeks about FBC2016 in Toronto this October.  So we're going to fill you in with a few updates before our conference info page goes live later this week.

FBC2016 Ticket Sales

We're excited to announce that tickets for this year's conference will go on sale April 29th!  Mark the day in your calendar because 60% of the tickets are already sold!  That's right, we sold 60% of the tickets during our two week alumni sale last October.

FBC2016 Call For Speakers

We will be launching our Call For Speakers on Feb 17th (that's this Wednesday).  If you're interested in speaking at, or hosting a session at FBC2016, be sure to stop by the FBC site on Wednesday to download our Speaker's Kit with everything you need to apply.

SkillShare and How To Make French Macarons

A while back we told you about Skillshare and what an interesting platform it looked like for bloggers - both for learning and teaching!  Today we're excited to let you know that FBC Member Marie Asselin of Food Nouveau has launched her first class, How To Make French Macarons, (this is Marie's affiliate link - instructors earn part of their income via affiliate links) on the platform!

The class is a video class that breaks down the process in short, easy-to-follow lessons that show you the essential equipment you need, the important steps to follow, the techniques to master, and the potential pitfalls to avoid. You can watch the videos on your own time, start practicing, share with other budding macaron makers, and ask Marie questions if you encounter difficulties along the way. The class is designed both for novice bakers who want to learn new skills, and for experienced bakers who are seeking to master a new and impressive dessert.   You can watch a class trailer on YouTube.

If any more of you are teaching on Skillshare, be sure to let us know.  And if you're not, then take a look at the platform and see if you have a skill you can share!

New Members

Wish a warm welcome to our newest batch of Canadian food bloggers to join FBC.  We're glad to have you with as part of our Canadian food blogging community!

• 500 Under 500 (ON)
• Thrive With The Seasons (BC)
• Palate Practice (ON)
• Jenny's Cookbook (ON)
• Climb, Eat, Cycle, Repeat (BC)
• Victoria, In Person (BC)
• Not Enough Cinnamon (QC)
• Picky Diet (ON)
• The Salty Almond (AB)
• Bibitte à Bouffe (QC)
• Up Your Fork (QC)
• You Can Eat Now (BC)
• Hungry in the Hammer (ON)
• Teta Lizza's Kitchen (ON)
• Shipshake Eatworthy (NS)
• Le Cuisinomane (QC)
• MDivaDomestica (SK)
• Misty Blue Blogs (ON)
• Geek2Chef (ON)
• Accidental Artisan (BC)
• Breakfast for Dinner (BC)
• Chef Tonia Wilson (ON)
• The Lemon Apron (ON)
• Farm Girl City Chef (ON)
• Sweet Vegan (QC)

Members Abroad

• Roots & Wren (UK via BC)

The FBC Food Lovers Newsletter

If you love food then you might just want to subscribe to our new newsletter: The FBC Food Lovers Newsletter.  Twice a month we'll be featuring great posts from FBC members, some of our favourite food instagram accounts, great recipe finds on pinterest, some of the food highlights on FBC over the last few weeks,  as well as occasional delicious offers from some of our partners. You don't have to be an FBC Member to join - you just have to love food!  All you have to do is click here to subscribe!

And remember, if you have anything you’d like to share with your fellow members in the news, please let us know about it.  To have your submission appear in a Monday news post, the deadline is Friday at 5pm Pacific time.  You can send your 3-4 sentence submissions directly to Melissa and include any relevant links.

As always, Ethan & Melissa