The world is not the same anymore. Covid has changed everyone in its own way. And the one impact it has had on me is the longing for social interactions.The longing for family meals together the longing for laughs with a room full of friends and the longing to meet other photographers & like-minded creators. What if we could be in a room full of people who spoke our love language of food, photography and creativity. Where we could tell someone we were shooting ice-cream and they’d burst out laughing because they’d totally understand the struggle, without us even having to say it. What if this place existed?And if you’re thinking it does not, let me tell you it does. I have  Abbey Rodriguez joining me this week to talk all about the role of conferences in food blogging and food photography.Abbey is a cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, influencer marketing consultant but above all, she is the founder of the Tastemaker conference, the premier food blogger conference for influencers and content creators.In this episode she talks about the importance of attending or speaking at a conference for food content creators. Abbey shares hot topics, qualities of a speaker, expectations of attendees, freebies and goodies & life-changing stories of past attendees.It’s often money, time or the interest in education that makes us want to or not go to a conference but if we can look at the bigger picture, the holistic value, enriching experience of attending a conference can be a game-changer esp. for creators like us.The only way to grow is by investing in ourselves and if in the process we can get educated, meet business partners, make new friends, have soul-satisfying conversations, establish credibility and also, make a name for ourselves in the industry -  all without wearing an uncomfortable jacket suit - That's a win-win.Read more at https://myfoodlens.comFollow Dyutima on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/dyutima_myfoodlens/Show notes available at https://myfoodlens.com/39-not-just-education-5-reasons-why-conferences-are-important-for-food-photographers/ The Tastemaker Conference waitlist https://tastemakerconference.com/waitlist/