The program, I soon realized, was a wonderful, personalized, introduction to food blogging. I liked the Wizard of Oz-like quality where we could tactfully expose the man behind the curtain. Pim explained that her blog started off as a way to keep in touch with all her friends sprinkled across the globe, Alder said he was always the person giving wine and restaurant recommendations and Bruce admitted to having a dot-com job where what he did all day was surf the web finding links to articles. Saute Wednesday became the place where you could find them all. He said blogging was better than cramming all of his friends' email inboxes.
Ms. Berne mentioned a recent article in The Los Angeles Times about the concept of 'hyper-focus' versus 'general' blogs. In summary the writer felt hyper-focus was the way to go since blogs were being born faster than fruit flies. Pim felt her readers had followed her along so far that going towards the hyper-focus model was not necessary or really what she wanted to do. Heidi had begun 101 Cookbooks with a very specific idea and she did so after pondering what could sustain her interest over the long haul. She lists her cookbook collection on the site and features a recipe she tests, photographs and writes about a few times a week.
Others mentioned more technical aspects of food blogging and bloggers' concerns. Bruce Cole tentatively explained RSS feed (a type of internet subscriber service) when Ms. Berne asked a question about how many blogs or internet sites the panelists visited daily. Alder explained that he reads about as much as the average person watches TV. A lot. "Traffic" was touched on, especially when Heidi divulged, much to the amusement of her peers, tracking "revenue streams." Traffic is what bloggers closely look at when they want to know how many readers they have, how long people stay, what locations they come from, and ultimately what their "Google scores" are. When the question of whether one could make a living with a food blog all but Heidi laughed. It appears that with shrewd advertising tactics, understanding more than just the red, yellows and greens of traffic, one might be able pay studio rent in the Tendernob.
The question addressing community interested me but answers were evasive or brought quizzical expressions. Although all the panelists said they enjoyed food blogging get-togethers and the opportunities their blog had given them, the concept of building community was lost.
One of Ms. Berne's last questions addressed the credibility of food bloggers. The dynamic of a traditional journalist posing this question to a panel of food bloggers was not lost on me. It is one of the core issues concerning the popularity or infamy of food bloggers. Pim came right to her microphone issuing an honest, eloquent answer. "Just like with anything it depends on who you're reading. Just because you have an editor or get paid doesn't mean you are more credible because you get paid."
Unlike traditional journalism, a blog displays its archives, past posts, and other links to what it supports or promotes. The reader's opinion can be more properly filled in when they can access what the author has done or eaten or critiqued previously. As Alder and Bruce had commented, they both used to jot everything down on little pieces of paper about this wine or that article and now, "all your notes are automatically searchable!"
In a conversation on the telephone with Ms. Berne the next day we spoke in depth about both the idea of community within food blogging circles and also what some of the differences are between traditional journalism and food blogging. Bravely I asked if she was jealous of the community food bloggers have. "Yes and no." She answered diplomatically. "I'm jealous of response, good or bad. Why I brought it up was what differentiates bloggers is community. Comments create community. That's what makes a community. Just to have a conversation."
I agree. And the Commonwealth Club, being a true commonwealth, has chimed in and introduced the conversation to many others who may not have begun to hear it yet.
