IACP NY Regional Conference, February 18-19, 2011

International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Regional Conference
New York City
February 18-19, 2011

Registration will begin on December 1 for a look at what’s new and what’s next in four areas of critical importance to culinary professionals.

Friday February 18
Plenary Session 1: Chefs Move to Schools

Invited Speaker: Assistant White House Chef & Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass

Plenary Session 2: Debate!

Submit your most pressing food world questions and see what happens at a Presidential style debate.

Evening Networking Reception

Saturday February 19
Each programmatic track will include either 1 long and 1 short breakout session or 3 short breakout sessions.

Track 1: Food Writing in the Electronic and Digital Age

Food writing is in rapid change especially for free lancers. Gone are traditional in-print opportunities, such as employment at food magazines and food sections in newspapers, and cookbook sales have declined. But new opportunities have emerged – television, blogging, Web sites, e-books, and electronic networking. Join with some of America’s best food writers and find out how to thrive in electronic and digital age.

Organized by Andy Smith – the follow up to last spring’s food writing workshop.

Track 2: The Foods of New York

Explore the food culture and culinary history of New York in three sessions focusing on Restaurants, Ethnicity, and Markets. Learn how these institutions and ethnic groups influenced the way New Yorkers have eaten over the past two centuries and what they can tell us about today’s culinary culture in this most vibrant and diverse of food capitals.

Organized by Cathy Kaufman begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting – Chair, Culinary Historians of New York and Secretary — The Culinary Trust

Track 3: School Food

School food in America is a hot button issue. It should be. Childhood obesity is on the rise and chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes are affecting younger populations. If these trends continue, this will be the first generation of Americans to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. Hear about real world, scalable programs that address this problem. Join with culinary professionals who are implementing Chefs Move to Schools and participate in an open exchange of ideas with those already in the thick of it.

Organized by Phil Gutensohn – The French Culinary Institute

Track 4: Farm to Table: Urban and Rural Foodways
You care about where your food comes from. You have a relationship with farmers, fishermen and food purveyors who not only produce good food but steward the environment. You believe that eating is a political act. In the last few years the local food movement has made enormous strides and gone from fringe to mainstream. What challenges do we still face in re-regionalizing production and shoring up our food systems? How can culinary professionals continue to bring good food to the table and expand access to healthy, fresh foods? Hear from leaders in New York about recent efforts to strengthen regional agriculture and increase access to healthy food for all.

Organized by Alexa Van de Walle — Trustee, The Culinary Trust and Karin Endy – Chair, The Culinary Trust

You will also be able to register for enjoyable optional events:

My New York: Limited registration breakfasts and lunches, walking tours, and backstage passes that define the New York culinary experience for leading culinary professionals who will be your guides
Dine around the city on Friday and Saturday, with special access and pricing at leading eateries for conference attendees

Organized by Tony Garcia — Cambridge Marketing Group International

IACP members and their guests will enjoy early registration and $99 preferred pricing through 2010. Open registration at $149 begins January 1.

Updated information ....


I'm delighted to report that the program for the IACP Regional Conference in New York, scheduled for February 18-19, 2011, has come together!

The conference has four tracks. Below (and attached) is the schedule for "Track 1: Communicating in an Electronic and Digital Age," as of today. For those interested in the conference, please go to The Culinary Trust web site: TheCulinaryTrust.org, click on "IACP Regional Conference" and then click on "Register Now."

For those coming from out of town, there is no conference hotel. We encourage you to use www.quikbook.com, www.expedia.com, or other similar web sites.

Whether you can attend or not, we'd greatly appreciate any visibility you can give the conference through your web sites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and other media.
If you have questions, please let me know. I look forward to seeing you in February.

Andy Smith


Track 1: Communicating in an Electronic and Digital Age

Food writing is in rapid change especially for free lancers. Gone are traditional in-print opportunities, such as employment at food magazines and food sections in newspapers. But new opportunities have emerged – television, radio, blogging, Web sites, e-books, and electronic networking. Join with some of America’s best food communicators and find out how to thrive in an electronic and digital age.

Track Organizer: Andrew F. Smith

Location: Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St at East 4th

Date: February 19, 2011

Check In: 8:30-9:00 am

BOCK I: 9:00-10:30 am

Panel 1:
Title: Social Media: It’s all about Branding
Description: So many different channels are available to share your food writing out there on the web. From Facebook to Twitter, the playing field is now leveled by the use of social media. Your new friends might be chief marketing officers or the next talent agent looking for that hot, new cookbook or lines of food poetry. But how can you use Twitter (and other real-time, interactive social media) to get your work read by publishers and end up in print? It's all about building a brand for yourself.
Chair: Warren Bobrow
Panelists:
David Robinson
Gabriella Gershenson
Monica Bhide
Laurie Buckle

Panel 2:
Title: Creating Culinary Apps: Mixing it up with our Top Chefs
Description: Technology is changing how culinary professionals reach and teach their audiences -- and changing the future of culinary culture and business. Share the experiences -- and preview the results -- of the collaboration between best-selling author, blogger, and teacher Dorie Greenspan, and the founders of CulinApp, a new culinary software development company: Geoffrey Drummond (Emmy Award-winning culinary TV producer and writer), Robert Huntley (mobile entertainment entrepreneur) Chris Howard (software industry CEO). Moving beyond the first generation recipe apps now in wide use on iPads and smartphones, these innovators are bringing the next generation of apps to the rapidly growing tablet marketplace. More than eBooks with a few bells and whistles, these second-generation culinary apps are true software applications, taking full advantage of the platform's technological capabilities to deliver a personalized experience with world-renowned chefs.
Chair: Geoffrey Drummond
Panelists:
Dorie Greenspan
Robert Huntley
Eric Ripert (invited)

BLOCK II: 10:30-Noon

Panel 3:
Title: Food Bytes: Cybercuisine Writing: Is it Different from Print?
Description: Is food writing for the online audience the same as print or is cybercuisine writing truly different? How does blogging differ from other cyber writing forms? What online opportunities exist for food writers? Hear from — and dialogue with — those who've written about food and recipes in print, who are now writing cyberspace and connecting directly with their online audience.
Chair: Bonnie Tandy Leblang
Panelists:
Pat Cobe
Barbara Fairchild
Joy Manning
Robin Miller

Panel 4:
Title: Talking Food: the Impact of Radio on Consumer Food Trends
Description: While TV can demonstrate cooking, food talk radio brings many different aspects of the industry to its audience. From books, to chefs, from restaurants to suppliers, from products to policy, all these topics can be explored to create new avenues for commerce, further trends, and enhance consumer awareness about the food we eat. This panel will offer the backstory on some of America's most popular food talk shows, and how they connect with their audiences.
Chair: Katy Keiffer
Panelists:
Francis Schott
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Mario Bosquez
Leonard Lopate (invited)
Patrick Martins

BLOCK III: 2-4 pm

Panel 5:
Title: Who is Food Television For?
Description: Food television – both content and audience – has continued to expand since the early days of food television, even more so since the Food Network was born. This past year saw the creation of a second cable network devoted entirely to food and cooking, The Cooking Channel. Is there really something for everyone now, or are is the target demographic skewing to young and male? This will be a lively roundtable discussion where participants discuss the boundaries and horizons of TV food programming.
Chair: Kathleen Collins
Panelists:
Katie LeBesco
Robin Miller
Peter Naccarato
Troy Patterson
Allen Salkin
Sara Moulton

Panel 6:
Title: Digital Food Writing Behind the Scenes: Technology, Marketing and Strategy
How do you work with a developer and publicist when promoting your writing online and off? How do you promote yourself as a brand? What are best practices and how do you work within your budget but still come up with an effective online brand and presence for your books, articles, recipes, etc.? When do you need to hire someone to build a blog or Facebook page? Should you do it yourself? What are the essentials for any effective blog ? What's SEO? Why are navigation and images like videos important? What's involved in multimedia? How do I figure out what I can afford? What do I look for in a publicist? How much marketing support do I need even if I'm getting some from my publisher? What are some self-promotion tips and tricks?
Chair: Laura Weiss
Panelists:
Denise Brodey
John Vaccaro
Laura Goldberg
Charles Salzberg
Jamie Tiempo
Virginia Willis

Panel 7:
Title: Do You Remember Typewriters? Food Writing in the Internet Age
Description: It's not just the little "ding" at the end of each line that has disappeared; everything about the way we write has changed since becoming thoroughly entangled in the Web. We may be nostalgic about the pre-internet days, but do we really miss typewriter ribbons and carbon paper?
Chair: Gary Allen
Panelists:
Barbara Fairchild
Melissa Rosati
Bob Delgrosso
David Leite
Jan Whitaker
Elissa Altman
Lisa Ekus-Saffer
Sandy Oliver
Barbara Haber


Speaker Bios

Gary Allen teaches at Empire State College. He is the author of The Resource Guide for Food Writers, and The Herbalist in the Kitchen; co-edited (with Ken Albala) and contributed to Encyclopedia of the Food Business and Human Cuisine; contributed to a slew of encyclopedias and anthologies; and was webmaster for the Association for the Study of Food and Society. He is food history editor at LeitesCulinaria.com, and his own website, onthetable.us, hosts his blog, Just Served. His latest book, Herbs: A Global History, is part of Reaktion Press's Edible Series.

Warren Bobrow is the editor of the Wild River Review (501c3) column named Wild Table. He grew up on an organic/biodynamic farm in Morristown, New Jersey. A trained chef, he works freelance as a food/photo journalist.

Mario Bosquez is an author, award-winning playwright, radio, and television host with a 32-year communications career. Mario is host of “Living Today” on Martha Stewart Living Radio on the Sirius/XM Satellite Network. Nominated in 2009 for a James Beard Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, Mario has also worked at Greenstone Media as guest host on national talk radio.
Mario was personally hired by Martha Stewart when he walked into the job interview with his famous, legendary Mexican Chocolate Cake. One taste and Martha said ‘this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted; welcome’. His book The Chalupa Rules published by Plume, shares insights inspired by traditional Spanish proverbs, his own rules-of-life, and a traditional Mexican game of chance called Lotería. The Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist was recognized by the city of New York for his contributions to the media. His work includes live coverage of the World Trade Center disaster and honors presented to him by President George Bush Sr. and Americares. He is currently working on his first cookbook, The Naked Enchilada about Tex-Mex Food and his experiences growing up in South Texas.

Pat Cobe is Senior Editor of Restaurant Business magazine, where she plans and executes many pages, including food, beverage and menu trends; profiles of chefs and restaurateurs; and marketing and lifestyle features. She also contributes to the magazine’s award-winning website, MonkeyDish. Pat came to RB from Hearst’s Mr. Food’s EasyCooking, where she was Executive Editor. Prior to that, she worked as a freelance food and business writer, contributing to women’s magazines and websites and co-authoring four books. She is co-founder of MompreneursOnline.com, a virtual community of interactive forums, blogs and chats. Pat is currently on the Board of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York and has been active in IACP, the James Beard Journalism Committee and Women’s Foodservice Forum.

Lisa Ekus-Saffer is the founder, owner and president of THE LISA EKUS GROUP, LLC. Founded in 1982, the firm specializes in “promoting a world of culinary talent” consisting of authors, chefs, cookbooks, and food products. They consult on marketing and public relations strategies for culinary businesses and act as a multimedia placement service, matching food experts with corporations looking for product representatives, spokespersons, consultants, and recipe developers. They also offer nationally-recognized media training seminars. Launched in 2000, the Literary Agency division offers book agent services and publishing consulting. They currently represent more than 150 authors and numerous leading publishers around the globe. Over the years, Lisa has spoken at a wide range of conferences and events, including IACP, WCR, The Symposium for Professional Food Writers, LDEI, and the Traverse Epicurean Classic. Lisa does pro bono work for several local and national hunger organizations, as well as for PeaceTrees Vietnam, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, and Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Her culinary library houses more than 7000 titles.

Barbara Fairchild is a food/restaurant/travel writer, editor, and consultant who spent more than three decades of her career at Bon Appetit magazine in Los Angeles, the last ten years as editor-in-chief. She stepped down at the end of November 2009 when the magazine was moved to New York. She remains bicoastal, however, with homes in both cities. In 2000, Barbara Fairchild was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who in American Food and Beverage.

Barbara Haber, culinary historian, served as curator of books at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library at Harvard University where she developed a major collection on cooking and food history. She is the author of From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals, and the co-editor of From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies: Critical Perspectives on Women and Food. She is a contributor to the Cambridge World History of Food, and served as a senior editor and contributor to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. She is a monthly contributor to Zester Daily, http://zesterdaily.com/, a website devoted to articles on the culture of food and wine.

Chris Howard is president and chief executive officer of Softeq Development Corporation. In 1997 Chris saw a market for hardware businesses seeking highly qualified, technical software development, and founded Softeq. In 2001, demand for custom hardware solutions led to formation of Softeq’s Durateq Division. Softeq expanded overseas in 2005, opening an office in Minsk, Belarus, where it is now one of the top ten software exporting companies in Belarus’ High Tech Park. In 2009, Softeq formed the zgames mobile division, which focuses on iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and mobile application publishing and development. Prior to Softeq, Chris founded Genus Microprogramming, Inc. while still in college. As CEO, he steered Genus to leadership in software development toolkits for ten years, and to status as one of Houston’s fastest growing companies.

Robert E. Huntley is an entrepreneur, mobile entertainment expert and aspiring chef. Bob launched his career in the online computer game business by persuading DOOM video game creators' id Software to bundle his dwango network technology with their games in 1994. He established a partnership with Microsoft's Zone online game network, gaining a worldwide leadership position in online entertainment for Interactive Visual Systems, where he served as Chairman, President, and CEO. In 1997, he co-founded Dwango Co., Ltd, a Japanese public company that creates interactive network entertainment content. Bob was Dwango's CEO 1997-99, and a director until 2001. He launched Dwango North America, a mobile entertainment venture, in 2000, serving as President/CEO for three years, and Chairman until 2004. Bob studied electrical engineering at University of Houston prior to his early ventures, which included developing touch-screen digital video technology used for marketing by Fortune 100 companies, and running a video production company that created corporate marketing and training videos.

Gabriella Gershenson is a senior editor at Saveur magazine. Previously, she edited the dining section and the Feed blog at Time Out New York magazine. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Edible Brooklyn, and several other publications. She's been a regular guest on WOR's Food Talk and NYC TV's Eat Out New York, and consulted on chef Jamie Oliver's travelogue, Jamie's American Road Trip. Catch her as a judge on the Food Network show 24 Hour Restaurant Battle.

Laura Goldberg is a Communications Consultant, Digital Strategist & Food Blogger...with over 20 years of experience in the media industry. She is an established communications consultant and digital media strategist. Her clients have included Condé Nast, TheStreet.com, IAC and iVillage, among others. Ms. Goldberg has also been called on to teach blogosphere seminars for blue-chip media companies such as NBC and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Before launching her consultancy, Ms. Goldberg served as Director of Corporate Communications for AOL as well as Vice President of Trylon Communications, a New York PR agency specializing in media and technology clients. Additionally Ms. Goldberg is a longstanding food blogger (vittlesvamp.com) and has been tapped to work with like-minded businesses and charities such as Serious Eats, Slow Food NYC and The Vendy Awards.

Robert M. del Grosso has spent the better part of the last three decades as a professional cook and teacher who, he hopes, taught his students how to cook while encouraging them to understand cooking and eating in the broadest context imaginable. He has taught the full culinary curriculum at the The New York Restaurant School on 34th St. (Now the Art Institute on Varrick St.) and Gastronomy and Food Science (Advanced Culinary Principles) at The Culinary Institute of America. He continues to teach through his intentionally Kafkaesque-titled blog, A Hunger Artist, and in classes at Hendricks Farms and Dairy, a small meat and dairy farm where he has spent the last four years transforming farm animals into retail cuts and Charcuterie.

Katy Keiffer is currently a producer and co-host for The Main Course on Heritage Radio Network, and a copywriter and marketing specialist for Heritage Foods USA. In previous years she produced and led culinary tours for cookbook authors and food writers including Anthony Bourdain, Donna Hay, Food Network Kitchens Staff, Rachael Ray and Robin MIller, among others. She is also a contributor to Food Arts Magazine, mostly writing about the meat industry.

Kathleen LeBesco is Professor of Communication Arts at Marymount Manhattan College and author of Revolting Bodies? The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity. She is the co-teacher for the course “Edible Ideologies: The Politics of Food.”

Bonnie Tandy Leblang is an award-winning food writer, internationally syndicated columnist, blogger, author, and culinary talent & literary agent. She blogs weekly on (www.BiteoftheBest.com), – a site about all things culinary — with her culinary offspring (her two sons). In the print world, her column Supermarket Sampler, a weekly review of what's new on the grocers' shelf” has been in syndication since the 80s with Universal Press. She’s co-authored six cookbooks, been a columnist in Fitness, Lamaze Family, Parents, Caring Today and House Beautiful magazines and has written for Associated Press, American Health, Cooks, Connecticut, Family Circle, Los Angeles Times, McCall’s, Parade, TV Guide, Woman's Day, Working Mother, Yankee, and The New York Times.

David Leite is a food writer and author of The New Portuguese Table, which won the 2010 the IACP Julia Child/First Book Award. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Pastry Art & Design, Food Arts, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, Charlotte Observer, epicurious.com, and Ridgefield Magazine, where he was the food editor for three years. David is a frequent guest on the Martha Stewart Living Radio program, Living Today, The Today Show, and Connecticut Style in WTNH-TV. As a guest instructor, he also teaches cooking and food writing at Boston University. David won the 2008 James Beard Award for Newspaper Feature Writing Without Recipes for his article, “In a ‘64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date with a Clam” and was nominated in 2009 for his article “Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret,” both from the New York Times. He’s also a four-time nominee for the Bert Green Award for Food Journalism, which he won in 2006. In addition, he was a 2007 and 2006 winner of an Association of Food Journalists Award. His essays have been included in the Best Food Writing series from 2001 to 2010. LeitesCulinaria.com, which David created in 1999, won two James Beard Awards, a 2006 Food Blog Award, the 2005 World Food Media Award for Best Food and/or Drink Web Site, and was named Best Writer’s Web Site for 2002 by Writer’s Digest.

Joy Manning is a food writer and editor, is senior recipes editor for TastingTable.com She is the author of Almost Meatless (10 Speed Press). After spending three years as a restaurant critic for Philadelphia magazine, she decided her heart belonged to the home kitchen and has focused her attention on food culture, ingredients, cooking and trends. And though she sometimes misses the steady stream of reservations, she isn't about to trade in her spatula any time soon. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Cooking Light and Relish magazines and at SeriousEats.com.

Patrick Martins was born in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital on February 10th, 1972 and has lived in the city ever since. Patrick received a Masters' Degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Patrick is the founder of Slow Food USA, Heritage Foods USA, Heritage Radio Network and co-founder of the New York City Trivia Game.

Robin Miller is a nutritionist, cookbook author and host of Food Network's Quick Fix Meals. She has a weekly blog post on FoodNetwork.com's Healthy Eats page. Her latest cookbook is Robin Rescues Dinner and she's wrapping up cookbook number 9 "Robin Takes 5" which features 500 recipes, all with 5 ingredients or less and 500 calories or less for 5 nights a week (at 5 PM!). Look for it early November! For more information about the blog and Robin's cookbooks, check out www.robinrescuesdinner.com.

Peter Naccarato is Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Humanities division at Marymount Manhattan College. LeBesco and Naccarato co-edited Edible Ideologies: Representing Food and Meaning, and the soon to be released Culinary Capital. He isthe co teacher for the course “Edible Ideologies: The Politics of Food.”

Sandy Oliver is an author, speaker, and columnist. She is a pioneering food historian beginning in 1971 and author of the award winning Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and Their Foods at Sea and Ashore in the 19th Century published in 1995. She is also the author of The Food of Colonial and Federal America published in 2005, and Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving History and Recipes from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie which she co-authored with Kathleen Curtin. Most recently, the recipes from Saltwater Foodways has been compiled in a paper back book entitled The Saltwater Foodways Companion Cookbook. She frequently contributes to encyclopedias and food reference books and writes columns for many regional publications. She is frequently speaks and is interviewed and quoted on both sustainable and heritage food practices.

Troy Patterson is the television critic at Slate, the film critic at Spin, and an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has written about art, media, and culture for publications that include The New York Times, GQ, Wired, W, and Entertainment Weekly. He is working on a book about the history of carousing.

Chef David James Robinson is executive chef and owner of Bezalel Gables Fine Catering & Events in New York's Hudson Valley. He trained at the C.I.A. and is co-founder of Columbia County Bounty, which connects local farms to local chefs. Chef David is executive producer, creator and host of Learn How to Cook (and eat your mistakes)! - a complete DVD learning system with 22 hours of content for the beginning cook. He appears regularly on Weekend Today/NBC Albany and on Farm to Table on PBS. He has created workshops for the American Dairy Council, Eat Smart New York and Cornell. He also writes a regular column for Culinary Celebrations Magazine, was the restaurant critic for Hudson Valley Inside Out and is on the Advisory Board for DinnerWhere? magazine. Robinson contributed the section on boutique catering to the award-winning book Food Jobs by Irena Chalmers. In his former life, Chef David was a Vice President at Kirshenbaum & Bond, where he worked on branding campaigns for Dom Pérignon, Grand Marnier, Stella Cheeses, Rioja Wines from Spain and Snapple.

Melissa A. Rosati, CPCC, is the founder and creative director of Melissa’s Coaching Studio. She is an adjunct professor of publishing in the Master of Science in Publishing program, Pace University, New York City. In addition, she is a workshop director for the International Women's Writing Guild. Her workshops include Social Media 101 for Writers and The Ultimate Insider's Guide to the Publishing Business. Ms. Rosati is the former publisher of numerous titles written by faculty at The Culinary Institute of America including Exploring Wine and The New Professional Chef. Prior to launching her own firm, she served as the Editorial & Production Director for McGraw-Hill International based in London, England.

Allen Salkin cast industrial films in Hong Kong, wholesaled rubber duckies in Las Vegas, picked oranges in Crete, peddled oil paintings door-to-door in Western Australia, penned stories for New York Magazine, Details, Heeb, Yoga Journal, The Village Voice and other venues, taught Journalism at NYU and MediaBistro.com, and wrote the book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us. Recently a staff reporter at The New York Times, he is now working on a book about the growth of food TV.

Charles Salzberg is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, Esquire, Elle, the New York Times Book Review and Arts & Leisure, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Travel and Leisure and various other magazines and newspapers. He has written over 20 non-fiction books including On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place, Baseball's Worst Teams (with George Robinson,) From Set Shot to Slam Dunk, an Oral History of the NBA, Soupy Sez: My Zany Life and Times, by Soupy Sales, The Mad Fisherman, by Charlie Moore, and various others. He has been a Visiting Professor of Magazine at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University, and has taught writing at Sarah Lawrence, Hunter College, the Writer's Voice, and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding member. He is on the Board of Directors of American Independent Writers. His novel, Swann's Last Song, was nominated for a 2009 Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel.

Francis Schott is co-host of Restaurant Guys Radio(www.RestaurantGuysRadio.com) along with Mark Pascal. Restaurants Guys launched in 2005 on WCTC-AM. Through the magic of podcasting, their radio show now reaches an audience throughout the country and the world. The Restaurant Guys continue to host the most important chefs, cocktailians, wine and spirits producers, experts, journalists and authors in the world. Francis is co-owner of both Stage Left(www.stageleft.com) and Catherine Lombardi (www.catherinelombardi.com) restaurants in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Andrew F. Smith teaches Food Studies at the New School in Manhattan. He is the author or editor of 19 books, including his soon to be released Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War, and Potato: A Global History.

Jamie Tiampo is President of see|food media LLC, host of the eatTV.com online video food magazine, and a partner at dell’anima & L’Artusi restaurants in New York. Jamie is the also chair of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Food Photographers and Stylists section. see|food media produces custom still & video solutions for consumer food brands in their 2500 square foot kitchen studio facility with 4 kitchens optimized for TV production. With his extensive knowledge of food and technology, he helps clients navigate the complex world of food imaging in the digital age.

John Vaccaro is a digital media executive with over 15 years experience developing digital media brands and businesses. John is currently a Partner at Juicyorange, LLC, a design and technology services company based in NYC focusing on building digital media solutions. At Juicyorange, John has developed digital products for food related companies including General Mills (Larabar), Food Network Magazine, Hungry Girl, Food and Things, and NYC Ice Cream. Other Juicyorange clients include MTV Networks/Nickelodeon (iCarly.com and TheSlap.com), Thom Filicia, Naturopathica, New London Pharmacy, Twenty by Jenny and others. Prior to Juicyorange, John was part of the senior management team at Conde Nast Digital's Brides.com site overseeing strategy, product development, project management and operations. He has also worked in senior digital media roles at Reed Business Information, Teen People, MTVi and Nickelodeon.
Laura Weiss is the author of Ice Cream: A Global History and an adjunct professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, NYU. She's written for the New York Times, Daily News, the Food Network web site, AOL Travel, and Saveur (forthcoming), among others.

Jan Whitaker is a consumer historian, author, and independent scholar living in Northampton, Massachusetts. She specializes in the social history of retail businesses such as restaurants, tea rooms, and department stores. She is the author of Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn: A Social History of the Tea Room Craze in America and Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class. Her book on the world-wide history of department stores will be published this Spring. In her blog, Restaurant-ing through History, she explores the history of American restaurants.

HI,

Is anyone considering attending?

Regards,

The plans for the the IACP Regional Conference scheduled for New York, February 18-19 are complete. Friday's program includes back-to-back plenary sessions followed. The first plenary session addresses Chefs Move to School and Assistant White House Chef & Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass is the speaker. The second convenes a panel of food experts to answer attendees’ pressing food world questions in a debate-style format. Speakers include Marion Nestle and Betty Fussell. This will be followed by a reception.

Saturday's program for Track 1: Communicating in an Electronic Age is below. For complete program details and to register go to theculinarytrust.org/376.

Hope to see you there, and we'd appreciate all the visibility for the conference you could give.

Andy Smith
www.andrewfsmith.com


Track 1: Communicating in an Electronic and Digital Age

Food writing is in rapid change especially for free lancers. Gone are traditional in-print opportunities, such as employment at food magazines and food sections in newspapers. But new opportunities have emerged – television, radio, blogging, Web sites, e-books, and electronic networking. Join with some of America’s best food communicators and find out how to thrive in an electronic and digital age.

Location: Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St at East 4th

Date: February 19, 2011

Check In: 8:30-9:00 am

BOCK I: 9:00-10:30 am

Panel 1:
Title: Social Media: It’s all about Branding
Description: So many different channels are available to share your food writing out there on the web. From Facebook to Twitter, the playing field is now leveled by the use of social media. Your new friends might be chief marketing officers or the next talent agent looking for that hot, new cookbook or lines of food poetry. But how can you use Twitter (and other real-time, interactive social media) to get your work read by publishers and end up in print? It's all about building a brand for yourself.
Chair: Warren Bobrow
Panelists:
David Robinson
Gabriella Gershenson
Monica Bhide
Laurie Buckle

Panel 2:
Title: Creating Culinary Apps: Mixing it up with our Top Chefs
Description: Technology is changing how culinary professionals reach and teach their audiences -- and changing the future of culinary culture and business. Share the experiences -- and preview the results -- of the collaboration between best-selling author, blogger, and teacher Dorie Greenspan, and the founders of CulinApp, a new culinary software development company: Geoffrey Drummond (Emmy Award-winning culinary TV producer and writer), Robert Huntley (mobile entertainment entrepreneur) Chris Howard (software industry CEO). Moving beyond the first generation recipe apps now in wide use on iPads and smartphones, these innovators are bringing the next generation of apps to the rapidly growing tablet marketplace. More than eBooks with a few bells and whistles, these second-generation culinary apps are true software applications, taking full advantage of the platform's technological capabilities to deliver a personalized experience with world-renowned chefs.
Chair: Geoffrey Drummond
Panelists:
Dorie Greenspan
Robert Huntley
Eric Ripert (invited)

BLOCK II: 10:30-Noon

Panel 3:
Title: Out of the Kitchen, into the Stars
Description: How is it that some cooks becomes household names while others fleetingly pass through the popular culture spotlight and still others come and go with little or no notice? This session explores the dynamic nature of the celebrity chef, including what it ‘means’ to be or become a celebrity chef, and different ways women and men have propelled themselves or been propelled by media, by family, within the restaurant world, through newsprint, television, the internet and other media out of the kitchen and into the stars of celebrity chef culture in America.




Chair: Polly Adema
Panelists:
Katherine Alford (invited)
Molly O’Neill
Dana Polan
Laura Shapiro


Panel 4:
Title: Food Bytes: Cybercuisine Writing: Is it Different from Print?
Description: Is food writing for the online audience the same as print or is cybercuisine writing truly different? How does blogging differ from other cyber writing forms? What online opportunities exist for food writers? Hear from — and dialogue with — those who've written about food and recipes in print, who are now writing cyberspace and connecting directly with their online audience.
Chair: Bonnie Tandy Leblang
Panelists:
Pat Cobe
Barbara Fairchild
Joy Manning
Robin Miller

Panel 5:
Title: Talking Food: the Impact of Radio on Consumer Food Trends
Description: While TV can demonstrate cooking, food talk radio brings many different aspects of the industry to its audience. From books, to chefs, from restaurants to suppliers, from products to policy, all these topics can be explored to create new avenues for commerce, further trends, and enhance consumer awareness about the food we eat. This panel will offer the backstory on some of America's most popular food talk shows, and how they connect with their audiences.
Chair: Katy Keiffer
Panelists:
Francis Schott
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Mario Bosquez
Leonard Lopate
Patrick Martins

BLOCK III: 2-4 pm

Panel 6:
Title: Who is Food Television For?
Description: Food television – both content and audience – has continued to expand since the early days of food television, even more so since the Food Network was born. This past year saw the creation of a second cable network devoted entirely to food and cooking, The Cooking Channel. Is there really something for everyone now, or are is the target demographic skewing to young and male? This will be a lively roundtable discussion where participants discuss the boundaries and horizons of TV food programming.
Chair: Kathleen Collins
Panelists:
Katie LeBesco
Robin Miller
Peter Naccarato
Troy Patterson
Allen Salkin
Sara Moulton

Panel 7:
Title: Digital Food Writing Behind the Scenes: Technology, Marketing and Strategy
How do you work with a developer and publicist when promoting your writing online and off? How do you promote yourself as a brand? What are best practices and how do you work within your budget but still come up with an effective online brand and presence for your books, articles, recipes, etc.? When do you need to hire someone to build a blog or Facebook page? Should you do it yourself? What are the essentials for any effective blog ? What's SEO? Why are navigation and images like videos important? What's involved in multimedia? How do I figure out what I can afford? What do I look for in a publicist? How much marketing support do I need even if I'm getting some from my publisher? What are some self-promotion tips and tricks?
Chair: Laura Weiss and John Vaccaro
Panelists:
Matthew Greenberg
Laura Goldberg
Charles Salzberg
Jamie Tiempo
Virginia Willis

Panel 8:
Title: Do You Remember Typewriters? Food Writing in the Internet Age
Description: It's not just the little "ding" at the end of each line that has disappeared; everything about the way we write has changed since becoming thoroughly entangled in the Web. We may be nostalgic about the pre-internet days, but do we really miss typewriter ribbons and carbon paper?
Chair: Gary Allen
Panelists:
Barbara Fairchild
Melissa Rosati
Bob Delgrosso
David Leite
Jan Whitaker
Elissa Altman
Lisa Ekus-Saffer
Sandy Oliver
Barbara Haber


Speaker Bios

Gary Allen teaches at Empire State College. He is the author of The Resource Guide for Food Writers, and The Herbalist in the Kitchen; co-edited (with Ken Albala) and contributed to Encyclopedia of the Food Business and Human Cuisine; contributed to a slew of encyclopedias and anthologies; and was webmaster for the Association for the Study of Food and Society. He is food history editor at LeitesCulinaria.com, and his own website, onthetable.us, hosts his blog, Just Served. His latest book, Herbs: A Global History, is part of Reaktion Press's Edible Series.

Warren Bobrow is the editor of the Wild River Review (501c3) column named Wild Table. He grew up on an organic/biodynamic farm in Morristown, New Jersey. A trained chef, he works freelance as a food/photo journalist.

Mario Bosquez is an author, award-winning playwright, radio, and television host with a 32-year communications career. Mario is host of “Living Today” on Martha Stewart Living Radio on the Sirius/XM Satellite Network. Nominated in 2009 for a James Beard Award for Excellence in Broadcasting, Mario has also worked at Greenstone Media as guest host on national talk radio.
Mario was personally hired by Martha Stewart when he walked into the job interview with his famous, legendary Mexican Chocolate Cake. One taste and Martha said ‘this is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted; welcome’. His book The Chalupa Rules published by Plume, shares insights inspired by traditional Spanish proverbs, his own rules-of-life, and a traditional Mexican game of chance called Lotería. The Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist was recognized by the city of New York for his contributions to the media. His work includes live coverage of the World Trade Center disaster and honors presented to him by President George Bush Sr. and Americares. He is currently working on his first cookbook, The Naked Enchilada about Tex-Mex Food and his experiences growing up in South Texas.

Laurie Buckle has been the editor-in-chief of Fine Cooking since 2008. She oversaw the magazine's successful relaunch and redesign in 2009, after which the magazine was awarded a Bronze OZZIE for best 2009 consumer magazine redesign by FOLIO. The magazine's website, Finecooking.com, was honored with the 2009 OMMA Award for Website Excellence as the top website in the food and beverage category. Prior to her current role, she was the managing editor at Bon Appetit, a position she held for seven years. Her long affiliation with Bon Appetit included roles as the magazine's books editor, special projects editor, and articles editor. Buckle appears regularly on television, and is a frequent guest on radio programs, including Food & Wine with Chef Jamie Gwen and A Chef's Table. She also teaches food writing classes for Mediabistro in New York and Los Angeles. As a speaker, she has participated on panels for the Culinary Institute of America and the New York Press Club.

Pat Cobe is Senior Editor of Restaurant Business magazine, where she plans and executes many pages, including food, beverage and menu trends; profiles of chefs and restaurateurs; and marketing and lifestyle features. She also contributes to the magazine’s award-winning website, MonkeyDish. Pat came to RB from Hearst’s Mr. Food’s EasyCooking, where she was Executive Editor. Prior to that, she worked as a freelance food and business writer, contributing to women’s magazines and websites and co-authoring four books. She is co-founder of MompreneursOnline.com, a virtual community of interactive forums, blogs and chats. Pat is currently on the Board of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York and has been active in IACP, the James Beard Journalism Committee and Women’s Foodservice Forum.

Geoffrey Drummond has been a producer, director and writer of cooking and culinary travel television since 1983. Geof started as a writer, and then producer, at Time Life Films for the TV series, The World We Live In. He next co-founded and was president of Saga Communications Group, producing numerous TV shows (Garrison Keillor's The Prairie Home Companion, Disney's concert series Going Home) and films including the cult classic, My Dinner with Andre. Mostly, however, he developed and produced cooking shows. This started as a collaboration with James Beard, Bon Appétit Magazine and PBS in 1983 [New York’s Master Chefs] and includes his long time collaboration [as Executive Producer and writer] with Julia Child, and Jacques Pépin. As founder and president of A La Carte productions, Geof was also the creator/executive producer of the Lidia Bastianich, Martin Yan, Michael Chiarello, The Frugal Gourmet, America’s Test Kitchen, Joanne Weir and most recently, [in partnership with Anomaly], Eric Ripert's [Avec Eric] television series. Drummond and Greenspan previously worked together on the Series and Book, Baking with Julia. Geof’s work has received numerous professional awards and honors: 8 National Emmy Awards, (as well as a personal Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Director for Avec Eric), six James Beard Awards, an ACE (Cable Excellence) award, two gold medals from the NY Film and TV Festival and a Parents' Choice Award. He graduated from Cornell University and graduate school at Stanford University. Geof is a member of the City Harvest Food Council, and has served on the boards of the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, the American Institute of Wine and Food and the Pilobolus Dance Company. He lives and works in East Hampton, New York.

Lisa Ekus-Saffer is the founder, owner and president of THE LISA EKUS GROUP, LLC. Founded in 1982, the firm specializes in “promoting a world of culinary talent” consisting of authors, chefs, cookbooks, and food products. They consult on marketing and public relations strategies for culinary businesses and act as a multimedia placement service, matching food experts with corporations looking for product representatives, spokespersons, consultants, and recipe developers. They also offer nationally-recognized media training seminars. Launched in 2000, the Literary Agency division offers book agent services and publishing consulting. They currently represent more than 150 authors and numerous leading publishers around the globe. Over the years, Lisa has spoken at a wide range of conferences and events, including IACP, WCR, The Symposium for Professional Food Writers, LDEI, and the Traverse Epicurean Classic. Lisa does pro bono work for several local and national hunger organizations, as well as for PeaceTrees Vietnam, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, and Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Her culinary library houses more than 7000 titles.

Barbara Fairchild is a food/restaurant/travel writer, editor, and consultant who spent more than three decades of her career at Bon Appetit magazine in Los Angeles, the last ten years as editor-in-chief. She stepped down at the end of November 2009 when the magazine was moved to New York. She remains bicoastal, however, with homes in both cities. In 2000, Barbara Fairchild was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who in American Food and Beverage.

Barbara Haber, culinary historian, served as curator of books at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library at Harvard University where she developed a major collection on cooking and food history. She is the author of From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals, and the co-editor of From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies: Critical Perspectives on Women and Food. She is a contributor to the Cambridge World History of Food, and served as a senior editor and contributor to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. She is a monthly contributor to Zester Daily, http://zesterdaily.com/, a website devoted to articles on the culture of food and wine.

Robert E. Huntley is an entrepreneur, mobile entertainment expert and aspiring chef. Bob launched his career in the online computer game business by persuading DOOM video game creators' id Software to bundle his dwango network technology with their games in 1994. He established a partnership with Microsoft's Zone online game network, gaining a worldwide leadership position in online entertainment for Interactive Visual Systems, where he served as Chairman, President, and CEO. In 1997, he co-founded Dwango Co., Ltd, a Japanese public company that creates interactive network entertainment content. Bob was Dwango's CEO 1997-99, and a director until 2001. He launched Dwango North America, a mobile entertainment venture, in 2000, serving as President/CEO for three years, and Chairman until 2004. Bob studied electrical engineering at University of Houston prior to his early ventures, which included developing touch-screen digital video technology used for marketing by Fortune 100 companies, and running a video production company that created corporate marketing and training videos.

Gabriella Gershenson is a senior editor at Saveur magazine. Previously, she edited the dining section and the Feed blog at Time Out New York magazine. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Edible Brooklyn, and several other publications. She's been a regular guest on WOR's Food Talk and NYC TV's Eat Out New York, and consulted on chef Jamie Oliver's travelogue, Jamie's American Road Trip. Catch her as a judge on the Food Network show 24 Hour Restaurant Battle.

Laura Goldberg is a Communications Consultant, Digital Strategist & Food Blogger...with over 20 years of experience in the media industry. She is an established communications consultant and digital media strategist. Her clients have included Condé Nast, TheStreet.com, IAC and iVillage, among others. Ms. Goldberg has also been called on to teach blogosphere seminars for blue-chip media companies such as NBC and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Before launching her consultancy, Ms. Goldberg served as Director of Corporate Communications for AOL as well as Vice President of Trylon Communications, a New York PR agency specializing in media and technology clients. Additionally Ms. Goldberg is a longstanding food blogger (vittlesvamp.com) and has been tapped to work with like-minded businesses and charities such as Serious Eats, Slow Food NYC and The Vendy Awards.

Matthew Greenberg is the Executive Director of Content, Consumer Media for USATODAY and USATODAY.com, helping to determine the programming direction for a series of new multi-platform vertical information products. He previously served as Content Director for USATODAY-parent-company Gannett's ContentOne division, focusing on expanding current -- and creating new -- information products for audiences across the Gannett digital network. He previously spent eight years at AOL, working with the service's biggest news content partners as an executive producer to create information products for AOL's news audience.

Robert M. del Grosso has spent the better part of the last three decades as a professional cook and teacher who, he hopes, taught his students how to cook while encouraging them to understand cooking and eating in the broadest context imaginable. He has taught the full culinary curriculum at the The New York Restaurant School on 34th St. (Now the Art Institute on Varrick St.) and Gastronomy and Food Science (Advanced Culinary Principles) at The Culinary Institute of America. He continues to teach through his intentionally Kafkaesque-titled blog, A Hunger Artist, and in classes at Hendricks Farms and Dairy, a small meat and dairy farm where he has spent the last four years transforming farm animals into retail cuts and Charcuterie.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is the host of the American Public Media program The Splendid Table, whose targeted audience is "people who love to eat." The weekly program features a series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and wine experts. Guests vary from week to week, but every show includes a segment with food travelers and Gourmet columnists Jane and Michael Stern.
In 1993 Rosetto Kasper won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award for her book The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia Romagna, The Heartland of Northern Italian Food. Her radio show has won the prestigious James Beard Award on two occasions: in 1998 for Best National Radio Show and 2008 for Best Radio Food Show

Katy Keiffer is currently a producer and co-host for The Main Course on Heritage Radio Network, and a copywriter and marketing specialist for Heritage Foods USA. In previous years she produced and led culinary tours for cookbook authors and food writers including Anthony Bourdain, Donna Hay, Food Network Kitchens Staff, Rachael Ray and Robin MIller, among others. She is also a contributor to Food Arts Magazine, mostly writing about the meat industry.

Kathleen LeBesco is Professor of Communication Arts at Marymount Manhattan College and author of Revolting Bodies? The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity. She is the co-teacher for the course “Edible Ideologies: The Politics of Food.”

Bonnie Tandy Leblang is an award-winning food writer, internationally syndicated columnist, blogger, author, and culinary talent & literary agent. She blogs weekly on (www.BiteoftheBest.com), – a site about all things culinary — with her culinary offspring (her two sons). In the print world, her column Supermarket Sampler, a weekly review of what's new on the grocers' shelf” has been in syndication since the 80s with Universal Press. She’s co-authored six cookbooks, been a columnist in Fitness, Lamaze Family, Parents, Caring Today and House Beautiful magazines and has written for Associated Press, American Health, Cooks, Connecticut, Family Circle, Los Angeles Times, McCall’s, Parade, TV Guide, Woman's Day, Working Mother, Yankee, and The New York Times.

David Leite is a food writer and author of The New Portuguese Table, which won the 2010 the IACP Julia Child/First Book Award. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Pastry Art & Design, Food Arts, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, Charlotte Observer, epicurious.com, and Ridgefield Magazine, where he was the food editor for three years. David is a frequent guest on the Martha Stewart Living Radio program, Living Today, The Today Show, and Connecticut Style in WTNH-TV. As a guest instructor, he also teaches cooking and food writing at Boston University. David won the 2008 James Beard Award for Newspaper Feature Writing Without Recipes for his article, “In a ‘64 T-Bird, Chasing a Date with a Clam” and was nominated in 2009 for his article “Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret,” both from the New York Times. He’s also a four-time nominee for the Bert Green Award for Food Journalism, which he won in 2006. In addition, he was a 2007 and 2006 winner of an Association of Food Journalists Award. His essays have been included in the Best Food Writing series from 2001 to 2010. LeitesCulinaria.com, which David created in 1999, won two James Beard Awards, a 2006 Food Blog Award, the 2005 World Food Media Award for Best Food and/or Drink Web Site, and was named Best Writer’s Web Site for 2002 by Writer’s Digest.

Leonard Lopate is the host of “The Leonard Lopate Show,” which is broadcast weekdays from noon to two on both WNYC AM and FM. This past March 5th Mr. Lopate celebrated twenty-five years at the station during which he’s talked with a wide range of guests -- politicians, scientists, poets, painters, novelists, filmmakers, actors, dancers. Chefs and food writers, and anyone else capable of stimulating conversation, including more than a few Nobel, Pulitzer and National Book Award winners. And the show is an award winner as well: Leonard has received three James Beard Awards for best radio show on food amd three Associated Press awards for best general interest interview. Mr. Lopate has appeared regularly at many of New York’s most prestigious cultural venues, including the 92nd Street Y, the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn College, Queens College, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library, Columbia University, the New School, PEN, Rockefeller University, the Connecticut Forum and the French Institute/Alliance Francaise.

Joy Manning is a food writer and editor, is senior recipes editor for TastingTable.com She is the author of Almost Meatless (10 Speed Press). After spending three years as a restaurant critic for Philadelphia magazine, she decided her heart belonged to the home kitchen and has focused her attention on food culture, ingredients, cooking and trends. And though she sometimes misses the steady stream of reservations, she isn't about to trade in her spatula any time soon. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Cooking Light and Relish magazines and at SeriousEats.com.

Patrick Martins was born in New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital on February 10th, 1972 and has lived in the city ever since. Patrick received a Masters' Degree in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Patrick is the founder of Slow Food USA, Heritage Foods USA, Heritage Radio Network and co-founder of the New York City Trivia Game.

Robin Miller is a nutritionist, cookbook author and host of Food Network's Quick Fix Meals. She has a weekly blog post on FoodNetwork.com's Healthy Eats page. Her latest cookbook is Robin Rescues Dinner and she's wrapping up cookbook number 9 "Robin Takes 5" which features 500 recipes, all with 5 ingredients or less and 500 calories or less for 5 nights a week (at 5 PM!). Look for it early November! For more information about the blog and Robin's cookbooks, check out www.robinrescuesdinner.com.

Peter Naccarato is Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Humanities division at Marymount Manhattan College. LeBesco and Naccarato co-edited Edible Ideologies: Representing Food and Meaning, and the soon to be released Culinary Capital. He isthe co teacher for the course “Edible Ideologies: The Politics of Food.”

Sandy Oliver is an author, speaker, and columnist. She is a pioneering food historian beginning in 1971 and author of the award winning Saltwater Foodways: New Englanders and Their Foods at Sea and Ashore in the 19th Century published in 1995. She is also the author of The Food of Colonial and Federal America published in 2005, and Giving Thanks: Thanksgiving History and Recipes from Pilgrims to Pumpkin Pie which she co-authored with Kathleen Curtin. Most recently, the recipes from Saltwater Foodways has been compiled in a paper back book entitled The Saltwater Foodways Companion Cookbook. She frequently contributes to encyclopedias and food reference books and writes columns for many regional publications. She is frequently speaks and is interviewed and quoted on both sustainable and heritage food practices.

Molly O'Neill is the author of three award-winning cookbooks, a memoir, Mostly True and edited the Library of America's anthology American Food Writing, A long time newspaper columnist, she co-founded one of the first web-based multi media companies dedicated to food. Her studio creates web content, multi media projects and books and consults to several media and publishing companies, O'Neill teaches and speaks frequently. Her own writing is widely anthologized and has appeared in most national food magazines as well as The New Yorker and the Columbia Journalism Review. Her latest book, One Big Table: Many Americans, Many Meals is a portrait of America at the table.

Troy Patterson is the television critic at Slate, the film critic at Spin, and an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has written about art, media, and culture for publications that include The New York Times, GQ, Wired, W, and Entertainment Weekly. He is working on a book about the history of carousing.

Dana Polan is a professor of Cinema Studies at New York University. He is on the editorial board of Gastronomica and published an essay on James Beard's early TV work in the Summer issue. He is the author of 8 books, including Julia Child’s The French Chef forthcoming in Fall 2010 from Duke University Press.

Chef David James Robinson is executive chef and owner of Bezalel Gables Fine Catering & Events in New York's Hudson Valley. He trained at the C.I.A. and is co-founder of Columbia County Bounty, which connects local farms to local chefs. Chef David is executive producer, creator and host of Learn How to Cook (and eat your mistakes)! - a complete DVD learning system with 22 hours of content for the beginning cook. He appears regularly on Weekend Today/NBC Albany and on Farm to Table on PBS. He has created workshops for the American Dairy Council, Eat Smart New York and Cornell. He also writes a regular column for Culinary Celebrations Magazine, was the restaurant critic for Hudson Valley Inside Out and is on the Advisory Board for DinnerWhere? magazine. Robinson contributed the section on boutique catering to the award-winning book Food Jobs by Irena Chalmers. In his former life, Chef David was a Vice President at Kirshenbaum & Bond, where he worked on branding campaigns for Dom Pérignon, Grand Marnier, Stella Cheeses, Rioja Wines from Spain and Snapple.

Melissa A. Rosati, CPCC, is the founder and creative director of Melissa’s Coaching Studio. She is an adjunct professor of publishing in the Master of Science in Publishing program, Pace University, New York City. In addition, she is a workshop director for the International Women's Writing Guild. Her workshops include Social Media 101 for Writers and The Ultimate Insider's Guide to the Publishing Business. Ms. Rosati is the former publisher of numerous titles written by faculty at The Culinary Institute of America including Exploring Wine and The New Professional Chef. Prior to launching her own firm, she served as the Editorial & Production Director for McGraw-Hill International based in London, England.

Allen Salkin cast industrial films in Hong Kong, wholesaled rubber duckies in Las Vegas, picked oranges in Crete, peddled oil paintings door-to-door in Western Australia, penned stories for New York Magazine, Details, Heeb, Yoga Journal, The Village Voice and other venues, taught Journalism at NYU and MediaBistro.com, and wrote the book Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us. Recently a staff reporter at The New York Times, he is now working on a book about the growth of food TV.

Charles Salzberg is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in New York magazine, Esquire, Elle, the New York Times Book Review and Arts & Leisure, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Travel and Leisure and various other magazines and newspapers. He has written over 20 non-fiction books including On a Clear Day They Could See Seventh Place, Baseball's Worst Teams (with George Robinson,) From Set Shot to Slam Dunk, an Oral History of the NBA, Soupy Sez: My Zany Life and Times, by Soupy Sales, The Mad Fisherman, by Charlie Moore, and various others. He has been a Visiting Professor of Magazine at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University, and has taught writing at Sarah Lawrence, Hunter College, the Writer's Voice, and the New York Writers Workshop, where he is a Founding member. He is on the Board of Directors of American Independent Writers. His novel, Swann's Last Song, was nominated for a 2009 Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel.

Francis Schott is co-host of Restaurant Guys Radio(www.RestaurantGuysRadio.com) along with Mark Pascal. Restaurants Guys launched in 2005 on WCTC-AM. Through the magic of podcasting, their radio show now reaches an audience throughout the country and the world. The Restaurant Guys continue to host the most important chefs, cocktailians, wine and spirits producers, experts, journalists and authors in the world. Francis is co-owner of both Stage Left(www.stageleft.com) and Catherine Lombardi (www.catherinelombardi.com) restaurants in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Laura Shapiro was a columnist at The Real Paper (Boston) before beginning a 16-year run at Newsweek, where she covered food, women’s issues and the arts and won several journalism awards. Her essays, reviews and features have also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet, Gastronomica, Slate and many other publications. Her first book was Perfection Salad: Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century (1986), which the University of California Press recently reissued with a new Afterword. She is also the author of Something from the Oven: Revinventing Dinner in 1950s America (Viking, 2004), and Julia Child (Penguin Lives, 2007), which won the award for Literary Food Writing from the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 2008. Her work is represented in the Library of America's American Food Writing, The Virago Book of Food, and Best Food Writing 2002. She is a frequent speaker and panelist on culinary history, and contributed a regular column on a wide range of food topics to gourmet.com, the Gourmet magazine website. During 2009-10 she was a fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library.

Andrew F. Smith teaches Food Studies at the New School in Manhattan. He is the author or editor of 19 books, including his soon to be released Starving the South: How the North Won the Civil War, and Potato: A Global History.

Jamie Tiampo is President of see|food media LLC, host of the eatTV.com online video food magazine, and a partner at dell’anima & L’Artusi restaurants in New York. Jamie is the also chair of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) Food Photographers and Stylists section. see|food media produces custom still & video solutions for consumer food brands in their 2500 square foot kitchen studio facility with 4 kitchens optimized for TV production. With his extensive knowledge of food and technology, he helps clients navigate the complex world of food imaging in the digital age.

John Vaccaro is a digital media executive with over 15 years experience developing digital media brands and businesses. John is currently a Partner at Juicyorange, LLC, a design and technology services company based in NYC focusing on building digital media solutions. At Juicyorange, John has developed digital products for food related companies including General Mills (Larabar), Food Network Magazine, Hungry Girl, Food and Things, and NYC Ice Cream. Other Juicyorange clients include MTV Networks/Nickelodeon (iCarly.com and TheSlap.com), Thom Filicia, Naturopathica, New London Pharmacy, Twenty by Jenny and others. Prior to Juicyorange, John was part of the senior management team at Conde Nast Digital's Brides.com site overseeing strategy, product development, project management and operations. He has also worked in senior digital media roles at Reed Business Information, Teen People, MTVi and Nickelodeon.

Laura Weiss is the author of Ice Cream: A Global History and an adjunct professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, NYU. She's written for the New York Times, Daily News, the Food Network web site, AOL Travel, and Saveur (forthcoming), among others.

Jan Whitaker is a consumer historian, author, and independent scholar living in Northampton, Massachusetts. She specializes in the social history of retail businesses such as restaurants, tea rooms, and department stores. She is the author of Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn: A Social History of the Tea Room Craze in America and Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class. Her book on the world-wide history of department stores will be published this Spring. In her blog, Restaurant-ing through History, she explores the history of American restaurants.