Cookbook Conference, NYC, Feb 9-11, 2012

Everybody knows what a cookbook is — or do we? They’ve been around at least since the Middle Ages, dispensing information on something that all households formerly had to do at least three times a day. Whether written by pros or home cooks, they convey more about their begetters and users than can be reduced to teaspoons and tablespoons. Over and beyond advice on buying, preparing, and serving food for purposes of health, thrift, glamour, or pure pleasure, they can speak volumes about the societies and times that have produced them — including our own. Far-reaching change is underway within the genre as recipes migrate online, or into e-books and culinary apps. The future undoubtedly holds even greater changes in the entire economics of cookbook publishing.

This conference is planned as an eclectic gathering of those who publish, write, edit, agent, research, or simply buy and use cookbooks. Our object is to share as inclusive a range as possible of our very different learning experiences. Our explorations will take two broad overall directions: Track I: “Cookbooks Past and Present: Looking Beneath the Sauce-Splattered Page”; and Track II: Cookbook 2020: “The Future of the Cookbook.”

We hope you will enjoy the conference.

Cathy Kaufman, Anne Mendelson, Adam Salomone, Bruce Shaw, and Andrew F. Smith

Cookbook Conference Hosted February 9-11, 2012, by the Roger Smith Hotel, 501 Lexington Avenue in New York City http://cookbookconf.com/

What are cookbooks? Why have they been so influential? Will there be any cookbooks in 2020? These are some questions that will be considered at this first-ever cookbook conference. This three-day event will be an eclectic gathering of those who publish, write, edit, agent, research, or simply buy and use cookbooks. The objective is to share their very different learning experiences.

Thirty-one panels workshops incorporate over 80 cookbook writers, bloggers, agents, editors and publishers. Included are: Molly O'Neill, Darra Goldstein, Melissa Clark, Judith Jones, Anne Mendelson, Betty Fussell, Jessica Harris, Paul Freedman, Madhur Jaffrey, Laura Shapiro, Barbara Fairchild, Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, Joan Nathan, Ken Albala.

The core program offered Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11, will follow two tracks: I) Cookbooks Past and Present: Looking Beneath the Sauce-Splattered Page, and II) Cookbook 2020: The Future of the Cookbook. Built into the schedule are numerous opportunities to network with well-known personalities in the world of cookbook publishing and with peers. Receptions as well as lunches and breaks will highlight hand-crafted and local foods. An onsite bookshop operated by Kitchen Arts & Letters will feature books by authors participating in the conference.

Thursday, February 9, features three workshops: Introduction to Cookbook Publishing; Reading Cookbooks: a Structured Approach and Structured Dialogue; and A Cookbook for the Year 2020: An Experimental Case Study.

Registration is $299 for the complete full-day program on both Friday and Saturday and includes daily lunch and dinner receptions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. The Thursday workshops are an additional $75 each and are scheduled from 1:00 to 5:00pm.

For complete details about the speakers, program, schedule, venue and registration, visit http://cookbookconf.com or call the Roger Smith Hotel at 212-583-3195

The Cookbook Conference is completely sold out, and we have a long waiting list. To make the content available to those unable to attend, ten panels on Friday and Saturday, February 10-11, 9 am-6 pm, will be webcast. Anyone can tune in, watch the panels, and tweet questions. In addition, all 28 panels will be filmed and will be up on the same website a week or two after the conference. The broadcast schedule is available on the conference website:

http://www.cookbookconf.com

We’d appreciate if those with blogs and websites can pass this information on to others.

Attached is a list of conference attendees. You should already have received the final conference schedule. The url for it is:

http://cookbookconf.com/wp-content/uplo ... HEDULE.pdf

We look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Cathy Kaufman
Anne Mendelson
Adam Salomone
Bruce Shaw
Andy Smith

PS The conference organizers and panelists have compiled A Cookbook Lovers’ Cookbook (with 90 recipes), which will be sold at the conference for $15. All profits go to The Culinary Trust, the philanthropic partner of IACP. Your support would be appreciated.