Food blogging has exploded over the last few years and people all over the world are sharing everything from their eating out experiences to their own at home recipes. This year’s International Food Bloggers Conference brought serious food writers from all over the world to learn about taking their hobby to the next level.

Organized by Foodista.com and Zephyr Adventures, the conference was held over the weekend at The Westin in downtown Seattle. Keynotes included Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, award-winning authors of The Flavor Bible, What to Eat with What You Drink. Workshops covered everything from ingredients to writing a great story to ingredients for cooking up an amazing meal.

Demos highlighted national brands like Butterball to local restaurants like Kaisho, which recently opened in Capitol Hill and showcased their Thai Fried Chicken and Kimchi Waffles.

The conference was first held in 2009 and has an emphasis on food, writing, and technology. Though most attendees were from the United States, the intention of the conference is clear; connecting food lovers from all around the world and helping those that want to make a living from their love for food.

According to a study conducted by Foodista.com and Zephyr Adventures in 2012, recipes were the most favorite blog topic for food bloggers (89%), with restaurant reviews coming in second (49%).

The top two reasons for pursuing a food blog was the blogger’s passion for food and to make a name for themselves.

The International Food Bloggers Conference gets bigger and bigger every year. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is just connecting and networking with other bloggers, finding out what they do and learning from each other.

Every entrepreneur will tell you that there’s no right or wrong way to do things. Building your brand and coming up with your secret sauce isn’t always easy. Success takes skill, some good timing, and a lot of luck. In the meantime, sharing meals and stories aren’t that bad, either.