Sarah Benoit Teaches Social Media Session at the Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference in Asheville

by | Jul 18, 2015 | Events, Social Media

It has been a while since I wrote a blog!

It has been quite a few years since I focused on my own industry blogging, but I think now is the time to get back in the game! This weekend I have the pleasure of presenting an Advanced Social Media session for the annual Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference in downtown Asheville. I get to wear my JB Media Institute (JBMI) lead instructor hat today and I am very excited to share my ideas on social media strategy and to discuss some of the social topics my students and I covered in the JBMI summer session. Social media is constantly evolving, that is what makes it such a challenge and an opportunity. Bloggers and writers that already understand the power of storytelling can achieve a great deal of success on social media if they make a plan first.

Brandon Kraft from WordPress.com and Jetpack Rocked Saturday Morning

I am not a big fan of being anywhere before 10 AM in the morning but on July 18th I knew Brandon Kraft would be taking the stage. I have followed his blog over the years because I am a WordPress Geek and I was really interested in hearing what he had to say about the state of blogging. This morning he confirmed that I am up to date with the latest developments in WordPress and that my vision for blogging now and in the future is in line with other experts in the field.My main takeaways from his talk were the following:
  1. Jetpack is made by people who want to make the Internet a better place (I knew that since Jetpack rocks!).
  2. WordPress is responsible for 24%+ of the world’s websites.
  3. Canva is a great option for people who want to make graphics but are confused by Photoshop. This is a wonderful tool to have in your Internet marketing toolbox.
  4. The Hemingway App can help you create grammatically better content if you are not the greatest writer or if you are tired of editing your own content. Again this is a very useful tool for content creators.
  5. WordPress.com has more perks on the technical end than I knew, especially when it comes to the server setup.
His story about his experience with Kraft Foods on Twitter since he has had the handle @Kraft since 2007 was really entertaining and reminded me of why it is important to sometimes be an early adopter of different social media platforms. Later on you can have some great stories to tell!
BrandonKraftBeerBloggingCon

Blogging is Awesome, but Beer Blogging is even Better!

All year long I get to speak at a variety of conferences, schools, and events but I have to say the topic of beer blogging is a really fun one to learn about and I hope to be more involved in events like this in the future. In my former life before I moved to Asheville I was a bartender and a  restaurant manager so I have always had a place in my heart for people in the food and beverage industry. Craft beer is also not only a growing conversation in general, but  a huge online community that includes breweries and crafters, as well as distributors, festivals, and of course drinkers! If you want to break into blogging about beer I would suggest checking out some of this year’s event sponsors:
Happy blogging and drinking!