Photo credit: Foodportunity

You’ve heard of opportunists, those who take advantage of situations. Well, I’m a foodportunist, but no, it doesn’t have the negativity that we would associate with being an opportunist. Let me explain.

If you live in Seattle, and you’re even mildly plugged into the food community, you’ve probably heard of Keren Brown, the Frantic Foodie, or Foodportunity. The latter is a night of networking among chefs, restaurateurs, business owners, food experts, foodies, bloggers, and journalists.

Ms. Brown usually invites different experts share their knowledge in a q&a table-top time and subsequent presentations and speed networking. Sometimes different restaurants provide food samples, and beverages are available at a cash bar. All of this mingling and networking takes place at Chef Tom Douglas’ Palace Ballroom, in Belltown. I walk past the Ballroom every day on my way to culinary school, and I have always wanted to attend a Foodportunity event and get to know Ms. Brown. Well, my chance arrived.

When her Foodportunity event was announced in December for a January date, I decided to email her and introduce myself. I hardly expected a quick reply, because I thought she received hundreds of emails weekly. She probably does, but she responded to me almost immediately. I told her that I loved the idea of the events and that I’d like to get involved from a working perspective. She responded very positively and said that she periodically takes on interns to learn the PR and marketing world for food events. I was ecstatic! We talked, we met, and… voila! I’m one of the newer Foodportunists (Foodportunity Intern)!

So…what is Kimberly doing now? Foodportunists work on all sorts of aspects of the Foodportunity business. We help drum up excitement for upcoming events by talking about them – usually by tweeting and posting. We also help write the public service announcements, advertising, and blog posts that explain the events and encourage visitors to attend. We even get to attend the events. I’m really excited about that last benefit.

You might think, why does Kimberly want PR experience? Because someday, I want to run a business, but right now, I want to work in Seattle’s food community. What better way to work in it than to meet all of the players – both the ones who make headlines and those who are in it for the passion? I have had some PR experience, due to my work with That’s Natural, in Pueblo, CO, and I feel that I could continue developing those rudimentary skills. I want to build my confidence in writing and sharing. I also really wanted to go to the events, and I like to learn while I’m playing.

So, that’s the latest from Kimberly: She has added more learning opportunities to her plate. Catch up with her at the next Foodportunity event, which is the Expression Workshop. Check out the PSA (which I didn’t write) below. There’s also another Foodportunity event coming in June.

“Foodportunity Expression”

From Pitch to Publish

A Foodportunity Expression Workshop