HoppyCow.com has moved to a new home at WordPress.com, with the intention that longform posts will be posted there, while shorter items will still be shared here on Tumblr. Thanks for reading :)
The Little Privileges You Get By Living in the USA
Living in the United States is really, really cool. Here’s why:
1. You can Amazon Prime stuff
I lived in Asia for 18 years. When I was in high school, I had to order my SAT prep books off Amazon because Singapore bookstores don’t sell them (no one takes the SATs there). It took 12 weeks for the books to arrive. Now, I can order almost anything and have it show up at my house in two days. Anything. That’s awesome.
2. You can watch TV on Hulu, and movies on Netflix
You know how you are used to getting TV and movies on-demand, whenever you want? This doesn’t happen overseas. When I traveled home to Singapore this summer, I was in the middle of watching the first season of Smash. I have a Hulu Plus account, so I loaded up the website. This is what I saw:
No Hulu, no Netflix, not even clips of TV shows embedded into blogs. Lame.
3. You can use the iTunes store
In 2003, I was getting really tired of LimeWire-ing bad quality music when Apple announced the iTunes store. I was so excited to just start downloading everything instantly, but quickly realized I couldn’t use the store because I didn’t have a U.S. credit card. Now, there are international versions of the iTunes store, but a lot of American TV shows and music are still unavailable. No Breaking Bad, no Homeland, no Glee. I help my sister, who lives in Hong Kong, work around this by buying her iTunes gift cards (which are in US currency) from Target.
4. You don’t need to worry about spoilers
When you live abroad, you never get the first telecast of any U.S. TV show — it’s always days, weeks, even seasons behind. By the time the American Idol season finale aired in Singapore, I already knew that Kelly Clarkson had won. And, everyone at school knew that Ethan Zohn and won Survivor: Africa — but we hadn’t seen the episode yet. Today, whenever I watch a television show live in the United States, I still get a little thrill knowing that this is the first time it’s airing, and that no one knows the ending. And, I’ll get to see all the blog posts and tweets about it afterward. That’s awesome.
5. Brands in magazines? They’re real.
As a teenage girl growing up in Singapore, I read all the same magazines that American teenage girls did: CosmoGirl, Seventeen, Teen Vogue. But, I never recognized the brands they wrote about, nor could I ever go out and buy any of the items that were listed. American stores seemed like a distant fantasy where they sold all the cool stuff that magazines wrote about. To this day, it still amazes me every time I walk into a store and see something I saw in a magazine. You can actually buy that? Crazy.
6. You can buy Reese’s Pieces
When Halloween rolls around in Singapore, people trek to the American neighborhoods to trick ‘o treat for yummy American candy. That’s because American candy is hard-to-find in Singapore (and I think the rarity makes them even more delicious). Now, I can buy Reese’s Pieces and Jelly Bellies in almost every grocery store, and there’s a million varieties. And, some candy aisles here are the size of entire grocery stores in Singapore. Mind. blown.
7. Have stuff to do over the holidays
Attending an American International School in Singapore meant that got U.S. national holidays off from school. But no one in Singapore celebrated Fourth of July, or Thanksgiving, so there really wasn’t much to do. I also didn’t really know what the holidays were about — did someone mention pilgrims and a turkey? Since moving to the U.S., I’ve been introduced to an incredible array of American traditions, from fireworks and BBQ on Fourth of July to amazing stuffing at Thanksgiving. It gives me something to look forward to ever summer and fall.
8. Britney Spears concerts
I’m not ashamed to admit it — I’ve been a Britney fan since high school. Growing up abroad, I never thought that I’d get to see some of our generation’s biggest pop acts live — they were on the other side of the planet! Even Britney’s world tours never made it to Singapore while I lived there. But since I’ve moved to the United States, I’ve seen Britney, Kelly, Lady Gaga — Taylor Swift is next. This is a picture of me and my friend Steve at my first ever Britney concert in college. It was 4 years belated, and I’m sad I didn’t get to see her when she could still dance, but better late than never.
9. The best media the world has to offer
The United States has, hands down, the best journalists in the world. When you have all of this talent focused on covering your issues, your current events, your celebrity news, your sports events — the major publications that come from the United States are a joy to read. It’s easy to take the professionalism and world-class quality of U.S. media for granted, but just take a look at Singapore’s flagship media outlet, which is partially controlled by the government — it reads like a small town newspaper.
10. Vote in the biggest election on the planet
For someone who grew up in an a politically apathetic country like Singapore, the presidential elections have been an incredible race to watch. Whoever becomes the President of the United States has influence over every single country around the world, but only U.S. citizens get to vote. I still can’t vote, but you can. It’s a privilege. Make sure you do.
Recap: 2 years at America’s Test Kitchen
This is a really bittersweet blog post for me because I’m leaving America’s Test Kitchen and moving on. It really was a dream job, where I got to write, talk and think about food all day long. I got to create an entire department and work with incredible colleagues. I met and made friends with inspiring food bloggers all across North America.
I really regretted not writing a blog post about the work I did at the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye when I left, so I’m determined not to make that mistake again. Here are 7 things I got to do at the Test Kitchen:
1. Launch the social media feeds
Even though the television show has 2 million viewers every week, and the magazine has 1 million subscribers, America’s Test Kitchen did not have a social media presence when I was hired. And when the Test Kitchen finally got onto Facebook and Twitter, the response was overwhelming. Twitter became our hub for networking with bloggers and other media, while the Test Kitchen Facebook (including Cook’s Illustrated) was the spot for sharing recipes, customer service, and the much loved Facebook Fan Photo of the Week.
I also launched the YouTube channel, initially populating it with clips from the TV shows and behind-the-scenes videos. Then, we took a page out of the Old Spice marketing handbook and asked Test Cooks to answer simple cooking questions from Twitter on video that we posted to YouTube. Eventually, Christine Liu and Mari Levine from web editorial started creating some amazing “Super Quick Video Tips” which quickly started getting regular features on Lifehacker and other websites. In 2 years, the YouTube channel went from 0 to 1.7 million video views.
While it was relatively easy for our brand to find a community on Twitter and Facebook, I had to work a lot harder to get the community to engage on Tumblr. It was a younger audience that didn’t know our brand, but I knew would love our content. With Tumblr posts, I had to consistently pitch our content and rely on the strength of our editorial to get any reach at all. After 8 months of posting without getting any feedback at all, we suddenly snagged a few features on the #Food featured tag, and quickly picked up thousands of followers and started getting hundreds of reblogs and notes regularly.
2. Stay ahead of the curve
While I don’t think it’s smart to spend time on a new social media network simply because it’s new, there are a few communities that we’ve invested in that I think I have paid off. Pinterest’s audience (many moms and cooks) was a perfect fit for ours, so we were ahead of the curve by including Pinterest buttons on our pages and starting Pinterest scavenger hunts. Today, the community sends more referrals through Pinterest than almost any other social network (except maybe Facebook, on certain weeks).
In terms of social media, Christopher Kimball always encouraged us to establish the Test Kitchen as a real place in readers’ minds. Instagram was the perfect place to capture taste tests and special moments in the Test Kitchen and share that live with our audience. Using Ifttt, I syndicated these photographs across Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
And finally, within the last few months, I made a concerted push for our Google+ page. Like Tumblr, I see an investment in the future, particularly in establishing some good SEO karma with the search gods. And like Pinterest, I see an audience that fits our niche (science and geeks), and write my Google+ specifically for them. But most importantly, I really believe the Test Kitchen should be doubling down on internet video and working toward an online TV show in the next 5 years. Google+ hangouts, or live streaming on YouTube, should be the first step. I experimented a bit with UStream at the Test Kitchen, and last big initiative I worked on was hosting our very first Google+ hangout with some really amazing bloggers. I was so thrilled to get this under our belt.
3. Create The Feed
Back in 2010, with all of America’s Test Kitchen’s online content behind a paywall, there was no way to get to know the brand online. If you didn’t watch PBS, or read Cook’s Illustrated, it was very likely that you didn’t know what the brand was about.
The Feed was the brainchild of my boss, Barry Kelly, and I got to lead the project. The entire purpose of The Feed: to introduce the online audience to America’s Test Kitchen. For weeks we hashed out what the editorial should be, worked with the guys at Upstatement to design and develop the site, and took way too long to decide on a site name and URL. The initial building stages were probably one of the most fun and rewarding periods of my time at the Test Kitchen. We spent a lot of time focusing on streamlining editorial tools to make updating content easy — and WordPress was a welcome reprieve to the editorial team after they had struggled with a clunky CMS for years. The best decision we made in the whole project was to bring on the extremely talented Christine Liu to the team, who brought The Feed a lot of success with her witty editorial and attention to detail.
Within months of launch, The Feed received hundreds of thousands of page views and quickly established its place in the online food community, getting regular links from sites like Lifehacker, Food52 and The Kitchn. One of our biggest successes, How To Make Cold-Brew Coffee, received 2,900 Facebook likes and even a nod from Wikipedia.
The Feed finally got the Test Kitchen into the daily news cycle, and gave the company an online presence. And after successive hits with Homemade Nutella, Homemade Bacon Jam and Homemade Sriracha, the DIY book was born. It’s the first Test Kitchen publication that was “reverse published,” or born from our websites.
There are a few things I personally love about the site: it features behind-the-scenes photographs of the Test Kitchen with hilariously punny headlines from Steve Klise; Test Cooks get to show some personality with the entirely original DIY blog; and the community section of the site rewards community members who engage with the Test Kitchen on social networks regularly (i.e. Twitter Fan Photo of the Week, Blogger Spotlight).
4. Hack together infographics
I was very lucky to work at RedEye in my first job out of college, where I was surrounded by smart designers and editors who taught me the importance of eye-catching presentation. Within few months of working at the Test Kitchen, I knew that I wanted us to make some sweet infographics. My reasoning: We were Cook’s Illustrated!
Fortunately, Elaina Natario, a kick-butt designer who had interned with me at the Boston Globe, was also working at the Test Kitchen. She and I first experimented with creating infographics for DenizenMag.com, a magazine that I created. When that one infographic on Denizen got 10 times the amount of views a typical article gets, we knew that it was something we wanted to do at the Test Kitchen.
With lots of help from our friends in the design and web editorial departments, we put together an infographics taskforce. Because infographics weren’t a part of anyone’s job description, everyone put in what extra time they had to it. And what these talented folks assembled was incredible.
Elaina’s first infographic for the Test Kitchen was immediately linked to by LifeHacker. Then, combining the editing prowess of Mari, Christine and Doc and the design skills of Jay Layman, the infographics team cranked out Cakes Throughout U.S. History. It was linked to by The Huffington Post and even tweeted by Pee Wee Herman!
My personal favorite was the 12-Step Path to Recipe Perfection, written by Mari and Christine, assembled by Elaina and Erica Lee, with incredible illustrations by Lauren Pettapiece. It was the first time the Cook’s Illustrated recipe development process had been documented anywhere — and it was the most engaging, gorgeous documentation I’d ever seen. I constantly used it on our social media feeds to introduce our brand to new audiences.
5. Meet Inspiring Bloggers
Here’s what I love about working with food bloggers: they are all self-made. You can’t be “born” into a great food blog, it has to come with consistent hard work. I’m not talking about the publication food blogs, I’m talking your regular, mom and pop, played in small clubs in Brooklyn, “I made it myself” type of food blog. Food blogging is thankless, and when you start out, you just need to do it every day, every week, until people start reading you. And the ones that are successful are powered by creative people who have a unique voice or perspective to share with the world.
At the Test Kitchen, I was paid to meet and talk to all of these amazing bloggers. My blogger outreach programs started with me cold-emailing bloggers to attempt a book campaign, and transformed into me giving Test Kitchen tours to every blogger that came by (including TheKitchn.com!), traveling to San Francisco (photo) and Seattle to meet with bloggers in person and assembling huge campaigns like blogger scholarships or dinner parties. (You can read a full recap here).
When I started working at the Test Kitchen, I knew that food bloggers were going to be an important part of our marketing strategy, but I had no idea that it would also create some of the most inspiring relationships. Every morning, I skim a hundred or so food blogs with my Google Reader, pausing to read some of my favorite ones (there are so many). At the beginning, it just seemed like skimming websites. But now, it feels like catching up with old friends.
6. Establish an Internship Program
Of all the things I worked on at the Test Kitchen, the one I am the most proud of, and the most humbled by, is our Social Media Internship program. It was built upon the lessons I learned at RedEye: how to put together a brand ambassador program, and establishing an internship program that encourages creativity and independence.
Here’s how the program is structured: there are daily tasks (like answering tweets and Facebook posts), weekly tasks (like writing blog posts), and a 10-week long intern project. The intern project is something the person “owns” from start to finish. Depending on what the intern is interested in, we figure out the idea and structure together. Then the intern executes the project on their own (mistakes and successes alike), and I do a final review before we publish.
I would not have loved my job as much if not for the interns. They motivated me with their energy, enthusiasm, positivity and creative ideas. I was always super stoked to see their intern projects turn out successfully. And we had a lot of successes: Dish It Your Way, a food blogging challenge; Food and Friends, a national dinner party extravaganza; Fresh Food Challenge, a reason to visit your local farmers’ market; Confessions of a Cooking School Student, a culinary blogging journey; Diary of a Recipe, the story of a Cook’s Illustrated recipe; The Pinterest Project, a massively addictive scavenger hunt; Blast from the Past, a reblog contest; Cooking Through The Decades, a historical cooking challenge; Secrets of the Test Kitchen, a wildly popular glimpse behind-the-scenes, and Ask the Test Kitchen, where we answered Twitter questions via YouTube video. I can’t believe the amount of amazing stuff they accomplished. We were very, very fortunate to have amazing interns who were all team players. (You can read more about the program here).
7. Love My Job
More than anything else, I had so much FUN at my job. I got to hang out with really great people every day and create engaging projects (while taking breaks to play Office Olympics). I know it’s rare to get this much creativity and independence in a position, and I so appreciated it. And, I learned a lot. As someone who has never worked in the book industry, I learned a ton from Sales Director Emily Logan and Executive Editor of Books Lori Galvin, who were both kind enough to let me tag along while they shared their insights. And I can’t even begin to cover all the food knowledge the test cooks shared with me over the two years.
I’m going to close with one of the most fun projects I got to put together while at the Test Kitchen: the Learn To Cook social media campaign. Together with Amy Scheuerman, we assembled a Tumblr contest where the winner got to fly to Boston and cook with television’s Bridget Lancaster for a day. I mean, how awesome is that?! Take a look at the video (a big thank you to the talented Nick Dakoulas for putting this together, and Ian Stanley for coming to Boston!).
Well, that’s it for the recap. It’s like a diary entry that waited 2 years to be written. If you like what you read, apply for my job — otherwise, this will be my replacement. My last day is Thursday, and then next week I’m off to join the VIP Team at WordPress, where I get to learn from some really smart people and work from anywhere in the world. Hooray for new adventures!
Photo at the top: Me posting to the “Wall of Awesome,” in the Test Kitchen, which we updated every week with Twitter and Facebook fan-submitted photos of Test Kitchen-inspired meals.
Last night’s house party broke the shelf so we took it down and put in a pegboard! (I was inspired by pics of Julia’s kitchen this week) (Taken with Instagram)
My Boyfriend’s Summer of City Sports T-Shirts. A Photo Essay.
This summer, the “City Sports T-Shirt” has become Jared’s dress code of choice. People have started wondering if he has other clothes. He claims it’s his signature style.
So far this summer, he’s worn it…
… on a boat,
… dancing with a baby,
… making homemade ramen,
… posing on the beach,
… in Hong Kong,
… setting up camp,
… in front of Buddha,
… on top of a mountain,
… before a bike ride,
… in a profile picture,
… strolling,
… shopping in Asia,
… getting an airbrush tattoo,
… playing with his little cousins,
… and making guacamole.
Have a happy summer!
10 Most Recent Emails I Have Written With The Words “I Feel”
Inspired by Jonathan Harris’s “We Feel Fine,” a project that I’ve admired since I saw it in 2006.
(The last time I tried this, it was 2010 for a 30-Day Creativity Project. Compare with the old post.)
July 15, 2012: Steph to Johnisha
“I feel like we don’t know what’s happening from one day to the next.”
July 10, 2012: Steph to Nive, Tiffany, Katie, Emily, Jared, Mark, Marina, Michael, Chindhuri and Aki
“I feel better!”
July 6, 2012: Steph to Sarah
“I feel awake.”
July 2, 2012: Steph to Adele
“I feel like everyone is going through it, too.”
June 22, 2012: Steph to Jasmin
“I feel like I read literally hundreds of food blogs a day.”
March 30, 2012: Steph to Jared
“I feel like it was a waste of time.”
March 28, 2012: Steph to Scott, Michael, Tom
“I feel like I’m stuck in a sibling quarrel, but I’m not sure what are the proper steps an editor would take.”
Feb 7, 2012: Steph to Ema
“I feel like I’m working but getting nowhere.”
December 1, 2011: Steph to Betty
“I feel like I am right there with you as I am reading.”
July 20, 2012: Steph to Marina, Aileen, Julie, Jen, Joyce, Emmy, Ingrid
“I feel so special :D”
Now it’s your turn. Reblog this post and give it a try.
What it’s like to get my driver’s license at 26
1. Since my parents live on the other side of the planet, my boyfriend taught me how to drive. Not a great bonding activity for any relationship. (Don’t worry, our relationship survived the drivers’ test).
2. I waited until I was 26 because in Singapore you can’t get a driver’s license until you’re 18, and when I turned 18 I left to go to college in Chicago. I didn’t have access to a car until now (thanks, boyfriend!).
3. On my 26th birthday, I took the day off work to take the drivers’ license test. I was at least 10 years older than anyone else at the DMV.
4. I totally overstudied for the permit test because I forgot that it’s made for 15-year-olds.
5. I felt really smug as the 15-year-old girl who took the road test before me forgot how to turn her blinkers on. Then I remembered that she’s still learning algebra.
6. I screamed and jumped like a 16-year-old when I passed my test.
7. I drove home and parallel parked on the streets of Boston. I learned to drive in Boston, which means I never let anyone cut in and honk at pedestrians who cross during the green light. I also constantly get lost.
8. I still have hoarding tendencies when visiting big box stores because trips to Target used to be a rare treat.
9. We now pay outrageous insurance fees on the car because I’m a first-time driver.
10. I insist on getting carded at bars because I’m so happy to not have to carry my passport around anymore. I also scratched my brand new license with a fork to make sure it didn’t look like a fake.
12. The first time I drove alone, I felt a bump in the road and was convinced I had killed a biker.
13. I accidentally drove onto a highway by myself two weeks ago and silently re-enacted this Freeway Freakout moment in Clueless. I have never driven on a highway by myself since.
Why Watching the Olympics in the United States is Better
… from the perspective of someone who spent the first 18 years of her life in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
via 1. There’s More Than Just One Medal
When you grow up in a country that has only won two medals in its entire Olympic history, the race for a single medal is a huge deal. The whole country rallies behind the one event, and the media hypes behind the sport like crazy. But it’s over in a day. The United States goes into every Olympic Games expecting to medal nearly every single day, which means the excitement continues for three solid weeks.
2. U.S. Commercials Are A Part of the Olympic Games
Compared to watching the low-production, terrible commercials I watched in Singapore growing up, American commercials are like blockbuster movies. First, all the ads are made specifically for the Olympics. While you may come to expect this, this is not normal. There’s so much money to be made in U.S. television that huge corporate advertisers like Coca-Cola or Citibank will make high-production commercials with people like Michael Phelps or Nastia Liukin, all rooting for Team USA. This was not the case for Singapore television back in 2004, which featured the same, boring, terrible ads that were played at any other time. In the United States, the commercials are a part of the spirit of the Olympics.
3. The U.S. Media Builds a Narrative for U.S. Athletes
With world-class coverage from outlets like NBC and The New York Times focused squarely on Team USA, there’s so much to learn and read about athletes from the U.S. National Team. Wired Magazine taught me all about the technology behind training Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones. The New York Times built a neat infographic that showed how Lochte defeated Phelps in yesterday’s 400 IM. NBC has an inside look at the famous Karolyi gymnastics ranch near Houston (which interests me because of my -shameful- addiction to this ABC Family show), and airs a primetime Olympics wrap-up every night. And I’ve never forgotten this incredible “Olympic Musical” interactive graphic from the 2010 Winter Olympics.
With so much information and storytelling, and a clear focus on Team USA, watching the Olympics in the United States is FUN. I know all of the athletes by name, I know all of their personal stories, and I know what I should be watching for. There were so few Singaporean athletes competing, and they so rarely won, that there wasn’t a clear focus in the media. Every day we’d be watching a different star athlete from a different country, and I rarely knew their story. And sometimes, Singapore’s star athletes aren’t even from Singapore, but imported to help us win a medal.
4. It’s History in the Making
Every time we talk about Michael Phelps, we bring up his “Golden 8” in Beijing, and Mark Spitz. This year’s U.S. Gymnastics team is following in the footsteps of the Magnificent Seven. To this day, everyone still talks about the 1980 Miracle on Ice and the 1992 Dream Team. The United States has such an incredible collection of inspiring stories and heroic athletes that every time the Olympics rolls around, you know you’re watching history in the making. That’s pretty neat.
5. And as my American boyfriend says: “Of course it’s better. We always win.”
The fateful day when Boo the Facebook famous pomeranian hid inside a pile of Boos and then fell asleep.
I don’t usually share these types of pictures, but our office spent about 5 minutes gushing over this post.
“I looked across very diverse decisions—everything from deciding where to go to school, what to major in, how to spend your summers—and I realized that there were two things that were true about all of them,” she said. “One was, in each case, I’d chosen the scenario where I got to work with the smartest people I could find. … And the other thing was I always did something that I was a little not ready to do. In each of those cases, I felt a little overwhelmed by the option. I’d gotten myself in a little over my head.”
A great piece of advice from Marissa Mayer on her decision-making process. via Farhad Manjoo at Slate.
My favorite weekend project: Homemade Pasta. This is spinach pasta using techniques and steps from Macheesmo and America’s Test Kitchen.
My presentation about the funny Singapore expat bubble I grew up in, and why I founded DenizenMag.com, an online magazine for international school kids.
Situated north of the Cap Vert Peninsula in Senegal, northeast of Dakar, Lake Retba, or as the French refer to it Lac Rose, is pinker than any milkshake you’ve ever come face to straw with.
And once you see it, you too will agree that a sippy straw may be in order over a boat.
Experts say the lake gives off its pink hue due to cyanobacteria, a harmless halophilic bacteria found in the water.
If the color weren’t enough to make you smile, it should be known that Lake Retba has a high salt content, much like that of the Dead Sea, allowing people to float effortlessly in the massive pink water. In fact, Lake Retba has an almost one and a half times higher salt content than the Dead Sea.
(via thoughtsinevershared)
Recap: America’s Test Kitchen’s Blogger Projects
I’m back in Seattle after a 10-year hiatus! I’m absolutely thrilled to be here, mostly because I’m going to a food blogger conference, and working with bloggers is the best part of my job (well, that and launching The Feed!). So in honor of this week’s event, here’s a little recap of the various blogger projects we’ve done at America’s Test Kitchen.
Food and Friends
The amount of work the Test Kitchen put into developing its very first “Menu Cookbook” was astounding. In addition to developing the recipes and menus, test cooks had to prepare an entire dinner party for 8 by themselves, all in one go, while timing the process and watching for things like stovetop space, changing oven temperatures, and dish pairings. So, we were excited to put the book to work.
The Project:
We asked bloggers to host an America’s Test Kitchen Dinner Party in their home. Click to see our kickoff and application post.
The Prize:
$200 in cookbooks to give to dinner guests, an America’s Test Kitchen apron and a feature on The Feed.
The Result:
Six kickass blog posts by six amazing bloggers all across North America.
This included Sara Wells of Our Best Bites (Idaho), Candy Wong of Dessert By Candy (Ontario), Jen Perez of Beantown Baker (Massachusetts), Megan Pence of Country Cleaver (Washington), Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Blog (Minnesota), and Stephanie Eddy of Clockwork Lemon (Alberta).
What I Loved About This Project:
- We had already gotten to know some of the bloggers, like Candy Wong, through Twitter and email, but this was a really great opportunity to work together on a fun project.
- It was all about community! Usually blogging is a solo activity, but because this project was all about spending time with family and friends, every blog post celebrated the community of people that surrounded the blogger.
- The editors and test cooks who made the book were absolutely thrilled to see the posts. After all the work they had put into the book, they were excited to see the recipes being used in homes across North America, and to hear that the dinner parties were a success!
- You got to hear about the dinner party disasters! From left-out ingredients to wrestling with a pork loin, the bloggers weren’t afraid to share with us mistakes made — this wasn’t a polished, boring PR piece by any means.
- Our social media intern, John Sandala, was the official “host” of the entire project, and not only did he do an incredible job, he also said that he learned a lot from the experience.
Blogger Scholarship (in progress)
When we launched the America’s Test Kitchen Cooking School, we couldn’t wait to get food bloggers on board. We had already put one of our Social Media Interns through the school, and from the feedback we’d received from our existing students, it seemed like the perfect project for a dedicated home cook who wanted to pick up more skills.
The Project:
We asked bloggers to apply for a cooking school scholarship, and the blog scholars would be asked to write one blog post on a specific course.
The Prize:
A personal phone call with TV’s Bridget Lancaster, access to a Test Kitchen instructor, and a 1-year enrollment in our Online Cooking School (worth $500).
The Result:
It’s still in progress, but we have five scholarship winners, and they’re working their way through their blog posts. The winners included Susie of We Are Not Martha, Cynthia of Deep Thoughts by Cynthia, Brooke of Crackers on the Couch, Truc of Treats SF and Darla of Darla Cooks.
What I Loved About This Project:
- The winners of the blogger scholarship got to meet Bridget Lancaster over the phone and get personalized advice from her as part of their “enrollment process.” That was seriously cool.
- The bloggers made terrifying-sounding techniques less terrifying. For example, after reading Susie’s post about learning how to make homemade pasta, I borrowed a pasta maker, went home, and made my own pasta. Their posts made me feel like I could cook anything.
- The bloggers really made the cooking school their own. Brooke from Crackers on the Couch is absolutely hilarious, and she told the story of the cooking school in an entirely new way. And when she succeeded in making awesome dishes, we cheered.
- They energized the cooking school community. As a new product, the cooking school’s “Student Lounge” section was pretty quiet, and it was great to see the blog scholars on the discussion boards, helping each other out.
The Healthy Family Cookbook Tour
This was my very first blogger project, hosted a few weeks after I had started working at the Test Kitchen. The bloggers I worked with were incredibly warm and welcoming, even though they had no idea who I was. I also learned a ton about how to manage the logistics and ethics behind giveaways.
The Project:
In celebration of our brand new Healthy Family Cookbook, we hosted a “virtual book tour,” with 5 different blogs giving away a copy of the book, Monday-Friday.
Blogs That Participated (click to see their post):
Baking Bites, Gastronomy Blog, The Frugal Girl, Annie’s Eats and Steamy Kitchen.
The Result:
Excitement from the community that we were finally going to reach out to bloggers, and roughly 3,500 comments across 5 blogs.
What I Loved About This Project:
- As my first blogger project, I spent a lot of time reading and researching blogs. Once I had selected blogs that I thought would be interested in working with us, I cold-emailed the bloggers. I wrote personal notes to each one, and all 5 bloggers that I emailed were excited to participate.
- It gave me the opportunity to meet my first food bloggers, and chat with them on the phone! I’ve since become friends with many of them — Cathy from Gastronomy Blog just stopped by the Test Kitchen and hung out with us last week.
- I quickly discovered that working with food bloggers would be the best part of my job!
The Boston Blogger Cookie Challenge
We film the TV show for 3 weeks every year in May, and about 10 days before filming was going to start in 2011, I was told that I could invite a blogger onto the set. So, in about 2 hours, I put together this contest.
The Project:
Blog about making our Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. (Here’s the kickoff post.) The tough part: You had to be in the Boston area, and this had to be done in 10 days. Talk about last minute.
The Prize:
We would pick a winning post, and the blogger would come visit the set of America’s Test Kitchen and meet our cast.
The Result:
Roughly 40 bloggers sent in submissions, which completely stunned me (I was expecting more like 5 or 10, considering the tight deadline). See the submissions here: part 1, part 2, part 3.
What I Loved About The Project:
- The creativity. It was the same recipe, but everyone wrote about it in a completely different way.
- Engaging the local blogger community in Boston. We had never reached out locally before, and it was really great to meet bloggers in our own city.
- I got to assemble an internal panel of judges — from the marketing, editorial and sales teams. It was a great excuse for cross-departmental collaboration (and they all got cookies afterward!).
- We also loved so many of the submissions, that while one winner got the opportunity to visit the Test Kitchen during filming, we invited everyone who submitted a blog post to tour the Test Kitchen after filming. I took about 30 bloggers over the course of three days on a tour of our studio and offices — it was so much fun to be able to invite fans into our Test Kitchen. Here are their recaps of the tour.
We’ve definitely had an incredible time working with bloggers here at America’s Test Kitchen over the last 1.5 years — and this isn’t the full list! We’ve also done meetups, giveaways, writing competitions and weekly blogger spotlights, but I’ll have to get to those next time. (Here are some other posts I’ve written about the social media outreach we’ve done at the Test Kitchen.)
Now I gotta go head down to BlogHer Food! I’m excited!
The last time I was here, I was 16 and traveling around the United States by myself. 10 years later, I’m back doing the exact same thing.
