Do you dream of dining at the hottest new restaurants, getting paid to savor exquisite dishes, and rubbing elbows with culinary stars? If you’re a foodie with a passion for storytelling, this workshop is your gateway to a deliciously creative career. Join Teri Bayus and learn how to break into the world of food writing, from restaurant reviews and travel eats to chef profiles and gourmet features. Learn more about the many paths to becoming a successful food writer; essential skills editors look for in submissions; proven tips to craft mouthwatering stories that sell, and how to turn your writing into engaging short-form video content. Whether you want to build a freelance portfolio, pitch to top publications, or become a food influencer, this workshop will help you serve up your passion on a silver platter. Come hungry, leave inspired.

Feeling stuck in the cubicle? Learn from freelance journalist, news editor, and online educator Skye Pratt about how she works from her ever-changing home office while exploring the world and staying connected. Skye will share how she transitioned from the traditional 9–5 to a flexible, creative lifestyle, and how you can, too. She’ll cover: where to find remote creative opportunities; how to thrive as a remote creative professional; how to start a creative online business, and tips for staying connected and on top of your workload. Skye will also touch on the nuts and bolts of working remotely from anywhere, including navigating federal and state tax laws, ensuring compliance with tourist visas and digital nomad visas, share exciting new destinations that welcome digital nomads, and what it takes to qualify if you’re ready to travel full-time.

In a time of shrinking newsrooms and growing misinformation, a new model of storytelling is on the rise with nonprofit newsrooms. Led by experienced journalist and freelance writer Tonya Strickland, this session will explore how mission-driven local news outlets are stepping up to inform communities, hold power to account, and preserve truth — not for clicks, but for the common good. She'll talk about how nonprofit journalism works, the kinds of stories it makes possible, and why the future of local public service journalism might just need more storytellers like you.

As often as possible, freelance travel writer Mira Honeycutt has integrated writing with her travels. Usually it’s planned, but sometimes it’s accidental. Whether she’s enjoying coastal seafood from Mumbai or savoring wines crafted by an order of monks on a tiny island off the Mediterranean, there’s always a story to be shared. Mira will share tips on crafting articles, news stories, and books focused on wine and winemakers using memorable narratives from noted wine regions of France, Spain, and Italy to lesser known wines of India and China and, of course, California!

Learn from experienced writers that have created their own unique paths in the freelance writing world. They’ll discuss different ways of writing articles, essays, blogs, captions, headlines, and how to get your writing and byline (name!) featured in magazines, newspapers, and other print and online publications. This is sure to be a fun, lively, and interactive session featuring tricks of the freelance trade from the best of the best!