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Celiac and the Beast

I'm just a gluten-free girl trying to survive in a world full of wheat.

EVENT: CDF National Conference & GF Expo RECAP

Erica Dermer, May 7, 2013December 11, 2015

Wow – all I can say is wow. This past weekend was the craziest, biggest event I’ve been a part of since starting my journey. Granted, I’ve been to bigger private expos that are huge (GFAF always has the biggest most massive audience of GF and allergy-friendly attendees), but this was a two day expo AND education conference – and part of a national non-profit organization. I was honored to not only be a vendor, but also the organizer of the official bloggers program for their FIRST public expo and their first time having bloggers! Guys, I am so happy with the results – the expo was awesome and the conference was so educational and the bloggers were amazing. Yes, this is my happy face.

I flew in a bit early to California  because – let’s face it – I need a vacation. Here’s me staying in Playa del Rey. Filmed my concession video for Blogger of the Year for the Foggy Awards on this very patio (see the video here). I dined at a few local spots like Fresh Brothers and Sauce on Hampton while I was there too! Hooray for easy GF eating!

Playa del Rey

My girlfriend drove me up from LA to Pasadena to set up my booth and get the blogger booth ready. The first day of the CDF Expo was all about the education and conference break-outs. The conference (Saturday) was awesome! I finally got to see Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. Peter Green speak about celiac disease! To see pics of some of the slides – search the hashtag #CDFExpo on Instagram and Twitter to follow our bloggers’ journey during the conference.

CDF!

We set up our booth a few down from the Blogger’s Station. We were a total hit at the show (in my eyes at least!). Lucy from Lucy’s stopped by and told me how much she liked the shirts. Jilly Lagasse (aka one of the Lagasse sisters) was my VIP guest and left with a few shirts too! We were debuting a few new colors and styles – including the new Zest Bakery hooded sweatshirts!

Setting up

The Lagassi Girls!

Non-GFBF (GFBF actually – still need a new name) came out to help me sell so I could leave and see Dr. Murray and Dr. Green speak!

CATB

We started off our day with an amazing bag full of so many gluten-free items (including full sized samples). Here’s Chrissy from Glam without Gluten and Sarah from CanIEathere.com showing off the samples.

Chrissy & Sarah w/ Chia Bread!

 

New Planet Beer

Beermosas (beer & OJ) with Peter from New Planet Beer!

Taste Guru

Taste Guru (and our pal Andrew) giving great deals on their subscription boxes!

Schar!

 Schar (I took home several boxes of the honey grahams)

Lagassi Girls

The Lagasse Girls and their book The Gluten-Free Table

Gluten is my Bitch

GFDFSF

Delightfully Free is a great cookbook (also refined sugar free as well as GFDF)

XO Baking Co.

Check out the new packaging from XO Baking Co.! Ariel rocks!

One of my readers (and fellow awesome lady) Ariel stopped by rocking her hoodie! She also dropped off some awesome cupcakes for me. THANK YOU!

Part of the raffle!

I was so happy to see that our shirts made it into some raffle baskets. I didn’t win any, but I sure hope you did!

Before I go, I wanted to give a special shout-out to the awesome bloggers that worked hard to spread the message (SERIOUSLY, GET TESTED FOR CELIAC) and to promote the conference and expo. Here’s the rundown of the awesome bloggers:

Sarah (CanIEatHere.com)

Chrissy (GlamWithoutGluten.com)

Brian (EastBayCeliac.com)

Kim (@GFKimAZ)

Alison (AGirlDefloured.com)

Andrea (RockinGlutenFree.com)

Kim (ThrivingGFCF.com)

Erica (that’s me!) (CeliacandtheBeast.com)

Official Blogger Group

Sarah (CanIEatHere.com), Chrissy (GlamWithoutGluten.com), Brian (EastBayCeliac.com), Kim (@GFKimAZ), me, Alison (AGirlDefloured.com), Andrea (RockinGlutenFree.com)

Guest bloggers!

Chrissy (GlamWithoutGluten), Annie (Anniesglutenfreegrub.com – by the time I got around to writing this she already had a recap up!), Katie (House-54.com), me

The team at the conference!

Alision (AGirlDefloured.com), Brian (EastBayCeliac.com), Chrissy (GlamWithoutGluten.com), Chandice (GlutenFreeFrenzy.com) and Andrea (RockinGlutenFree.com)

Team Awesome

Alision (AGirlDefloured.com), Brian (EastBayCeliac.com), Sarah (CanIEatHere.com), Chrissy (GlamWithoutGluten.com), me

Kim Rice!

Kim (ThrivingGFCF.com) and me at the Schar community dinner at The Melting Pot

Finally, thank you to Janelle, Deborah, Marilyn, and the entire CDF team. You guys not only put on a great conference, amazing expo (an outstanding success open to the public for the first time ever), but took a chance on sponsoring a team of awesome bloggers for the first time. THANK YOU!

HOW TO WIN A GLUTEN FREE BOX OF GOODIES FROM THE CDF EXPO:

PRIZE: 

Enter to win a box of assorted gluten-free goodies from the CDF Conference & GF Expo – for US residents only

WINNER:

1 winner, picked randomly (via Rafflecopter) based on valid entries.

HOW IT WORKS:

Each person can be entered into this contest via Rafflecopter.

CONTEST ENDS:

Friday, May 18th 2013 at midnight EST

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Uncategorized CDFceliac diseaseceliac disease foundationexpogluten freegluten free expoLos Angeles

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Comments (28)

  1. Amanda says:
    May 8, 2013 at 9:33 am

    Sounds like an awesome time! Thanks for all you to do raise awareness!

    Reply
  2. Keeley McGuire says:
    May 8, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    awesome! looks like it was an amazing, educational event!
    would love to check this out next year!

    Reply
  3. Cathryn says:
    May 8, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    A Chocolate cake (Gluten free of course!)

    Reply
  4. Nadine says:
    May 8, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    Wish I could go to more of these

    Reply
  5. Amanda B. says:
    May 8, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    Carrot cake is my favorite!!! I recently quit work and for my going away present one of my employees made me a glute free, mandarine orange (normally he does pineapple, but i’m allergic), pecan, carrot cake. I thought I was going to die!!

    Reply
  6. Katie @ Gluten Free Blondie says:
    May 8, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    Wow – crazy jealous of all the GF people you got to meet! Hoping to make it to one of these thangs sometime. I would make a GF lemon cake layered with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Yeeeaaaaa boy.

    Reply
  7. Stacy says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    Gluten free treat galore!

    Reply
  8. Susan Martin says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    I wanna go next year! Thanks for the awareness!

    Reply
  9. Brittany wold says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    I wanted to go so badly! Too bad flights are so expensive, I’m glad I get to see what it was like through you!!

    Reply
  10. Jordan t says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    So jealous! My mom makes an amazing GF carrot cake- I would make that 🙂

    Reply
  11. Carabeth says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    Thank you for your awesome blog with amazing information.

    Reply
  12. Carabeth says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    I would make a gluten free salted Carmel cake.

    Reply
  13. Karol says:
    May 8, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    I would make a gf lemon pound cake with vanilla icing.

    Reply
  14. Laurel Calantog says:
    May 8, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    So glad I got to meet you. Thank you for all you do in the community!

    Reply
  15. kim says:
    May 8, 2013 at 8:10 pm

    I would love to go to an expo and try all the gf foods!

    Reply
  16. Venessa says:
    May 8, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    I would make a vanilla cake with coconut cream frosting and fresh strawberries on top & in the middle. Thanks for this giveaway! 🙂

    Reply
  17. Kari Frazier says:
    May 9, 2013 at 5:35 am

    Red velvet – the hubby’s favorite <3

    Reply
  18. jenn b says:
    May 9, 2013 at 9:39 pm

    i would make a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

    Reply
  19. Laurie Lightfoot says:
    May 10, 2013 at 9:12 am

    I wish I lived in an area close enough to attend an expo like this….since I don’t, I hope I win so I can try some of these products and ask my local stores to stock some new and different items.

    Reply
  20. Jewel's Cupcake Shop says:
    May 10, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    I would make a lemon pistachio because it is one of Erica’s favorite… Or chocolate…HMMMM….. Now I never win anything and it is not for me… It is for Sophia! SHe love to try new things. XOXO

    Reply
  21. Molly (Sprue Story) says:
    May 11, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    Boston cream pie is my favorite kind of cake. So I’d share the love by making that!

    Reply
  22. Jen says:
    May 11, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    Wish I could’ve gone! I was in Cali a week before and couldn’t make another trip back out!

    Reply
  23. Jen says:
    May 11, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    Carrot cake!!

    Reply
  24. Meghan says:
    May 13, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    Red velvet or carrot or a cupcake layered cake with variety of flavors! So fun:)

    Reply
  25. Breanna Cox says:
    May 16, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    I would make a german chocolate cake with the coconut icing, mmmmmm!:)

    Reply
  26. Kimberly Atherton says:
    May 16, 2013 at 10:21 pm

    I hope next time I can make it! Thanks for everything you do! We love your work lady!!

    Reply
  27. angela says:
    May 17, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    I would make anything sweet, i miss carrot cake though, and add chia to it! I’m on a huge chia kick.

    Reply
  28. Angela says:
    May 27, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    That looks so fun!

    Reply

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