Meg Cotner on LinkedIn: Strawberry Shortcake Week Is Coming - Bridgetown Bites (2024)

Over the weekend I attended a screening of first three episodes of "Food Foray" at MetroEast Community Media. These 20-minute pieces focus on food traditions from Georgia in the Caucasus region, Oaxaca, and Myanmar, along with local folks who are from these parts of the world -- all based in east Portland and Gresham. Think of this when it comes to the show's concept: “Imagine Anthony Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’ but at local grocery stores with a host named Jess. Each episode takes us a food journey through east Portland while we learn about our immigrant neighbors.” The episodes are interesting, engaging, and thought-provoking, and were made right here in east Portland/Gresham - the most diverse part of Oregon. MetroEast hopes to make more episodes of Food Foray, too. Read more about the series, how you can support them, and the screening event at the link below. #foodforay #eastportland #gresham #bridgetownbites

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At a past position where I was Editor in Chief at local news website, I learned from my boss about doing monthly roundups of top posts on the website. The readers always enjoyed it, and it was a good gauge for us from the publishing side of things, with hopes for an increase in engagement month to month.I'm happy to say that on Bridgetown Bites, the local independent Portland food blog I publish, we went from almost 12,000 unique visitors in January 2024 to just about 14,500 unique visitors in February. As for page views, we went from about 16,000 in January to around 19,000 in February. And February was a shorter month. Many thanks to all who stopped by the website to read and share. I'm also grateful to my tipsters - there are a bunch of you! Here are the top 5 posts from February 2024 on Bridgetown Bites.https://lnkd.in/g8QsvazJ

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For the fifth year in a row, I've been keeping a page of yearly food + cultural festivals in the Portland area on my food blog, Bridgetown Bites. I think one of the best ways to become familiar with cultures other than your own is through their food and drink. Plus the pride that emanates from the folks behind these events is just the best. Every little bit helps us become more tolerant and loving of our fellow persons of Earth. #portland https://lnkd.in/gDC2GBRN

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Along with all the copyediting and proofreading I do, I write a food blog focused on the food scene in Portland, Oregon. I realize I've been writing about food for close to 20 years, now. My food blog, Bridgetown Bites, has been running since 2017, some years more fruitful than others due to health issues (breast cancer) rising up and stealing my time and energy. All of this to say, this little independent blog did well in 2023 -- breaking news, promoting tasty events, connecting with the community, and just about doubling the number of unique visitors to the site compared to the year before; new visitors to the site more than doubled. These visitors generated almost 142,000 page views. Here's what I wrote at the beginning of this week. "I’m happy to say that from an analytics POV, traffic almost doubled between 2022 and 2023 here on the blog. Regarding 2022 I said, “Over 55,000 visits were recorded, and almost 35,000 of those visits were new to the site.” In 2023 we had 106,000 unique visits, with 86,000 new to the site; these visitors generated almost 142,000 page views, too. Not too bad for this little independent blog."https://lnkd.in/edEymBjnHere's to continuing to be an independent voice in food writing in Portland in 2024!

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And just like that, Portland Salad Week is over. For our final post this year, we saved the one containing reader picks, online recommendations, and a list of salads in #Portland that we still want to try - because salad options in Portland are varied and vast. I loved working with Judith Rich on this week-long project and look forward to future collabs to come. #pdxsaladweek #bridgetownbites #foodblog

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Portland Salad Week is here! This has been a truly enjoyable project as a food writer in Portland, exploring and writing about the different angles on salad. Big thanks to my project partner, friend, and colleague Judith Rich, who is writing some great content about salad. Stop by Bridgetown Bites throughout the week. You can find all our Salad Week posts here: https://lnkd.in/e7ktvQmk#pdxsaladweek #bridgetownbites #content #salad #foodblog #portlandoregon

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I've been planning to launch the very first Portland Salad Week on Bridgetown Bites since last fall, and it's finally here! Portland Salad Week will be from June 6-10, 2022. Many thanks to my colleague and friend Judith Rich, who is a top notch writer and brings amazing marketing chops to this project. The two of us will be putting together the content over the next few weeks. We sent a press release out over the wire, which you can read below. I'm excited to share my love of salad that evolved over the past year or so. And Portland has so many amazing salads! It's a wonderful vehicle for creativity. So please enjoy the press release, and I hope you will tune in for Portland Salad Week on Bridgetown Bites in June! #pdxsaladweek #portland #bridgetownbiteshttps://lnkd.in/g8V2e8nU

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As an OG blogger (I started in the 90s) and an introvert, interviewing people in real time sometimes can be a challenge, as much as I love hearing people's stories and sharing them with an audience. So thank goodness for email, which removes some of the pressure. I find using email is good for the person being interviewed, since they can take extra time to put down their thoughts as they'd like them. I'm trying to integrate more quotes into my blogging; when I started out, it was more about observing things and then commenting on it in a one-way direction. Quotes really do brighten up a post.Many thanks to Brittany Sigal of Zuckercreme for lending her thoughts about her upcoming tasting with Wilderton, a zero-proof spirit made in Hood River. Looking forward to seeing what mocktails she comes up with. #portland #nonalcoholic #mocktails #blogging

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I'm spending more time lately looking at the stats for my Portland food blog, Bridgetown Bites, and thought it would be fun to see what the most popular post of the first week of the year was. Turns out that post was one I wrote in late-December 2021 about a new diner opening up in the St. Johns neighborhood called Greasers Cafe - since then it's been renamed Rockabilly Cafe. They'll offer diner food made with local and organic ingredients. The biggest referrer that week? Facebook. The magic of social media spread. #portland #socialmedia

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