UA Student Group Hosts Southern Living Editor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Meeting Professional International club invites the community to a talk with southern lifestyle expert Rebecca Gordon at 7 p.m. March 19 in Lloyd Hall Auditorium on UA’s campus.

A contributing editor for Southern Living, Gordon has spent the past 13 years sharing her knowledge of food, entertaining and gardening with the world. Most recently, she started creating her own “lifestyle brand,” with a focus on tailgating.

As a former test kitchen director for Southern Living, she developed and edited recipes and coordinated recipe testing for Southern Living. Her duties included conducting multiple daily taste tastings, collaborating with a digital team to produce content for the magazine’s website and creating step-by-step videos with behind-the-scenes cooking tips, tricks and advice to help guide readers to success in their own kitchens.

Prior to joining the test kitchen, Gordon traveled the South as a foods and entertaining specialist with the Southern Living Cooking School. She is featured in “The Half Hour Hostess,” published by Oxmoor House, and the recently released “The Official SEC Tailgating Cookbook.” Gordon was also the first lifestyle reporter to cover SEC Media Days. During football season, Gordon features recipes and tailgating tips during Tide & Tiger’s Today on Saturday mornings.

She graduated summa cum laude from Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, S.C., specializing in baking and pastry arts, and she received her undergraduate degree in restaurant management from The University of Alabama. She gained experience as a pastry chef for restaurants throughout the South, including Frank Stitt’s Highlands Bar and Grill and Bottega restaurants.

Meeting Professional International is the official UA student club for those aspiring to be meeting and event planners, hoteliers and suppliers, and for those desiring industry-related experience while in school. MPI is the largest international association for the meetings industry worldwide serving more than 21,000 members in 86 countries, with 71 clubs and chapters.