★ Creators · Bend, OR
In a town this size, a handful of trusted local voices can fill a patio on a Tuesday. Who they are, what they cover, what they charge, and how to work with them without being weird about it.
Photo: All Things Bend
Who's out there
The busiest local niche. Restaurants, taprooms, carts, bakeries, new openings.
Trails, ski, river, van life. Many are visitors passing through, so check where their audience lives.
Long-form guides that rank on Google for years, not 24-hour stories.
Hosts with loyal local listeners. See our Bend podcast guide.
Outlets like The Source sell paid posts to their social followers and newsletter readers.
Worth knowing
Real, local, and still active in 2026. Each one works differently, so read the notes before you reach out.
Nancy and a small team · @eatdrinkbend
Started as an Instagram account “on a whim” and grew into a guide site with Bend dining guides by category: brunch, food carts, cocktails, outdoor dining, plant-based and more.
Jon Jones · @thebendfoodie
A former firefighter and paramedic who launched The Bend Foodie in 2020. He runs the Bend Foodies Facebook group, which Central Oregon Daily News reported at more than 20,000 members in December 2024.
Anonymous reviewer (“BOR”) · Blog
A long-running blog that reviews specific dishes, not whole restaurants. The reviewer pays with their own money, and the site's ad revenue goes to charity, including NeighborImpact.
Siobhan (“SoyBend”) · Blog
A Bend blog on nature, history and culture in and around Bend, with attraction and event write-ups, like a dish-by-dish recap of the 2026 Bend Foodie Crawl downtown.
Finding more
The tourism board works with influencers, photographers and filmmakers through its Work With Us page, and pays locals to appear in its photo and video shoots. Local businesses can also ask its marketing team for a free consultation that covers influencers, events and collaborations.
Sells paid messages to its social audience (20,200 Instagram followers and 14,000+ Facebook fans in its media kit) and its newsletters. Useful when you want reach, not one creator's voice.
Search your location tag and mentions. The best partner is often someone already posting about you for free.
Sites like Collabstr list a few dozen Bend-based creators with prices. Profiles are self-submitted, so check that their followers are actually local.
Money
There is no Bend rate card. These are common starting points; every creator sets their own price.
Often a hosted meal or experience, sometimes plus a small fee. Highly local, very engaged audiences.
Paid posts are the norm. A commonly quoted benchmark is about $10 per 1,000 followers per Instagram post.
Rate cards and packages (post + stories + reel). Often a national, not local, audience: ask where followers live.
Reaching out
The rules
The FTC's Endorsement Guides apply to free meals and comped stays, not just cash. “#ad,” “#sponsored” or the platform's Paid Partnership label, at the start, not buried in hashtags.
Put the disclosure requirement in your agreement and check the post when it goes live.
Do not ask creators (or anyone) to post reviews on Google or Yelp in exchange for perks. The FTC's 2024 reviews rule bans buying reviews.
FAQ
Creators were checked on their own websites where they have one (Eat Drink Bend, Bend Oregon Restaurants, Bend Branches). The Bend Foodie has no website, so we used his Instagram and Central Oregon Daily News' December 2024 profile. Visit Bend details come from its Work With Us and Contact pages; The Source's social numbers from its media kit page. Follower counts change constantly, so we do not print them.
Updated October 22, 2026. Nobody paid to be listed here. Prices change, so confirm with the business before you sign anything. Suggest a fix or a business we missed.
For Bend businesses
All Things Bend readers are deciding where to eat, what to do and who to hire. A featured spot on the right guide puts you in that moment.
