Each year, Eat Drink Blog is organised by a different volunteer committee of local bloggers from the host state.
The Eat Drink Blog 6 organising committee is now looking for a new team to organise Eat Drink Blog 7.
Eat Drink Blog 7 follows on from the six previous conferences:
Eat Drink Blog 1, Melbourne, 2010;
Eat Drink Blog 2, Sydney, 2011;
Eat Drink Blog 3, Adelaide, 2012;
Eat Drink Blog 4, Perth 2013;
Eat Drink Blog 5, Brisbane 2014 and
Eat Drink Blog 6, Canberra 2015
As this is a national food blogging conference, each state has the opportunity to host Eat Drink Blog. All parties are encouraged to submit a proposal, but we are particularly interested in hearing from states that have not yet hosted the conference.
The format of Eat Drink Blog each year is entirely up to the organising committee. There is no requirement to duplicate what has been done in previous years.
The organising committee is responsible for:
From experience, we recommend no fewer than three people on the organising committee to share the workload for organising Eat Drink Blog.
It is recommended that you discuss your interest in hosting Eat Drink Blog with fellow bloggers in your state to get an idea of who can be part of the organising committee and discuss what your vision is.
If you are interested in organising Eat Drink Blog 7 we would love to hear from you.
Simply email us at [email protected] with the following details:
If you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of Eat Drink Blog, please contact Rachi, from Eat Drink Blog 6 committee, at [email protected] to arrange a confidential discussion.
Deadline for expressions of interest: 5pm AEST, Friday, 15 January 2016.
]]>Once again thank you to our judges: Wendy, Liz, Leigh and Tess – we really appreciate the effort you went to, to read every single entry. It must have been a tough job to come up with winners!
A huge thank you also has to go to our sponsors for providing some amazing prizes: Australian Breakfast Cereal Manufacturers Forum, Baker’s Secret, CorningWare, OXO, The Essential Ingredient Canberra Capital Wines.
The winners were crowned during the official conference dinner at A Baker on Saturday night, but for those who wanted to have a browse through the entries here you go…
First prize: Tammi Kwok from ‘Tea for Tammi’ – Cereal, figs, honey and ricotta brekkie bowl
Runner up: Chrissy from ‘Little food blog’ – Blueberry, fig & honey porridge jars
First prize: Anna Johnson from ‘Shenannagans’ – The food mecca of Asia, Penang, Malaysia
Runner up: Tenele Conway from ‘Hungry Planet’ – Confessions of an addict
Consolation prizes: Clare Reilly from ‘The Life of Clare’ – Meat reality day and Alexandra Abrahams from ‘Alexellent’ – Is it time to get over my sugar crush
First prize: Nicole Bilson from ‘Champagne and Chips’ – Sticky date cake
Runner up: Sandra Gay from ‘Please Pass the Recipe’ – Cajun Spiced roast vegetable salad
Consolation prize: Sarah Coleman from ‘The Kitchen Apothecary’ – Bone broth
First prize: Louise Rhodes from ‘WillungaWino’ – Ballaboosta Manoosh, Adelaide
]]>With the 2015 writing competition closed and our two judges working very hard to announce a winner, we have decided to give all our delegates another opportunity to win some amazing prizes by opening up a photography competition!
Thanks to the Australian Breakfast Cereal Manufacturers Forum!
For your chance to win an exclusive, money-can’t-buy, one-on-one styling session with key note speaker and food stylist/photographer, Tess Godkin AND a Panasonic LUMIX GF7 Wi-Fi enabled camera (valued at $699), simply share a beautifully styled shot of your favourite brekkie cereal.
There will also be a Runner Up Prize, which is beautiful hamper full of crockery to help with your ongoing styling, up to the value of $250.
The lucky winners will be notified during the Eat Drink Blog conference on Saturday 17th October 2015.
The more creative the entry, the better. We’re looking for a clever use of popular types of breakfast cereal, including ready to eat varieties, or muesli/oats varieties, coupled with milk, yoghurt, fruit, anything you like.
Better still, you can enter as many times as you wish – by picking a different type of cereal, you can share as many shots as you can style.
Here’s how to do it:
Entries are open from now until midnight Thursday 15th October 2015.
Tess Godkin has kicked things off with her own entry, which you can use as a guide. She will also be one of the competition judges, along with ABCMF Director and Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian: Leigh Reeve.
Muesli with pecans, Greek yoghurt, passionfruit and blueberries.
Make sure you follow Tess on Instagram here, or on Facebook here. Show her some love. She is one of the judges after all! Good luck!
Full Terms and Conditions for this competition are available here: http://on.fb.me/1O0WoXX
Any questions, please email [email protected]. GOOD LUCK!
]]>The 2015 Eat Drink Blog writing competition is more exciting than ever and we have some fabulous prizes thanks to the generosity of our sponsors!
The competition comprises three categories:
Before entering, please take the time to read and understand the Terms and Conditions and Eligibility Criteria.
The competition opens on Monday 3 August at 8pm. Entries must be submitted by Friday 18th September at 11.59pm. Winners will be announced at the Eat Drink Blog conference dinner in Canberra on Saturday 17 October.
Thanks to the awesome generosity of our sponsors – Baker’s Secret, CorningWare, OXO, The Essential Ingredient Canberra and Capital Wines – we have a range of wonderful prizes for the winners.
Firstly, from The Essential Ingredient Canberra, each of the category winners will receive a set of mini copper saucepans (7cm, 9cm, 12cm) valued at $161.95. The pans comprise polished 3mm-thick copper with stainless steel lining and brass handle. With even heat distribution and instant reaction to temperature change, these are perfect for kitchen-to-table cooking, and suitable for all cooking surfaces (except induction).
Secondly, from Capital Wines, the award-winning Canberra district wine company, each of the category winners will receive a selection of wines.
The winner of the recipe writing award will also receive a Baker’s Secret prize pack.
Baker’s Secret, the original non-stick bakeware, is giving you the chance to win a set of baking essentials valued at over $215. The prize pack includes everything you need to bake up a storm, including three muffin pans, cookie pan, cookie sheet, pudding steamer, loaf pan, brownie pan, spring-form cake pan and two tart pans.
With decades of manufacturing experience behind every product, Baker’s Secret guarantees superior baking results every time. For more information on Baker’s Secret head to www.bakerssecret.com.au and like the www.facebook.com.au/bakerssecretau to stay up to date with the latest product news, trends and baking tips!
The winner of the narrative writing award will also receive a CorningWare prize pack.
CorningWare, renowned for its premium quality bakeware, is giving you the chance to win a bumper set of cooking staples valued at over $225. The set is ideal for the home chef or entertainer and includes a 5.2L Dutch oven with glass cover, pie plate, four ramekins and round and oval baking dishes.
CorningWare is ultra-convenient, allowing you to cook, bake and serve in the same dish, meaning less time washing up and more time entertaining. For more information on CorningWare, see www.corningware.net.au
The winner of the restaurant review writing award will also receive an OXO Greensaver prize pack.
With masterful design to meet all your kitchen needs, OXO is giving you the chance to win a pack of Greensaver Produce Keepers. With an activated carbon filter, elevated baskets to promote airflow and adjustable vents to control humidity, the range has been designed to keep produce fresher for longer, wasting less and saving more.
The prize pack has a combined value of $260, and includes a 1.5 litre, 4 litre and 4.7 litre produce keeper, crisper insert and four pack of carbon refills. The OXO Greensaver range is available in Australia from August.
Please be sure to read the full eligibility criteria and terms and conditions below. This competition is only open to Eat Drink Blog 2015 delegates that meet the eligibility criteria described in this document.
Entries for the competition will be based on blog posts published within the last six months, up to and including the closing date, between 2 February 2015 and 18 September 2015.
The post entered will be on any food-related subject, but the entry must fall into one of these categories:
All entries will be judged on originality, a distinctive personal voice, clarity of expression and the degree to which each entry engages the attention of the reader. Chance plays no part in the selection of the winners.
For the ‘narrative’ category, the entry may be about a food travel experience, the headnote for a recipe, or an article about an aspect of food that interests, excites or frustrates you.
For the ‘recipe’ category, the judges will be looking at evidence of culinary knowledge, accuracy and a good understanding of clear and succinct recipe writing.
In the case of the ‘restaurant review’, the judges will be looking at accuracy, evidence of culinary knowledge, a degree of objectivity and attention to general aspects of the restaurant experience.
The word limit for entries in both the ‘narrative’ or ‘restaurant review’ is 1000 words. If the narrative post includes a recipe, the head note or story supporting the recipe will be judged, not the recipe itself. Therefore, the ingredients and methodology are not included in the word count. Entries in the ‘recipe’ category are exempt from the word limit.
Delegates may participate in more than one category (i.e. send in two different entries for two different categories).
To enter, submit ONE entry per category (a max of three different posts): Narrative, Recipe or Restaurant Review. Send an email to [email protected] with:
Wendy graduated with a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada a few decades ago. She’s been living in Australia since 1995, having fallen in love with eucalypt trees and kangaroos. Wendy is passionate about Canberra and all the nation’s capital has to offer. She loves to write (about everything and anything) and owns her own pr and advertising business. In addition, Wendy has been writing tasty food reviews for CityNews for more than a decade, which has taken her up a full dress size. Not that she minds …
A vintage Canberran, Liz is an award-winning food writer who has combined her passion for cooking and sharing recipes for many years. She was a member of the committee instrumental in establishing the ACT Writers Centre (no apostrophe), and is well known for her blog, Good Things and, previously, her weekly newspaper column and 666 ABC radio segment. Liz earned the nickname ‘bizzy lizzy’ juggling the role of promotions manager of the Belconnen Markets with co-ownership of Canberra’s leading cooking school and cookware specialist. Across a decade, she managed a program of events that welcomed some of the world’s leading cookery writers and celebrity chefs to Canberra. Now retired from full time work, Liz spends her days cooking, writing and travelling with her partner and sous chef, Peter.
Thanks so much to our generous sponsors!
Any questions please email [email protected]. Good luck!
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We are delighted to announce that we have partnered with a couple of hotels around Canberra that are offering some pretty special discounts which you will no doubt appreciate. Thank you to our accommodation partners for putting on some amazing deals for our attendees.
The Capital Hotel Group includes four hotels spread around Canberra. These are: The Avenue, Aria Hotel, Clifton Suites and the Pavilion.
If you decide to book a room at any of the four hotels, you will receive a 15% discount on the best available rate. Please quote the booking code EATDRINK at the time of booking to receive your discount.
There are a number of ways to make a reservation:
By Phone: You can call our central reservations team on 1800 828 000 (Free call) or (02) 6247 6888. When you call let our friendly team know that you are with the Eat Drink Blog 6 conference. All bookings made by phone require payment at the time of reservation. No credit card surcharges will be applied.
Online: You can book via our website www.capitalhotelgroup.com.au. All bookings made via our website require payment at the time of reservation. No credit card surcharges will be applied.
1. Select the property you wish to book.
2. Select the dates you wish to book in and click ‘Book Now!’ located on the homepage.
3. In the top right hand corner enter your special personal code of EATDRINK.
4. Your rate will then appear and you can continue with your reservation.
By Email: You can email our central reservations team at [email protected] with the dates and details for your bookings and quote the special code of EATDRINK. All bookings made by email require payment at the time of reservation. No credit card surcharges will be applied.
The QT Canberra Hotel is located in the city centre. It is a boutique eclectic hotel that even has its own barber shop! If you decide to make a reservation at the QT Hotel you will be treated to a 20% discount on the best available rate at the time of booking.
To make a reservation at the QT Hotel please email [email protected] and let Jemma know that you are attending the Eat Drink Blog 6 Conference.
The Tradies Quality Hotel is a multi-award winning 4-star Hotel located in the famous Dickson food precinct and is only minutes from the city and a variety of Canberra’s leading attractions. The Tradies Quality Hotel Dickson is offering our attendees a special rate on their Twin/Double Rooms at $138 per night.
When making a reservation at The Tradies Quality Hotel, please quote the booking code Eat Drink Blog to receive this special rate and your Local Produce Welcome pack.
If you’ve seen the Hotel Hotel entrance, you just know their rooms are going to be as equally cool! And each of their rooms is unique. Situated in the trendy New Acton Precinct, you’ll be sure to be close to many of the EDB 6 events! Hotel Hotel is offering extremely reduced rates on their boutique rooms:
Original Rooms: $255
Creative Rooms: $295
Meandering Rooms: $375
Please note these rates will be subject to availability. The rates are valid between the 15th and 19th of October 2015.
To make a reservation at Hotel Hotel please email [email protected] or phone 02 6287 6287 and quote the booking code EAT151015.
]]>The time has come!
Registration for Eat Drink Blog 6 in Canberra is now live and you can purchase tickets here.
If you haven’t already done so, please make sure you read FAQs and important information here before purchasing tickets.
And if you need to refer back, the full conference program can be found here.
We hope to see you in Canberra!
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We’ve decided to delay opening registration by just three days because we want to give you more time to be ready for this. So that means registration will now open on Monday 20th July at 8pm.
There are 100 delegate positions available this year, which we think gives more of you a chance to experience EDB but still keeps the intimate nature of previous conferences.
There are 30 delegate positions available for ACT bloggers. We’ve had to think long and hard about this to make things fair for both local and interstate bloggers so we hope you agree that this is a fair decision. If there are interstate delegate positions vacant with two weeks remaining, we will open these up to more ACT bloggers.
There are strict selection criteria for EDB 6 (as in previous years). You must satisfy ALL THREE criteria items to be an eligible delegate, so please read them carefully and only register if you satisfy all three.
When we open registration at 8pm on Monday 20 July it will be ‘first in best dressed’ given you satisfy the criteria outlined below.
Please note that the organising committee will be going through each of the registered delegates blogs and if you do not meet ALL THREE selection criteria items we will have to make your place available for someone else and we will refund your ticket price, minus a $25 administration fee.
Yes, there will be a registration fee this year – we are just dotting the final i’s and crossing the final t’s, and we will be able to reveal the exact cost on Monday night. But rest assured, it won’t be exorbitant, and it will be amazing value for what will be a whole weekend of eating, drinking, foodie experiences and blogging education from some of the best names in the business.
Your registration fee covers all food and drink provided by our partners during the weekend (Friday dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner; and Sunday breakfast and dinner), delegate pack and transport between conference venues. Accommodation is at delegate’s expense – we will soon be announcing some great value accommodation deals with our partners, with something to suit every budget.
As you probably know, Eat Drink Blog has historically been a conference that is free for delegates to attend, and past organising committees have had to depend entirely on the generosity of sponsors to put the conference together. Hence, previous committees faced many limitations; the two biggest factors were: having to restrict delegate numbers due to limited funds and work within a very strict budget, both of which stretches committee resources very thin.
This year, we have decided to introduce a registration fee for a number of reasons:
We hope this makes sense and we hope you will support us on this decision as it hasn’t been taken lightly.
It is important to note that the registration fee has been decided on a cost-recovery basis only. If there is any money leftover at the end of the conference, it will be transferred across to the organising committee for EDB7.
If you have any questions between now and Monday night about the registration process or eligibility criteria please email us on [email protected] and we promise to reply to you within 24 hours.
So the only thing left to do now is if you meet all three selection criteria items mentioned above set your alarms for 8pm on Monday 20th July. We will post the link to buy tickets here, on our Facebook page and Twitter! We are super excited to see you in Canberra!
Registrations are now open! Purchase your ticket here.
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We know that we’ve kept you waiting for this and we are extremely grateful for your patience. So here is the full program for EDB6! Your organising committee has been working their hardest to put together a program that is educational and informative for both experienced bloggers as well as those who are in the early stages of their blogging journey. We also wanted to bring a different style of learning to this event and also wanted to share our favourite foodie stops of Canberra with you. With this in mind, we hope we have managed to put together an experience, not just a conference. It’s a program that takes you around Canberra where you can learn on the go, meet and interact with people in the food industry, eat and drink the best things this city has to offer and network with your fellow bloggers whilst participating in fun and educational activities. Of course we have a great line up of speakers to educate and inspire you as well.
A huge thank you goes to our major sponsors HerCanberra for working around the clock to put this program together!
We hope you like what you see and please stay tuned as details on conference registration will be released in a few days.
4.45pm Registration at The Hamlet
5.00pm Welcome by ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr followed by canapés and live music
6.30pm Small business taste and discovery (three groups rotating through three business to taste and tour)
9.00pm Nightcap and pre-conference networking at Lucky’s Speakeasy at QT Canberra
7.45am Delegates picked up from central accommodation points and transferred to Capital Region Farmers Market
8.15am Local producers breakfast and cooking demo by CIT Young Chefs
10.30am Delegates transferred to Westside Acton Park
11.00am Keynote speaker address by Matthew Evans at Aviary Bar, Westside
12.00pm Lunch at Westside Acton Park
12.45pm Walk across to Nishi Gallery
1.00pm Stirring the Pot on Restaurant Reviews by Wendy Johnson
1.45pm SEO and Social Media by Todd Wright
2.30pm Afternoon tea
3.00pm Food Styling by Tess Godkin
3.45pm Smart Phone Photography and Videography by Alice Lau
4.30pm End of presentations for the day
6.00pm Delegates picked up from central accommodation points and transferred to dinner.
6.30pm Regional Produce Dinner at A.Baker. Competition winners announced
9.00pm Delegates transferred back to central accommodation points
8.30am Breakfast at Nishi Gallery featuring local food and drink, supplied by The Fix Cold Pressed Juices, The Muesli Bar, A.Baker and Six8 Coffee Roasters
9.00am Panel Discussion: Is Fulltime Blogging the Holy Grail? Featuring Amanda Whitley from HerCanberra, The Merrymaker Sisters and Liz Posmyk
9.45am Fitting It All In- How to build your blog when you are too damn busy by Carly Jacobs
10.30am How to Self-publish Your Cookbook by The Merrymaker Sisters
11.15am Delegates transferred to their activity/stream of choice
12.00pm Lunch and activities
2.00pm Official end of EDB 6 and delegates transferred back to central accommodation points
(Please note that whilst we will endeavour to bring you this exact program, slight changes may need to take place due to factors beyond our control. However, we will strive to maintain the quality of the program as it is mentioned here)
Wendy graduated with a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada a few decades ago. She’s been living in Australia since 1995, having fallen in love with eucalypt trees and kangaroos. Wendy is passionate about Canberra and all the nation’s capital has to offer. She loves to write (about everything and anything) and owns her own pr and advertising business. In addition, Wendy has been writing tasty food reviews for CityNews for more than a decade, which has taken her up a full dress size. Not that she minds …
Please welcome Wendy to Eat Drink Blog 6!
Registrations are now open! Purchase your ticket here.
]]>We are thrilled to announce that this year, the EDB 6 conference will be starting off with something special. Instead of rocking up at a conference centre you will be getting some VIP treatment at the one and only Capital Region Farmers Market – Canberra’s original, biggest and best farmers market!
The Capital Region Farmers Market started with a bunch of roses and a bunch of Rotary guys. The idea of a farmers market was born back in 2003 when the Rotary Club of Hall was selling roses at the Old Parliament House Rose Gardens and one of the members was also trying to sell his own produce but having some difficulties. It was the perfect timing to develop a farmers market as there were many other small producers starting out and needing an outlet to sell their goodies!
Whilst they started as a market with just 15 stalls and 500 customers, they now host around 100 stalls and welcome over 6000 customers every Saturday morning at Exhibition Park in Canberra!
The markets not only provide fresh farm and food produce straight from the producer to the consumer but also provide an opportunity to discuss with growers so you truly get the full experience from ground to plate!
You are in for a serious treat! Capital Region Farmers Markets have something pretty special for you all: the visit will include some cooking demonstrations, some Q&A sessions and lots of delicious local goodies (and boy do we have some amazing producers!)! Finer details to be revealed in due course.
In the mean time, stay tuned for some more announcements about speakers, venues. And we PROMISE, the full programme and details on registrations will be coming soon! In the mean time, thanks for your patience!
Registrations are now open! Purchase your ticket here.
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