Australian food bloggers who are keen to attend the 2014 Eat Drink Blog Conference will be extremely pleased to hear that registrations are now officially open!

This years Australian Food Blogger’s Conference is to be held in Brisbane, on the weekend of 20th -21st September at our venue Studio Thirtyfour in the suburb of Newstead.

• Eat Drink Blog 5, as in previous years, is FREE for all delegates to attend.
• Delegates are responsible for their own flights, accommodation, transfers and expenses.
• There are currently 60 places available.

Food blogging has evolved in recent times and as such, we are looking for a wider variety of bloggers this year. As usual, bloggers who cover food, wine, drinks, coffee, home cooking, restaurant reviewing and food discussion may apply.

We will also be looking for a certain number of applicants who are microbloggers and use other platforms or means of blogging (such as Instagram). You must specify how and where you blog or microblog at the time of application.

• Due to limited places, we must specify that only one person per blog may attend EDB.

Complete the Online Registration Form to apply for a place at Eat Drink Blog 5. Applications close strictly on 20th June 2014, at Midnight, AEST.

Applicants MUST agree to the Eat Drink Blog 2014 Terms and Conditions.

Merely applying to attend Eat Drink Blog 5 does not guarantee you a place. Applications will be reviewed and an email will be sent to all applicants regarding their status by 30th June 2014.

In the event of oversubscription (there are more applications than places being offered), the Eat Drink Blog 2014 Committee will use their discretion to allocate places to a selection which are representative of a variety of blogs and blogging platforms.

This means regretfully some applicants may be disappointed. The committee’s decision regarding applications will be final, and no correspondance will be entered into.

• This event is entirely FREE to attend. There are no registration or attendance fees.
• There are 80 seats available.
• Delegates are responsible for their own flights, accommodation, transfers and expenses.

We have put in place some criteria in order to make this process as fair as possible, so here are the rules:

• You are an Australian food blogger, that is, either a food blogger living in Australia or an Australian food blogger living abroad.
• Your blog must be at least twelve (12) months old.
• You must have published a minimum of 25 posts.
• You are not a commercial blogger i.e. those blogging only for money or as part of their job, for example, a chef blogging for a restaurant or staff blogging for a brand.
• We are looking for a cross-section of bloggers covering food, wine, drinks, home cooking, restaurant reviewing, and food discussion.
• Due to space restrictions there is a strict limit of one person attending per blog.

Complete the online registration form to apply for a place at Eat Drink Blog 4. Registrations close on Monday 2 September at Midnight (ACST) so make sure you apply before then.

Please note that filling in this form does not guarantee you a place due to limited seating. All applicants will receive an email confirming the status of their application by Friday 6 September.

In the Event of Over-Subscription

If Eat Drink Blog 2013 becomes over-subscribed – that is, we receive more registrations than we have places to offer, the Eat Drink Blog 2013 Organising Committee will use our discretion to allot conference places to a selection of blogs representative of the current Australia food blogging sphere. Our criteria for this will include:

• Quality and frequency of posts;

• Demonstrated commitment by the blogger to extending and improving their skills; • Ongoing, active engagement in social media; and

• Support and promotion of fellow food bloggers and the wider food blogging community in general.

Unfortunately oversubscription will mean that some applicants are disappointed. While we regret this outcome, the committee’s decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

With the first round of registrations and RSVPs for Eat Drink Blog now at a close and the RSVP numbers crunched, we’re ready for round 2. A small number of additional places have become available – these are essentially from places we had reserved for conference day presenters, guests and sponsors who can’t stay on for the entire day – and we’re passing them on to you!

We realise now via your feedback that not everyone in the blogging community was aware that the conference was being organised and that the call for registrations had taken place so hopefully this is the second chance for those who missed out on the first round.

The registration process and criteria are below and we’ve taken on your feedback and reduced the blog age to minimum of 6 months old. But due to time constraints and the looming conference drawing near, it’ll be a first come first served format. Once our additional allocation of places are filled, we’ll close the registrations – so as per the post title, get in quick!

The entry criteria are as follows:

• Your blog must be a minimum 6 months old
• Your blog must have  a minimum of 1 post per month, and a minimum of 18 posts per year to qualify
• There is a strict limit of one person attending per blog
• We’re looking for a cross section of food bloggers covering food, drink, restaurant, baking and cooking
• We are not looking for bloggers officially representing commercial interests, i.e. those employed to blog for payment for brands, restaurants or companies (as stated previously, we do not mean bloggers who do or have accepted sponsored posts)
• This event is entirely free to attend. There are no registration or attendance fees

Edit: Second round registrations have now closed