Eat Drink Blog Adelaide
Congratulations to the Eat Drink Blog 3 committee for organising a very well run conference with the support of many generous sponsors and presenters. It's the first one I've attended and hopefully many more to come. I stayed at the Hilton Adelaide ($180/night) which was conveniently located next to the Central Markets. The room (#923) was comfortable and modern although I found changing channels on the digital TV very slow and the free wifi available in the lobby was slow and unreliable making it very frustrating to get my #EDB2012 tweets done on the laptop. Hopefully they'll be upgrading in the near future. The conference was a great way to meet lots of food bloggers from around Australia and helped put real faces to blog names and twitter handles.
Day 1 involved a tour of the Central Market for some sample tastings before heading off to my chosen McLaren Vale wine tour at d'Arenberg where we got to blend our own Shiraz which was lots of fun. The conference dinner was held at the Hilton Adelaide where a feast was provided by Chef Dennis Leslie and team. I liked the smokey chicken, pork and lamb the best although I thought there was way too much food to comfortably finish and the tables were so wide I found it a bit hard to speak to guests on the other side, let alone reach and pass around the heavy platters of food. The chocolate fountain was a hit for those who kept room for dessert.
Day 2 started with a generous display of pastries from Red Door Bakery. I tried most of the offerings and loved the sausage rolls and rhubarb danish. The pastry was very good. I felt there was something to be learnt from all the speakers. The entertaining presentation by Geoff Kwitco about SEO, Metrics and Google Ranking was one of the most engaging talks which everyone seemed to want to go for longer. Simon Bryant got me thinking more about local and seasonal produce and I'll surely be on the look out for more restaurants that have blackboard menu specials of the day. Lunch was provided by some of the stall holders at Central Market. The freshly cooked smoked ham by O'Connells Meats was truly superb. I wish I had more time to visit more of the restaurants, cafes and bars in Adelaide so it's on my wish list to return.
Check out more photos on facebook:
• Day 1: Arrival, Registration, Central Market tour, d'Arenberg visit, Conference Dinner
• Day 2: Breakfast, Presentations, Lunch at Central Market, Afternoon Tea
SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Opportunity to meet lots of food bloggers from around Australia, Lots of free goodies including the conference dinner, Learning lots of blogging tips from the presenters, Taking photos of your food with a DSLR is highly acceptable
CONS: Need to pay for your own travel and accommodation which can get expensive
MUST TRY: Hopefully attending the next conference
VERDICT: If you have the time and money to travel it's a great opportunity to meet like minded people and learn a few things along the way
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| A friendly bunch of food bloggers arriving for the conference |
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| Hilton Adelaide King Deluxe — very nice although free wifi in the lobby was unfortunately very slow and unreliable |
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| Eat Drink Blog 3 committee did a fantastic job |
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| Hi what's your blog — OMG I follow you — I love your blog |
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| Adelaide Central Markets tour with sample tastings |
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| d'Arenberg wine blending class |
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| The first rule of food blogging — always make sure everyone has taken their photo before you touch the food |
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| A few cellar door purchases: DADD Sparkling ($28), 2012 Sauvignon Blanc ($19), 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ($18) |
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| Food bloggers seriously cannot help themselves taking photos of food |
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| Black t-shirt for formal occassions |
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| Desserts are always popular |
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| Breakfast supplied by Red Door Bakery |
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| Food + Food Bloggers = Photography |
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| Diane Jacobs keynote about food writing |
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| Rebecca Varidel (Inside Cuisine) and Shai Coggins (Studio Notes) discuss 'Building a Community' |
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| Peter Georgakopolous (Souvlaki for the Soul) Home Shoots workshop |
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| Jules Clancy (The Stone Soup) Blog Design workshop |
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| Grant Nowell Photography workshop |
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| Fiona Roberts (Fiona Roberts Food) Food Styling workshop |
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| Adelaide Central Markets lunch: This freshly cooked ham was so good from O'Connells Meats |
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| Paella |
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| Chocolate fountain always a hit |
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| Central Market stall holders that generously provided lunch |
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| Chocolate moustaches were popular |
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| Dessert paparazzi |
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| Geoff Kwitco (StartupClub) Q&A SEO/Metrics/Google Ranking |
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| Paul Bullock (Anthony Mason Chambers) Q&A Legal |
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| Christie Connolly (Fig & Cherry) and Ed Charles (Tomato) Q&A Ethics and Working with PRs |
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| Tammi Jonas and Simon Bryant discuss Local and Seasonal with Amanda McInerney (Lambs Ears and Honey) |
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| Sandra Reynolds ($120 Food Challenge), Helen Yee (Grab Your Fork) and Peter Georgakopolous (Souvlaki for the Soul) discuss Opportunities from Blogging with Christina Soon-Kroeger (The Hungry Australian) |
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| Eat Drink Blog 3 conference photography and writing competition winners |
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| Toilet check — all good |
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| Central Market goodie bag |
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