If you're wanting to take your food and wine blogging to the next level, this is the event for you.

This Problogger Special Event has been created specifically for bloggers of food, wine and foodie-related topics so that they may come together to learn and network - with the goal of building better blogs.  It's open to bloggers of all levels and we hope it will be the first in a series of "foodie" events.

You will hear from professional journalists who have also turned their hand to the digital medium and a prolific Melbourne blogger who manages to update her multiple blogs all while being a great mother and delivering her best at her day job.  Darren Rowse, Problogger himself, will answer your questions as part of a panel discussion, and Shane Delia, celebrity chef and owner of Maha Restaurant will make you feel more than welcome as our emcee and chef for the evening.

Shane Delia is delighted to be co-hosting the very first Problogger special event for food and wine bloggers, at his Melbourne restaurant, Maha.

Your co-hosts, Darren Rowse (@problogger) and Shane Delia (@shanedelia) have lined up a delectable evening that includes three fantastic speakers, a panel discussion, a delicious 3 course meal from the team at Maha and wines to match each course. 

SPEAKERS

DAN SIMS, THE WINE GUIDE
A fresh perspective on wine writing

Cool, calm and collected without pretentious frippery is how Dan likes to keep the world of wine. An award winning Sommelier and the engine room for many of The Wine Guide's clients and for their events that happen around Australia and beyond.

Dan's excitement for good wine is palpable whether in front of a camera, or in front of a room full of bloggers, and his even handed approach to wine has drawn plenty of praise from the press and trade.

Dan will share his insights on how his no-nonsense approach to writing can be applied to your own blogging.

More about Dan   |   @dansims   |   Facebook

"JETSETTING JOYCE", MEL: HOT OR NOT
Successes and learnings from my food blogging journey.

Jetsetting Joyce started blogging in 2007 when lived in London. Back then, LDN: HOT OR NOT was a simple Blogger template with hardly any pictures and maybe one or two paragraphs about where she'd eaten, what play she'd seen, what shops she'd visited and places she stayed. It was a way of keeping in touch with family and friends and was more of a travel diary than something meant for a wider audience.

When Joyce returned to Melbourne 2009 she was going to quit blogging...but found that it'd gotten into quite an addictive habit. So MEL: HOT OR NOT was born and has continued to thrive for over 3 years with one person's honest and informative reviews about everything Melbourne - restaurants, bars, theatre, festivals, events, shops and businesses. All written with one decisive criteria in mind - is it HOT OR NOT?

Joyce's blogging addiction has meant she now also writes TOT: HOT OR NOT, a blog about parenting which started in August 2010 with her first pregnancy, plus a blog filled with cycle chic inspiration as part of her online bike shop CycleStyle. She fits all the blogging around her day job as an intellectual property and IT lawyer. (Yeah, she's a busy lady!)

Joyce will share her learnings and successes and how she's applied them to her blogging career.

More about Joyce  |  @jetsettingjoyce   |   Facebook

HILARY MCNEVIN, BROADSHEET, THE AGE
The art of writing a review: expressing your opinion, with context and effective, thoughtful communication

Hilary McNevin worked front-of-house, managing restaurants and studying wine in both Australia and the UK for 15 years before shifting careers.   She studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT and during her study and since finishing the course at the end of 2007, has freelanced for Epicure in The Age as a regular contributore and fills in for senior reviewer Larissa Dubecki on the Espresso column.

Hilary has reviewed for and sub-edited The Age Good Food Guide 2008 and 2009, and continues to review for the guide. She is a reviewer for The Age Cheap Eats, The Age Good Cafe Guide, Good Food Shopping Guide and Good Bar Guide. She is the restaurant reviewer for The Moonee Valley Weekly, a Fairfax publication and is a contributing food writer for Broadsheet.com.au.

She contributes regularly to Winestate magazine and the James Halliday Wine Companion magazine and in July will begin writing Melbourne food news for Delicious magazine.

Hilary had her first book Guide to Fish: Choosing and Cooking Sustainable Species published by Fairfax in October 2008.

Hilary will share her extensive experience in writing reviews, providing key "journalism" hints and tips on the fine art of review writing.

More about Hilary   |   @hilarymcnevin     

TICKET COST

Two ticket price options

$90.00 (incl GST) includes:

• An evening in the company of Problogger Darren Rowse, Chef Shane Delia, Hilary McNevin, Dan Sims and blogger JetsettingJoyce, sharing and learning to further your blog's success
• 3 course menu served on communal tables, designed by Shane Delia and the Maha team.  Dietary requirements will be catered for.
• Unlimited water (still or sparkling) no wine matching with this ticket type

$120.00 (incl GST) includes:

• An evening in the company of Problogger Darren Rowse, Chef Shane Delia, Hilary McNevin, Dan Sims and blogger JetsettingJoyce, sharing and learning to further your blog's success
• 3 course menu served on communal tables, designed by Shane Delia and the Maha team.  Dietary requirements will be catered for.
• Wines matched to each course, plus unlimited water (still or sparkling)

Registration via eventbrite will reserve your ticket only.  Your seat at the venue will only be confirmed once payment is collected.  A representative of Maha will make contact with you to confirm your payment details once you have reserved your seat via eventbrite. 

If reserving multiple tickets in one transaction, you will automatically be seated at the same table as your companions.  If you have a special seating request, please communicate this to the Maha representative when confirming your payment.