Mumbrella Event - NW Tasmania
Mumbrella Media Event – Rocky Cape National Park
It’s been a few busy months for me as we sprint towards the end of 2019.
In October I was approached by the good folks at Mumbrella, Australia to be involved in a media conference to be held in the states North West.
Who I Mumbrella? Good question, and one that I asked myself when they asked me to come be a guest presenter at their November/December Media Conference.
Mumbrella are one of, if not Australia’s leading marketing and media industry news website. In 2008, Tim Burrowes created Mumbrella and has since then become one of the industries most trusted and popular sources of news, commentary and analysis on advertising, PR and media.
The invite was made to attend the two days of their media and marketing conference to be held at the stunning bush retreat Sandridge Estate at Sister Beach. A tranquil little bush retreat with real life "glamping" tents, set out on a beautiful hillside near the coastline of North West Tasmania.
Sandridge Estate, my first time to visit this location, has one of the best reception and wedding venues I have seen in Tasmania. A beautiful, rustic shed that would just make the most ideal space for a wedding or reception event.
The two days would consist of being a guest speaker and to guide a group of Marketers and Media Executive from all over Australia. The guiding would include a circuit 2-2.5hr walk around the very scenic Anniversary Bay walk that departs from the western end of Sister Beach. The time spent walking would be filled with discussion around photography, tourism and photography, how photography fits into the media space, and how to improve your photography whilst travelling. Along the way, we would also discuss hiking in Tasmania and what makes Tasmania such an amazing location for people to visit, both for pleasure and business.
The walk was a total of 8km’s with a lovely little heart-rate builder to start the walk up and over the first hill.
My first group on Day 1 were a group of head marketing representatives from some of the country’s largest companies. They were super enthusiastic to hit the trail and we were blessed with sunnies skies and light winds; it was stunning. We discuss simple practises of improving your photography, composition, leading lines, foreground interest and the like.
It’s amazing to see just how quickly people pick up these tips and run with them. Before we knew it there was some excellent images being captured, mostly on iPhone's, of the brilliant colours of the coastal waters and rugged shoreline of the Rocky Cape National Park.
When we reached Anniversary Bay the group were completely blown away by the beauty that is the Tasmanian coastline. Sparking waters, squeaky white sands, and views to die for. No one was overly keen for a swim, but there was a few feet dipped in the shallow waters. From this point we continued for a 1-2km walk along the beach and headed our way back to the completion of the circuit.
It was amazing to walk along and listen to conversations these guys were deeply passionate about. And it was interesting to get an insight into the world of corporate marketing at the level these businesses work at. Not sure I picked up any new marketing skills so to speak, but it was certainly refreshing to mingle with people who live in the world of marketing and promoting their brands.
Day 2 was a week later – same event, different weather and season. From spring to summer it was like Tasmania had gone from winter to “Super Winter”. The day was full of weather warnings, strong wind warnings, snow down to 600m levels and more. What a day to do a coastal walk with exposed sections of track. Surely these media executives, so comfortable as being indoors, in presentation rooms or corporate junkets wouldn’t want to walk through the elements of wild Tasmania? Surely…?
Not so!
These representatives, coming from some of the world’s biggest companies, such as Google, the Guardian, News Corp, etc.. weren’t phased at all.
Originally, the organisers weren’t sure if the walk and guiding would go ahead. I arrived at Sandridge Estate to howling winds, rain and cold temperatures. I met up with Lauren and Abby from Mumbrella in the shed and they were confident that some people might want to do the 8km walk. After a bit of discussion we made the call to shorten the walk to 6km and spend most of our time on the more sheltered and protected section of the circuit, out of the winds and rain predicted.
Time came to make the call and we had a great turn out of folks keen as mustard to hit the track. A brilliant display of courage and excitement was bubbling as we made it down to the track head.
We headed down to Sister's Beach to start the 6km return walk to Anniversary Bay and back. As luck would have it we were blessed with a nice break in the treacherous weather and were able to make the 1.5hr trip in minimal rain, and sheltered from the rain and wind by the hills of the Rocky Cape NP.
We returned the group all in one piece and I was pleased to hear that everyone had enjoyed the trip immensely.
Tasmania and her wild weather won over the hearts of many of those on the second trip, and as only Tasmania can do. She expressed her true wild side to a group of people who absolutely loved every second of it. A true win for Tasmania in my opinion.
These two days of guiding and speaking was a great experience to be involved in and again I would like to thank Tim, Lauren, Abby and the rest of the team at Mumbrella for inviting me to be involved.
And to anyone wanting to visit this walk, I cannot recommend this walk highly enough. Family friendly and incredible coastal scenery all the way.
Cam Blake
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