Project report by Sophie Hansen 13 November 2017.

1.       Executive Summary

My Open Kitchen is an e-course, podcast and calendar of events designed to give farmers and producers the skills and inspiration to use social media to build supportive communities around their farms/produce and to turn customers into advocates.

2.       Project name

My Open Kitchen - www.my-open-kitchen.com

3.       Project plan

My Open Kitchen is a self-paced, 6-week e-course designed to help farmers, value-adders, cooks and producers get started with social media to celebrate the they produce and tell their stories through recipes, words and great photos.

The course is made up of 5 modules which will be delivered here over six weeks (with a breather in the middle so everyone can catch up). Every week a new module 'drops' and will include an explainer video or exclusive podcast, plus there'll be the option to print out everything and a bit of optional homework. The idea is that this will be a fun, inspiring and social experience.

Who is this course designed for? • Anyone involved in farming, food production, value adding or food distribution

who is looking to take advantage of social media to grow customer, support and peer networks that will provide real, authentic support to your business.

• Anyone wanting to learn the basics of the main social media platforms, how to get started on them, why and how to use them well.

• Anyone wanting to learn how to take and edit good photos of their farm, food, cafe, cheese, whatever!

• Anyone wanting to learn how to write a simple recipe to showcase their produce. • Anyone wanting to make connections, new friends and new customers and find

their ‘tribe’ online.

This course isn’t a deep dive into algorithms, SEO and digital marketing - it’s an introduction to the world of online community building, photography, writing about food, creating recipes that will inspire your audience to go out and find your product. It is designed to give participants confidence, skills and a nice big, friendly foodie step-up into the world of social media.

Module breakdowns Module 1 - The who, what and whyWhat's your story, why are you telling it and who are you telling it to? How to develop an authentic voice that will resonate and inspire. Module 2 - The different platforms and how to get started with themGetting started or getting better with social media; an overview of the different platforms, how they work and how to use them. Then we'll finish with lots of examples of regional and rural users, what they are doing right and what we can learn from them Module 3 - Visual storytellingHow to use your smartphone or camera to take and edit bright, appealing and share-able images of your food, farms, products, cafe, people. We go through the basics of food and lifestyle photography from light to composition and angles. We'll show you some easy to use editing platforms and apps and how to hashtag, caption and share your photos. Module 4 - Food and recipe writingHow to write about food (without cliches), so people want to go out, find, cook and share it. How to turn your own ideas into clear, easy-to-follow recipes that will get your networks excited about your produce and inspired to cook it. Module 5 - Building a following, collaborating and connectingHow to get noticed, growing a real following that's all about quality not quantity. How to edit your words, feed and story, the art of collaborating and connecting and the rules of online engagement.

What will participants get out of it?

• A brand new, supportive community. • A clear idea of what you want to say on social media, why and to whom. • An understanding of how to write a simple recipe, how to shoot it on your phone

or camera. • An understanding of the basics of food and lifestyle photography. • Lots of inspiration and new ideas for either getting started on social media or

refining and improving what you are already doing. • Tips on building an audience and finding your own style.

4.       Actions taken • I have delivered the course to 4 groups and a total of 145 students. Enrolments

are now open for the February 2018 round. • I have run 8 social media/iphonography workshops in 2017 teaching practical

skills to producer and small business groups all over the state. • The My Open Kitchen Podcast is now into its third season with over 120k

downloads. • I launched the My Open Kitchen Gathering event to be held in May 2018, a

weekend of panel discussions, workshops and events for 80 people. Tickets sold out within 40 minutes.

5.       Highlights

All of the above! Also, watching the communities of students and alumni grow in our closed Facebook group, the support networks we are growing and that participants are nurturing and the collaborations I’m already seeing spring out of this. I also find it hugely rewarding to see so many of our course students confidently using social media and really engaging with a clear story and audience in mind.

6.       Bursary use

$1499 - Laptop $380 - Microphones $110 - Tripod $3500 - Graphic design, logo/branding and website development for My Open Kitchen

$4000 - Studio hire and production cost for first 16 x episodes of the My Open Kitchen podcast (we secured sponsorship for subsequent episodes) $580 - Brochure and workshop handout printing $10,070

7.       Outcomes / results We have reached thousands of people with our free podcast, currently up to our 18th episode, each one featuring lots of advice, inspiration and practical tips on how to use social media to better connect and tell our stories. Over 120 people have attended my actual workshops and around the same number have gone through my e-courses and taken away skills and inspiration which they are now using to grow awareness of and support for the food and fibre they grow and sell.

8.       Project challenges and solutions

The social media landscape changes almost daily so it is a significant time investment to ensure that the e-course is current and constantly updated. I do my best to ensure a weekly update to the e-course and stay in touch with all students through our e-course alumni Facebook page where updates are posted.

There is so much more I would like to achieve through My Open Kitchen - more regular podcasts, more specialisted e-course offerings, printed workbooks and so on but time is always the issue! I am working on these ambitions one at a time.

9.       Next Steps – future plans and ideas to progress this further or use knowledge for future activities etc.

As indicated above, I hope to grow My Open Kitchen and dedicate more time to its development. Currently though I am working on a new cookbook which is taking much of time time (manuscript is due in April 2018 and after that I will be focussing back on My Open Kitchen).

The next big thing for My Open Kitchen will be our May Gathering - The main point of this event is to get a bunch of farmers, food producers and small businesses together to share ideas and inspiration about how we can all use social media to better tell our stories and build communities around what we do. Plus of course, spend a weekend with awesome, like minded people talking about food,

taking photos and learning from each other. Starting with welcome drinks on Friday night we move on to Saturday with a full day of talks, panel discussions, feasting and networking and then finish up on Sunday with a choice of six mini-workshops.

10.   Professional Development a.       Course/program undertaken

I undertook and recently graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors course and was also very appreciative to go through the Michelle Bowden Persuasive Presenting MasterClass.

b.       Personal highlights and learnings • Just two weeks ago I was offered my first board position as an independent

director on the RAS Foundation. • I have had much experience in speaking in public and running workshops and

feel I have grown in confidence and competence in these areas. • More than anything I feel that since applying for the award back in 2015 I have a

much clearer idea of what I have to offer and how to go about and sustainably continue making my contribution to rural and regional Australia.