blogAway’s Hands on L’Aquila blogging workshop 27-29 September 2012 is a unique way for those with a simple passion for food & travel to bolster the economically neglected region of Abruzzo, still suffering the fallout from the earthquake that shook Italy in 2009.
At the heart of the L’Aquila province of Abruzzo, and located just 1¾ hours from Rome, the old Medici hilltop town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio is on the south east fringes of Abruzzo’s Campo Imperatore, the ‘Little Tibet’ of Italy, which The Times included in its “Top 10 Adventures of a Lifetime”. This historic town, described by The New York Times as “poetically aged”, will be playing host to the Hands on L’Aquila workshop, and with its delightful maze of cobbled streets and archways alongside modern facilities offers the perfect environment, as well as an ideal platform from which to experience one of the region’s most beautiful provinces, its regional customs, cuisine and more; the weather in September is normally dry, with an average temperature of 25°C.
Each day will see us convene in the boutique albergo diffuso, Sextantio, described by the FT as “hip and historic”, with 7 workshops led by internationally acclaimed experts, to include practicals, sagra style lunches & tastings and pairings in the evening. Attendees can optimise their blog, improve their writing, photography & image processing, fine tune their social media skills, and at the same time network with like-minded people, all of which can be a taxable expense as part of a working holiday to Italy! For local Abruzzese residents a 25% discount is offered and all presentations are available with an Italian translation.
All profits from the blogger workshops will be donated to two local community causes, selected for their potential contribution to improving the lifestyle of the community as a whole, helping facilitate travel tourism within the area, increasing the brand reach of local food & wine producers and providing local employment.
Local businesses are invited to participate through attendance or by sponsorship and to build relationships with local and international bloggers and receive online column inches in new markets or revitalise old markets. Santo Stefano’s mayor, Antonio D'Aloisio will invite affected communes in L’Aquila and Teramo on behalf of blogAway to exhibit and sell artisanal products representative of their area in Abruzzo at the Saturday Market Day to ensure that those most affected by earthquake and austerity get ample opportunity to foster new relationships and attract new customers.
Notes to Editors
Please contact Sammy Dunham Sam@blogAway.org | +44 1453 836366
Replies