Win 1 of 10 Trips to The Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia #QldBlog

Update: this competition is now closed to new entries. We’re now narrowing down to find our 10 winners who will be contacted and then announced here on ProBlogger on 24 April (note: I previously wrote 23rd of April but this was my mistake. As per the terms and conditions it is 24th April). Thanks to all who entered!

As a blogger, I get pitched to a lot by companies and organizations asking me to endorse their products. The problem is I have limited or no experience with many of them, and to endorse them would feel like selling out.

As a result, two years ago I created a list of things I would feel comfortable endorsing.  It was a dream list of products that I would love to promote because I genuinely feel a love for them.

The list was short and was made up of companies and products that I’d drop everything to work with. On the top of my list was something that I have a lot of experience with—something I promote at any opportunity and something that I’d always dreamed of showcasing on my blogs.

That thing was Australia

I’m an Aussie and I am regularly asked if I’ve considered moving overseas to further my business. While the idea has occurred to me a few times, I can’t imagine ever leaving Australia for more than a short trip.

One of my favourite parts of this enormous country is Queensland—Australia’s holiday playground, and a regular vacation destination for my family. It’s also home to one of the world’s natural wonders: the Great Barrier Reef, a 2300+ kilometre stretch of 2900 individual reefs and 900 tropical islands. It’s over 350,000 square kilometres in size, and the only living structure on earth that can be seen from outer space!

Aside from this natural wonder, Queensland is known for many things. It has a tropical climate, beautiful beaches, a casual atmosphere and the options to either relax or do something adventurous (check out the 5 regions of the reef here). It’s the antidote to routine and it’s one place that Aussies go to recharge and rejuvenate.

My dream came true

A year ago I was in Queensland for a conference and, sitting at the airport, I had the crazy idea that we should run a ProBlogger Down Under competition. The idea was simple—we run a competition to bring a group of bloggers to Australia to see the Great Barrier Reef and also do a little blogging training. I tweeted the idea and was inundated by people wanting to enter. I also received tweets from some tourism organisations.

To cut a long story short, today I’m ecstatic to announce a competition to bring ten highly creative bloggers from all corners of the globe to Queensland to become Queensland Blogger Correspondents. Lucky winners will not only experience the destination first hand, they will get to blog about it plus become a guest blogger for Tourism Queensland’s own blog later this year.

Win a trip to Queensland (and get some personal ProBlogger training)

From June 5 to June 10 this year, Tourism Queensland and I will bring ten of what I think are the most intriguing bloggers from around the globe to Queensland to meet me and experience the Great Barrier Reef as Queensland Blogger Correspondents. You could be one of them.

The idea is simple: I love Queensland and I want to showcase it to the world. I also believe in the power of blogging and social media. So the best way to get the message out about this tropical playground is to invite people like you to experience it.

As part of the experience, you will be required to report about your adventure on your blog and social networks. The content will later be added to Tourism Queensland’s new blog. It’s going to be fun, but there will also be a little work (if you call blogging “work”) involved. A working holiday of sorts.

Plus—as an extra bonus—during the trip I’ll be running two exclusive training workshops for the ten winning bloggers. We’ll spend four or five hours—perhaps on a tropical island or maybe under the canopy of the world’s oldest rainforest—talking about the principles of successful blogging and workshopping how you can improve your blogs.

Prize details

Ten lucky bloggers will win a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to Queensland, Australia including return economy-class air tickets, accommodation, excursions to some of Queensland’s bucket-list attractions like the Great Barrier Reef, meals, and two close-encounter workshops with me. The event will run from June 5 until June 10, 2012, not including travel time.

In return for seeing some amazing sights, tasting some modern Aussie tucker (food), and meeting some wonderful characters, we’ll put aside time for you to create content (a minimum of two blog posts complemented by tweets, videos, photography, status updates, or podcasts) for you to share with your audience. The content will later be featured on the Tourism Queensland blog.

Please note that this prize is open only to bloggers over the age of 18 and I can assure you that we will be busy! As such we will be unable to cater for partners, family, or friends. For more information about the Tourism Queensland ProBlogger Great Barrier Reef Event prize and the terms and conditions, click here.

UPDATE: here is the 5 day itinerary for the trip.

How to enter

For your chance to win a spot on this exciting trip we want you to tell us why you would make the ideal Queensland Blogger Correspondent.

We will choose ten winners based on how you would cover the experience. How you would get the word out about what you’re doing. What kind of exposure you could bring to the destination. What creative methods you would use to share your story.

But hurry, the competition closes at midnight April 17, 2012 (AEST—that’s Australian Eastern time) with the announcement of the winners on April 23, 2012 (AEST). Please note that Australia is a day ahead of some parts of the world!

To enter, please read the competition terms and conditions and then head to the competition entry form.

There you will find a form that asks you for a range of information about you, your blog, and how you’d cover this trip.

We need some basics like your name, blog URL, traffic, your social media accounts, etc., but also want you to tell us how you’d approach covering this trip as a blogger correspondent.

Note: This is not just about finding the biggest blog to award the prize to. We will consider audience size, but we’re also extremely interested in hearing about your audience, how you’d cover the trip, and how the trip relates to your audience, as well as reviewing quality examples of your work.

This competition is open to bloggers anywhere around the globe (including within Australia) and we’re interested to hear from a range of bloggers from different niches.

Please ensure that you carefully read the terms and conditions of this competition before using the entry form.

Good luck to everyone – I look forward to spending a few special days with 10 of you on the Great Barrier Reef in June!

UPDATE: we’ll be using the hashtag of #QldBlog on Twitter to track this conversation.