Rural journalists from all over the state came together to celebrate their profession and congratulate the winners of the ROCQ Rural Media Awards.
Also in attendance were special guests who spoke about their experiences creating new media startups: Harry Clarke's Country Caller, Jessica Howard's Bush Journal and Matt Nicholls' Cape York Weekly.
Moderator Charlie Peel lead a discussion with the panel on how their individual media businesses found their audience and where their readership initially came from and where it's landed.
The speakers gave a summary of the challenges and why they set up their businesses, and some of their memorable moments.
Harry Clarke said "you find the best stories of the pub and it's true".
He then related a story about a character he met in the Chinchilla hotel called 'Cowboy' who had been charged by the local police for carrying a pocket knife.
Jessica Howard said Bush Journal was more like a book than a magazine.
She said she wanted to give people something that they could keep for a long time rather than end up at the bottom of a kitty litter tray.
Mr Clarke surprised the luncheon by saying that his biggest audience for Country Caller came from Sydney.
