Good taste on the TAFE menu

Young people don’t always have much of a relationship with fine wines and gourmet food.

But a group of Wollongong TAFE students last week brought some of these exclusive goods to the city to raise money and help their future careers.

Kbam Events is a local event business run by Event Management students from Wollongong TAFE.

Last week a group of six students working under the Kbam banner held what was touted as ‘one of the Illawarra’s finest gourmet food and wine sampling nights in 2008.’

The event, named ‘Sipped and Sampled’, was held at the Novotel Northbeach last Friday night. It featured a selection of elite wines from the Hunter Valley, Margaret River, Barossa and Coonawarra regions and a range of gourmet foods and cheeses.

TAFE student and one of the Sipped and Sampled organisers Kate Mathews said the wine makers involved were selling and showing wines not available in ordinary bottle shops.

Ms Mathews said the night took months of planning and preparation but was impressed by how willing companies were to come on board and show off their produce.

“It’s been a long process with a lot of phone calls and meetings with different companies, but because they’re supporting our learning lots of companies have been keen to get on board,” she said.

Funds raised through this event and others run by Event Management students this year will pay for the students to attend a careers conference later in the year.

It is hoped the conference will extend the students’ learning and also lead to potential future job opportunities.

Ms Mathews said past students who attended the conference had ended up employed by people they met there.

Ms Mathews said putting on the event is a great way to start learning what life is actually like in the industry.

“You see how worthwhile the course really is and it starts to make a lot more sense to you,” she said.