Board Members
Danielle Cameron
Media executive, Danielle Cameron spent much of corporate life in commercial management roles for News Limited, Network Ten and Eyecorp. Results-oriented, and strong in leadership and strategy planning, Danielle launched Australia’s first e-commerce website and online media auctions. A love of food and wine, and the desire and determination to promote Victorian produce through the Harvest Picnic Foundation, makes Danielle a recent and welcome addition to the Board.
Kirsty Hunt
Executive Officer
Kirsty Hunt has a Bachelor of Business from Monash University, majoring in Management, and has worked in hospitality and event management for most of her career. After joining the Foundation in 1998, in 2000, Kirsty was promoted to Executive Officer, and has played a pivotal role negotiating, acquiring and developing sponsorships, nurturing exhibitor relationships, upholding the calibre of guest chefs and entertainment, and maintaining the integrity of the Harvest Picnic. Both Kirsty and Kate Dema – a formidable team – have shaped events into what we know today as Harvest Picnic. Kirsty is also a board member.
Jim Irwin
Jim Irwin has been engaged in the tourism and hospitality industry for the past 40 years – in hotels, restaurants and catering companies, and over recent years in vocational education and training. As strategic projects development manager for William Angliss, the specialist centre for foods, tourism & hospitality based in Melbourne, Jim works globally on opportunities to assist in the professional development of the industry leaders of tomorrow, whilst promoting Melbourne’s legitimate claim to be one of the world’s premier centres of excellence in the production and appreciation of the best in foods and beverages.
George James McMaster
FAIM, MAICD, AFCIA, JP
George McMaster is a founding board member. With a career spanning four decades, his diverse industry experience includes: finance, mining, hotels and resorts, brewery construction and management, property development, food manufacturing and retailing; several listed public company directorships; and successful international corporate negotiations and projects. George is often invited to lecture at William Angliss Institute of TAFE, Box Hill Institute and national hospitality and catering seminars. He also sits on Victoria University’s Board of Course Governors; is an honorary life governor for the Royal Children’s Hospital, Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, and the Spastic Society of Victoria; and a member of the Development Council for the Mental Health Research Institute and the Regional Chairman’s Committee for Daylesford Macedon Ranges.
Michelle Potts
Michelle is a Melbourne-based food, wine and travel writer, and former beer columnist, who eats, drinks and cooks for a living. She contributes to The Age, Epicure, and reviews restaurants for The Age Good Food Guide and Cheap Eats Guide. An advocate of what’s best, freshest and in season, she has the utmost respect for the hard-working men and women of the land, but after nurturing grapes to glass on the Mornington Peninsula, she’d rather drink pinot noir than make it.
Member of the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) and Melbourne Press Club, Michelle joined the Board in 2008, and is a Harvest Picnic awards judge.
Paris Singer
Chair of the board
Through expertise in communications, design and brand strategy, Paris Singer has helped define brands such as Foster’s, Coles, Heinz, Victoria Racing Club (Melbourne Cup), Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy, and more recently, the new Harvest Picnic Foundation corporate identity launched late 2009. His client list is a long one including corporate, government, sports, entertainment, luxury brands and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) spanning 15 years in the industry. Paris has also coordinated his fair share of social events over the years. A keen sportsman with a genuine interest in food and wine, Paris joined the Board in 2008.