Brisbane Twestival Local, September 2009

Oh, Christ! How this was a busy time for me. I wish I’d written about this earlier. But it pretty much went off with a bang and I’m still proud of how everyone worked well on it. My first major event as king pin and I think I did a pretty good job, despite my more natural outlook of criticising my hard work to the dickens.

March 2010 will see Twestival Global again, but due to the many activities I have planned for this year, I won’t be on board the committee other than to hand over the reigns.

Regarding BTUB and Brisbane Twitter social events, I am not likely to be organising any events or managing the calendar. 2009 was my year to volunteer and now I’m likely to not have any time for it. It’s been swell, tweeps, but I can’t do it any more.

University

In September I applied for a Bachelor of Business (Events) at Griffith University. In December I was accepted and so in March I shall start back at study after a year out of the lecture hall. Nice, nice! Rather excited actually and looking forward to it. My completed Diploma of Events Management means a year is taken off the BBusiness, so I’m only looking at a two-year outfit.

Employment!

Get this; I have a job! A job! Employment! And it is the best job I’ve ever had. (They know this already, so I’m not just talking it up here for brownie points) I’m the administration officer for Women in Technology, a winner industry organisation for women in the IT, biotech, engineering… any technology career path, actually. They do some pretty awesome things (for stacks of fantastic members who pay practically nothing for the networking opportunites), and I’m rather looking forward to organising the events and programs for this year. They even let me set up Twitter and facebook for them!

Moving house

After two years in St Lucia, I’ve now relocated to Stones Corner on Brisbane’s south-side. It means at least 50 minutes to work, uni and the boyfriend’s place; but at least it’s affordable and in a pretty cool area. Many thanks again to the miracle of my Twitter friends who spent one Saturday in December helping me move. That was EPIC and I will never forget the kindness of these people.

Internet Censorship

Here’s my political contention of recent months (even a year). The Australian Federal Government wants in your Internet on the premise of doing Australian families’ parenting for them. National mandatory Internet censorship (just think about each of those words: National. Mandatory. Censorship.) They plan to block websites which not only host illegal content but also “refused classification” content. This pretty much means content that is legal to view but is stuff that the government (or their stakeholders) don’t like. Not only is it a very scary thing for future governments and citizens to adhere to and control, but it’s going to be quite expensive, ineffective and… well, do you really want the government stopping your kids from getting useful information on how the world works?

I won’t blog all about this today, but for more information you can check out the amazing websites of Somebody Think of the Children, Electronic Frontiers Australia and the Brisbane filter opposition.

The LoveBuckles / Drumming

This is my boyfriend’s kicking band. They’ve had stacks of gigs lately, the most recent for my dear high school friend’s 21st in Coffs Harbour, NSW. It went OFF and I feel lucky that I was there to enable it. And go on road trip. And surround the sleeping drummer with a fort of milk crates. What a bunch of lads!

As for my own musical pursuits, I’m very happy to have my drums all out and shiny for practice. For someone who started in primary school, I should really be much better and I can’t wait to see improvements. You should come by for a jam one day!

And that’s it!

Phew. That’s the essentials for a NJ.com update. As for this website in 2010, it will be updated and mainly used for video blogs and reflections of events/business stuff learned at uni and WiT.

Another 150 helpers needed to assist with record numbers for the Australian University Games, Gold Coast.

The Australian University Games are only four days away and the organisers need volunteer support. Every year Australian University Sport offers hundreds of volunteer positions at their sporting events. Whether it be in administration, operations, transport, marketing, media, sports specific, or just generally helping out there is a role for everyone.

Volunteering is a great way to gain experience, meet new people and be involved in fantastic sporting events. There are roles available leading up to, and during event delivery time.

This year will have the most students competing since the games began in 1993, with competitors from 44 universities across Australia and New Zealand making the most of the Gold Coasts weather and beaches.

The Australian University Games, proudly supported by Queensland Events, is on the Gold Coast from 27 September – 2 October, 2009.

Click here to be a volunteer now!

(From an email from Queensland Events.)

I’ll be starting early in the morning and going until midnight, but it will be worth it. Acts such as Little Birdy, I Heart Hiroshima, The Living End, Tim Rogers, Hungry Kids of Hungary, The Beautiful Girls, Drawn From Bees, Shihad… and stacks more. Shall be fun seeing what goes down there behind the scenes. Rad!

I thought I’d take a minute out of my post-BNEtwestival relaxation to announce something I didn’t expect. I’ve been nominated to win the Best New Blog category in Ready2Spark’s EventProfs Blog Awards 2009! This means that this very prominant and active event professionals online network says that my blog is kinda awesome. The competition for this claim in my category is a little intimidating though…

• Event measurement 411
• Experiential marketing 2.0
• Savvy Says
• Bride Tide blog
• Bridalease

This could be tricky!
Voting commences by September 14th and closes on the 21st. The winner will be announced by September 28. I’ll surely blog with details on the voting in a few days, and also regarding the magic of Brisbane Twestival which was on last night and ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

Edit: Voting is open. You can only vote once, so make it count; vote for me!

And so they did. I’ve been sponsoring and writing to a darling little girl named Desta and her community in Ethiopia. It’s been great. She turns 10 years old in January so I’m sending a birthday card by the end of this week. My mother has most of the letters at her home and it’s been good to learn about life in Ethiopia for Desta.

Which brings me up until today. My family has decided that they cannot support Desta anymore. I would love to continue the relationship as long as required with what money I have, but having no job or income this is not looking likely.

What I am considering is a community project. I’d love to find a few kind local people to chip in on the sponsorship. How this can be done, I’m not sure. Any businesses or organisations looking after children in the world, how do you do it?

If anyone in Brisbane is interested in assisting me, leave a comment or give me a bell through the Contact page. I’d like to hear your suggestions even if you have an idea on what I can do.

National News | News.com.au

So I’m not really sure what I am to think of this other than “what a rad idea! But it would never work in reality.” I guess there are just some out-there ideas you’ll never know will take off until you dive in.

This isn’t children growing up too fast; at least not as much as adult-captioned t-shirts or heels for toddlers. Children have parties and dance too, you know. The temporary tattoos are fine too; I remember having one of my first when I was five or six. And I’m still into roses, but I’ve not a real tattoo or joined a biker gang.

Entry prices include healthy snacks for children, a “chill-out” play area, bathrooms kitted out with nappy change tables and a goodie bag and glass of champagne for parents.

Sounds safe and healthy to me and I hope that chill-out area has Pass The Parcel or a ball pit. Or even a corner of teddy bears! And the champagne for the parents is a great addition; if I were the mother of unpredictable young children, I’d take every chance I could for a glass of champagne while knowing my kids were safe.

While I’m positive a children’s event would be the second-last* event I’d like to hold, I don’t think this club is the worst thing adult society has thrown at children in recent times. If anything, I’m sure the kids are having a blast.

*weddings just aren’t my thing.

Last week I was lucky enough to score a free ticket to Creative Drinks. My dear friend Hannah Suarez of Brisbane Creative Industries was the speaker of the evening and did very well. Her presentation is on SlideShare here and includes some helpful networking event tips.

Tuesday I was also in attendance at my favourite Brisbane events company Iceberg Events‘ Networx, Working the (Real & Virtual) Room. Director of Paragon Associates, Lisa Butler kick-started the evening with information on busting networking myths and emphasised that anyone can learn to network effectively. More friends of mine were speaking on the topic of working the virtual room (specifically Twitter) – in fact, the whole panel trio of Darryl King, Clare Lancaster and Greg Lexiphanic! Ignoring the occasional train screaming through South Brisbane, discussions of Twitter and social media run amok against a background of a Twitter projection of the #networx hashtag.

Yesterday I attended ANZ’s Small Business workshops discussing online marketing (specifically Google’s AdWords and social media) and brand awareness. The day was a good one and I met various new people interested in learning more about their businesses online. I was even outed as a secret live-twitter bug, which was a great example to those wanting to understand the scope social media can have. There are more ANZ Small Business workshops happening all around Australia until around November, so get in quick to enrol (they’re free too)!

Lastly, things are rolling faster and faster for Brisbane Twestival Local. Committee positions are being snapped up fast, bands and artists approached, venues scoped. We are hoping to gather the support of the voted-in beyondblue: the national depression initiative as our charity of choice to support, a charity I have long been a fan of.

Phew! I think that’s about it. Oh! And the BTUB Wine Night was a complete success as well. My first paid event as a freelancer. Feels good, man.

Looking for full-time employment has unfortunately taken a back seat to these activities. It’s a shame I’m having so much fun… well, no. Not really.

Well, well. Bligh and her government are looking to ban full-strength booze at major events across the state. I do hope this doesn’t pass. This will ruin the quality of a good time out for thousands of responsible Queenslanders (not that I believe at all that getting plastered is the means to have a good time at all).

The Courier-Mail reports that Queensland already has the toughest alcohol-related legislation in Australia. Maybe it is time for something else to change? NSW recently forced high-risk venues (determined by the number of reported assults per annum) to provide free food and water to patrons, but lock-outs were also brought back to 2am. I’m not sure about you, but I would rather give free food to my guests to keep them happy and enjoying my services at an event instead of removing all full-strength alcohol from my stock, even if a few hours had to be knocked off for new patrons. There must be other ways to solve social problems other than continuously banning things.

I do see a need to curb violence and drug-related incidents in Australia, but I hope that these new laws, should they come into effect, take into account the good behaviour displayed at the majority of events and venues across the state. One quarter of violence in Australia is related to alcohol; what will we blame the other three quarters on? Will televisions and cinemas be next? I’ve just done a “Aussies ban” search on Twitter… sponsorship from alcohol companies, bottled water, Uluru treks, a whole censorship debate rages on… then there’s the national changes to cigarette prices and packaging. It seems we have no imagination when it comes to solving society’s problems. India, for instance (and I love this!), is investigating doubling electricity in rural areas to increase the use of television; in a bid to slow overpopulation. Now that’s creative!

Drinking in Australia has long been part of our culture. From a cosy glass of merlot in front of a crackling fire in the Blue Mountains to a cool beer after a hard day’s work in Mt Isa. We have a long way to go before this is changed. There are a number of other factors that come into violence statistics, not just the crooners down at the local country town pub about to hit “an old mate” one for sleeping with the wrong young lady.

There is no denying that violence, disease and other ailments which gain the attention of governments all have a financial cost to the state. But these bans and tougher laws must stop when they cease to represent the community’s stance, and only that of politicians.

I was unable to make the event itself, but from what I’ve heard it was a great success. Well done, Kellie, Michael and the team at New Fangled Functions. (And happy birthday, Michael!)

The Wine Appreciation Night is on July 22nd, another pub night on August 7th and the Bridge to BTUB is on August 30th. These events and more are listed here on the calendar in the sidebar or here on Facebook.

For fantastic comment on what goes down at BTUB, @SleepyDumpling has written such one here. My favourite bit is:

In the past few months I have met so many very cool people, from all kinds of walks of life, age groups, interests and careers. And one common thread I find through the majority of them are that they are lovely open-minded and open-hearted people who welcome anyone to the fold. Not only have I broadened my general social circle, and been able to be part of a bunch of new experiences, but I feel I’ve made some lovely new friends along the way.