10 June 2008

Tuesday greetings, Reader,

After the obligatory lie-in in celebration of the birth of our beloved monarch I’m refreshed and ready for a very hectic week. “Quality” and “Service” are the key words this week. We’ll start with service, and of the most uplifting kind.

Guest speakers at this Thursday’s BEC Networking Breakfast will be Melinda and Steve Robinson. You may have seen them recently on the front page of the Port News, in the context of concern for their Bonny Hills Surf Club. But at our breakfast we will be hearing about a very different part of the lives of these two young people. Without giving too much away, let me just say that they are about to embark on a year of hard work, adventure and sacrifice that will hugely improve life for a great many people. I’m sure you will be inspired by their story.

To meet Melinda and Steve, and to hear (and see) their fantastic story, come along to our breakfast on Thursday morning, 7.00 am at Port Panthers. But, please, RSVP by lunch time Wednesday by email to admin@hastingsbec.com.au .

The “Quality” part of our week is also connected with service. Friday night 13th June is the time for our Second Annual Customer Care Awards. We will be recognising and applauding the businesses judged to be the best examples of customer service in our area. There are still some seats available for the Awards, and it will be a very enjoyable night. As well as the awards themselves, we will enjoy a wonderful dinner and a slightly scary floor show (well, it will be Friday 13th, after all). You can obtain tickets from Port Panthers or from Council Offices, but don’t delay!

Finally, by way of introduction this week, a huge welcome to our newest Sponsor Member – Port Central Shopping Centre. Marketing Manager Vickii Byram has been sussing us out for a while, and I’m delighted that Port Central has chosen to join the BEC. Port Central is innovative and community conscious in its marketing and promotions, and we welcome their membership.

I’m also delighted to welcome the return of Star FM and 2MC under their new mantle of Macquarie Southern Cross Media. The dynamic Kathleen Norman has joined the team and will be representing MSCM at our events (and we’ll try to drag Manager Matt Howarth in occasionally).

Finally, today, while I’m recognising excellent businesses, I must make a special mention of Gillespie Media who have done a fantastic job in putting together a lot of quality video material to support the Customer Care Awards. Well done Gillespie’s, and I hope all our members and readers will think of you when they need some quality media production.

Now, on with this week’s news:

+ = +

Port Macquarie Community College

Introduction to Excel Workshop
Creating Worksheets, Formatting, Formulas, Functions, Printing, Sorting & Filtering, Copying, Moving, Fill-in Feature and Conditional Formatting.
806C009 Thu Jun 12 & Jun 19 2 sessions 6pm-9pm $90

OH & S for Construction Sites
WorkCover Accredited. This course provides training and certification for people working, or hoping to work, in the construction industry, including building, landscaping, plastering, road construction and associated areas.
806W004 Fri Jun 20 1 session 9am-4pm $120

Food Hygiene & Safety
This course covers safe food handling and safe storage, effective use of detergents and sanitisers, waste and pest control. Includes an overview of how the new food safety legislation will affect you. Meets Food Safety Program requirements. Successful participants will gain Statement of Attainment
THHGHS01B – Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
806W003 Thu Jun 12 1 session 9am-3pm $95

Quality Customer Relations
Learn about customer service strategies that work/don't work, techniques for telephone and face to face communication, techniques for dealing with awkward and difficult customers and situations and strategies to build customer loyalty. Book a workshop for your entire team.
807W007 Thu Jul 17 1 session 9am-4pm $98

Responsible Service of Alcohol
Provider No. 90886 LAB Approved. Participants will receive a Statement of Attainment THHBFB09B Provide Responsible Service of Alcohol from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations) and a Certificate from the Liquor Advisory Board. The LAB Certificate is required for employment in the industry.
807W003 Wed Jul 2 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Responsible Conduct of Gambling
Provider No. 90886 - LAB Approved. Participants will receive a Statement of Attainment THHADG03B - Provide Responsible Gambling Services from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
807W004 Thu Jul 3 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Bar Skills
Gain a basic understanding of the skills needed and tasks to be undertaken to operate a bar. Australian Training and Consulting Provider No. 90886 Participants will receive Statements of Attainment for the units: THHBFB01B - Operate a Bar, THHBFB00B Clean and tidy bar areas, THHGHS01B Follow workplace hygiene procedures and THHGFA01B - Process Financial Transactions from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
Students must be 18 years or over and hold an RSA Certificate. Participants must collect and complete a workbook prior to attending this course.
807W005 Tue Jul 8 & Jul 9 2 sessions 9am-4pm $230

+ = +

Hastings BEC Networking Breakfast – Thursday 12th June 2008

At Port Panthers Rushcutter Room (upstairs, for a change)
7.00 am till 8.30 am
It’s going to be a good one!
Hear from Melinda and Steve about Soft Power Education, and find out how personality profiling can help you in business.

Only $20 for Members and $25 for guests and friends. All welcome.
But. please, RSVP to admin@hastingsbec.com.au by midday Wednesday.

+ = +

Second Annual Customer Care Awards Dinner – Friday 13th June 2008

At Port Panthers Auditorium, starting at 6.30 pm
Welcoming drinks and nibbles will be followed by a sumptuous dinner, the Awards, and a floor show dramatising a very spooky story from 1848 – very appropriate for Black Friday.

Tickets are still available from Panthers Reception, and from Council Offices.
Don’t miss it!

+ = +

Port Macquarie Home Business Forum

The Home Business Forum meets every 6 weeks in Port Macquarie from 9:15 until 12:30.
Our next meeting is on Friday 13 June 2008 at Panthers. The cost to attend is only $15 with morning tea provided. Our Guest speakers are:

• David Ross - Direction Accounting - 4 Ways to Hidden Profits
David Ross is a Chartered Accountant and Business Coach and has presented courses and seminars to over 300 local businesses with extraordinary results. This presentation will show you how to discover the HIDDEN PROFITS in your business and what to do to reap the rewards. A very practical and critical session for any business owner.

• John Carroll - Joyer Consulting – Marketing for Small Business.
John is a specialist in branding, marketing communications, leadership and corporate culture. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and training sessions and has written and produced thousands of advertisements in all media types for some of the world’s and Australia’s leading brands & businesses.

If you are interested in attending or to find out more,
please contact either Renee Bell Photographer Tel:02 65848866 Email: info@reneebell.com.au
OR Lisa Christie Tel: 0438 847 825 Email: lisa@visualedge.com.au

+ = +

A Wallaby is coming to town!

Nick Farr-Jones will be guest speaker at a Corporate Benefit Luncheon
being hosted by Wesley Mission on Friday 13th June 2008 at The Westport Club.

You will have the opportunity to bid for some wonderful charity auction items, and to win a great door prize.

All money raised from this event will go directly to Wesley Mission to help establish an integrated local counselling service. Wesley Mission will be working in conjunction with existing services to assist the most marginalised and vulnerable in our community to address the tragedy of suicide.

Tickets are on sale now from The Westport Club, on 6583 1499
A Corporate Table for 8 can be booked for $720, or individual tickets are available for $95 for an afternoon of fine food and beverage, entertainment and motivation, and all for a really worthwhile cause.

Ticket sales close Friday 6th June. Download brochure from www.hastingsbec.com.au/downloads/NickFarrJones2008.pdf

+ = +

NSW TAFE North Coast Institute has an exciting course commencing:

THH21802 Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations) - Cafe Skills

This exciting 10 week course commences on 23 July 2008 and will be offered on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays 9.00am to 2.00pm.

Learn the practical Service Skills required for working in the cafe industry including- Preparation and Service of Espresso Coffee, Non alcoholic Beverage Service, Customer Service Skills, Cash Handling Procedures, Hygiene and Cleaning Practices, Gourmet Sandwich Preparation, Organise and Prepare Food, Fast Food Service.
Recognition for units in THH31502 Certificate III Commercial Cookery course will be offered.

Enrolling now!

Contact Port Macquarie Campus on 6581 6200 to secure your place.

+ = +

BECs Australia, Business Innovation & Incubation Australia, and National NEIS Association Inc, present

Small Business Development Conference

12th – 15th October 2008
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Victoria

Call for Speakers and Presenters

The Conference Committee invites persons who wish to present at the Small Business Development Conference 2008 to submit abstracts for consideration.
Please download and refer to the following file for further information. www.hastingsbec.com.au/downloads/SBDC2008.pdf

+ = +

Last item. Gerry Walsh (Camera88.com) just emailed me to remind me that there is currently another wave of “Bank Security Alert” emails circulating.
If you get an email “from your bank” asking you to click on a Web address to resolve some problem or other… DON’T.

It IS a scam, designed to capture your account details. If you are in doubt, phone your bank and check.

Be especially suspicious when you are invited to sort out problems with a bank you don’t use. This is generally a fairly useful hint!!!

Now, just as a final “cheer you up”, here is an interesting little tidbit from ABS:

4818.0.55.001 Household Preparedness for Emergencies: NSW, Vic., Qld and ACT, Oct 2007
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4818.0.55.001?OpenDocument

Hope to see you Thursday morning and Friday evening,

02 June 2008

Slightly bemused Winter greetings, Reader,

While the HBEC has a policy of not taking a political stance, some issues defy neutrality. How, in our current global climate of fuel resource depletion, skyrocketing fuel prices and environmental concern could any being more sentient than a lowland iguana propose a new diesel-powered electricity plant?

Regardless of location, aesthetic impact or any of a million other considerations, I think it has to be the wrong answer. What do you think?

Unfortunately, the massive public outcry over the proposed power plant threatens to become confused with a quite separate, and apparently worthy, proposal for an industrial development in a nearby area at Heron’s Creek. Please be careful to recognise these as separate and, I believe, unrelated development proposals.

OK, having got that off my chest, I’ll now focus on our local business scene. And the next fortnight will be pretty hectic, with all kinds of things happening in Port. Not the least will be the Second Annual Customer Care Awards, to be held on Friday evening 13th June. Now, Friday the 13th might not usually be everyone’s favourite night, but for a number of Greater Port Macquarie businesses, this one will be memorable.

The Customer Care program is an initiative of PM-H Council, driven by the untiring efforts of the lovely Rachel Ross and her only slightly less attractive boss Trevor Sargeant. It’s a program designed to promote GPM as a centre of excellence in customer service, with the objective of building “brand awareness” for our region. An obvious spin-off is the increasing number of very happy locals receiving great service at our local businesses.

This year I’ve been a member of the team assessing entries for the CC Awards, and I’m really pleased to report an incredibly high standard of entries. We’ve had a really difficult task in ranking the entrants – and a lot of fun carrying out “mystery shopper” visits without giving the game away. Unfortunately not everyone can be a winner, but I’m sure you will be pleasantly satisfied with the results.

All will be revealed at Panthers Auditorium on Friday evening 13th June. The Awards ceremony will include welcome drinks, a splendid dinner, and an unforgettable floorshow (on an appropriate theme for Friday 13th). Tickets are still available from Panthers reception or from Council offices, so don’t miss out.

A few Customer Care businesses around Port Macquarie do it so well that to miss the opportunity to learn from them would be a sin. So I’m hoping to start including a few thoughts from the operators of CCA finalist businesses in future Updates.

And finally, for today, I’m pleased to report that the Federal Labor Government has announced funding of 36 BECs across Australia for the next four years. Unfortunately this region has missed out at this stage, but I’ll be working through BEC Australia to encourage Minister Emerson to expand the funding to enable us to provide a much broader range of business support services. BEC Australia Chairman, Peter Murray’s media release is available for download at www.hastingsbec.com.au/downloads/Murray1.doc

Now, on with the show:

+ = +

Port Macquarie Community College

Quality Customer Relations
Learn about customer service strategies that work/don't work, techniques for telephone and face to face communication, techniques for dealing with awkward and difficult customers and situations and strategies to build customer loyalty. Book a workshop for your entire team.
807W007 Thursday July 17th 1 session 9am-4pm $98

Starting up a Bed & Breakfast
Learn about the daily issues that confront Bed and Breakfast operators. This enables you to understand why B & B is a trend, not a fad and outlines how to be efficient and successful. Stewart is a research lecturer and internationally published author of several books including Getting into Bed & Breakfast in Australia.
807LR003 Thursday July 3rd 1 session 9am-1pm $55

Introduction to Excel Workshop
Creating Worksheets, Formatting, Formulas, Functions, Printing, Sorting & Filtering, Copying, Moving, Fill-in Feature and Conditional Formatting.
806C009 Thursday June 12th & June 19th 2 sessions 6pm-9pm $90

Introduction to Computers & MS Word
Having skills in Word is your gateway to creating and editing smarter, more efficient documents.
For beginners, this course will take you from the start to expanding your skills and knowledge. This is an accredited course consisting of 2 modules from BSB20101 Cert II in Business. BSBCMN102A - Operate a Personal Computer and BSBCMN213A - Produce Simple Word Processed Documents.
806C022 Monday June 30th to Aug 4th 6 sessions 6pm-9pm $220

+ = +

Hastings BEC Networking Breakfast

Our next Networking Breakfast will be held on Thursday 12th June, in the Rushcutter Room at Panthers.
If you can drag yourself out of a warm be near the shortest day of the year, you’ll be adequately rewarded.
As usual, members and guests are very welcome.
The theme for this month is a little exercise in understanding personality types. It should be fun!

RSVP to admin@hastingsbec.com.au and, as usual, Members $20 and Guests $25 payable at the door.

Don’t forget, this Update, together with back-issues since the start of 2008, is now hosted on our Blog at http://hbec.blogspot.com , where you are invited to catch up on activities and leave your comments and suggestions. I also invite you to comment on blog postings. What do you think of issues raised in this issue? Have your say on our Blog.

+ = +

Port Macquarie – Hastings Life Education Support Group
Invites you to join us for a special breakfast

DATE: Tuesday 24th June 2008
TIME: 7am – 8:30 am
VENUE: Port Macquarie Panthers ‘ Auditorium’

Special Guest Speaker, Peter Catt will take us through his family’s heart breaking experience of when his precious daughter, Annabel, made a fatal error of judgement.
"What makes this story so poignant is that Annabel did not fit the mould of an “at risk” young person. A talented dancer and teacher, Annabel was a popular girl, brought up in a close loving family. Her enthusiasm for life was infectious, and she made an instant impact on all those who met her.”

COST: $30 per person or $300 for a table of ten
Bookings and pre payment are essential from Port Panthers Phone: 65 802 300
For Further information contact Maggie Barnewall on 0409 457 405

This is a ‘Drug Action Week’ activity. Part of the proceeds of this event will go to Life Education

+ = +

Port Macquarie Home Business Forum

The Home Business Forum meets every 6 weeks in Port Macquarie from 9:15 until 12:30.
Our next meeting is on Friday 13 June 2008 at Panthers. The cost to attend is only $15 with morning tea provided. Our Guest speakers are:

• David Ross - Direction Accounting - 4 Ways to Hidden Profits
David Ross is a Chartered Accountant and Business Coach and has presented courses and seminars to over 300 local businesses with extraordinary results. This presentation will show you how to discover the HIDDEN PROFITS in your business and what to do to reap the rewards. A very practical and critical session for any business owner.

• John Carroll - Joyer Consulting – Marketing for Small Business.
John is a specialist in branding, marketing communications, leadership and corporate culture. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and training sessions and has written and produced thousands of advertisements in all media types for some of the world’s and Australia’s leading brands & businesses.

If you are interested in attending or to find out more,
please contact either Renee Bell Photographer Tel:02 65848866 Email: info@reneebell.com.au
OR Lisa Christie Tel: 0438 847 825 Email: lisa@visualedge.com.au

+ = +

Become A Small Business Champion!

Be a part of the 2008 Australian Small Business Champion Awards – sponsored by Commonwealth Bank
and get the recognition your business deserves.
It’s time to share and celebrate your achievements!

For further information visit www.businesschampions.com.au

Due to popular demand the closing deadline has been extended!!
Entries close Tuesday 15 July 2008. To download an entry form click here http://www.precedent.net/champions/assets/pdfs/champions_entry_form_2008.pdf .

+ = +

A Wallaby is coming to town!

Nick Farr-Jones will be guest speaker at a Corporate Benefit Luncheon
being hosted by Wesley Mission on Friday 13th June 2008 at The Westport Club.

You will have the opportunity to bid for some wonderful charity auction items, and to win a great door prize.

All money raised from this event will go directly to Wesley Mission to help establish an integrated local counselling service. Wesley Mission will be working in conjunction with existing services to assist the most marginalised and vulnerable in our community to address the tragedy of suicide.

Tickets are on sale now from The Westport Club, on 6583 1499
A Corporate Table for 8 can be booked for $720, or individual tickets are available for $95 for an afternoon of fine food and beverage, entertainment and motivation, and all for a really worthwhile cause.

Ticket sales close Friday 6th June. Download brochure from www.hastingsbec.com.au/downloads/NickFarrJones2008.pdf

+ = +

Invitation to the 2008 School and Industry Leaders’ Forum

Wauchope Country Club, Thursday 26 June 2008

Industry Focus: Hospitality and Aged Care Sectors

Through the Australian Government’s Career Advice Australia initiative, Mid Coast Youth Career Services and NSW Business Chamber are again hosting a School and Industry Leaders’ Forum. The forum will provide information on regional skills shortages and employment opportunities for young
people in the hospitality and aged care sectors.

Download the brochure from www.hastingsbec.com.au/downloads/SILF2008.pdf

+ = +

Rydges Friday Business Lunch

Don’t forget Rydges’ innovative Friday $20 Business Lunch.

A waterfront location, fine wine, fabulous food, great music, be in and out within the hour, and all for only $20. Sounds too good to be true, but Rydges Compass Restaurant is providing exactly that. Friday $20 Business Lunch includes a main course and a glass of wine or draught beer, from 12 noon Fridays.
Reserve your place on 6589 2822

+ = +

And, finally, those bespectacled mushrooms (well, they told me they were fun guys!!!!) at the Australian Bureau of Statistics have just released the following datasets:

5676.0 Business Indicators, Australia, Mar 2008
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/5676.0?OpenDocument

8501.0 Retail Trade, Australia, Apr 2008
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8501.0?OpenDocument

Don’t have too much fun with them…

26 May 2008

Sparkling Greetings, Reader,

After a glorious mid north coast weekend, it’s almost good to be back at work. The Port Macquarie business scene appears to be humming along reasonably happily right at the moment. Of course, tourism-related businesses could always do with some more visitors, and that would extend to increased sales right across the retail and hospitality sectors. But overall I think it would be fair to say we are generally quietly comfortable.

Such is not the case with our licensed clubs. The indoor smoking ban, combined with some pretty onerous taxes, has put enormous pressure on clubs and patronage has suffered. Licensed clubs have been the mainstay of many sporting organisations, with their generous sponsorships fuelled principally by gambling revenue. It would appear that smoking and (poker machine) gambling go hand in hand, and the suffering extends beyond the clubs themselves.

Our valued Patron Member Port Macquarie Panthers has been forced to withdraw from its principal sponsorship of the Australian Ironman, though General Manager Thomas Paynter stresses that Panthers will maintain support through a lesser sponsorship. Times are tough, but tough times lead to innovative solutions, and it is probably timely for licensed clubs to reinvent themselves to become more relevant to the wider community. It’s a big challenge.

Interestingly, when an indoor smoking ban was implemented in Canberra some years ago, our little local club suffered an immediate 40% drop in patronage. But over a period of about 6 months patronage rebuilt to exceed the original figure. The interesting thing was that the new patronage was a totally different demographic. Instead of adult smoker-drinker-machine players, the new patronage comprised family groups and increased numbers of late teens and early twenties who were attracted by the clean, smoke-free relaxed environment.

There’s a lesson for all businesses here. Times change. Operating environments change. You can change with them, or go under. Adaptability and responsiveness are keys to successful business operation and longevity.

Nanotechnology

Last week I briefly mentioned what I believe will be “the next big thing” – nanotechnology. At the moment, few people outside of the science community have much knowledge of nanotech. Let me provide a very brief overview.

Through our history, we have built our technologies using a reductionist approach. That is, we start with big chunks of material and cut, shape, trim them down to the shape and size we need to build something. As our technologies have developed, we have also learned how to manage and manipulate smaller and smaller items. To date, the most complex technology created by man is the microprocessor chip – the “brain” of a PC – which typically has tens of millions of components on a slice of silicon the size of your little finger nail.

That seems like amazing miniaturisation, and it is. But we are now learning to build things smaller – by a factor of a thousand to a million times smaller. We do this by starting with individual atoms, and put them together to build the precise bits we need. The result is that we can build the same computer chip smaller than a grain of sugar. A complete functioning computer, with radio communication capability, can be smaller than a grain of rice. And we will be able to build them very, very cheaply and quickly.

Why? What are the benefits of this miniaturisation? Too many to list here, and growing all the time. Nanotechnology is not an evolutionary change, it will introduce a revolutionary change, and it’s both exciting and terrifying. But it cannot be ignored.

OK, on to some local activities that shouldn’t be ignored:

+ = +

Port Macquarie Community College

Heaps of hospitality and business related training coming up:

Responsible Service of Alcohol 807W003 Wednesday July 2nd, 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Responsible Conduct of Gambling 807W004 Thursday July 3rd, 1 session 9am-4pm $90

Bar Skills
Gain a basic understanding of the skills needed and tasks to be undertaken to operate a bar. Australian Training and Consulting Provider No. 90886 Participants will receive Statements of Attainment for the units:
THHBFB01B - Operate a Bar,
THHBFB00B Clean and tidy bar areas,
THHGHS01B Follow workplace hygiene procedures and
THHGFA01B - Process Financial Transactions from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
Students must be 18 years or over and hold an RSA Certificate. Participants must collect and complete a workbook prior to attending this course.
807W005 Bar Skills Tuesday July 8th & Wednesday July 9th, 2 sessions 9am-4pm $230

Espresso Coffee including Food Hygiene & Safety 807W002 Thursday Jul 10th, 1 session 9am-4:30pm $110

Food Hygiene & Safety
This course covers safe food handling and safe storage, effective use of detergents and sanitisers, waste and pest control. Includes an overview of how the new food safety legislation will affect you. Meets Food Safety Program requirements. Successful participants will gain Statement of Attainment THHGHS01B – Follow Workplace Hygiene Procedures from Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations).
807W009 Food Hygiene & Safety - Friday July 18th, 1 session 9am-3pm $95

Intermediate Excel Workshop
Take the next step with Excel. You will learn about absolute references, charts, more functions, linking and protecting worksheets.
806C008 Tuesday June 3rd, 9am-3pm 1 session $90

MS Word & Excel for Business
This course is suitable for anyone seeking employment or returning to the workforce. It will provide an excellent grounding in essential skills for the office. Two units of competency BSBCMN213A Produce simple word processed documents and BSBCMN214A Create and use simple spreadsheets from Certificate II in Business BSB20101.
806C011 Wednesday Jun 18th to Aug 27th, 11 sessions 6pm-9pm $420

+ = +

Rydges Friday Business Lunch

Top billing this week goes to Rydges, for their innovative Friday $20 Business Lunch. I was supposed to mention it last week, then I got carried away with other things…

A waterfront location, fine wine, fabulous food, great music, be in and out within the hour, and all for only $20. Sounds too good to be true, but Rydges Compass Restaurant is providing exactly that. Friday $20 Business Lunch includes a main course and a glass of wine or draught beer, from 12 noon Fridays.
Reserve your place on 6589 2822

+ = +

Hastings BEC News

This Update, together with back-issues since the start of 2008, is now hosted on our Blog at http://hbec.blogspot.com , where you are invited to catch up on activities and leave your comments and suggestions. I also invite you to comment on blog postings. What do you think of issues raised in this issue? Have your say on our Blog.

Our next HBEC Networking Breakfast will be held Thursday morning 12th June, at Panthers Pier One Restaurant.

+ = +

Office space available on Gordon Street

NSW Business Chamber has a couple of offices available for lease within their complex at 146-148 Gordon Street. Give Kellon or Maree a call on 6584 0910 for details.

Could be a good opportunity for a home-based business looking to move up into dedicated office space.

+ = +

2nd Annual Customer Care Awards Presentation Dinner is only two weeks away

To be held on Black Friday evening, 13th June at Panthers Auditorium
Last year was a terrific event, this year will be even bigger and better!
Awards will be going to a great mix of established and new faces, so be there to share the fun.

Come along and help celebrate with the leading businesses in our region, and also enjoy a “spooky floor show” – “The haunting tale of the red hot poker”.

Make sure you book your seats early as places are limited.
Tickets available from PM-H Council offices, or from Panthers Reception.
$65.00 per ticket (includes initial drinks, a scrumptious dinner, and the floor show) (Table bookings also available)

Special thanks to Gillespie Media for the fantastic support they provide to Customer Care. Well done guys!

+ = +

Port Macquarie Home Business Forum

The Home Business Forum meets every 6 weeks in Port Macquarie from 9:15 until 12:30.
Our next meeting is on Friday 13 June 2008 at Panthers. The cost to attend is only $15 with morning tea provided. Our Guest speakers are:

• David Ross - Direction Accounting - 4 Ways to Hidden Profits
David Ross is a Chartered Accountant and Business Coach and has presented courses and seminars to over 300 local businesses with extraordinary results. This presentation will show you how to discover the HIDDEN PROFITS in your business and what to do to reap the rewards. A very practical and critical session for any business owner.

• John Carroll - Joyer Consulting – Marketing for Small Business.
John is a specialist in branding, marketing communications, leadership and corporate culture. He has conducted hundreds of workshops and training sessions and has written and produced thousands of advertisements in all media types for some of the world’s and Australia’s leading brands & businesses.

If you are interested in attending or to find out more,
please contact either Renee Bell Photographer Tel:02 65848866 Email: info@reneebell.com.au
OR Lisa Christie Tel: 0438 847 825 Email: lisa@visualedge.com.au

+ = +

HBEC Member John Hynes – John the WOW man, and Hastings SOLAR Plus has passed on the following clever suggestions. Simple, maybe even obvious, but too often overlooked:

1. Next time you order cheques, have only your initials (instead of your first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your chequebook, they will not know if you sign your cheques with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your cheques.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put "PHOTO ID REQUIRED".
(Gregg’s comment: I have followed this good advice for years, since being suggested by the Federal Police. The only sticking point was with the bureaucrats staffing the local RTA office who insisted on having my signature on the back of the credit card before they would accept it. Sigh! The ultimate absurdity was that they accepted me signing the card IN PENCIL in front of them – and then rubbing it off again)

3. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each licence, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also carry a photocopy of your passport (separately) when travelling abroad.
(Yes Rob, you DO press “Copy” while they’re on the machine!)

+ = +

Business guru Robert Gerrish, in his recent newsletter (www.flyingsolo.com.au ) considered how the foul-mouthed TV show restaurateur Gordon Ramsay might look at your business:

Ramsay cuts through ego and pretence and goes for what matters. He seeks honest answers from restaurateurs, asking:
- Are you passionate about what you do?
- Is what you’re offering what the market wants?
- Are you competent enough to provide a quality product?
- Do you have the support to allow you to do your best work?
- Do you give the best value for the price, or look to do as little as possible for the price?
- What’s the purpose of offering your customers a lot of choice?

So how would you answer his questions? And I’m not talking about your cooking.

+ = +

Have a great week, and don’t forget to book for the Customer Care Awards. It will be a wonderful night!