The start of a New Year is a time to reflect on how we can grow and change for the better. David Lumb, Managing Director of Clearmake – the National winner of 2008 Telstra Country Wide Regional Business Award – is a firm believer that we can always do things better in business.

The University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre Enterprise Tuesday will kick off its 2010 series with David presenting ‘Long live the evolution: Growing a successful business’ (Tuesday 2
March, 4pm-6pm)

Enterprise Tuesday is a regular business forum inspired by a program of the same name run by the University of Cambridge. These events are open to local business owners and managers, USC staff and students, and feature entrepreneurial speakers from the Sunshine Coast region in Clean Tech, Digital and Creative industries.

David, a key speaker at the recent Asia Pacific Green Building Leadership Program, said this presentation would explore what achieving business excellence represents to him.

Taking over Clearmake in 2007, David set a challenge for himself to make the business more profitable and financially sustainable whilst increasing employee job satisfaction. In the first financial year Clearmake accomplished an impressive 35% revenue increase.

Innovation Centre CEO, Colin Graham said “Clearmake is a business success story on how to build a Clean Technology business from a Sunshine Coast location”.

“The Innovation Centre is proud to showcase this Clean Technology company as one of its three key focus sectors including Clean Tech, Digital and Creative industries,” he added.

To register your place at the next Enterprise Tuesday event visit www.innovationcentre.com.au/events or phone 5450 2600.

The University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre 2010 Business Event Series is proudly sponsored by Westpac.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is hosting a special workshop for aspiring writers wanting to learn more about plot development.

Award-winning Maleny author Steven Lang presents the Architecture of the Novel workshop and will take participants through the structure and plot development of the modern novel, as well as inspiring insights to help get them thinking and writing more effectively.

SCLA president Hari Kotrotsios said the workshop was the first of two being held to help writers as they prepare entries for the association’s WARM Writers Competition for 2010, which will be launched in March.

“The SCLA strives to nurture, showcase and celebrate literary  talent on the Sunshine Coast, so we are continually holding events that provide skills development and activities which showcase and recognise talent,” Hari said.

“This year the WARM Writers Competition has four categories and with a cost of just $5 per entry it is easy to be a part of it. This workshop, and another we have planned for March, will help writers get cracking on their entries,” she said.

The Architecture of the Novel workshop will be held on Saturday, 20 February from 9.30am to 3.30pm at the Lake Kawana Community Centre, Sportsman Parade, Bokarina.  As part of the workshop Steven will be talking about his latest book 88 Lines About 44 Women. The cost is $55 for SCLA members and $65 for non members. Participants are asked to bring their own pen and paper and lunch or they can drive to nearby shops during the lunch break. For bookings phone 0414 635 407, email info@scliterary.org or visit www.scliterary.org for more details.

Details about the WARM Writers Competition and the next workshop on 20 March 2010 are available on the SCLA website www.scliterary.org.

Australia has always been a popular destination for migrants looking for a new home, and now there is a fantastic new resource available for the almost 200,000 people who arrive down under each year.

The unique Living Down Under DVD series offers immigrants and students all the information they need about living, studying and working in different regions within Australia.

And now Living Down Under creator Tessa Stevens is about to launch the series in the UK during an exciting media tour promoting the real Australian way of life.

This UK born Aussie go-getter is surprised no one has thought of the idea before and is eager to share her enthusiasm for Australia with students and migrants who are contemplating the move.

Tessa said it was her own harrowing experience moving to Australia in 2004 that sparked the initial idea of the Living Down Under DVD series and the dynamic website that followed.

“It was a difficult, long and complicated process, but after arriving in Australia and getting used to my surrounds, I started to see what an incredible lifestyle and spectacular facilities can be enjoyed here and thought, wouldn’t it have been great to have seen all this before I arrived?”

Armed with a handy-cam and a stack of entrepreneurial enthusiasm, Tessa ventured out with her two young children in tow, to film footage of her home town, the beautiful Sunshine Coast. Loading an unscripted DVD on eBay, Tessa was astonished to sell two copies the very first night.

“The success of those first, rough attempts at sharing my new found home with others really took me by surprise,” Tessa said.

“Before I knew it, I had four different DVD’s completed and the Living Down Under concept was born.”

Tessa had discovered a massive gap in the market and went about educating herself on website development, social networking skills and e-marketing, undertook voice coaching and filming lessons – while raising a young family.

“It has been a challenging journey but I have remained determined to make my dream a reality and I’m very proud that Living Down Under has grown to range 16 DVD titles and is becoming a popular online travel and educational resource.”

“I immerse myself in the culture literally setting off on road trips across Australia, filming and interviewing experts and migrants wherever I go, covering everything from beach safety and finding a job, to schools and a place to live to buying a car and even the wheelie bin system – all to bring to life visually what it is like to live in Australia and to answer the common questions most people have when embarking on such a big move.”

Tessa said Australia’s Immigration Department issues 300,000 visas each year, while the education sector represents Australia’s third largest export, bringing in 340,000 students every year.

“It goes without saying that the migrant and student markets are massive, and I believe the Living Down Under series can play a huge role in helping to boost the Australian economy by promoting Australia’s exceptional facilities and way of life to these audiences.”

“I can help you move to paradise and show you everything you need to know with practical, realistic and useful information.”

“My Study in Australia DVD for example shows real life footage of students and a variety of educational facilities from high school to university and provides information on everything from the Australian education system and preparing your visa to what is it like to home-stay with an Australian family.”

Tessa believes people should ‘prepare for their new Australian adventure BEFORE they get here’ and has been overwhelmed with positive feedback on both her DVD series and downloadable interviews with experts like doctors, lawyers, financial advisers, real estate agents, teachers as well as migrants who have settled into their new life.

“Fantastic feedback from people overseas has revealed the Living Down Under series has eliminated the need for them to go to the expense of flying here first to ‘check things out’.”

“I am excited by the potential of Living Down Under to genuinely help people settle by preparing them through other peoples experiences and having experts share their experiences gives them a true insight into Australian life before they leave their homeland,” Tessa said.

“I am so passionate about Australia and the wonderful lifestyle it has to offer and if I can assist one family in making the move or convince one student to embark on studies in Australia, then it has all been worth it.”

Our ‘Smiling for Smiddy: Journey of Friends’ documentary had its premier screening in Brisbane this week, playing to a packed house of over 300 people, receiving a fantastic reaction.

The documentary, a longer directors-cut of the version that went to air on Win TV before Christmas, tells the story to the 2009 Smiling for Smiddy Challenge, a gruelling 8-day bicycle ride from Brisbane to Home Hill, near Townsville, to raise money for cancer research in memory of Adam Smiddy who died from an aggressive melanoma. This year the riders raised over half a million dollars. View the promo below.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/8054311[/vimeo]

To find out more about and support this worthy charity please visit www.smiddy.org.au.

Just nine months after it was launched Jentla, a suite of Joomla Enterprise Layer software, has been adopted by the sixth largest education institution in the US and its creator has been recognised by the Financial Review MIS Magazine as a rising star.
Jentla, developed by Brisbane internet-based software design company, Zac-Ware, is a new enterprise grade content management extension for Joomla web developers.
Zac-Ware CEO Damian Hickey said Jentla, which had already been adopted by Prime Television and Queensland Health, had been very successful and they were thrilled to be recognised by MIS.
“We are now extending into the US market with its adoption by Florida State College at Jacksonville. At 90,000 students, they have some serious web requirements. The recognition by MIS is additional vindication of the approach we have taken over the last several years – to build a solution around open source software,” he said.
Mr Hickey said Jentla provided a suite of extensions for web developers that would enable them to dramatically increase the number of websites they could manage.
“We are extending the Joomla CMS solution that is largely built in Australia and is being used by over 10 million websites so it can be applied to even the most diverse enterprises.”
Jentla can support up to 1000 sites, whether micro or fully fledged and large scale, and allows content to be implemented network wide while also allowing content to be customised to suit the different target markets at which the sites are directed.
Zac-Ware, which operates from The University of Queensland owned i.lab incubator at Toowong, said as a small business they recognised the need for a system that had made Joomla more accessible for enterprises while also simplifying and reducing the time investment needed to run a large number of sites for web developers.
“Jentla is based on an open-source solution, which allows us to draw on the enthusiasm and creativity of thousands of developers,” he said.
“We then combine that energy and productivity with a clear enterprise architectural focus.”
Mr Hickey said Zac-Ware was a three-year-old start-up company that moved to the i.lab incubator almost a year ago.
“We had the know how in our industry but basing ourselves at this unique technology business incubator has allowed us to take advantage of the business mentoring facilities and helps us develop and grow markets for our products,” he said.
For more information about Jentla and ZacWare, please visit www.zac-ware.com.

Children’s performance group the Silly Billies will be jumping around and making some noise about solar power and sustainability at two free concerts at Sunshine Plaza this Saturday 23 January.

The concerts at the Riverwalk Stage at 11am and 1pm, will give children one more chance to have fun before heading back to school and be in the running to win some great prizes, while also learning more about how solar power works.

Silly Billies member Jumping John is really excited about the concerts and helping more families to learn more about how easy it is to be more sustainable.

“We had our Auzion system installed about nine months ago because we wanted to help look after the environment,” John said.

“The results have been amazing so I am really looking forward to jumping around and helping to spread the word about sustainable energy.

He said the Silly Billies believed using sustainable energy was really important and that it was important for everyone to do what they could.

“We love our solar energy system but what got us really excited was when we started getting money back instead of an electricity bill,” he said.

“We only got the smallest system available installed and still we are saving hundreds of dollars each quarter.

Auzion managing director Mark Leckenby said with the support of Sunshine Plaza, they were delighted to be presenting the concerts.

“Teaching children about sustainability is really important and our customers tell us it’s often the kids that get them thinking about sustainable energy,” he said.

Mark said the concerts were the beginning of a series of promotions Auzion and the Silly Billies were planning for Queensland, adding the concerts were also a celebration of the success the Sunshine Coast company had experienced since it launched about 18 months ago.

“Already hundreds of families have installed Auzion solar grid connect energy systems, and AuziMax energy management monitors, taking advantage of the solar credits available from the Federal Government.

“Families are fast adopters of new sustainable technology so we see this as a great way to say thank you to them for their support while also continuing to spread the word about the importance of sustainability and the impact we can all have.”

At the concerts there will be thousands of dollars in prizes to be won including Silly Billies merchandise and a solar grid connect system valued at $7000 (*a $1500+gst installation cost applies and installation must be completed through Auzion).

There will also great specials on solar systems available from Auzion on Saturday and throughout the following week at the Auzion stand in the Sunshine Plaza near Terry White Chemist and the Nut Shack, from Monday 25 to Sunday 31 January, where staff on hand to answer questions and demonstrate how the systems work.

“We look forward to seeing everyone there so come along and enjoy all the fun,” Jumping John said.

Thanks to Sunshine Plaza for providing the venue and to the Silly Billies for donating their time to make this event possible.

For more information about Auzion’s solar energy systems, mega solar bundle and the AUZiMAX, visit www.auzion.com.

Food Matters, a documentary about nutrition, health and wellbeing, produced by Sunshine Coast couple James Colquhourn and Laurentine ten Bosch, has just cracked 100,000 sales and is now airing in more than 30 countries worldwide.
The film, which was launched just 18 months ago, has been shown on Canal+, a French broadcaster who dubbed the film in French and broadcast the title through 27 countries, as well as Noga from Israel. It will premier on the Rialto Channel in New Zealand in February and has also been included in the in-flight entertainment on Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand.

Food Matters, which operates from the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre, is now also partnering with other filmmakers, distributing other nutrition, wellbeing and sustainable living films because of the demand for information in this area.

Producer and Director James Colquhourn said they developed the documentary after watching his father struggle with Chronic Fatigue, Depression and Anxiety.
“It was clear that the conventional ‘drug based’ approach was not working for him, as it doesn’t for many people, and he needed a different angle of attack. We studied all that we could and encouraged him to read many books but it just wasn’t getting through,” James said.
“That was when we decided to create a film that offered a multi-media learning approach and delivered everything in a quick and concise fashion. After watching the footage he starting implementing healthier lifestyle changes straight away, and his health rebounded completely and he withdrew from all his other medications without any side effects,” he said.

“What we learned throughout this journey was so astounding that we wanted to share it with others, so Food Matters was born.”

Producer and Director Laurentine ten Bosch said the success of the film had been fantastic but that they had a busy year ahead with the film recently launched into the North American retail market.

“The film is now available in the US through Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, Borders, Blockbuster and NetFlix and we are excited that the film has made such a large impact in North America and Canada as it had been one of our goals to see the film do well over there,” Laurentine said.
Innovation Centre entrepreneur-in-residence Nigel Hall said the success James and Laurentine and Food Matters had experienced could be just the beginning for them.

“They saw a need, learned new skills and created a product for which there is a strong demand,” Nigel said.
“Now through careful business planning, they are further developing that niche and branching out into the distribution of other similar products. This is just the type of entrepreneurial enterprises we encourage at the Innovation Centre.’’

James said as first-time filmmakers making the documentary had been challenging. “It took 12 months from start to finish and far more money than expected,” he said.

“We were lucky to partner with the amazing Enzo Tedeschi, our co-producer and editor. Enzo filled the gaps in our experience with regards to the technical aspects of the post production while we provided the direction and held on for the ride!”
James said since releasing Food Maters interest in the film had continued to snowball.

“Just recently we had over 95,000 people visit our website in just one month, with more and more people subscribing to our free fortnightly newsletter, which offers all the latest news and tips on nutrition and natural healing.”
To find out more about Food Matters visit www.foodmatters.tv. For more information about the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast visit www.innovation-centre.com.au.

“Smiling for Smiddy, A Journey of friends” won it’s time slot statewide, out rating all of the programs it was up against. Not only did it hold its audience but the viewing audience grew by 5000 people by the end of the broadcast. The documentary, and its theme song, was produced by Reflected Image PRoductions and we negotiated with Win television who were very supportive of the project.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/8054311[/vimeo]As a result the charity have already been contacted with offers of sponsorship and support for 2010’s ride.  To support them go to www.smiddy.org.au