OceanWatch Australia is working in partnership with commercial gill net fishers to protect Australia’s dolphins by extending the use of state-of-the-art, acoustic deterrent devices, known as pingers.

OceanWatch Australia, a national not-for-profit organisation, announced the initiative, under its advancing sustainable fisheries program SeaNet, which receives funding and support from the seafood industry as well as the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country environmental grants.

The SeaNet program is a national environmental extension service that for over ten years has worked closely with commercial fishers to reduce the environmental impact of fishing in Australia, by introducing new practices and new technologies. SeaNet has introduced to the industry, in partnership with governments and other groups, new de-hooking devices, the popeye fishbox , square mesh codends, new techniques for deep setting longlines, turtle smart crab pots, all designed to improve fishing and environmental practices.

SeaNet team leader Denis Ballam said they had purchased 370 Fumunda pingers which will be distributed to selected commercial fishers in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Pingers emit a low-frequency signal that alert dolphins, dugongs and whales to the presence of commercial fishing equipment, and thereby ensure that interactions between the set fishing gear and these marine mammals are avoided”, he said.

“OceanWatch has been running the SeaNet program since 1998, with the primary aim of minimising the catch of non-target species (by-catch) and to encourage the best environmental practice for Australia’s commercial fishing sector,” Mr Ballam said.

‘With the support of the Australian Government through the Caring for Our Country grants scheme, SeaNet has been able to purchase pingers from Fumunda Marine, an Australian company based at the University of the Sunshine Coast Innovation Centre in Queensland, to extend these trials’.

“SeaNet has the support of commercial gill net fishers who are keen to adopt the latest available technology, allowing them to continue fishing in a sustainable manner,” Mr Warren said.

“Fishers tell us pingers are easy to use and reduce unwanted interactions significantly, which is not only good for the marine environment but also means a more efficient operation.” Mr Warren said.

“The challenge we face is extending the availability of pingers to all Australia’s gill net vessel operators, and to do that we will need financial support from both government and the corporate sector.” Mr Warren said.

Mr Ballam said with the global focus on protecting marine mammals it was an ideal opportunity for Government and corporate sponsors to come on board -with this program that will see us continue to be global leaders in commercial fishing best practice and marine conservation.

For more information about the Oceanwatch program visit www.oceanwatch.org.au. For more information about the pingers visit www.fumunda.com.

Tickets are now on sale for the 7^th annual Bloomhill Race Day, the Sunshine Coast charity’s major fundraiser for the year.

The Race Day at Caloundra’s Corbould Park will include a full race schedule with special race day luncheons in both the Favourite Room and Champagne Gardens.

Bloomhill’s Race Day coordinator Gail Lamb said the day would include all the fun and fashions of the spring racing carnival.

“The Bloomhill Race Day is a great excuse for a fashionable day out and will include a delicious lunch, raffles and memorabilia action and Fashions on the Field prizes,” Gail said.

Tickets to the Champagne Gardens and Member’s area are just $55 and include entry to the Champagne Gardens and Members’ area and a delicious buffet lunch and a lot of fun. Tickets to the Favourites Room are $80 per person or $800 for a table of ten and include a delicious luncheon and champagne on arrival in the upstairs room, with a great view of the track.

Gail said the last year’s race day, which was a sell out was a fantastic day.

“The weather was great and the event was a sell out, raising $33,000 for Bloomhill, which included a donation by Corbould Park, of $2 from each gate entry,” she said.

“Our Race Day is an important fundraiser for Bloomhill and allows us to continue supporting people with cancer and their families on the Sunshine Coast.”

She said the September event was shaping up to be as good or even better.

“We have had fantastic support from sponsors including Garry Crick Auto Group, Ray White – Maroochydore, Caboolture Sports Club, Bob Jane T Mart – Maroochydore, and the Sunshine Coast LNP State Members,” she said.

“We are all very excited about this year, and there are still a couple of opportunities for businesses interested in sponsoring races,” she said.

“Donations for the auction and raffles are also still needed from businesses or individuals.”

To book your tickets, to donate auction or raffle items or to find out more about sponsoring a race, call Gail or Beth at the Bloomhill Cancer Help centre on 5445 5794.

The new executive of the Sunshine Coast Literary Association, appointed at the Annual General Meeting this month, is planning to continue building on the past year’s success.

Congratulating past-president Pam Hardgrave and the rest of the outgoing committee for their success and thanking them for their dedication, incoming SCLA president Hari Kotrotsios said the new committee wanted to build on that success of the past year and see the association continue to grow.

“The Sunshine Coast Literary Association aims to encourage, nurture and showcase literary talent in the region and the many events organised by our outgoing committee have certainly done that,” Ms Kotrotsios said.

“In the past year the SCLA has re-established the WARM Literary Awards, first held in 2007 and also hosted several workshops, discussion mornings and other events such as the monthly Front Write Up literary performance evenings,” Hari said.

Hari said the new committee was inspired by this success and were looking forward to another year of great events.

“We are looking at a range of new events for this year to provide a forum for new and existing literary talent where they can develop and expand themselves,” Hari said.

The SCLA will also continue to develop its new interactive website where members can showcase their own work, share information and feedback and interact with each other in the association’s own online literary community. The website also features an upcoming program of Sunshine Coast literary news and events and members and others can subscribe to the monthly WARM E-News.

For more information about the SCLA or how to become a member visit www.scliterary.org, email info@scliterary.org, or phone 0414 635 407.

Kicking off the second series of Enterprise Tuesdays for 2009, Annette Sym – best selling author and award winning businesswoman – will share her ‘Symple steps to starting a business’.

At the next Enterprise Tuesday event on Tuesday 25 August from 4-6pm at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre, Annette will provide practical information and tips for new and emerging businesses.

For those who have a great business idea but are unsure where to begin, Annette will present her ‘Symply too good to be true’ success story. Annette commented “the reason I’m sharing my story is to show that with the right attitude you can achieve anything”.

Annette added “turning an idea into a business can be daunting, I’ve learnt many lessons along the way and want to inspire others to take their dream and create a business”

Annette is an acclaimed, multi-award winning businesswoman and entrepreneur, having won, among many other accolades, the Telstra Australian Government and Queensland Government Micro Business of the Year Awards in 2004.

Colin Graham, Innovation Centre CEO, commented “Annette Sym is a great example of a local entrepreneur and successful businesswoman. Her case study can offer practical insights for emerging entrepreneurs on how to start a business”

This event is the first of the final three Enterprise Tuesdays for the second semester of 2009 and is open to local entrepreneurs, business owners and USC staff and students.

Enterprise Tuesday, inspired by a program of the same name at the University of Cambridge, is free to attend and includes a presentation by a successful entrepreneur to inspire entrepreneurship in the local community.

Enterprise Tuesday is also a great opportunity to meet and network with like-minded business owners, start-up company directors and emerging entrepreneurs.

These events are an initiative of the Enterprise Program run by the Innovation Centre in collaboration with USC. As part of this program, the University’s Faculty of Business now offers an Entrepreneurship Minor comprising of four courses for students interested in starting their own business.

The Innovation Centre’s 2009 Enterprise Tuesday series is proudly sponsored by Westpac.

To register your place at the next event on 25 August visit www.innovation-centre.com.au.

Everyone talks about using the Internet and social networking to make money and grow their business but for most business people web-based business development this opens up an unknown and confusing world.

But the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre is going to demystify the black art of the online world in a one-day intensive seminar, presented by experts in the field who know the secrets to using the Internet for business development.

The Digital Futures program, on Friday 4 September, will provide insight into capitalising on Web 2.0, the new evolutionary stage of the Internet, and using websites to generate revenue. The experts will also look at profiting from business traffic.

Colin Graham, Innovation Centre CEO said that there were currently more than 1.6 billion Internet users and although there was a huge amount of information online, the web remained a massive untapped resource available to anyone.

“There are over 190 million websites, with web usage increasing every day but using the online world to grow your business and maximise profit remains a black art so Digital Futures is an opportunity to learn those skills and reap the benefits,” Colin said.

Steve Huff, from Sixty Second Parent, has extensive business experience gained both on and offline, and will draw comparisons to each within his session – The Business Model, in order to question what it really meant to go online.

“Too often, people have an online presence that is not used to its highest capabilities, and it does not become a profitable tool for the company. The Internet is constantly being advanced and it is up to us to keep up with it,” Colin said.

With years of experience within the marketing field, Yean Cheong, Director at Mitchell Communications Group, will highlight the importance of Building Your Online Strategy in her presentation.

Colin said that strategy was key to maintaining a productive presence online and was important in order to identify the outcomes from your investments and to meet the desired results for the future.

Russell Bullen, director of Online Marketing Collective, will share his knowledge of online technologies and the moving trends that impact on the digital world. He will help participants to become more conscious operators through his presentation The Situation and Taking Business Online.

Digital Futures is not only about maximising online opportunities but also, driving, capturing and converting traffic, which will be the focus of a presentation by Matt Forman, Managing Director of Triffika. Edmund Pelgen, the founder of Market Reach, will then discuss the strategies to put in place in order to Evaluate, Improve, Retain and Grow business.

Colin said that Digital Futures was for anybody that has a website or an online presence, particularly businesses. “It provides the advice needed to use the web as a productive business tool instead of a dormant space.”

Digital Futures will be on Friday, September 4 2009 at Sunshine Coast Innovation Centre. Tickets are $295+GST but if you book and pay before August 14, you will receive a $50 discount. As part of your registration you will also receive a complementary Online Strategic Consultation with Russell Bullen, of the Online Marketing Collective, valued at $150, as well as a complementary Optimising Your Site for Google consultation with Matt Forman, of Traffica, valued at $150. (Conditions apply) To register visit the new Innovation Centre website – www.innovation-centre.com.au – or call 07 5450 2600.

The new Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast website is a virtual environment that can take entrepreneurs from ‘zero to business hero’, regardless of what stage of their business development they are at.

The site – www.innovation-centre.com.au – is not just an open door to the Innovation Centre, a University of the Sunshine Coast company, it is also a virtual bonanza of business information to help anyone with an idea, at whatever stage of their business development, to business success.

Innovation Centre Entrepreneur in Residence Nigel Hall said the new website offered invaluable information and resources to everyone from people who have not yet started to develop their idea through to business owners, whether start-ups, home-based, family or small businesses.

“These businesses often face difficulty growing – they may lack the confidence, experience, skills or resources and market-know how to move ahead or it may be that they lack an external impartial sounding board to support them,” Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall said while economies world-wide continued to face massive challenges, he believed now was the time for entrepreneurs to get moving on their plans so that when the economy shifts they would be best positioned to reap the benefits.

“While there are still some tough times ahead, when the economy turns around it could happen very quickly and businesses need to be set up and ready to meet the demands that will bring,” he said.

The Innovation Centre is already home to 28 businesses, mainly in ICT, Clean Tech and Creative Industry sectors, and the new website opens up the Innovation Centre’s wealth of business experience and insights to a wider local, national and international audience.  Other resources can be added to the ‘Zero to Hero’ framework and the Innovation Centre is already considering submissions from other expert bodies.

“One of the great features on the site is our 10-step Zero to Hero program, which offers specific insights and practical tips for everyone from dreamers – people who are still to put their ideas on paper, to Hero – a business which is consistently producing profits and spare cash, with new products being developed to secure future markets,” Mr Hall said.

“This really is a great resource for growth oriented businesses and we have developed it because we are committed to support local business and the development of the region’s economy, particularly in the development of the Clean Tech, Digital, Creative and Knowledge-based industry sectors.”

Mr Hall said the Zero to Hero program allowed people access to information and 40 practical articles from business leaders in areas such as business planning, human resources, sales, online marketing, finance, marketing and strategic planning.
“The new website demonstrates the depth of practical experience and knowledge associated with the Innovation Centre, one of the fastest growing innovation hotspots in Australia,” Mr Hall said.
He said in addition visitors to the site could also check out the many businesses already based at the Innovation Centre and get details about upcoming business development programs and courses.
To check out the new website and get more information about the Innovation Centre and the Zero to Hero program, visit www.innovation-centre.com.au, phone +61 7 5450 2600 or email innovationcentre@usc.edu.au.

Reflected Image productions produced this video for use at trade shows and online for Sunshine Coast based company

Auzion who provide innovative energy solutions for homeowners.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/5834224[/vimeo]

Auzion, a Sunshine Coast-based sustainable energy company, has developed a revolutionary new product that puts people in complete control of the energy they use.
Launching the AUZiMAX today, Auzion managing director Mark Leckenby said the AUZiMAX could reduce a household’s energy consumption by as much as 20%.
Mr Leckenby said Auzion, which also provides solar energy systems, was passionate about helping people to be more sustainable.

“We want to create a simple way for people in a fast-paced world to make a difference without the inconvenience that is often associated with being ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’,” he said.
Mr Leckenby said the AUZiMAX is a monitoring device that allows customers to see not just how much energy they are using as a household, but also where in the house and at what times they consume the most power.

He said added to a solar photovoltaic grid connect system, or even installed by itself, the AUZiMAX went further than other products available.

“It doesn’t just give you a total energy consumption rate, it gives you the details, allows you to set an energy budget and can send you alerts to help keep you on track.”

“The AUZiMAX allows the home owner to log into a web portal to monitor their energy usage, set automatic email alerts on excessive consumption, and enable smart switching of loads to maximise the amount of solar energy fed back into the grid. On the web portal, homeowners can also at a glance monitor the levels of renewable and conventional power they are using.

“The software also provides a breakdown of where they are using the energy and when it is being used and allows the homeowner to set an energy budget, which will trigger automatic email and SMS alerts to tell them when they are getting close to the limits they set,” Mark said.

He said Auzion preliminary research had shown the AUZiMAX saved customers an additional 20% energy saving, on top of the savings from the solar power installation.

Auzion are also assisting people wanting to install solar systems, by stepping in to support homeowners who missed out on the Federal Government’s solar rebate, by offering their own grant that means customers won’t pay more.
Mr Leckenby said while the industry and homeowners were surprised by announcement on June 9, that the Government was transferring to the new Solar Credit Scheme immediately instead of on June 30 as expected, Auzion was committed to ensuring those who wanted to adopt solar power could.

“We want to support the Government in the transition to the new scheme, which is due to be considered by Parliament as part of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) legislation in August so we are offering our own rebate on any systems we sign up from June 10, subject to the passage of the RET legislation,” Mr Leckenby said.

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