We are delighted to invite you to the 2018 Victorian Rural Women’s Forum.

• The forum will run from
• • mid-morning Thursday 2 August to mid-afternoon Friday 3 August at 
  • RACV Goldfields Resort in Creswick.
    
• Two fantastic keynote addresses: Sallie Jones of Gippsland Jersey; and Henry and Anna Terry, truffle farmers from the hit Channel 7 television series My Kitchen Rules
  
• There will be four training workshops running concurrently over four sessions allowing everyone to participate in each (Leadership, Wellbeing, Social media, Financial literacy).
  
• Structured and unstructured networking and mentoring opportunities.
  
• Three-course gala dinner.
  

All of this included in your FREE registration.

Numbers are strictly limited and places will be allocated on a ‘first in’ basis. The forum is a participatory event tailored to suit all audiences. There will be a place for both experienced women and those with ambition to succeed. This forum is designed for maximum participation and participants should commit to contributing and taking away new skills and connections.

Registration is open to subscribers of the Victorian Rural Women’s Network. Please follow the link below to the Rural Women’s Network website for details on how to register.

http://extensionaus.com.au/VRWNetwork/

We hope you can join us and look forward to meeting you at the Forum.

In The Press -South Gippsland Sentinel-Times

The information revolution (internet) has changed marketing forever, and too many businesses are being left behind.

So many small businesses are lacking sales because their marketing lacks impact.

Don’t miss this 45 minute marketing workshop about the future of marketing, presented by respected marketing strategist Damian Morgan on 

When: Tuesday, July 17

Where: meeting room 1
Leongatha Memorial Hall.

2 Sessions to Choose From

• 12.30-1.30pm (Light lunch provided)
  
• 6pm-7pm (Canapes & drinks included)
  

Attendance is free, but reservations essential.

Call Jane on 5662 2294 or email janeg@thestar.com.au

Bass Coast South Gippsland Business Alliance would like to invite you to a lunch in Inverloch on Thursday, 17 May 2018 to hear Dr Vaughan Reimers from Federation University talk about the foundations of marketing your business/organisation and why it is important to perfect it before promoting it. This event will include a keynote address and Q & A.

Common sense dictates that one should never build a house on anything but the most solid of foundations. For some reason, however, this vital principle is often overlooked when it comes to running a business.

In this age of online marketing and social media, too often we go for "promotion before perfection" by seeking to get our message out there before we've got our product or service right. This presentation helps address this common mistake by providing insight into specifically what it is that your customers/clients value, and how to undertake simple yet effective 'research' that provides insight into your customers' needs and how your organisation should go about satisfying those need. The presentation will also cover how to identify your organisation's source of competitive advantage, and how to go about analysing your competitors.

Each of these "foundation stones" will be explained in a simple practical way using captivating and creative examples from the world's most successful organisations.

Click here for invitation >>> Bass Coast South Gippsland networking lunch with Dr Vaughan Reimers

Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues, friends and clients. Pre-event registration and payment is essential by Thursday, 10 May 2018.

SBWN is proud to have sponsored Lizzie Harms, a Year 11 student at Leongatha Secondary College, for her empowering women event in March.

The event was the result of a school project aimed at helping women and girls take their power back, realise tiny ways in which we give away our power, and challenged our thinking about "normal" behaviour.

Lizzie told her personal story of why this simple school project had become bigger than herself, after being targeted at school. She featured Clementine Ford, a well known feminist thinker and columnist as her guest speaker.

Clementine's talk demonstrated a wide variety of hate mail and online abuse. She dealt with the serious topic with humour, giving the audience actionable tips and strategies along the way.

Lizzie also provided the audience with a range of resources for young women in difficult situations. While we cannot list them all here, we are pleased to provide links to the online resources:

• Kids Help Line
• Headspace
• Reach OUT
• Youth Beyond Blue
• Our Watch
• The Line
• Make the Link
• Safe Steps
• 1800Respect

more about the event here:

http://thestar.com.au/blog/young-women-feel-the-power/ and

http://sgst.com.au/2018/03/girls-stand-together-inequality/

International Women's Day is celebrated on Thursday, the 8th of March.  Its a day to support, inspire and celebrate women in business, in whatever form their business takes. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. 

There are a few breakfasts in the region:

Bass Coast

Where: The Cape Kitchen

When: Thursday, 8 March 2018

Time: 9.30am for 9.00am start

Cost: $30

For bookings, please contact The Cape Kitchen on (03) 5956 7200 - places are limited.

more information

Women in Gippsland

EVENT// Making Big and Little Things Happen 

Thursday, March 8 at 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Tickets are $16.80 (including morning tea).
www.trybooking.com/TYPF

Her Place - Women's Museum Australia

Melbourne Museum has invited Her Place to participate in its week-long program to celebrate International Women’s Day. The Museum is focusing on Indigenous women for IWD 2018, so we are delighted to take this opportunity to celebrate three remarkable Indigenous women who have participated in our touring exhibitions: 

1. Aunty Fay Carter, 
   
2. Alma Thorpe and 
   
3. Paola Balla. 
   

From Mon 5 – Fri 9 March, their filmed interviews will be presented in the prominent area in front of the Forest Gallery at Melbourne Museum. 

On International Women’s Day, Thursday 8 March, at 10 am, all are welcome to attend a floor talk at this site about Her Place and the women featured (standard museum entry fees apply). 

If you have an event for IWD, let us know and we'll add it to the list!

155 Burnt Store Road, Lardner, Victoria, Australia 3820

Dear Dana and the Southern Business Womens Network,

On behalf of the South Coast Youth Clinic Partnership and the young people of Bass Coast and South Gippsland we would like to thank you for your kindness and generous donations to our Youth Clinics.

The funds raised of $189.15 has been used to purchase further sanitary and hygiene items for our young people

Many thanks again…..

Kind regards,

Kris Cousins
Communications & Project Officer
South Coast Primary Care Partnership

Recently Victorian Small Business Commission have produced a fact sheet for small businesses to understand how they can access tools and resources to reduce their energy costs. This information includes comparing energy bills, accessing energy assessment grants, accessing discounts on energy efficient products and how to access services for complaints against energy providers. 

Keeping overheads down is an important part of running a small business, and with the recent increase in energy prices, it is important to reduce energy costs where possible.

SBWN's community initiative for 2016/2017 has been a roaring success.

This year SBWN has changed the community "give back" initiative. Instead of individual scholarships awarded to young women in the community, we embraced an opportunity to reach hundreds of young women and men around the region.

We sponsored Rebecca Slavin, 2016 Bass Coast Young Citizen of the Year, to speak to secondary schools around the Gippsland region. The schools selected one or more year levels, ranging from year 9 to year 12, to attend her brutally raw and honest account of her recovery from Ice addiction.

Her message hit home with many students, and Deanne Staley received many messages of thanks from both students and parents.

The feedback was all positive, and it has been an honour to have helped Rebecca touch so many young lives. If we have helped save just one family from the heartache and heartbreak of Ice, we have succeeded.

Schools Rebecca has shared her story with included:

• Newhaven College, Phillip Island
  
• Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College, Leongatha
  
• Korumburra Secondary College, Korumburra
  
• Wonthaggi Secondary College, Wonthaggi
  
• Mirboo North Secondary College
  
• Foster Secondary College
  

Rebecca at Wonthaggi Secondary College with a handful of students

Rebecca with students from Korumburra Secondary College

In the Press

Extract from "The Mirror" after the Foster Secondary College talk:

Ice talk made an impact

Rebecca Slavin ( Bass Coast Young Citizen of the year 2016 ) visited the college last Wednesday to discuss her experiences with drugs and alcohol. Year 10 and Year 11 students were captivated by her story.

Rebecca grew up locally and came from a close and loving family but at the age of fourteen began to experiment with alcohol. At the age of seventeen she had her first hit of the drug Ice, and it was not long before she descended into the hell of severe addiction. Rebecca was totally honest about how she lied, stole and manipulated in order to feed her need for the drug. Not only did it affect her relationships with her friends and family, but she also became a victim of domestic violence.

Associating with other Ice users resulted in Rebecca frequently being beaten. At one stage she was kidnapped and at another had a gun held to her head. She was frequently hospitalised and her heart stopped for a short time - she had experienced death. However, the drug held such a fierce grip on her she went straight back onto it.

As confronting as her story was, the important theme was the message of hope. Rebecca eventually attended over a year of rehabilitation and managed to fight her demons, re-learning the interpersonal skills most people take for granted and regaining a stronger sense of her own values and morality.

Most impressive was the courage Rebecca showed in being able to share her experiences, including answering questions with candour that to others may have been invasive. The college would like to thank Deanne Staley and the Southern Women's Business Network for sponsoring this event. Thank-you to Rebecca for reaching out to our young students and teaching them that no matter what the situation, help is always available.

Bronwyn Clifton
Student Wellbeing Leader
Foster Secondary College

Pictured from left to right: Joshua Standfield, Deanne Staley, Bronwyn Clifton, Rebecca Slavin, Amy Tudor

Other articles in the press:

http://www.mnsc.vic.edu.au/13-general/news/510-rebecca-talks-about-ice

Read more about Rebecca Slavin here:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-20/gippsland-ice-rehab-rebecca-slavin-inverloch/7946336

As a follow up to our June event on the subject of Superannuation with the amazing Natasha Williams of VicSuper - please find attached in PDF form, some useful tips to get you headed in the right direction...

Boost your Super.pdf

Source: The New Daily