Three separate trips to Queensland and two trips to Melbourne in the last 7 days…. meant that in addition to speaking to four wonderful and very different audiences – I had the opportunity to compare the three main airlines – and to get to know crews and ground staff quite well – I am always fascinated to learn about other organizations and their employee experience. Each presentation was different, – one on the ‘growth story’, one on ‘brand connection’, one…
Tag Archives: Professional Speaker
Coming up this week 22 August 2011
Sometimes I even surprise myself at they variety and quantity of things I get up to in a week. Last week was no exception. I started the week in Melbourne. Then I visited the careers advisor to support my daughter in her subject selection for her final years of school. I shared a cooking experience at ‘Our Big Kitchen’ for the launch of our Best Buddies citizens program in Bondi. Sophia was my buddy – we had a good giggle…
Coming up this week 15 August 2011
I feel so fortunate! I am in the wonderful position of meeting people every day. Last week I met a fabulous group of people from IBM when I spoke at its partner conference and also the ACP partner conference – I met people from the NSW judiciary, I met amazing entrepreneurs at the southern region EY Entrepreneur of the Year event in Melbourne. I met fellow female business owners at a Ruby lunch with Gail Kelly. I met with clients,…
Coming up this week – 1 August 2011
This week is exciting at RedBalloon – we are celebrating many things, including 17 RedBallooners being promoted to new roles… which is wonderful to be able to provide career growth in such a relatively small organization. Last week I had lunch with the ‘newbies’ and I always delight at their enthusiasm – funny now though for me, as many of them were in primary school when I started the business, so when I ask “how did you hear about RedBalloon?”…
Things I learned about Google today
People love-to-love Google – it is an aspirational employer, which is always topping the ‘best places to work’, lists here and in the US with its commitment to work spaces. Today at the Optus Business Technology Seminar however, I learned more about Google’s commitment to workplaces – work can and does happen everywhere and anywhere. Google itself does not have enough desks for the number of people who are employed by it. There is a fundamental shift on what work…
‘Real women’ don’t need quotas?
‘Real women’ don’t need quotas? was the topic debated last week in Canberra at the AIM great debate event at the National Convention Centre. I was given the task of debating for the affirmative. Which meant that I was debating against having quotas. I’m not sure of the number but there seemed to be about 1000 people in the room. And they voted a resounding ‘Yes we do need quota’s’. I think however that the audience was not really simply…
It had to happen… Shame.
If you are prepared to stand up in front of audiences many times a week – at some point you are going to truly embarrass yourself – and today was my day. I was one of the debaters at the AIM great debate in Canberra – ‘Real women don’t need quotas’ was the topic and I was the final speaker for the affirmative. The iconic Ita Buttrose headed the opposing team. I had thought that I would be clever and…
Coming up this week 27 June 2011
This week of course is the end of the financial year. Time to reflect, review, and reinvigorate ready for the new financial year. Last Monday we finalized the plans for FY12 – each team leader presenting their insights, ideas and execution plans – requesting resources and budgets. This is now the eleventh annual planning cycle and each year I am even more excited by the innovations and new opportunities that RedBalloon creates. I managed to get to Melbourne for the…
Coming up this week 6 June 2011
I met some wonderful people last week – In the Hunter Valley on Monday, mid week I was at The Entrance on the central coast and then I finished the week in Mount Gambier, South Australia. I had such fun at each event. Having Friday evening with 150 energetic business people in Mount Gambier was a great night…I met so many authentic, community minded people – it was inspiring. I spoke off the cuff about the ingredients to a successful…
Ideas worth talking about
Having arrived from an overnight plane from Beijing. I was a little worse for wear on Saturday morning. I was concerned that I would not keep up with the day. How wrong I was. The TedX Sydney event was first class – true to the vision of Ted and a mix of local and international ideas. There was a strong music theme to the day. Four Play String Quartet were mesmerizing as they electrified the sounds from their stringed instruments…..
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
