Not sure exactly where last weeks blog post on ‘Coming Up this week’ went. I was in Sydney all week and I had a highly productive week as we head towards the end of the financial year. There was my philanthropic activities – Best Buddies board meeting – Sydney Sings session (more welcome – Tuesday nights from 5.30 – 7.00) and also attending the Olympic Team Farewell dinner which is a fundraising event. In addition we had Bronwyn Sheehan –…
Tag Archives: Volunteers and Charity
Coming up this week 7 May 2012
Last week I learned a lot – things about mobile and eCommerce. I finished reading Abundance by Diamandis and Kotler… which I found completely inspiring. We had our company meeting which was hosted by the marketing team – and they chose a ‘Thank you’ theme… letting each team know how we all contribute to our marketing effort. (It gave me a chance to talk about the upcoming book.) I did a presentation to RAMs and met the CEO, Melos Sulicich…
Advice to Gerry – you can’t take it with you
I was chatting with a friend yesterday and we were talking about how to teach our children the value of money. I remembered a presentation I attended years ago when the woman likened money to water… it has a need to flow – there is clean money and dirty money, sometimes it get’s damned up – but spread freely and evenly allows the world to prosper. My friend said that he has set aside some money to support community programs…
An elephant’s life lesson.
I am just back from holiday where the kids and I went to Northern Thailand to volunteer at an elephant conservation camp. This is one of the few places in Thailand where elephants are safe and able to live an elephant’s life. Clearly we are a family of ‘experiences’ and I wanted us to experience the challenges and joys of participating in a volunteering program as well as getting an understanding of how an individual can make a difference to…
Coming Up this week 5 Dec 2011
Okay so it is half way through the week and I’m just getting to my blog. It is Christmas after all and I think I am still recovering from last week. My week did not go exactly as planned – but it did go to other peoples plan. My colleague had put a ‘speaking engagement at the airport’ in my diary. This was in fact a complete ‘set up’ – the team was playing a trick on me – they…
Coming up this week 28 November 2011
Christmas, Christmas, Christmas…. Oh it is ‘the season’ and I do love it, such a time of celebration. It seems as if the last week rushed by, with interviews and a speaking engagement – and lot’s of meetings and writing – but really my focus now is all about being part of the best Christmas ever at RedBalloon. I had a wonderful week in Melbourne being very productive and enjoying the city. Melbourne is such an important market for us…
Get a buzz from giving
Kahlil Gibran: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” You would expect that I would write a blog at this time of year about the importance of giving – Christmas is everywhere, especially at RedBalloon. However here’s a thought: One of the greatest gifts you can give is your time – and when you do – you will experience a euphoria, which is very good for…
The big questions in life.
Some days I pinch myself and wonder how I got to be where I am… really it is very amazing. I find myself sitting in Amsterdam in a room with 500 other entrepreneurs (I’d never been to Holland before). The energy in the room is effervescent. Suddenly the group is hushed as if we are ‘one being’. There is a Nobel Peace Prize winner on the stage. All of us are instantly humbled. Over 4 days we will have access…
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…
10 Questions from Dream Employer Webinar
1. What effort is involved to transition non-attached employees back to attached, if it is at all possible. Re-establishing trust takes time – often years but is the essential ingredient to engagement. This must be achieved consistently. Leadership needs earn trust and a great way to do that is simply notice what people contribute. Often the hardest question to answer is: Is the effort it will take to re-establish, trust worth the reward for the organisation? Sometimes there are very…
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...
