Touted as the “Saviour of the Aussies” the controversial move to North Kirra Beach proved to be the right choice for Surf Life Saving Australia, and the village of Kirra alike! Given some intense scrutiny over the past 12mths, the Surf Life Sving Assoc (SLSA) made a hard decision to move from Kurrawa and also faced critisism from competitors over the flatter, safer conditions of Kirra.

While competitor numbers were slightly down on last year at 6400, entries in the under-15’s and under-17’s divisions did rise. Which meant more families enjoying the beautiful surrounds of Kirra and Coolangatta, traditionally a favourite for family holidays.

Throughout the competition, the club members travelling from around the country commented positively about Kirra’s capacity to host the event despite the wider radius that competitors and their support teams needed to spread out over. Overall SLSA officials have much to celebrate with a flawlessly run event, huge crowds, peerfect weather and thrilling comptetion all week.

The Aussies will return to North Kirra in 2015, as 2014’s event will be held at Perth’s Scarborough Beach, we look foward to welcoming the SLSA team back to Kirra for another great event!

Bleach* Festival 2013 was a great success this year, despite some challenging weather conditions. Visitors from far and wide descended upon the unique Southern Gold Coast arts & culture festival to celebrate local stories and loads of entertainment across the festival’s 55 events.

You can relive all the festival fun at Bleach* Festival’s website gallery page here where you will find event image galleries as well as all the highlights clips put together by the Digital Cinematix HD team.

If you would like to be involved in 2014’s event, email us to get onboard for next year!

The Gold Coast will play host to the first Global Surf Cities Conference in the days preceding the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Surf Events, specifically 28 February and 1 March, 2013.

The premise of the conference is to assemble leading surf city representatives from around Australia and the world to hear from internationally acclaimed speakers in the themes of surf business, innovation in surf, surf tourism, coastal management, surf city governance and more.

The two major aims of the Conference are to establish a platform for networking among surf cities to develop globally sustainable surf industries, and to develop frameworks for international collaboration in surf industry education, employment and global career mobility.

The keynote address will discuss the findings of the Benchmarking Global Best Practice, Innovation and Leadership in Surf City Tourism, a study currently being undertaken by the Gold Coast Surf City Inc. committee, who is facilitating the Conference.

Gold Coast Surf City Inc. (GCSC) is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes the continued growth and vitality of the Gold Coast surf cluster as a “global industry leader.”

Formally known as the Gold Coast Surf Industry Taskforce, GCSC was formed in February 2011 as part of a Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) initiative to help grow and support the $3.3 billion surf industry on the Gold Coast. The committee acts as a single collective voice for the surf industry on the Gold Coast, and through its endeavours, promotes the multi-billion dollar economic input to the area.

Registrations are now open for this inaugural event, through the following website: http://www.cvent.com/d/kcqddh

The 2013 Global Surf Cities Conference will be staged at the historic/heritage listed Kirra Community Centre, which overlooks the fabled Kirra surf break.  The conference will also play host to the World Surf Cities Network Annual General Meeting, an initiative that commenced in San Sebastian, Spain in 2011.

The WSCN network consists of nine leading surf cities from around the world including the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Donostia-San Sebastian in Spain, Arica in Chile, Durban in South Africa, Ericeira in Portugal, Hossegor in France, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain and Santos in Brazil.

This network is set to expand to include further Australian and international cities at the conference.  The WSCN is aimed s at encouraging a collaboration of and information sharing to create and maintain a globally sustainable surf industry.

The conference will also be a surf manufacturing trade demonstration, giving delegates a chance to interact and watch some of the Gold Coast’s leading craftsmen as they showcase the methods and techniques of surf board shaping.

The conference will finish on Friday 1st March on the corporate deck at the Quicksilver and Roxy Pro trials, a great opportunity to see the Gold Coast Surf industry in action and see some amazing surfing from the world’s best.

Bleach* 2013 is taking shape and by the looks of it, we think you will be blown away come February on the Southern Gold Coast!

Lock in the Dates

Make sure you have the dates in your diary!

22nd Feb – 3rd Mar 2013

You may also want to earmark the weekend prior – say the 16th Feb, we’ll tell you more as things develop!

Big Ideas

We have had a lot of great publicity for Bleach in the last few weeks. Big ideas require big vision and big support networks to pull it all off. We become so inspired by the possibilities for the Southern Gold Coast and our city as a whole when people ‘get’ the vision and get behind it! If you were inspired by the articles in the Gold Coast Bulletin and want to ensure some of these big ticket items become a reality, we look forward to hearing from you.

We are looking forward to working with the many Southern Gold Coast businesses that are keen to be involved 2013, if you have any idea’s, now is the time to share them with us!

The Veterans Rugby Association of Qld is this again running a Vets 10 a side festival as part of the Festival of Rugby, in the week leading up to the IRB 7s to be held at skilled Park.

The 10s event will take place on Friday  12^th October with the 7s on the Saturday and Sunday and looks set to attract over 200 veterans of the sport for a fun weekend!

This year the veterens events have moved to Coolangatta.

The off field activities will be centred on the Coolangatta Hotel and the rugby will be played throughout the day at the Baa Baa,s Rugby field at Goodwin Park. Players are all over 35years of age and play a form of Ruby with some modified laws to accommodate the rising years. This event is about the friendship and Fraternity that this game generates throughout the world and the festival Motto is “Old Blokes Having Fun”. The bulk of participants will be staying in Coolangatta for the Friday and Saturday nights at least and will be bussed up to the IRB 7s each day.

If you are an accommodation provider in Coolangatta or surrounds, and have availability for the 11th-15th – please email Greg and advise your availabilty, a link to your website or online booking portal and your contact details in order to be included on the website for veterans to find your accommodation.

www.veteransrugbyqld.com

Planning has begun for the next epic installment of Bleach* which returns in February 2013 to the Southern Gold Coast’s shores.

A celebration of coastal culture that showcases the ever-growing explosion of creativity and artistic expression emanating from the Gold Coast, Bleach* aims to yet again deliver an unforgettable cultural experience that will have people around the country talking.

With the theatre production of The Surfer & The Mermaid (commissioned by Bleach* and produced in collaboration with the Arts Centre Gold Coast) appearing for a two week season in Sydney’s Bondi Pavillion, thanks to Tamarama Rocks Surfers Theatre Company, it has not taken long for the Bleach* brand to turn heads and make our southern friends’ ears prick at the mention of the thriving arts scene, rising from the once considered baron landscape of our city.

So with much further ado, we welcome you to pick up the phone and dial 0755 343 500 or click this link to get in touch and discuss how your company/brand would like to be involved in the next installment of the Gold Coast’s arts and cultural extravaganza.

From the looks of the fabulous photo’s being posted, you guys all had a ball at Cooly Rocks On this year, despite the less than favourable weather! We know we had a great time this year!

While there will be galleries uploaded to the CRO website very shortly, we can direct you to the Facebook page and albums so you can see the fun times had by all in Cooly this year!

So here goes – you can check out the photo’s of Friday right here, Saturday’s shennanigans are here, Sunday’s Highlights here, the Poodle Oodle Parade at this link, the Street Parade here, and some ripper shots of the approx 75,000 – 80,000 nostalgia lovers that rocked the streets of our town here!

If you have not yet joined the 5000+ Facebook fans, clickety click away right here and share your memorable moments and snaps of Cooly Rocks On with the growing online community of rockers and rollers!

A very big congratulations to the festival team, the volunteers, Team Cooly Rocks On businesses, the fabulous fans that turned it on and made it a great celebration and of course all of the sponsors that made the event possible!

We are looking forward to 2013 for another amazing festival!

Swell Sculpture Festival will return for it’s 10th celebration of ‘Getting art out there’.

Over 10 days, visitors can experience the sculptures, enjoy twilight walks, informative artist talks, discover new perspectives at the Public Art Forum, wander through the Swell Smalls Gallery and participate in artist master classes and childrens’ workshops.

If you missed 2011’s festival, you can see some fabulous images of the sculptures here, which will certainly wet your appetite in anticipation for 2012’s showcase of 50 large scale sculptures exhibited outdoors, on the beautiful beach and foreshore of Currumbin Beach.

So book the dates into that diary now! 14th – 23rd September 2012, grab your flights, accommodation and prepare for a cultural experience Southern Gold Coast style!

Key facts

• Australian operators are being offered the chance to promote their tourism business or region using Tourism Australia’s record breaking fan base by listing themselves in a ‘things to do’ section on its Facebook page.
• There are lots of ways operators can now engage with Tourism Australia on social media – through YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook page.

Full story

Tourism Australia is encouraging the Australian tourism industry to positively embrace social media in promoting their business and is offering to help by giving operators access to its global network of three million Facebook fans.

Australian operators are being offered the chance to promote their tourism business or region using Tourism Australia’s record breaking fan base by listing themselves in a ‘things to do’ section on its Facebook page.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the tab is a powerful marketing tool, allowing the industry to showcase itself to more than three million fans and keen advocates of Australia.

“Operators who haven’t already done so should really embrace digital and social media. People are passionate about travel and love to share their holiday experiences. There is a strong bragability factor about a holiday which plays out very strongly in social media and is a huge opportunity for operators to really tap into,” Mr McEvoy said.

“There are lots of ways operators can now engage with Tourism Australia on social media – through YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and, of course, our Facebook page – where simply joining our ‘Things to do’ tab like over 600 Aussie operators already done – immediately gives three million people globally access to your tourism experience – that’s incredible free advertising,” he said.

Mr McEvoy pointed to recent research by Teletext Holidays, revealing that over 25 per cent of Brits admit to booking a holiday after becoming jealous of their friends’ holiday pictures on Facebook – with Australia ranked as the number one enviable holiday destination.

“We’ve had some great success stories from operators, like Pro Dive on the Great Barrier Reef who have started offering free wi-fi on their cruise vessels so holiday makers can share their amazing Reef experiences with their social media networks – what better way to promote their business, Cairns and the Reef,” he said.

Social media has quickly become deeply integrated in Tourism Australia’s marketing activities, including the latest phase of its There’s nothing like Australia campaign, which has a strong digital focus and was even launched in Australia on the agency’s Facebook page.

The new ad has already received more than eight million downloads, across digital and social media channels, including YouTube and, in China, Tudou, Youku, Banma and Baidu.

“We’re constantly trying to demonstrate to our fans new reasons why there is nothing like Australia on our Facebook page and broader social media platforms, including internationally, like China’s Sina, Weibo and QQ, where every day we’re connecting with over nearly 400,000 consumers in our number one source market, China.

“We’re harnessing the power of social media as we continue to enhance our presence in the digital space, and it’s paying off. We received a fantastic response bringing Asian super star Show Lo to Australia, with his online video series filmed around Australia in March being viewed by over 60 million people in Greater China to date,” Mr McEvoy said.

Tourism Australia’s social media following includes:

• Facebook: SeeAustralia Facebook page is the largest destination page in the world, and the largest Australian fan page on Facebook with more than 3 million fans, including: United States (650,000), Australia (630,000), Germany (170,000), UK (160,000), France (75,000), Canada (60,000) and New Zealand (40,000);
• Twitter: Over 26,000 followers on Tourism Australia’s consumer twitter @seeaustralia; over 3,700 followers on corporate twitter account @tourismaus
• Instagram: 10,000+ followers; over 70,000+ photos submitted with hashtag #seeaustralia
• Pinterest:  1000 followers
• YouTube: 3,200 subscribers and 3.7 million views
• Google+: 23,000+ followers
• Sina Weibo: over 160,000 followers
• QQ MBlog: over 215,000 followers

The first of its kind for the region, Bleach* Surfing the Fringe highlighted creative pursuits inspired by surf culture with a festival program that spanned fifty five events staged over sixteen consecutive days across ten kilometres of coastline. The festival incorporated contemporary live music performances, pop up art galleries housed in shipping containers, a street party, art projections on iconic landmarks, fashion events and more. Bleach* was bookended by existing major surf events The Breaka Burleigh Pro and the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro.

Economic statistics complied during Bleach* by Destination Research & Development highlight a total of $1.74 million in visitor expenditure across the duration of the festival, a figure we hope to build upon further in coming years as the event solidifies its place as a major fixture on the Queensland events calendar. The media exposure received by the event topped its economic impact – estimated at $1.9 million.

Close to 30,000 people attended the festival over its sixteen day tenure. Festival Director Louise Bezzina was overwhelmed by the response to Bleach* in its opening year. “The festival has been hailed as a great success by the local community as well as the visitors who attended the Festival.  It was extremely well received, and really put the Southern Gold Coast on the cultural map.”

Ms Bezzina stressed the importance of Bleach* to the local community and its impact on creative industries, surfing-related businesses and hospitality venues in the region. “Bleach* strives to provide employment and professional development opportunities for local artists.  The Festival showcases the creativity of the Gold Coast and the uniqueness of the area to a national and international audience.”

Festival organisers aim to run Bleach* in a similar format in 2013, but thanks to input from stakeholders and the public have identified areas of improvement to assist future festival growth.  “We will consolidate the visual arts and gallery program and look at enhancing the successful event components in 2013.  We will also review some of the boutique, pop up style events and look at raising more funding to ensure the festival has a greater impact nationally and internationally. The 2013 Festival will focus on greater artist collaboration between local and interstate artists,” Ms Bezzina said.

Chairman of Connecting Southern Gold Coast, Murray D’Almeida, said “The success of the this innovative initiative exceeded all expectations and the confidence of the Gold Coast City Council in supporting this economic driver and cultural Festival as well as out sponsors and volunteers was vindicated by the outstanding acclaim the event received locally and nationally.”

Festival organisers wish to thank attendees, sponsors, media partners, volunteers, artists and staff for their commitment to ensuring Bleach* enjoyed outstanding success in its opening year.

2012 Bleach* Surfing the Fringe Festival Statistics:

-       The inaugural Bleach* Festival ran from 11 Feb – 26 Feb 2012

-       The Festival program ran for 16 days and included 55 events from a range of disciplines including:

• Lifestyle
• Film
• Photography
• Visual Arts
• Theatre
• Fashion
• Food
• Music

-       The Festival covered 10 kilometres of coastline from Currumbin – Coolangatta with offshoots in Burleigh Heads (Breaka Burleigh Pro) and Surfers Paradise at the Arts Centre Gold Coast

-       Over 500 pieces of art and surf photographs were exhibited across 11 shipping containers, galleries and empty shops

-       More than 168 artists from both visual arts and performing arts showcased their work

-       The Festival had 60 volunteers

-       58 Sponsors, Government Partners and Supporters

-       45 pieces of art work were sold during the Festival – 0% commission was taken by the Festival

-       Close to 30,000 people attended Bleach over the 16 day period with several of the in-venue events selling out.  These include:

• Sway on Sunset – Komune
• Tijuana Cartel – The SoundLounge
• The Surfer and The Mermaid – Surf World Gold Coast and The Arts Centre

-       The Festival received national and international media coverage, including a story profiling Bleach* and several artists broadcast online through the Quiksilver Pro webcast with a world-wide audience of 6 million people.

-       Bleach* and The Arts Centre Gold Coast is in negotiations with an independent Theatre Company in Sydney about the on-selling of The Surfer and The Mermaid, a local production commissioned and produced by Bleach* and The Arts Centre Gold Coast.

-       Visitor expenditure across the duration of the festival was $1.74 million