Southern Gold Coast News

Southern Gold Coaster Nadia Sunde is being hailed as a ‘breath of fresh air’ in the emerging Australian kindie scene.

Her song The Goat and The Goose was recently awarded 3rd place in the children’s category of the International Songwriting Competition, alongside other Australian luminaries like Sarah Blasko and Troy Cassar-Daly.

Nadia’s album, Homespun, features a collection of songs that are ‘joyful, infectious and lots of fun!’. Homespun is available from Borders @ Robina, iTunes and Nadia’s website – www.nadiasunde.com.

Congratulations Nadia on your success!

What: The 4th annual Animal Action Day

When: Saturday and Sunday, October 2-3, 2010, 10-5pm both days, just before World Animal Week from Oct 4-10, 2010.

Where: Gecko House and nearby Winders Park by the river, 139 Duringan St, Currumbin.

Its aim: The charity fun family event aims to raise awareness, appreciation and respect for all animals and the environment.

Funds raised: this year go to Save China’s Tigers, in line with Year of the Tiger. They re-wild and breed the tigers. There are less than 100 South China Tigers left in the wild – almost hunted to extinction.

Promote your business for free by having a stall or donating a raffle prize:

With stalls: It’s free to have a stall, we’re just asking for a donation of minimum $20 per day to Save China’s Tigers for commercial stalls. Charity stall holders can raise money for their charities and don’t need to give a donation. Stall holders don’t have to promote animal related products. However, your business must be animal and environmentally friendly. Anyone interested, please just supply a one-paragraph blurb on what you will be promoting & a link/ phone number/s for the website. Set up will be in Winders Park, beside Gecko, from 9am both days. Stall holders will need to bring their own tables and marquees. Power will be available on site, however people will need to bring their own extension leads etc.

With raffle prizes: Just email Aldwyn a description of your prize, with a dollar value, and arrange delivery to Aldwyn in Southport before the event or arrange to meet her or one of her assistants elsewhere.

If it rains: We will move the stalls upstairs into the hall at Gecko House and stop playing films. Stage entertainment will replace the films in the hall.

Everyone who participates will be acknowledged on the weekend and will receive a free web listing indefinitely on www.aaxpose.com plus the upcoming Animal Action Day dedicated website.

Together, we can all make a difference for animals and the environment!

Click the link below to read Graham’s latest tip!

A client’s real worth

The second Tourism Symposium is confirmed for 18-19 October 2010. This year, we take it to Kingscliff in the Tweed. Blessed with stunning, unspoilt coastline, lush hinterland, and the highest biodiversity in NSW, the Tweed is a growth area for tourism in the Northern Rivers. Unrivalled air and road access for Australian and international visitors give it a unique advantage over other regional destinations in NSW, indeed Australia.

The theme this year is the Long Tail of Travel. Much more than a theory, it’s a phenomenon describing the transformative role of technology in travel distribution and promotion. Witness what iTunes has done for accessing music, from hits to the obscure, what Amazon has done for publishing (from bestsellers to medieval texts). Travel is no different. Through unprecedented access to the tools of production and distribution, consumers around the world now have access to a rich and seemingly endless choice of highly specialised and niche experiences in out of the way destinations. This is – we are – the ‘long tail’ of travel!

We have taken account of our followup delegate survey in planning a program that builds on the best elements of last year, and adds a few new concepts. We’ve retained the interactive format, commitment to quality service, and thought provoking content. We’ve also committed to keeping the price affordable for small business and thus make it accessible to as many delegates as possible. We are lengthening the workshop duration, and introducing a couple of panel sessions to encourage debate and discourse.

We have built in greater relevance for businesses in the arts, creative industries, health and wellness, food and surf industries, which all of course benefit from and contribute to this region’s appeal as a destination.

We are proud once again to have the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Southern Cross University. As a centre of knowledge in our region, their support and input to the program is invaluable. Our media sponsor the Northern Star is also on board once again to help spread the word, and Dogwhistle Creative are providing quality design and creative services.

Symposium 2010 will be interactive, insightful and inclusive, an opportunity to develop new skills relevant to your businesses, network with other operators and hear from speakers with expertise and experience in the issues that matter.

Don’t miss out on our region’s most important tourism industry forum.

Click here to register

Association of Professional Aestheticians of Australia (APAA) National Awards of Excellence Dinner dished up a nice little feather in the cap for young Manager of Serene Beauty & Medispa in Tugun, Gemma Roberts, naming her ‘Therapist of the Year’ in late June this year!

Gemma has been working at Serene Beauty & Medispa for two and a half years, the past 12mths as Manager. Megan Waters, owner of Serene Beauty & Medispa said “Gemma’s extensive industry experience and her caring and nurturing nature made her a natural choice to be nominated for the award”.

Congratulations Gemma, what a great achievement! We wish you the best in your career in the Beauty Industry.

So why not head on down to Serene Beauty & Medispa and discover how good it feels to treat yourself to a bit of indulgent pampering by one of the best!

www.serenebeauty.com.au

Given the relatively high unemployment in the SGC (11.1% in Coolangatta and 9.4% across Tugun/Bilinga) I have been focussing any time that I have, outside of Cooly Rocks On, to strategic initiatives that will bring better recognition and better long term benefit to the SGC.

These include:

• Light Rail. Discussion with the Mayor of the GC and Cr Robbins and other SGC business leaders on our intention to form a strategic SGC Light Rail Taskforce to emphasise to the Federal, State & Local governments the critical need for the light rail to be extended to Coolangatta.
• Dive Wreck. The State government is currently funding study, conducted by GCT, looking at options for a dive wreck somewhere on the Gold Coast. I have been involved in meetings with interested parties from SGC and Tweed in relation to pitching the SGC as a potential site. This is a long term project and will be subject to all sorts of political considerations.
• Town Planning Review It is important that the SGC speak up about the future business and community requirements for town planning on the SGC bearing in mind the need to move forward economically, without compromising our lifestyle.  Along with Cr Robbins and the GCCC,  I have been involved with a number of meetings looking at these issues as they relate to Tugun business district and Currumbin Waters.

I encourage all businesses on the SGC to take an interest in these and other matters as I do not want the SGC economic prospects to be overlooked because of lack of interest by our regional businesses. My main objective in saying this, is to have us all working to reduce unemployment in our region, both now and into the future, as i passionately believe that everyone in our community that wants to work should be afforded the dignity of a job.

Cooly Rocks On Festival Management Committee are seeking support from businesses in the SGC region that would like to contribute to the Festival by way of in kind services (Eg If you have a rubbish removal business and would be willing to remove rubbish from the festival site at no charge) or discounted costs.

Some of the ways you may be able to support the festival are:

• Providing discounted or free Accommodation for Entertainers and their families/partners
• Supplying services at cost price or free of charge
• Supplying materials at cost price or free of charge

As a result of Wintersun moving to Port Macquarie, the business community have indicated to the committee that it is paramount to replace the festival hence the birth of Cooly Rocks On. The Festival Management Committee are extremely grateful to all who have assisted so far in the process of creating the new event. Organising the festival has required a lot of hard work from people in the business community, that have freely given their time, know-how and efforts all for the cause of ensuring our beautiful region does not miss out on vital economic benefits, as a result of losing Wintersun to NSW.

The FMC now ask for your support to enable this event to be an astounding success!

If you are able to assist as above or have any other suggestions as to how you might contribute to the Festival, please email secretary@coolyrockson.com!

If you own a website and run a business in the Southern Gold Coast region, did you know that the logo displayed here is available for you to use?

Display the logo proudly on your website and link the image to www.southerngoldcoast.com.au and show the world that you love where you live/work/play.

At the same time as promoting our region to all that visit your website, you will be doing yourself a favour by completing a backlink which means that Google will love you and us just that little bit more!

Simply right click on the logo to your right, choose Save As and select where you want to save the file, to download the logo. Then you can add to your website and complete the backlink!

If you have any questions or if you are not sure that www.southerngoldcoast.com.au currently has a link to your website, please feel free to contact Rachael on 0755343500!

Below are the Terms & Conditions of using the logo. By displaying the logo on your website, you are acknowledging and accepting the terms of use!

The Pure Gold Logo is a Trademark of CSGC, which is owned by the Gold Coast City Council.

CSGC is pleased to make available for your use the Pure Gold logo on the following terms and conditions, to enable you to promote your business and the Southern Gold Coast region:

1. The attached style guide must be adhered to whenever the Pure Gold Logo appears;

2. For use only on your website, in print media or other printed promotional material, such as billboard or mobile advertisements, flyers and brochures for your business;

3. The logo is not to be used for any other purpose including, but not restricted to, branding of clothing, merchandise, caps souvenirs and the like, whether for commercial sale or otherwise, without our prior approval in writing; and

4. That by using the Pure Logo as set out above you, as the authorized user, hereby acknowledge that CSGC owns the Pure Gold logo as a Trademark.

NOTE: While we understand that the landscape layout may suit some applications more than the portrait layout, we would prefer the portrait style to be used wherever possible!

SWELL Sculpture Festival 2010
Queensland’s largest outdoor visual arts exhibition Artists from Australia and overseas are preparing to take over Currumbin Beach, when the eighth annual Swell Sculpture Festival takes them out of the gallery and onto the sand from 10 – 19 September. Queensland’s largest outdoor visual arts exhibition, in scale and attendance, will this year present the most extensive exhibition ever staged by the festival, when 55 major sculptural pieces are installed along the beach.

Set between Currumbin’s two headlands, the 2010 exhibition includes work by artists from all over Australia as well as international locations such as New Zealand, Germany and India.

Swell Sculpture Director Ruth Della says, “Swell is all about taking art out of the gallery and into a space that can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. The beach forms part of the essence of Queensland’s culture and the juxtaposition with large scale sculpture creates a wonderful spectacle.”

The ocean backdrop provides the perfect space for Oscar winner John Cox’s new work The Race. Two enormous lifesavers engaged in competition, rise from the sand in this impressive and imposing piece.

Pamela Lee Brenner’s Step Lightly, uses 200 recycled shoes covered in sand to eloquently express her concern for humanity’s environmental footprint, as we go about our daily life.

Victorian artist Emma Anna took inspiration from the work of John Lennon and Yoko Ono when creating imag_ne, a 4m long scrabble tile holder that spells out the name of the piece.

Daniel Clemmett’s Embracing The Plateau, a five metre high Venus of Willendorf made from car bonnet undercarriages, demands attention and reflects on humanity’s changing idea of the ideal woman.

This is just a small sample of the great variety of work that will be exhibited this year. Visitors can take in this outdoor exhibition of large scale sculptured pieces for 10 days – all for free. Visit during the day and stay on for the magic of a twilight viewing. As the
sun sets each evening, selected pieces will take on a whole new look as they light up under the southern sky.

Participating artists will vie for awards and acquisitions exceeding $60,000. The Gold Coast City Council’s annual $20,000 acquisition provides a lasting legacy for the residents of the Gold Coast. There is also the Satterley Property Group’s $20,000 and $10,000 acquisition. The Dux Lighting Environmental Awareness Award, Jennie Neumann OAM Emerging Artist Award, The Sun Media Award and visitors can vote for their favourite sculpture in the Currumbin RSL People’s Choice Award. Aspiring young art critics will be interested to cast a vote in the Kids’ Choice Award.

Approximately 200,000 people visited the Swell Sculpture Festival in 2009 to view the splendour that large sculpture on a beach setting offers. To compliment this, the Swell Smalls Gallery located at The Way of Design Gallery on the Currumbin beachfront, allows visitors to experience sculpture at an intimate and affordable level. In addition to the exhibition, visitors can extend their experience with guided twilight walks, artists’ talks throughout the exhibition, master classes for visitors to sculpt their own piece and a public art forum on Tuesday 14 September, exploring topics within a public art context.

As part of the Swell Kids’ Program, invited artist Pamela Denise will host workshops with school children, to discover the life cycle and importance of our native bee. During the weekends, budding young sculptors can participate in the Swell Kids’ Workshops at the Currumbin Nippers Club. A collaborative sculpture will result from these workshops, so ‘bee’ on the look out for this!

A new initiative for 2010 is the Bush to Beach Project supported by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation. A group of children from remote Cloncurry State School will visit the exhibition, participate in the workshops and engage with a selection of the artists.

Gourmet BBQs on the weekends will tantalise the tastebuds or visitors can choose casual dining at local cafes and restaurants. Pack a picnic and plan to stay for the day!
The 10 day exhibition opens to the public on Friday, 10 September and closes the Sunday 19 September.

PARKING:
Weekend viewing is very popular and parking is a breeze with the Free Swell Shuttle Bus service. Visitors can hail the bus along the designated circuit and ride to and from the exhibition with ease. Check the website for details.