Southern Gold Coast News

The northern facing beaches of the southern Gold Coast are perhaps some Queensland’s most vibrant, abundant, and beautiful.
As we plan for a strong and prosperous tomorrow, we invite you to imagine the future for our community.

If you own property, live, work or play in Rainbow Bay, Coolangatta or Kirra, we want to know what you love about this area, what you
wish you could change and what would make our community even better.

This is your chance to play a part in shaping our region’s future, so it remains a place that locals love to live and visitors will never forget.
Creating a “vision” of the future Together we’re creating a “vision” of how we imagine the future of the southern Gold Coast should be.

Our vision will be our road map for the future; a bold statement of how we want our community to look and feel.

Read more here

How do you get involved?

Join the conversation! Join our Facebook group facebook.com/groups/imagine.southgc

Send us an email imagine.southgc@groups.facebook.com

Join us at Community Gatherings
Kirra Hill Community and Cultural Centre
5.00 - 7.00pm
Monday 5 March | IMAGINE Rainbow Bay
Tuesday 6 March | IMAGINE Coolangatta
Wednesday 7 March | IMAGINE Kirra

We found this post on Business GC’s website and wanted to ensure our design and manufacturing businesses are aware of this new website…

An exciting new initiative supported by Business Gold Coast is the website www.goldcoastproducts.com.au

The purpose of the site is to showcase products that are manufactured or designed in our region. The project is in association with Stuart Kerr, who has been working with manufacturing companies on the Gold Coast for the last four years.

The site has already attracted almost 100 companies, with numbers expected to exceed 300 by early next year. There are plans to instigate a range of promotions, events, media coverage and initiatives during 2012 to ensure manufacturers gain maximum local, national and international exposure.

Innovation plays a major role, with many of our local companies developing world renowned products ranging from cosmetics to software. There are almost 3,000 manufacturers on the Gold Coast, generating an estimated $3b annually. The range of products is enormous, and can be generally classified into the following categories:

• Food & Beverages
• Clothing & Textiles
• Engineering & Mining
• Metals & Plastics
• Health & Medical
• Sports & Fitness
• IT & Communications
• Creative Arts & Design
• Automotive & Transport
• Marine & Water Sports
• Energy & Environment

We encourage you to visit www.goldcoastproducts.com.au for more information.

Connecting Southern Gold Coast Ltd

The Gold Coast City Council (GCCC)  intends to advertise for Expressions of Interest from persons interested in filling Board positions on Connecting Southern Gold Coast Ltd (CSGC) , located at Tugun. CSGC is a ‘controlled entity’ of GCCC.

These advertisements will appear in the Business Section of the Gold Coast Bulletin on Friday 10th February and Friday 17th February, with an application closing date of 29th February 2012.  For further details, post the 10 February advertisement, interested parties should contact Mr Stephen Bowden, Office of CEO GCCC, via email on sbowden@goldcoast.qld.gov.au or phone 5581 6482

Do you know how search engine optimisation can increase your web traffic or how Facebook, Twitter and TripAdvisor can grow your business? Is your product bookable online? TQ’s Digital Ready Program can help with all of this and more, with its range of fully subsidised opportunities:

1. Book a phone coaching session with a TQ Digital Coach: The Coaches can answer all your digital marketing questions and talk you through things such as how to improve your web site, how to choose an online booking system, what is search engine marketing and much more. Book your session now - contact 07 3535 5800 or digitalcoach@tq.com.au

2. Book in for a Digital Workshop or mentoring session: These will be delivered in locations around Queensland throughout the program. Upcoming opportunities will be advertised here and in Tourism on Q The workshops will be based on the below 7 modules.

1. Web Basics
2. Be Bookable Online
3. Increase Your Website Traffic
4. Planning Your online strategy (Overview will be available soon)
5. Social Media Basics (Overview will be available soon)
6. Advanced Social Media (Overview will be available soon)
7. Digital Marketing for the China Market (Overview will be available soon)

TQ’s The Wiz is an easy to use tool that will help you identify a few Online Booking Systems that are relevant to your business by taking you through a few simple steps. Check out The Wiz.

You can find out more here

More Fun 4 in 1 Pass gives you access for 4 great attractions one one little Southern Gold Coast street that packs a lot of punch!

You get access to:

1. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

2. Green Challenge Adventure Parc

3. SuperBee HoneyWorld & Honey Show

4. Surf World Gold Coast

Adults $49 (save $19), Seniors & Students $40 save $19 & Children $31 save $13

Valid to 31 March 2013 – Book at www.cws.org.au

1. Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary includes amazing Australian wildlife encounters, Aboriginal performances and Wildlife Hospital precinct. Where else can you cuddle a koala, experience wild Lorikeet Feeding, see an amazing Wildlife Shows, and feed Kangaroos.

2. Green Challenge Adventure Parc – an exhilarating tree-tops ropes course (zip line). Sixty-five challenges, over four separate courses, weave their way through the eucalypt and rainforest canopy, taking visitors higher and further into the spectacular natural setting.

3. SuperBee HoneyWorld – visitors experience the bewildering wonders of the world of bees, as they witness the amazing process from flower to flavour. See the bees producing honey in the hive, and watch in awe as bee keepers explain and demonstrate how it all happens, from the beehive to the jar.

4. Surf World Gold Coast – a collection of over 100 surfboards dating from 1915 to the present day plus photos, artwork, clothing and other artefacts.

General information

Pensioner & student (ID must be presented on arrival).  Child (4-14 years inclusive).

Green Challenge information – Guests must reach 160cm from heels to middle of both outstretched hands to enter the Green Challenge and 180 cm for the advanced, Extreme Green Challenge.

All necessary equipment and a safety briefing are provided for each participant, ensuring a safe, fun and exhilarating experience.

Opening Times: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary 8am to 5pm daily, Green Challenge -  Varies Seasonal – check at entrance , SuperBee 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm, Surf World 10am to 5pm daily (times subject to change)

Bleach* is your Festival- please market it for the benefit of the Southern Gold Coast

I have mentioned in previous updates how important events and festivals are to our region, for the purposes of promoting the Southern Gold Coast and its natural and cultural assets, so as to attract tourists, and create more jobs for our local residents.

Since our inception over 3 years ago, we have seed funded Kirra Kite Festival (November) and Cooly Rocks On (June). We continue to sponsor these significant Southern Gold Coast events, which are now run by not-for-profit organisations, after we provided the administration to start with. We also sponsor the Swell Sculpture Festival (September.)

As referred to elsewhere in this Newsletter, we have now created Bleach*-surfing the fringe, a surf culture festival which will run from 11 February to 26 February this year, in venues and open spaces from Currumbin to Coolangatta. The objective of this Festival is to celebrate the launch of the Association of Surfing Professional (ASP) World Championship Tour (WCT), the first event of which is held each year under the auspices of the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro, which is conducted at Snapper Rocks, Rainbow Bay, in late February and early March.

Bleach* will showcase our Southern Gold Coast, surf-related, creative industries. Featured will be our Surf World Gold Coast Museum, as well as local artists, musicians, fashionistas, authors, film makers and photographers, to name but a few.

Bleach *will be the largest, continuous cultural festival ever produced on the Gold Coast and its content is receiving rave reviews both nationally and internationally. In this respect it emulates the Sydney Festival, which is a massive, multi-precinct celebration. So, I think we have hit the mark with it, from a regional, tourism promotion perspective.

I encourage you to be an ambassador for the Bleach*Festival by sending a link to the website to all your clients, customers, staff, friends and relatives both local, interstate and overseas   www.bleachfestival.com.au

Likewise, I hope that when the time comes you  will help promote Cooly Rocks On, Swell and Kirra Kite Festival through your networks.

Please enjoy Bleach* and don’t forget to go to the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro, where we will have a display along with the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Surf World Gold Coast Museum, two, major, not-for-profit organisations on the Southern Gold Coast.