It occurred to me recently when I was under duress to make decisions concerning our technology needs, that TRUST was the element I was grappling with.

WHOM TO TRUST FOR ADVICE when making decisions across various technology platforms such as equipment, software, web site design etc? Technical people come with different perspectives, knowledge, customer skills and vested interests. As our requirements grow, the technology is often supplied by different companies for e.g web site modification, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) installation and upgrades, email campaigns, analytics and reports, equipment upgrades (we recently installed a server with  3 times the speed and x4 thecapacity of our old one), not to mention setting up Facebook,  Twitter, Flickr and Blogs. The cost of these services and the software to make it all work is considerable.

Without CONSIDERED and TRUSTWORTHY advice, making good decisions can be very difficult. We are learning and adapting to change daily- even the experts.

My solution is to choose one person in this network to be my guide. Someone who understands our business and culture, our expertise and what we need to do to deliver wonderful products to our customers.

See a blog I have found – Trusting Digital marketing

http://elenaibanez.wordpress.com/2010/01/15/digital-marketing-trusting-the-experts/

Two of the leather Diaries

“The Chair has a long and poignant past. Aesthetically, socio-politically and technologically, this everyday item reflects varied stories. A colourful narrative of pre-loved chairs is revealed in this installation. Sydney based designers reinterpret each piece”

Chairs in the installation

The journal (diary) used by the artists.

On at the Powerhouse  31^st July -10^th October.

Meet and buy direct from the best new design talent in the country. 

Featuring fashion, furniture, jewellery, graphics, industrial design and more, this curated market is a glimpse into the future, a critical launch pad for Australia’s talented young designers, as well as a vibrant market for the design-savvy shopper.

Read the list of hot designers at Young Blood.

This year, Young Blood will be joined by the international designboom mart, featuring designers from around the world.

YOUNG BLOOD: DESIGNERS MARKET + DESIGNBOOM MART

Friday 13 August , 10am – 9pm
Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August, 10am – 5pm
$5 entry (includes Museum admission) BOOK NOW Free for Powerhouse members
Free for Sydney Design Pass holders

Young Blood is part of the Museum’s commitment to foster and promote Australian design. 

We are in the midst of our June sale and have been holding mid year clearance sales for the past 20 years.

We do this for several reasons:-

To clean out samples and left over materials ready for the next collection. To sell end of line items and get rid of damaged (not quite perfect stock) as well as sell at reduced prices those items that couriers sometimes play foot ball with. We make available large frames and not standard frames that are too difficult to send by courier. It is also useful cash flow at the end of the financial year.

Our sale is at our work premises and enables everyone who works here to participate and talk to and meet our brand followers. We also watch what interests them and at what price- after all we are product developers.

This used to be why we had sales.

Seeing our sale stock beautifully merchanised is always time for reflection.

In the past we have had some huge sales, usually around Christmas. I think this is now a thing of the past as the major players in the retail environment see markdowns as regular strategy so customers do not see sales as special or an opportunity anymore- just more of the same. This has changed the value of what things appear to cost.

We would miss having our bi annual sales as it is a whole company effort, Amanda and I make the food for the first night drinks, everyone works extra our accountant and family included. It is a diversion and we get to see lots of customers, friends and new clients.

As things change so quickly, I wonder how we will adapt and incorporate this sale mentality into our regular strategy.

I am interested in what other people think of the nature of “THE SALE”. Have we ruined them? If you have other ideas let me know. Thanks.

Stephanie Rodriguez (Mighty Media Group) presented an over view about social media and how it can work in business. This was a challenge as the audience was largely new to these media platforms. www.mightymediagroup.com.au

David Redhill CMO of Deloitte Australia gave a very excellent account of how Deloitte’s used various forms of social media it to grow their business. He outlined the processes that took the firm from being a “Sick Puppy” as dubbed by the media a few years ago TO REAL growth during the down turn over the past 3 years. This was accomplished by gathering and developing ideas from their 4500 staff, using various social media platforms including Yammer and Twitter. Staff learned about the various media as they contributed with ideas and passion. This is an inspirational case study. www.deloitte.com.au

Mark Sant and Alexia Marinos of Gadens then discussed the various implications of social media, staff behaviour and the law. There is much to be aware of when negotiating the social media space in business. www.gadens.com.au

Lunch at Aria on the Quay with a few words from the chef and Larke, before Sue introduced Kylie Charlton (in pink shirt)

In 2003, after more than 10 years in conventional investment banking, Australian Kylie Charlton set out to use her background in global capital markets to solve some of the world’s most challenging social and environmental problems.

This included arranging US$100M for microfinance institutions in India and $300M for microfinance institutions and social enterprises across Asia.

In the following six years Kylie lived in the UK and then the US, joined the international not-for-profit, Unitus Inc, in Seattle and established a team that arranged capital for microfinance institutions around the world, advised banks and investment funds on their microfinance investment strategies, and developed and raised capital for specialised investment funds.

In 2008, Kylie co-founded Unitus Capital which has since arranged more than US$100M for microfinance institutions in India and is actively raising capital in excess of US$300M for microfinance institutions and social enterprises across Asia.

While “impact investing” has little profile in Australia, in the US and Europe it is forecast to grow to US$500B in 10 years. And the global financial crisis did not curb the momentum with the top 10 microfinance investment funds growing by 32% in 2008.

Kylie returned to Australia last year to focus on the development of social investment in Australia through her Heloise Waislitz Fellowship at the Asia Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy at Swinburne University and this year through her position as Social Investment Fellow at the Centre for Social Impact.

For more about Kylie and how investing can change the world, please click here

www.unituscapital.com

Each December life becomes frantic as we try to get; our work done, family festive things sorted and have strategies in place for the following year.- not to mention the parties.

After a ‘softish’ 18 months we are reeling from people needing products NOW- even made to order items that of course cannot be made NOW for Christmas, however much we want them or hard we try.

We are product developers, which means we are selling our current ranges, completing February 2010 and have already scoped and started on Christmas 2010. All this madness can get things out of perspective.

To de-stress we took some time out for a little creative input and amusement.

Click below if you also want to be inspired.

Piano Stairs a way to change behaviour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Getting the most from Ebay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6-n7MhVg8&feature=player_embedded-

Clever story telling and branding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

Interesting facts to be consider

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

We are also reading What Would Google Do? By Jeff Jarvis not because we think Google is the world (although it probably is) but because applying the models of other businesses to your business can be very revealing. To stay relevant and successful in our type of business we need data input, ideas and questions.

So far we have read and highly recommend- Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Groundswell -Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, by Charlene Li. and A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink.

We are now looking at the big picture and are currently reading The Next 100 Years by George Friedman.

If you have any suggestions for books or blogs – do let me know so I can share them out.

Gillian Corban