PR and marketing

Starting any business can be challenging. Practical advice based on experience helps save time, energy and money and a free program that helps support a start-up is the cherry on the cake!

Catherine Eibner will share her tips and advice for entrepreneurs on starting a business.

Catherine runs the Microsoft BizSpark program in Australia. BizSpark is a free program specifically designed by Microsoft to help early stage technical companies really hit the ground running during the first three years of business - a time when resources are low, cash is strapped and challenges are plentiful.

Catherine will explain how BizSpark works and how she learnt her lessons the hard way and in turn hopefully she will save you from experiencing some of the stress, insanity, health issues and money losses she experienced!
 
Catherine Eibner - Developer Evangelist (Startups): Partner and Customer Innovation Team

Catherine is responsible for the Microsoft BizSpark program in Australia. BizSpark is designed to fast track the success of early stage technology companies by offering software, support and opportunities to increase visibility.

Catherine joined Microsoft in 2008 as a Dynamics Developer Evangelist to build the local Dynamics Developer Community. She is particularly passionate about supporting and encouraging other women in IT and is involved with the GeekGirlBlogs.com site.

Twitter: @ceibner
Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/ceibner

A not to be missed event - learn how to start a new business properly!

Register here for our July event.

Date:      Tuesday 12 July 2011
Time:      6:00pm - 8:30pm
Venue:   The Supper Club at the Oxford Hotel,
                134 Oxford St, Darlinghurst.
(Enter the Oxford St side of the hotel and walk up the stairs. Metered parking is a few steps away on Bourke St, $1.10 per hour)

Enter the draw to win LUCKY DOOR PRIZES simply by attending!

Meet amazing women as well as discussing the ever changing world of social media.

The open discussion about social media is one of the best parts of the event. So bring your social media questions for the group to answer.

Macquarie University’s flagship Women, Management & Work Conference on 28-29 July 2011 will inspire women to take the next step by utilising and building on their signature strengths to become influential leaders.

Leading women speakers will focus on strategies to achieve higher levels of women in leadership roles throughout Australia. The conference will share practical tips and tools to facilitate career progress and success.

The two-day conference is in its 23rd year and conference co-director Melanie O’Connor said, “This year we are aiming to ignite discussion and encourage women looking to make their mark in the leadership stakes to act on their strengths.”

“Debate continues to circulate around management circles as women start taking more positive and active leadership roles. But it isn’t enough. We need to ensure that the corporate landscape continues to change for the better.”

“Although we have recently seen some increases in the numbers of women in senior management roles and CEO positions, the numbers are still too small to get excited about,” said Ms O’Connor.

According to research conducted by Macquarie University’s Faculty of Business and Economics’ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Census 2010, women are still underrepresented within key decision maker roles within Australia. The Australian Institute of Company Directors reported that in 2010 women made up about 25 percent of board appointments in Australia, but it slipped to 11 percent for the top 200 companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

These findings highlight that few significant changes have occurred in the business landscape to address why capable women are still prevented from contributing at high levels of business.

“It is clear that we still have a long way to go to fully integrate talented women into leadership roles. We hope that this conference will continue to spark the conversations needed to make cultural change a reality,” said Ms O’Connor.

Women, Management & Work: Ignite Your Strengths conference will consist of presentations and workshops with expert speakers from diverse backgrounds and industry sectors. Each section of the conference has been specifically developed to provide practical and relevant advice on negotiation, communication, mentoring and career development.

Topics to be discussed over the two days include what the future of leadership will look like and how women fit into this concept, as well as tips on how to fast track your strengths to become an influential leader.

Date: 28 and 29 July 2011, 9am – 5pm
Where: Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney
For more information, program details & registration: www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/womenandleadership
Fee: $2,300


Conference speakers available to be interviewed include:
Melanie O’Connor, Managing Director, The Academy Network
Conference spokesperson. Melanie is highly regarded for her work in advising corporations in the development of talent management and capability strategies, and is considered by many to be one of the foremost advisers in this field in Australia.

Lynelle Briggs, CEO, Medicare Australia
Topic: Leadership Success Stories. Lynelle became CEO of Medicare in 2009. She has 30 years experience in the Australian Public Service. In 2004 she was appointed Australian Public Service Commissioner.

Anna Booth, Board Director & Policy Developer
Topic: The Future of Leadership. An executive director of CoSolve, a non-executive director of Industry Holdings Pty Ltd and a non- executive chair of Slater & Gordon.  Anna is a specialist in workplace relations, training and managing workplace change for positive outcomes.

Margy Osmond, CEO, Australian National Retail Association (ANRA)
Topic: The Future of Leadership. Margy is the inaugural CEO of ANRA which was established in 2006. She sits on the Boards of the Australian Sports Commission, the Bell Shakespeare Company and the Retail Employee’s Superannuation Trust.

Mara Olekalns, Professor of Management – Negotiations and Deputy Dean (Academic), Melbourne Business School
Topic: The art of negotiation: Strategies for success. Mara’s expertise is within the fields of negotiation and conflict resolution. Her research focuses on communication processes in negotiation. Mara has published in leading international management, psychology and communications journals.

Helen Conway, Director, Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency
Topic: Leadership Success Stories. Helen’s appointment as Director of EOWA comes after many years of experience in the top tiers of the corporate sector, including General Counsel, Company Secretary and the General Manager of the office of the CEO at Caltex Group and Senior Judicial Member of the NSW Equal Opportunity Tribunal.

-ends-

Women At Work Australia online community:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/womenatworkoz #WWMC
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WomenatWorkOz
Blog: http://womenatworkoz.posterous.com/

Never edited a Wikipedia page? You are not alone! Did you know only 13% of contributors to Wikipedia are women?

Women should actively add to the collected knowledge of the information age embodied in Wikipedia. Suzanne Francis from Collective Action will be discussing the campaign Women for Wikipedia which provides an environment for women to share their experiences with Wikipedia in an enthusiastic and engaged community.

Suzanne will discuss Wikipedia and offer a guide about how to contribute to Wikipedia and even create your own page.

Women for Wikipedia is a way that every open source group in Australia can introduce the concepts of free and open software to a general audience and also while at it, do something to address the gender imbalance that characterises both this community and, obviously, the Wikipedia knowledge base.

A not to be missed event - help us celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day, and Social Media Women's 1st anniversary!

To follow the campaign on Twitter follow #women4wikipedia and join in the weekly Twitter Chat Monday nights 8pm AEST (Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney); 7pm Brisbane; 7.30pm Adelaide; 5pm AWST Perth/WA; 9am UTC/GMT.

Register now for our March event at http://socialmediawomenmarch.eventbrite.com/

Date:      Tuesday 8 March 2011
Time:      6:00pm - 8:30pm
Venue:   The Supper Club at the Oxford Hotel,
               134 Oxford St, Darlinghurst.
(Enter the Oxford St side of the hotel and walk up the stairs. Metered parking is a few steps away on Bourke St, $1.10 per hour)

Enter the draw to win LUCKY DOOR PRIZES, simply by attending!

Meet amazing women as well as discussing the ever changing world of social media.

The open discussion about social media is one of the best parts of the event. So bring your social media questions for the group to answer.

Social Media Women is all about inspiration, collaboration, supporting each other and growing. Join the community:

• Become a fan and check out the launch photos and post comments on Facebook
• See, subscribe and view the guest list on www.SocialMediaWomen.posterous.com
• Join and start discussions on LinkedIn
• Visit the official Social Media Women Site
• Follow us on Twitter @SocialMediaWomn
• Send us upcoming media events that might be of interest to other women to our Social Media Women Email.

• Do you want to be found by Headhunters and HR Managers?
• Do you want business from around the globe?
• Do you want business to come to you for free?

With over 80 million members globally LinkedIn is the world's biggest bucket of business cards, full of recruiters and people in your target market.

A powerful LinkedIn profile can position you against your competitors, highlight you as unique and give you and your name a Google ranking.

Come along to hear Karalyn Brown speak about how to create a masterful profile and make the most of what LinkedIn has to offer.

A not to be missed event where you will leave understanding how you can create a powerful LinkedIn profile.

Karalyn Brown runs InterviewIQ. A former recruitment consultant and HR Manager, she helps people find jobs and win business via LinkedIn and blogs. She writes for The Australian on career issues and runs a popular career hunting blog: InterviewIQ. The only way Karalyn wins new business is through social media. Google... "Australia's most connected career blogger"...to find out more.

Register now for our February event at http://socialmediawomen.eventbrite.com

Date:      Tuesday 8 February 2011
Time:      6:00pm - 8:30pm
Venue:   The Supper Club at the Oxford Hotel,
               134 Oxford St, Darlinghurst.
(Enter the Oxford St side of the hotel and walk up the stairs. Metered parking is a few steps away on Bourke St, $1.10 per hour)

Enter the draw to win LUCKY DOOR PRIZES, simply by attending!

Meet amazing women as well as discussing the ever changing world of social media.

The open discussion about social media is one of the best parts of the event. So bring your social media questions for the group to answer.

Register now for our February event at http://socialmediawomen.eventbrite.com.

Social Media Women is all about inspiration, collaboration, supporting each other and growing. Join the community:

• Become a fan and check out the launch photos and post comments on Facebook
• See, subscribe and view the guest list on www.SocialMediaWomen.posterous.com
• Join and start discussions on LinkedIn
• Visit the official Social Media Women Site
• Follow us on Twitter @SocialMediaWomn
• Send us upcoming media events that might be of interest to other women to our Social Media Women Email.

To register for the Women, Management and Work Conference CLICK HERE

Macquarie University’s Women, Management and Work Conference, on 29-30 July 2010, will be a place to canvas solutions to increasing the number of women elected to parliament, appointed to boards and senior management positions and achieving salary equity.

Leading women speakers will be discussing equal opportunity in the workplace and strategies to achieve higher levels of women in leadership roles throughout Australia. It will encourage and inspire women to succeed in the workforce.

Conference co-chair Melanie O’Connor says, “The conference has been running for 22 years, yet 22 years later we are still looking for solutions to these intractable issues. Although many Australians do not want to hear it, gender continues to act as an insidious barrier.”

“Research by Associate Professor McGraw published in The 2008 Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency Census highlights some alarming statistics which show that women do not form the majority in any category of senior job position in any industry in Australia.”

“Not surprisingly, not a single industry in Australia pays women more than they do men and most pay them less.”

“In 2008, there were four female CEOs in the top ASX200 companies in Australia or two percent, down from three per cent in 2006. 106 companies in the top ASX200 do not have a single woman on their boards.  A new update of the Macquarie/EOWA research featuring 2010 data will be released by the time of the conference,” said Ms O’Connor.

The conference will include presentations, round table discussions and workshops encouraging audience participation run by influential Australian leaders.

Topics discussed over the two days include: how to get on a board, how to get on an executive team, coaching and mentoring, promotion and development in your job, balancing the risks and rewards as well as inspiring leadership success stories. This year also includes topics on starting your own business.

There are over 20 inspiring and leading speakers including:
• The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for Housing; Minister for the Status of Women
• Brigadier Simone Wilkie AM, Director General Training, Headquarters Forces Command
• Heather Ridout, Chief Executive, Australian Industry Group
• Andrea Grant, Group Managing Director Human Resources, Telstra
• Mia Freedman, Journalist, columnist, author and media consultant

The Conference Directors are Associate Professor Peter McGraw, high profile management consultant Melanie O’Connor and Pam Morpeth.

Date: 29 and 30 July 2010, 9am – 5:30pm
Where: Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, 61-101 Phillip St, Sydney
For more information and program details visit: http://www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/wmwc
To register visit: http://www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/wmwc/register_now

Speakers available to be interviewed:
The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP
Minister for Housing and for the Status of Women, Australian Labor party
Tanya was elected to the Federal Parliament in 1998; and appointed the Minister for Housing and the Minister for the Status of Women in 2007. Tanya’s presentation will include predictions for the new directions in the world of work and what this means for tomorrow’s women in the workforce. 

Heather Ridout
Chief Executive, Australian Industry Group
Heather is a leading figure in the public policy debate and is a member of numerous policy setting groups. Heather will help determine what the world of work will look like by 2020. She will examine alternative scenarios and help identify key trends.

Claire Braund
Executive Director, Women on Boards
A business woman with a rural background, Claire co-founded Women on Boards following a career in media. Claire will provide an overview of what it takes to be a director and provide strategies to help women become prominent board members.

Helen Newell
Director, Corporate Development & Government Relations, Asciano
A career that spans projects in Mexico, the US and Canada across the rail, air and road sectors; Helen has worked for TNT and Toll and currently Asciano.  Helen will discuss strategies and tactics to help women get on an executive team and flourish.

Andrea Grant
Group MD, Human Resources, Telstra Corporation
Andrea joined Telstra in 2005, prior to this she held the role of Executive Director of HR GM Holden, where she served as GM Holden’s first female board member. Andrea will provide an insight to her own personal leadership journey and explain how she overcame challenges to achieve success as a woman.

Find us:
Web: http://www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/wmwc
Facebook: Women at Work Australia
Twitter: @womenatworkoz
Posterous: http://womenatworkoz.posterous.com/