PR and marketing

Website & Ecommerce - Set-up and beyond: tips, trends and ideas with Nancy Georges "The Retail Miss Fix-it"

Most Australian households now have the internet, which means Australian retailers have an easy path into their customers’ homes.

Online presence, e-commerce and social media are now necessary in every retailer’s marketing strategy. Websites and online stores are no longer optional extras – they are a vital necessity.

Technology is driving business more than ever. Nancy will give you the information to get you started in the world that we are now operating in.

Websites and online stores are essential for EVERY business. There are so many options and decisions to be made, which makes it harder to get started. Once you have the cart, you need to ensure it is future proof.

Your online store needs to be an extension of your existing fabulous customer service, so what questions do you need to ask yourself? Shopping cart format sorted? What about the payment gateways and options available to you? What is the best one for your needs? Integrating your website into your social media & offline activity? (which is as important as the site itself!) - what are the "do's & don'ts"?

Nancy will discuss her own experiences with a wide range of products and services.

About Nancy Georges:
Nancy, "The Retail Miss Fix-it", is a Retail Strategist and owner of Magnolia Solutions, offering retail marketing consultancy, strategy and solutions.

She has over 20 years industry experience; in-store management, customer service, product development, manufacturing, wholesaling and marketing. Evolving from a wholesaling business - Paper Magnolia - she moved to marketing support & consulting.

She has built her own websites and online stores, as well as publishing her first printed book and e-book. Her knowledge and references are all from her own first hand experiences.

Working with retailers, wholesalers, brands & manufacturers to navigate the ‘new world’; Nancy strategically integrates and implements sound retail practices with websites, e-commerce and social media. Nancy is one of the Social Media Women founders.

Nancy contributes insightful retail and marketing articles to trade magazines and websites, and is often asked to provide comment for newspapers and radio.

Nancy has just released her new book “7 Powerful Ways to Boost Retail Profits in Any Economic Climate” to help retailers identify the foundation they need to ensure a profitable retail store and business in today’s economic climate. Retailers need the information and support so that they can adapt and navigate the new retail climate.

Nancy is a speaker at industry conferences and events as well as holding seminars focused on retail and the transition actions needed to navigate the ‘new world’.

Follow her on Twitter: @NancyGeorges

A not to be missed event - learn the ins and outs of websites, online stores and offline integration.

Register now for our March event here.

Date: Tuesday 13 March 2012
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)

A striking and public expression of International Women's Day, this is an event for everyone.

Ever felt thrilled at the idea of being involved in a flashmob and never known how to get involved? This is your chance to take part in a professional and fabulous flashmob in the name of a great cause ... the very public celebration of International Women's Day.

This is a FREE EVENT and the more women involved the greater the impact. We're working towards global recognition for our effort.

At 2pm on 8 March women from across Sydney will converge on Martin Place (between Castlereagh & Pitt, at the foot of the stairs to MLC Centre) to Strike a Pose for International Women's Day. Having been given the poses weeks in advance we're sure you'll be champing at the bit to play your part. Don't fret ... you certainly we don't need you to be Ginger Rogers to be involved!

How it works 

1. Register here to reserve your place in the line-up
2. Stay up to date and visit our She Business Australia Facebook site to receive updates and all the news. We'll be holding 'chat sessions' regularly so you can post questions and ensure you're fully briefed before the event.
   Our choreographer will be posting the sequence of poses (YouTube clip) on our site and will be available to answer all your questions. There'll be no more than 10 poses to learn and the sequence will be repeated for 5 minutes.

Meeting place 
On hearing of the event, Servcorp offered to lend their support and have given us their MLC boardroom as a meeting place and they're also providing T-shirts FREE for the first 50 registrants.

Date: Thursday 8 March 2012
Time: 1pm at Servcorp (if you can't make 1pm you can meet us at 1.50 in Pitt St Mall)
Venue: Level 57, 19-29 Martin Place, Sydney

Walk to Pitt street mall 
At 1:45 we'll make our way from the MLC Centre to Martin Place and get into position for a 2pm start.
At the completion of our awe-inspiring and fabulous sequence we'll disperse and meet for coffee at VIVO Cafe on George Street Sydney.
Address: Servcorp
Level 57 MLC, 19-29 Martin Place
Sydney, NSW

Date: 08/03/2012
Start Time: 1:00 pm
End Time: 2:15 pm
Price: A $0.00

Register here.

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.

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

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/