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October General Meeting Minutes

Written by Executive on . Posted in Minutes.

General Meeting

11 October 2023
Held at Lakeside Golf Club Camden, Gledswood Hills

The meeting was opened at 6.26pm

Welcome & President’s Report – Anne Parnham, President

Anne welcomed everyone to the meeting including Life Member Tony Perich AM and his wife Cathy, members of Camden Council, and Zoee from WIN Television.  She welcomed Rory Muscat and congratulated him on his recent election to the Board of the Campbelltown Chamber of Commerce.  Anne also welcomed all members, their guests and the guest speaker Tim Reid.

Anne thanked all the sponsors for being part of The Greater Narellan Business Chamber.

Anne noted:

  • the meeting that the Chamber is a not for profit organisation made up entirely of volunteers and there isn’t anyone standing to gain financially from being on the Board;
  • as President, Anne takes the conflict of interest part of the Constitution very seriously;
  • she introduced the members of the Board and asked them to stand so that members could recognise them if they have any matters to raise;
  • pamphlets on the tables advising what’s happening around the region.
  • the previous meetings Minutes are on the website, please see Secretary Lisa if you have any comments;
  • a lot of members do not have their business details on the Chambers website.  When you have a moment go to the website and enter your details so other members can contact you.
  • the Chambers Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages that you can all join especially the Members Only Facebook page where you can put items of interest for other members to see.
  • the last meeting was the AGM and it ended up being a very entertaining night.  To acknowledge the “unknown Elvis” was Jason from The Mortgage Tree, thanks for being such a good sport.  Anne also acknowledge the singing of Tim Bryant, the duet from Roland Blackstone and Geoff Ellis, Rowan Gregson being forced to wear the wig, and Maureen Thorpe who was happy to be serenaded by Elvis.
  • attended quite a few functions over the last month – the ”fostering hr performance and culture” forum at Business NSW Very interesting panel on how important it is the have a positive culture in your working environment.
  • NSW Budget luncheon at Parramatta with the State Treasurer speaking.  One of the speakers from EY Oceania spoke about how the GST distribution is not helping NSW because VIC and NSW are the only States who pay more in GST than what they get back.  Tasmania and SA get the most.
  • had meetings with the President and VP of Picton Chamber of Commerce, along with the President of the Western Sydney Tourism Taskforce and attended their monthly meeting which was very successful.  Lisa and Peter Hamilton were there along with Pania and Rowan Gregson, Robert from The Alternative Board, Lawrence from Premise.  The RFS spoke about the concerning summer season coming very soon, which is the topic for the Chambers next meeting.
  • attended the ceremony in Liverpool where the main building at Phillips Park has been dedicated to the Late Harry Hunt OAM.  His family were there and very proud of the honour for Harry.
  • attended the NSW Visitor Economy Forum sponsored by the NSW Government and Destination NSW – saw Vi Girgis and Nicole Street from Camden Council along with the President from the Western Sydney Tourism task force but to my disappointment they mentioned very little about Western Sydney except for the scenic cable car advert that was successful.  They spoke about the city centre, all the successful transformations of main streets in the inner city but nothing or almost nothing about Western Sydney.  This was surprising as we have the airport opening soon and again being overlooked.  
  • has had discussions with John Siemon, the Director Horticulture & Living Collections at Botanic Gardens of Sydney, reigniting discussions about the big tourist information centre that was supposed to be built around 2017.  The discussions died when MACROC ceased to exist and there was a change of Government.  Anyone who would like to find out more about this please speak to Anne.  Anne intends to raise this with Business NSW and local Councils and State MPs.  Concerns that with the airport opening very soon, the Macarthur/ Wollondilly area is not ready for the visitors.
  • Melbourne Cup Luncheon at Club Menangle – if you want to join Anne and some other members just book your seat online and in the section for dietary requirement write The Greater Narellan Business Chamber to be on the tables.
  • remember to check your insurance policies whether its for your home or your business premise as at the next Chamber meeting the RFS will be speaking and they are concerned about the summer conditions so please ensure your policies cover fire and/or natural disasters.

Apologies

Ian Wolf, Tony Wolf & Son Quality Printers
Karina Rauch, Kelly Partners
Jose Ramirez, SipTel
Jean Alim, Marsdens Law Group

Membership Update – Sandra Bartlett, Membership Director

New member introductions:

  • HVTC Pty Ltd
  • The Flagstaff Group Limited

Member Spotlight Presentation

  • Joe Pomiecko of 4K Automotive

Member Spotlight Draw for November

  • Geoff Neville of Emotional Healing Made Easy

Member Facebook Draw:

  • Erin Fuller of Inglis Property Group

Member Shout Outs

  • Sandra Bartlett acknowledged Cath Dombroski of Doggymania
  • Alysha Brago; of WOW Studios acknowledged Joe Pomiecko of 4K Automotive
  • Christine Jade of The Butterfly Bookkeeper acknowledged Garth Lewis of Alpha IT
  • Antonella Ianni of Access Law Group acknowledged Kylie Lyons of Handprint Photography

Sponsorship Update – Antonella Ianni, Sponsorship Director

Gold Sponsor                   Marsdens Law Group

Silver Sponsors               Sydney Drafting Concepts & Design Pty Ltd
                                       Wests Group Macarthur

Bronze Sponsor              Guardian Funerals

Antonella presented the sponsorship gifts to Grimes Finance & Mortgages, and Macarthur Lady Funerals as they were unable to attend the Sponsorship Thank You event.

What’s On – Carla Upfill, Meetings Director

  • Campbelltown Chamber of Commerce – Wednesday, 18 October at Rydges Campbelltown
  • Camden Council – Upcoming Small Business Month events
  • NSW Small Business Commissioner – Small Business Month events
  • Kids of Macarthur Health Foundation – A Night at the Trots, Saturday 21 October at Menangle Trackside
  • Melbourne Cup, Tuesday 7 November        Club Menangle
                                                                         Camden Valley Inn
                                                                         Ottimo House for Kids of Macarthur
  • South West Sydney Tourism, early Christmas celebration – 17 November at Sydney Zoo
  • Business NSW 23rd World Congress – 27-30 November at ICC Sydney
  • Mental Health First Aid Standard Course presented by Sparkling Voices on 4-5 December at the BDC Smeaton Grange
  • Kids of Macarthur Christmas Gift Wrapping Station
  • COSBOA National Small Business Summit – 3-4 April 2024 in Sydney

Details about the above What’s On are available on the Chambers website.

Speaker Presentation

Carla introduced Tim Reid – That Little Known Marketing Secret.

  • Make marketing your hobby
  • Sharing mountain of knowledge, open and friendly
  • 3 limiting beliefs – Takes a lot of time, costs a fortune, and think it’s complicated
  • Opportunity is now here
  • Helpful marketing
  • Out teach not out spend
  • Pull marketing
  • You are who Google says you are (page 1).  Google want relevant, unique, helpful content regularly
  • Listen to what your customers, suppliers and staff are being asked
  • Build personal brand – be helpful
  • Build a list
  • Write a book/booklet
  • Create a video
  • Tell don’t sell
  • At each customer touch point, you customer should go wow
  • Identify all the opportunities to wow your clients
  • Production not perfection
  • Develop a helpful mindset
  • Create the ultimate knowledge centre (video, audio or written)
  • Market your helpful marketing – its okay to repost old helpful posts
  • Lean In
  • Create 1 piece of helpful content per week – Make Marketing A Hobby

Q&A

  • Rowan Gregson of Pestgo asked what do I do a podcast about
    • Get clear on editorial mission, how to, what after, to who.  What outcome can they expect.
  • Lachlan Gelder of Marsdens Law Group asked why a video instead of a podcast
    • Podcast is audio on demand and good for business awareness.  Focus on the medium you’re good at.
  • Sandra Bartlett of Stairway 2 Dreams asked for 3 tips for people to start a podcast
    • You don’t have to podcast.  Do the editorial mission, record something and see how you go, and look at different formats
  • Alison Attard of BNI asked for other ways to leverage podcasts for a commercial benefit
    • Create a product and sell at 100% margin
  • Chris Drysdale of Camden Meals on Wheels commented to put a Dashcam in and show people where your going today
  • Tony Bonano of Private Drivers Online asked if influencers were valuable
    • Not a social media fan, but they have their place

Lucky Door Prize

Zoee Psaila of WIN Television

Jacob Mitchell of Marsdens Law Group – Golf at Wests

Jay Manuain of HVTC – Dinner at Wests

Rachael Seaman of Nova Employment

Joshua Costlow of Marsdens Law Group

Kenzie Hancock  of Kids of Macarthur – Marsdens Law Group gift box

Closing Remarks – Anne Parnham

Anne presented Jean Alim’s Board thank you gift to Roland Blackstone.

Anne thanked everyone for attending and to travel home safely. 

Lisa Hamilton (Secretary) asked for some attendees to give their feedback on video as they are leaving the meeting.

The next general meeting will be on 8 November at The Woodlands Harrington Grove with a panel of speakers on Disaster Readiness and Resilience. 

There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8.36pm.