Photographic Exhibition A Touching Tribute

Imagine A Life Without Illness Photo Story Exhibition will open on 7 May 2010.


Please send on to your friends and help Eddy raise lots of funds for Hunter Medical Research on Friday May 7th for Mothers with Cancer.

IMAGINING A LIFE WITHOUT ILLNESS THROUGH REAL LIFE STORIES

MEDIA RELEASE

12 April 2010

Imagining a life without illness is the theme of an inspirational new photographic story board exhibition being held in Newcastle from May 7.

Newcastle photographer Eddie Cross, himself no stranger to illness following a life-changing brain injury in 2006, has put together a photo exhibition which tells the story of 10 remarkable Hunter women and their families who have battled cancer.

“After photographing mothers with cancer and sharing tears with them while creating images of love, life and happiness, I felt it was important to help them tell their stories through these photos and stories in order to educate others,” Eddie said.

“When dealing with cancer, it’s not always a happy ending and there are some truly heartbreaking stories. There is a powerful message, however, delivered in all the photographs by those who have experienced a life threatening and life-changing disease.”

All proceeds from this exhibition will be donated to the Hunter Medical Research Institute and Eddie is hoping to raise at least $5,000.

Karen Brown, one of the participants in the exhibition knows all too the importance of cancer research. Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 36 and is now a passionate advocate for research.

“Without research I wouldn’t be here today. For my daughters and for every other mother’s daughters we should all pray for a cure for breast cancer, and do all we can to raise money and awareness.”

The exhibition will also include the auction of a commissioned oil canvas painting donated by Hunter artist Sophie Mill. The work is an artistic interpretation of one of Eddie’s original photographs depicting a young girl and mother walking into darkness surrounding by beautiful colours and light.

Imagine a Life Without Illness will run from May 7 – June 1 2010 at the King and Parry Gallery, Newcastle.

For further information or to view any of the stories

contact Eddie Cross anytime on:

(02) 4929 5555 or 0414 609 088

ecimages@bigpond.com

Autumn In Newcastle NSW

Social Media For Business In Newcastle

A big pat on the back for Wayne Lennan on hosting the recent workshop for select business owners introducing social media marketing for business.

Here's a slideshow of what we discussed.

Lindy asimus social media for business introduction

View more presentations from Lindy Asimus Business Coach.

For those who don't know Wayne, he specialises in risk management products for families and businesses (life insurance, income protection and trauma cover etc) and has been quick to see the value in providing access to good information on the changing business environment, to his associates and business clients. The world of business is definitely changing, and as was discussed at the workshop, many businesses are noticing the change, even if they are not yet developing strategies to deal with it.

To demonstrate this change, one of the participants told me after the presentation, that his way of opening discussions with new people used to consist of networking, and setting up appointments with people he'd meet in networking situations, and meet them for coffee at a future date to run through what he does. He's finding now though, that people will take his card then go look him up on the internet and check him out before they decide if they will meet with him or not. This creates a major shift in the way that he must operate, and as he said "I'm not on the internet ... so it's like I don't exist...!" Not existing is bad enough. Being found online and not in a positive way, is another face of the same issue.

Whether we like it or not. Whether we want it to be that way or not... people are working in ways that are quite different than they were just a few short years ago.

Kudos to Wayne Lennan for taking up the challenge and sharing some insight with his business network.

Business is never going to be the same again, and all the things we knew about what 'works' is up for change.

One of the topics I covered in the presentation was the lack of ability in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley, to buy things from local companies via their website. Lots of examples where buyers with money in their hand ready to purchase locally, via a website, are greeted with nothing but blank space when it comes to finding a local business wanting to take their order, judging by the searches on Google. And yet other businesses showing up from Sydney, Adelaide, you name it - for purchases we'd like to buy from a local merchant.

This should be an issue for anyone serious about developing their business.

The really sad thing? Newcastle and the Hunter Valley could be blitzing the online world and setting the standard for business in the new world order. Our businesses could be building their sales and reducing overheads in ways that would fundamentally change they way they do business, and improve profitability (and value of the business) dramatically.

It's been said that Newcastle business isn't 'hungry' enough.

I wonder if that's true.


You can find Wayne Lennan on Facebook here

Where's The Best Coffee In Newcastle?

For all the times that I meet for coffee to network and socialise, it can be hard to pin down a favourite spot.

Our #newcastlecoffee tweetup happens at Sprocket Roasters currently, on the corner of Watt and Hunter streets, and I'd say the coffee is pretty good there. The location is good at that time of the day (7.45am) it is still good for parking, but is dismal later in the day. (What is it with Newcastle parking meters anyway? So not-welcoming for people to come into the city).

I admit I tend to prefer somewhere with a pleasant outlook (as well as good coffee) and of course the quality of the coffee is important. Which rules out the usual-suspect chain shops and in particular a rather inGlorious one which shall remain nameless and thankfully, unimbibed).

For view, I like the Starfish Cafe on Queens Wharf. Coffee is okay and the location good though not very cosy as such.

Out of town, I do enjoy a visit to the cafe at Heritage Gardens (heading toward East Maitland) for a coffee and conversation (and a great gingerbeer spider, if you have a yen).

So what's your favourite spot for coffee in Newcastle area - and what is it that you like about it?


Do share!

Hunter Coaching Network Website

Hunter Coaching Network is a collective of business, life and executive coaches in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley. I'm happy to be one of the Hunter Coaching Network coaches!

They've just launched the website and while it is a work-in-progress, should give you a headstart on understanding what we do and how we can help in your Hunter business.

We're looking for people who want help, but also coaches and Associates and corporate sponsors who would like to support the network. If that sounds like you, let us know!

What Do You Do?

Going to a lot of networking events and of course find myself answering this question quite often. Here's one answer.

I work with business owners to coach them through issues they have in their business, usually around getting better organised, implementing processes and systems, and building a vision and achieving better outcomes in the business and overall.

Often this includes review of their marketing and nowadays social media is an area that business owners either are confused about, and wary, and ignoring the opportunities to expand their marketing or dabbling without a clue what they are doing, and not clear on how to best leverage their resources.

Located in the Newcastle NSW region, I am happy to also work with people via skype and phone and email.

I am a member of BNI Tower and welcome any BNI members who would like to connect to do so.

Design Business Engineering - Business Coaching and Development
Lindyasimus.com - Personal and Business Coaching

Lindy Asimus Coaching on Facebook

Design Business Engineering on Facebook - Business and Technical coaching tips

http://twitter.com/lindyasimus

My TeamCirce Business Community
http://teamcircle.ning.com

Hunter Coaching Network profile

Cheers

Lindy