Diesel emissions include up to 41 toxic compounds – which pose health risks to underground miners. The existing solutions such as filters and catalytic convertors do not efficiently manage the smaller particulates, which are among the most harmful.

There are strict emissions regulations being implemented globally and Peak3 aims to become the ‘standard’ for end-to-end emissions management in the mining industry – providing accurate monitoring equipment and services and equipment to ‘agglomerate’ these small particles so they are effectively captured by companion devices such as filters.

The potential of the Peak3 technology has been recognised by the Federal Government who recently awarded Peak3 a $866,284 Commercialisation Australia Grant.

Peak3 technology also has the potential to effectively manage diesel emissions above ground (for example for fleet vehicles such as buses) and to monitor and manage other air borne particulate matter such as dust.

OneVentures General Partner Anne-Marie Birkill believes Peak3 technologies have the potential to deliver significant OH&S, environmental and productivity benefits to the underground mining industry.

“The Peak3 team has developed solutions that meet the clear market need. This investment will enable the first commercial installations of their monitoring and management services and devices, and will support the scale up of the company’s manufacturing and business development capability,” she said.

Along with significant internal technical capability, Peak3 has long-standing collaborative research agreements with expert teams at both CSIRO and the Queensland University of Technology.

Both the Queensland and Federal Governments have also provided considerable support to the work done by Peak3 in developing world-leading mine emissions reduction and monitoring technologies via grant funding.

Peak3 CEO Col Chandler said “Peak3 has already established itself as a leader in the management of mining emissions, and with OneVentures on board we are much better placed to meet the challenges of growth that this leadership brings.”

The Foundation will be distributing 150 cash vouchers, valued at $50 each, to schools and charities that will then be passed on to families in need of support with the start of the school year. The vouchers can be spent at Target stores.

The vouchers, valued at $7,500, are provided to the Buderim Foundation by the Australia-wide Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) and the Sidney Myer Fund, which operates the 2012 Back to School Program.

Buderim Foundation Director, Margaret Welshe said everyone on the Buderim Foundation Board is pleased that the strong relationship with FRRR has resulted in another year of Back to School vouchers for Buderim families.

“We really enjoy working with Buderim organisations to get the vouchers out there to ensure that the families and children in the greatest need obtain the most benefit from the program, whilst maintaining privacy for all involved,” Margaret Welshe said.

The vouchers will be dispersed by several local schools including Buderim Mountain State School, Mountain Creek Primary School and Chancellor State College, as well as half a dozen community organisations including St Vincent de Paul, SunnyKids, Community Solutions’ Grandparents and Parents program.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the feedback we have received in previous years. Families are surprised and delighted by the vouchers…it’s definitely a win/win/win situation,” she said.

The 2012 Back to School Program is an initiative of the FRRR and the Sidney Myer Fund an supported by the Sidney Myer Fund, VISY, The Aussie Farmers Foundation, The Julian Flett Foundation, The Edward Wilson Trust, The Wyatt Benevolent Institution and Target.

For more information about the Buderim Foundation, visit the Foundation’s website www.buderimfoundation.com.au, contact a Board member on info@buderimfoundation.org.au or write to the Buderim Foundation, PO Box 1408, Buderim, QLD 4556.

Photo: Buderim Deputy Principal Donna Burow with Buderim Foundation Chair, Paul Clark.

The night will be held on Tuesday, 7 February at the new location, Mulvaney’s on Maroochy, 37 The Esplanade, Cotton Tree from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

President of the SCLA, Bryan Ward said the Front Write Up evenings provide an opportunity for literary enthusiasts to share their work with like-minded individuals.

“The Front Write Ups are a casual get-together and follow an open-mic style.”

“We encourage people to bring their short stories, poems and extracts of their work to read to the group, and seek feedback if they wish,” Bryan said.

All community members are welcome to come and network, listen or perform. If you have something you would like to share with the group, please bring it along. However, there is a 500-word limit for short stories and prose.

“Our Front Write Up Evenings are held the first Tuesday of every month, so there is plenty of opportunity to share your work if you are unable to attend the evening in February,” Bryan said.

The evening is free for members and $2 for non-members, payable on the night. The SCLA requests all guests to RSVP due to catering purposes. Coffee and light meals are available for purchase; alcohol is BYO.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is a not-for-profit association dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and celebrating literary talent throughout the Sunshine Coast region. Formed in 2005, the SCLA was created to provide a pathway for the Sunshine Coast’s aspiring writers and enthusiasts to explore their interests, develop skills, exchange ideas and seek advice from like-minded individuals.

The association offers regular literary workshops, seminars and events, an annual writing competition, and monthly Front Write Up literary performance evenings that provide an opportunity to showcase the talents of its members.

To RSVP for the February Front Write Up, please email info@scliterary.org or phone 07 5450 2690 of for more information visit the SCLA website, www.scliterary.org.

The money raised will be placed in the Buderim Foundation investment fund and the income earned will be used to provide grants to support Buderim community organisations.

Chair of the Buderim Foundation, Paul Clark said the B150 project was about recognising and celebrating 150 years of community spirit and ensuring that it will continue for the next 150 years.

“The money raised will allow us to offer more grants to community organisations and groups so that they can operate at their full potential,” Professor Clark said.

To reach the goal, the Foundation is hoping to attain 150 donations of $2,000 or more, plus a number of smaller donations and to hold events, raffles and an auction to raise the additional funds needed to meet the target.

“This is a very ambitious task and we will need the support of the entire Buderim Community to complete the challenge,” Prof. Clark said.

“We encourage everyone in the Buderim community to start spreading the word and to lend a hand in this challenge whether it be a donation or volunteering at one of our events,” Prof. Clark said.

The Buderim Foundation is a philanthropic organisation that aims to enrich and enhance the quality of life for Buderim and its residents, past and future, by generating income from donations and bequests and providing grants for worthwhile community projects.

“As a not-for-profit company, the foundation relies on the generous contributions of local businesses and citizens in order to continue providing grants to quality local community projects and groups,” Prof. Clark said.

Since its launch eight years ago, the Foundation has raised $450,000 for its investment fund and aims to reach the $1,000,000 mark in just one year.

“Once we reach our goal, the Foundation has big plans for Buderim including to pledge a substantial grant towards the further enhancement of the Martins Creek Corridor,” Prof. Clark said.

For more information on the Buderim Foundation or the B150 project, please visit, www.buderimfoundation.org.au.

The renovations, which started in October thanks to a grant from the Commonwealth Government and funds raised from the community through the Target 300 campaign, are well on the way.

The Queensland Senator shared morning tea with the Bloomhill Management Committee and staff at Bloomhill, followed by a tour of the construction site to see the progress of the extension.

Bloomhill President, Jenny Carroll said the Management Committee and staff were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet the Senator.

“It was also important to us that we were able to express our appreciation to the Senator for the role she played in helping us to receive the grant money for the extensions,” Jenny said.

In June 2011, Bloomhill received a $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Australia to support the health needs of regional communities. Senator Claire Moore helped to facilitate the delivery of the grant application that made the extension possible.

“Senator Moore was of great assistance in ensuring the original application was in the hands of the Department of Health and Ageing on time.”

“Without her involvement, we may not have received the funding and the extensions would still be in the planning stage,” Jenny said.

“All the money we received from the grant will be used to build and fit out five new therapy rooms, additional office space and with other funds on hand to refurbish the entire Therapy House,” Jenny said.

Since then, the Senator has maintained an interest in Bloomhill and was invited to the ‘Commencement of Construction’ celebration in November. Due to other obligations the Senator was unable to attend and scheduled a visit in the New Year instead.

“We were really excited to show the Senator how much progress has been made on the extensions.”

Bloomhill Cancer Help is a Sunshine Coast based charity that provides support and assistance to those affected by cancer. Operated by a team of dedicated professional staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill offers counseling, transport to appointments, respite care and a range of complementary therapies and other practical help.

“The Senator has always shown an interest in supporting small charities like Bloomhill and helping them further develop the capacity for their services,” Jenny said.

Bloomhill President, Jenny Carroll said the extension means people diagnosed with cancer and their families will have better access to services and support.

“We are hoping that the construction will be completed by April 2012 and the new Therapy House to be fully functional again by June,” Jenny said.

With the vast number of social media sites out there like Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn and now Google+, navigating your way through the social media maze and keeping ‘on top’ of the latest trends can be a difficult task.

However daunting it may seem, businesses must consider the social media platform. Regardless of whether you like to use it on a personal level or not, social media has become a powerful communication platform that has transformed the way people find and share information.

From a business perspective, social media enables companies to engage communities, manage customer service needs and connect with multiple stakeholders in real-time.

Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as creating a Facebook page and the job is done. Creating a strong and effective social media presence takes a fine-tuned strategy and a little TLC, making sure you show your followers that you appreciate them through incentives, feedback, entertainment and providing content that is useful and engaging.

For a long time, PR professionals have recognised the importance of online, digital and social media communications and as a PR Consultancy, we always urge our clients not to put ‘all their eggs in one basket’. In fact, all our successful PR campaigns now feature Facebook or a range of social media components along with traditional forms of communication.

Managing the social media aspect of these campaigns can include representing your brand, participating, initiating and coordinating conversations and competitions, answering questions, providing a support system for your clients and empowering them to become a champion for your products/services.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach either. The way you use social media to communicate with your customers, clients, and/or wider community depends on your business type and what you want to achieve.

When it comes to social media, it’s all about knowing your objectives and your audience and how to engage them and who better to do this than professional communicators who are well-trained to be responsive and transparent, with relative speed and immediacy, characteristics that have never been more important than in this new social and digital media age.

If you want to find out more about establishing and effective social media communications strategy contact us today.

With the introduction of the Internet and now social media, video over the last ten years – and particularly in the last few – has become the single most utilised method to gather information. In fact, according to a recent study, video now accounts for HALF of all web traffic, making it the most popular form of communication online.

Living in a fast-paced world in which we are bombarded with marketing messages, good quality video is one of the most effective ways to break through the clutter. People want easy and fast information and video allows them to have that. After all, it is much more efficient to click on a video link than to read a page of text – such as this .

Video is also one of the most effective ways of gaining attention, using both visual effects and audio to create lasting impressions.

With Youtube alone making up for 12% of ALL web traffic and now the ability to embed video on social media sites, high quality web-optimised video is key to having a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace.

A good quality video is one of the best ways to spread a message and to introduce or promote a product, service or brand. Corporate companies, businesses and even individuals are using videos as sales tools to set themselves apart from their competitors and accelerate their business. Good quality video enables you to:

• Present a professional image of your business
• Increase brand recognition
• Grab attention
• Give an overall view of you and your business in a compelling way
• Compliment and add credibility to other marketing campaigns
• Increase your sales, profits, customer base and Google search ranking.

One of the greatest things about video is that it isn’t restricted to online. Videos can make an incredible marketing tool at exhibitions, presentations, seminars and trade shows. Also, having a promotional video on your website is a ‘sure-fire’ way to connect with and generate sales from online customers.

Here are a few more interesting facts about video From Forrester and ComScore:

• Video is 98% more likely to place you on the first page of search engines
• Video on a web page increases response rates by an average of 45%
• 89 million people will watch 1.2 billion videos online TODAY.

Smart Sparrow, a company incubated with the University of New South Wales’ Faculty of Engineering, was originally identified by Uniseed. OneVentures then led the funding round with Uniseed investing alongside the OneVentures Innovation Fund. Smart Sparrow will utilise the capital injection to enhance platform capability and further pursue market adoption of their state-of-the-art technology.

Smart Sparrow founder, Dr Dror Ben-Naim said the future of education is learning environments that adapt to the individual student as they progress through coursework and where each student receives rich interactive feedback as if sitting one-on-one with their teacher.

“While students work, Smart Sparrow’s adaptivity engine models their knowledge and learning style, so that it can personalize the teaching, specific to their learning.

“We are delighted to have received such strong interest in the technology with recognition not only from Australian venture capitalists but also internationally,” Dr Ben-Naim said.

OneVentures Managing Partner, Dr Michelle Deaker said OneVentures had identified education as a sector that would see substantial growth, disruption, globalisation and innovation over the next decade

“The OneVentures Innovation Fund is looking for investments with global potential and large addressable markets. We were impressed by the Smart Sparrow team, the technology and the potential of the company in servicing the rapidly growing e-learning market expected to exceed $50 billion in 2011.”

Smart Sparrow was founded in 2010, following seven years of research and development by Israeli-Australian PhD graduate Dror Ben-Naim. While within the University of New South Wales, the technology became successfully incorporated into the teaching programs of over 60 academics and used by 15,000 students annually. Hundreds of adaptive modules are now in use in subjects ranging from pathology and science labs through to music and business. Adoption of the platform has enabled the university to reduce costs, provide a richer learning environment and improve student performance and classroom success rates.

Uniseed Investment Manager, Dr David Rowe, said Uniseed recognised the potential of the technology and looked to partner with venture capitalists who had the requisite experience and international networks to help drive the business and mentor the founding team of the company.

“The platform developed by Smart Sparrow represents the next generation of educational technology. The cloud-based platform is stable, scalable and proven with modules in operation now in 5 of the 8 top tier Australian Universities, as well as first international customers.”

University of New South Wales Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Les Field AM said venture capital played a crucial role and was recognised globally as an essential building block in the innovation ecosystem.

“In many respects, it is the missing link between university funded research and commercial outcomes that benefit the economy, make workplaces more productive and create new jobs. The University is delighted to see Smart Sparrow attract substantial venture capital funding to further its commercial operations,” said Professor Field.

Professor Field also commented that there is a growing need, particularly in higher education, for institutions to take a global view of their provision of educational services and learning, expand their student numbers and yet also find ways to customise the learning experience to individual students. In a wired world, coupled with ubiquitous mobility, educational institutions must adopt new technologies that allow them to teach anyone, anywhere and anytime.

Dr Ben-Naim said they had seen significant engagement from students accessing the platform.

“As academics build their content into the platform, learning outcomes are enhanced and the teacher can monitor progress of the student through all stages of the course,” he said.

Dr Deaker commented that a key focus of the NBN would be delivery of educational training and vocational services into regional areas of Australia through online education programs.

She also noted that the Asia-Pacific region was growing rapidly in wealth yet was unable to adequately meet the demands for educational services, which would provide significant opportunity for Australian institutions.

“Lack of or access to qualified educators means that more scalable education models are required which will be underpinned by technology. Intelligent Tutoring Technology, such as Smart Sparrow, will be essential as the platform enabler of these future learning environments.”

With the country in the grips of an economic crisis that could slip into a recession, most companies are quite rightly taking a long hard look at their bottom line, but public relations budgets should be protected and expanded, not slashed.

Now, as a PR consultant running my own company, you would expect me to say this but while the cynics out there might say that’s my own bit of spin, it is also common sense.
It is interesting that while the Public Relations Institute of Australia is celebrating 62 years of Public Relations in Australia this year, there remains in this country a lot of common misconceptions about what Public Relations is, how it works and what the benefits are so these are the areas on which I would like to focus in this article.

Public relations is all about reputation and relationships and in times of crisis, which brings with it increased competition across most industries, reputation and the relationships you have with your stakeholders is everything.  If you maintain your reputation and value your relationships, then you are more likely to survive a recession and come out the other side stronger.

Public relations is not the same as marketing or advertising, though they often work closely together.  Public relations is about communicating with your target audience to improve your reputation, and when done effectively, it can be very powerful.  It is now, more than ever that companies need to develop creative ways to nurture their existing clients.  After all, they are the best form of PR you’ve got.

So is Public Relations for you?  Well, the answer is yes, but what you need, its complexity and the investment needed will depend on your size, the complexity and number of your target audiences and the strategies you undertake.

Perhaps the simplest form of PR is sending out a media release to promote you and your business but the smart PR money is in taking a more strategic approach to ensure that you are investing your time, energy and money wisely.  If sending out a release is part of your strategy, you want to be sure that it focuses on the right issues, goes to the right media outlets and ultimately is published in the way you intend.  For example if you have a fashion boutique in Brisbane, there would be little point in sending a media release to a sporting magazine in Victoria, unless you specialise in sports fashion and have an online store.

In developing a public relations strategy, like everything, expertise is important so seeking professional advice is recommended.  This doesn’t mean it is going to cost you a hefty percentage of your business but a professional will help you shape a strategy that works.

However, you can begin work on your strategy by looking closely at the who, what, when, where, how and why – what communicators refer to as the 5W&H, of what you do.

Having worked in education for almost twenty years, Bryan Ward has a strong interest in developing children’s communication skills through talking and stories.

“To encourage children to read you need to engage them in something they can relate to and Australian kids love a beach Christmas, so I started there,” Bryan, who also illustrated the book, said.

“Then I thought to myself, what would happen if Santa crash-landed on the beach outside my holiday apartment and how we would go about helping Santa solve the problem?”

Bryan said from the starting point, and using the famous “The Night Before Christmas” as inspiration, he set about writing a book that would encourage imagination and help promote language development.

“Books can help children become familiar with the patterns and rhythms of our language, with the ability to identify and generate rhyming words being key pre-literacy skills that children need to take with them into prep and school.

“For that reason, every page of this story features rhythm and rhyme – which also makes for great fun.”

“Books can teach children about things they haven’t seen or done yet, feeding their imaginations while also introducing them to important life skills like co-operation, which I have explored using other children and Australia’s iconic lifesavers in the story to help Santa out of his predicament.”

“Santa’s Beach Christmas”, which is suitable for children from pre-prep age and into the early years of school, also contains great bonus material about “The Night Before Christmas”, some history about Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas, as well as other activities to encourage language development through words that explore the senses.

“Santa’s Beach Christmas” is available from www.thewritestuffinoz.blogspot.com at just $18 plus postage. They will also be available at the Buderim Mamma’s Market on Friday 16th December at Buderim War Memorial Hall from 5pm to 9pm.