Category Archives: Uncategorized

Why moving back in with the parents is a great thing.

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It now seems to be one of those things. That today’s generation are moving out of home later and later. And when they finally do – they often come back. Four of my good friends, all 29, are currently living with their parents. All for various reasons, and some of them for no particular reason at all. Just because. I am not one to judge as over the past 7 years since I moved out of home the first time round, I have had numerous stints back in the nest. But I am glad that I have a reason to be living the good life and kicking it with the oldies.

So I wanted to share 5 great reasons why parents make the best house mates:

1. Good conversation over dinner

I love to have a good chat. Not only a gossip over a cup of tea but also that quality, real world debate around the dinner table. Living with the parents at an age where you can participate, have an opinion and actually know how to fully express your ideas means you can really enjoy polishing off the bottles of red with mum and dad. Which takes me to my next point…

2. Refining the palette 

No cheap and nasty vino in the house. Always a good bottle opened, often pre-2002. Who does’t want to come home to nice wine? Can’t argue with that.

3. Responsible house mates

No dirty dishes left till morning. Take it in turns to do the food shopping. Everything is shared and everything gets replaced. There is less of the child-parent thing and more of the general understanding and appreciation for each others company thing .

4. Fresh sour dough bread

Now this one is a winner. My dad has bread making in his blood. Although sometimes a little bit of a stressful process – looking after the base, the double rise, the 6am knead, abusing the oven settings… it is all worth it when you get fresh sour dough with vegemite for breakfast. Hard to beat really.

5. Great relationship

Family are important. We all know that. And as you get older, quality time with the parents is sometime hard to find. Sometimes an opportunity to move back home is a great thing. A chance to reconnect on the small day-to-day things in your life, not just the big ticket news-worthy items. A chance to actually see just how similar you are to you mum and dad and often why you turned out just the way you did.

People often cringe when I say I have moved back home. But I think I am lucky. Not only lucky to have great parents that want me, and my partner of 5 years around. But also lucky to have a chance to connect with them as adults and as friends. If you buy a house, that needs a little love and renovation, then you should try it too.

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

How to have a perfect Sunday in San Francisco.

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My first full day in San Francisco. Perfect weather. Perfect coffee. Perfect vehicles. Perfect views. And a Sunday. No complaints.

So I thought I would pull it all together as a blog post incase anyone wants to repeat my perfect Sunday in San Fran.

Wake up…

To a beautiful morning looking out over the city. I was staying at Parc 55 Wyndham on the 24th floor. Superb view.

Breakfast at Farm:Table

A great little (well tiny) place full of character, serving fresh food, an always changing menu and lovely coffee. A short stroll from the hotel, Farm:Table was the perfect place to read my book and enjoy breakfast on the single, shared wooden table with bench seats. I had a ham and cheese brioche which was crispy on the outside, soft in the middle and mighty tasty.

Catch the cable car

Yep, you feel like a tourist but there is definite joy in that. Stand on the side with the limbs hanging in the fresh air, let out a few woohoos, and take in the views as you go up and down the hilly city. You finish up at Fishermans Wharf the perfect place to switch your transport wheels for a bike.

Are you ready to ride the bridge?

That is the question all the bike hire people ask when you walk past. Cringe yes. But in my full sense of Sunday tourist, I said ‘hell yeah’. Then cruised out of there with a bike that said hire all over it and an extremely sans-cool helmet (which went missing for the photos…).

They give you a map and all. Out along the beach, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge, and down to Sausalito for a panini and iced coffee in the sun. Lovely.

Now that is an impressive tree.

There is an extra hour long detour that takes you out to Old Mill Park which has some of the biggest and oldest trees in the world. A beautiful forest of Redwoods which tower above you making you feel insignificant yet protected, which is confusingly comforting.

Little Tiburon

An hour on from the forest, through some back streets and along a meandering foreshore bike path is Tiburon. A town full of luxurious weatherboard houses painted seaside pastels. Very sweet. And if I hadn’t have been on a mission to make the 2.30 pm ferry I could have easily sat at one of the restaurants looking back across the water to San Francisco and alcoholically sipped the afternoon away.


A ferrytale ride home

A three hour ride over and a 30 minute ride back for me and my bicycle on the ferry. Great views of Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city as you sit on the top deck, take it all in and eat the second half of your panini which you wrapped up from lunch.

Ethical shopping

Paying $30 for postage sort of defeats the purpose of ethical shopping with TOMS. So a quick stop to pick up two pairs of TOMS shoes, which makes four pairs, as two go to someone who really needs some shoes on their feet. Lovely to fit some shopping into the day and even better when you can feel good about it. Nice.

Finish off with a coffee at Four…. Barrels

A cafe that pumps out the coffees… in the best manner ever. A great soft-cornered-industrial set up with baroque inspired bike racks and public bench seating out the front, which catches the afternoon sun. The perfect place to finish my perfect sunny Sunday in San Francisco.

Thanks to @rosshill and @katyste for sharing their wisdom on where to go in San Francisco. Strike rate of 100%. You guys are great 🙂

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

The beauty (and regret…) of a stereotype

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I like things with character. A tad crooked, a touch mismatch, a little out of the ordinary or a cause for surprise. I like people who break stereotypes and public thank yous for tray mats. Yep. Strange hey. But that’s what Virgin Australia have done. A brand that regularly breaks the mould and sparks character throughout their communications.

On my flight to San Francisco today, I found this unique, intriguing and chuckle worthy and so wanted to share it with you (click it & you should be able to read it).

I also feel ashamed that I purchased a starbucks coffee (no capital ‘S’ intentional – undeserving)… an overnight flight from Melbourne and a four hour stop over in LA. It was an emergency. Without wanting to I am already conforming to the American stereotype. Devastated Sarah feeding the beast 😦

So to help get it off my chest I needed to share that with you too.

 

 

 

Time travel: Tripping with Buddies.

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As part of #b03 I have signed my March away to blogging every day. And as a little jet setter I am now in a pickle. If I am about to get on a plane to San Francisco and essentially have Saturday twice, do I blog before I go on the ‘real’ Saturday or when I land? And what should I do when I come back and completely lose a Sunday. Do the ultimate faux-pas and set my post to go live while I am sitting in the air sipping champagne (I wish! I will be kicking it with the plebs in cattle class) or fail and miss a day? Confusing.

So while this whirlwind was happening in my head I decided that I would post two great tools that I am using to solve my pickle and make sure I am on time for my flights.

World time buddy

A superb site, with a simple interface that shows & compares times all around the world. A new best buddy for international phone calls and trying to figure out when you should blog. Pop over to World Time Buddy.

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Tripit

A site that wraps up all your travel arrangements into a nice little package and delivers them straight to your phone. Once you have set up your account all you have to do is forward your itineraries to plans@tripit.com and shebang inputs your flight, reservation number and seat number all into the app. It even links your hotel reservations with the flights and then shows directions from the airport to your hotel. Amazing. It is so great that I don’t want to think about it too much incase it stops working. Trip out over Tripit.

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Happy travels.

#hiddencrisis: Biggest ever charity tweet chat

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Tomorrow, Wednesday 15th February, Save the Children will host the biggest ever charity Twitter Chat on the #hiddencrisis .

I will be hosting the first hour of the tweetchat with @Nicole_Cardinal via @savechildrenaus account where we will be chatting to @MarionsKitchen from 4.30pm. Exciting. We will be talking about the importance of nutrition.

As food prices continue to rise mothers in many countries around the world are being forced to cut down the quality of food they feed their children; tomorrow ministers, academics, inventors, TV chefs, campaigners and mums will discuss malnutrition, the #hiddencrisis that is killing 300 children every hour, every day.

Hosted by Save the Children in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, World Health Organisation  and The Million Moms Challenge, the Twitter Chat marks the global launch of their new flagship nutrition report, A Life Without Hunger: Tackling Child Malnutrition.

The Twitter chat, biggest ever attempted by a charity, will last 12 hours, spanning 3 continents and 12 different time zones starting at 4.30pm EST.

Other participants on the tweet chat will include:

  • Agnes Binagwaho, Rwandan Minister of Health: @agnesbinagwaho
  • Dr Stanley Zlotkin, inventor of sprinkles micronutrient powder: @Stantheironman
  • Jeffery Sachs, Economist, Professor, Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General. Author of The Price of Civilization: @jeffdsachs
  • Sara Ziff, New yorker, model, filmmaker, community organizer: @saraziff
  • Kunal Kapoor, Bollywood star: @kapoorkkunal

Use the #hiddencrisis hashtag to participate and join the conversation.

To make it easier to keep track of the conversation and the schedule for each session, pop over to the tweetchat chatroom

 http://twebevent.com/hiddencrisis

Animals rule the media

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I like dogs. I think they are cute. And I do feel sad when I see one with a muzzle and a chain around its neck and that sad, slightly tilted head and wilted eye look. But when it comes to both traditional and social media I struggle to see why the rights of dogs often gain more attention that the rights of humans.

The front cover of the age on Friday showed a half page picture of a genuinely deprived and mis-treated animal, with the accompanying title ‘At one Melbourne property, this was a dog’s life… Until its rescue last night’. This article was followed by a mention of ‘100 people still missing as PNG ferry sinks’. Interesting.

Not sure if I find it more disappointing that this is what sells in our society or this is how the media outlets select to prioritise.

Animals get social too.

The interest and activity around the promotion of animal rights is not limited traditional media. Research done by craigsconnect at the end of last year showed that organisations promoting animal related issues gained more traction on twitter and Facebook than any other organisations – such as those associated with emergency relief, children or health. Given the real time nature of social media and the ability to immediately share first-hand experiences, the platform naturally fits with an organisation related with human issues and emergency relief organisations in particular. Regardless it is still the animals that come up trumps.

Animal abuse is easier to talk about.

Maybe issues related to animals gain media attention because they are emotionally engaging and also comprehensive and solvable. Even the hard hitting cases are easier for most of the general public to discuss, understand and create a fairytale ending (animal activist free’s dog from illegal abattoir). Issues related to human beings can be confronting, overwhelming and make an individual feel powerless to make an impact (100 people missing as a boat sinks off PNG).

Animal rights are important. And I do like dogs. But how important should be questioned when one dog gets prioritised over 100 human beings and numerous other worldly issues. This is similar to what I mentioned in a blog post last year in regards to why is it that so much more public outrage occurred in response to the treatment of live cattle being exported to Indonesia, compared to the deporting of people to Malaysia under the Gillard government’s refugee swap scheme.

Why is it that animals continue to rule the media?

Perhaps it is a combination of ignorance, confrontation, and the insolvability of the human related issues pitched against the persuasive power of the puppy dog eyes. What do you think?

The future of the business card

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I love the idea of digital networking. Nothing is worse than the old business card swap, especially when you’re on the receiving end of an early 90’s photo card. The people over at Linkedin are reveling in the Card Munch App. It is an app that scans business cards, records the information onto a digital card and matches details with the users linked in profile. Showing extra info such as education, previous roles and recommendations. Handy. But I do feel a little lost about this app. I see that it is bridging the gap between yesterday and today’s networking world. And something that is equal to 4 tonnes of paper and saves 67,348 consumer hours (according to PSFK blog post) has to be good right? Card Munch is munching through traditional business cards and turning them into digital recorders. But why bother to do the business card transaction in the first place?

Ideally I would only need a solo business card on a lanyard around my neck for easy scanning access. Everyone has their scan and voila we are connected. If I was a conference organiser my next batch of willing participants would get their business card details on a cheap lanyard and happily scan their way to network heaven. So that we do actually save the 4 tonnes of paper.

But I am not a conference organiser and oddly I don’t feel like wearing my business card around my neck just for kicks. So I will just download the app, add the stash of business cards in my bottom drawer to the 2 million already scanned and wait patiently for business cards to quietly hand over their networking reigns.

http://www.cardmunch.com/


graph via PSFK: http://www.psfk.com/2012/01/digital-business-cards.html#ixzz1jgb0e94t

5 things I learnt last week at the workshop for innovation and entrepreneurship

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Last week I participated in the Workshop for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Run by Deakin University it was based on the successful Danish workshop and the first time one like this was run in Australia. The theme was sustainability. It was a week full of speakers, problems solving, mental and emotional challenges and competitive innovation. Super.

Each group was presented with an industry problem. Mine – to reduce the amount of stand-by power in Australian households using motion sensor technology. Some others included; increasing the efficiency of the Victorian regional rail system, increasing the financial stability of the RSPCA, and improving the sustainability of Deakin University.

Like every group we had a mix of backgrounds, skills and experience (think a PhD in Robotics, crossed with 5 years running confectionary factories and a Masters in International Development). After numerous rounds of perfecting an idea, breaking it and then throwing it out we finally found something that ticked, rolled, landed on its feet and won. I wish I could share it – but we are currently looking into patents… so stay tuned 🙂

So instead…. here are 5 things that I learnt from 5 days in a mixing pot of innovation and entrepreneurship:

1. Don’t be selfish with good ideas

Sometimes you think that you have an idea that is so good you don’t want to risk someone stealing it.  Well, nothing is good if it goes unshared. Concepts grow, manipulate and get stronger with every adaptation.

2. Leverage, leverage, leverage.

The best ideas usually already exist in some form. Take something, make it better, put it in a new environment and it will grow.

3. The horizon of the public consumer is limited

A sad realisation. But sometimes a great idea is just too different and forward thinking to be accepted in the public domain.

4. Animation in powerpoint is still cool

Explaining a motion detection system that switches between controlling the powerpoints in your home and your security system was made simple with some good old animation. True.

5. Black and brown make me frown

Never use a dark brown background with black writing for a presentation. The audience must be able to easily read the content of the slide. Simple. Yes. But three presenters used colour schemes that made reading their slide content like following a breadcrumb trail in the Sahara. Not a good idea.

One day in the life of the world: The 11 Eleven Project

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Would it be possible to document one day in the life of the world?

Not just my day, or your day, but a day in the world. It almost makes my brain hurt. Imagine capturing every culture, every language, every religion, every taste, every smell, every conversation, every argument, every journey, and every sneeze. All in a nice little package. An undeniably big task and perhaps an insurmountable challenge, but how amazing would it be? And that is just what The 11 Eleven Project is attempting to do.

 

When the ones align, there is one chance, to document one day, in the life of one world.

The 11 Eleven Project will commemorate the 11/11/11 by collecting and collating footage from all over the world. For 24 hours, anyone who has access to a film, video or digital camera, microphone, mobile, or email is asked to create a day in the life of their world and send their footage in. This will then be edited into a documentary, a music album, a photo story, an iphone app and an online resource. A story will be told about what happened in the world on the 11/11/11 and you can be part of it.

The perfect use of digital technology and the internet.

Bridging the geographical, cultural, ethnic and religious boundaries to document, realise and celebrate our similarities and our differences and to find out what unites us as human beings.

Happy snap your way through the 11th November and support this collaborative project. Your sneeze could make the final cut.

Find out more over here.

If you were a colour, what colour would you be…

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Nothing like a simple, interactive campaign with small, set donations where you get something back to engage the masses. The new ‘Own a colour’ campaign by UNICEF and Dulux does just this. For one pound, you can purchase and name a colour. The money raised goes to UNICEF and they are aiming to name all 16.7 million colours. So far the money raised is just over £70,000.

Although it is more about getting to name a colour after your dog than giving money to UNICEF, it is great to see an innovative partnership.

The title ‘own a color’ sells the personal benefit, not the humanitarian one.

But there is nothing wrong with this. People are tired of hearing ‘save a life’, so tapping into the I-get-something-back mentality makes it work. There is an underlying connection of missions – Dulux ‘add colour to peoples lives’ and this campaign allows you to add colour to a child’s life. Nice. Check it out over here.