This is the website of Nicole Jensen, a 20-something from Brisbane, Australia. I enjoy geekery, fine wine, drumming, knitting and hearing how your day has been so far. Stay tuned while the site climbs out of beta mode and is injected with blogs, vlogs, events and more.
Next Saturday I will be giving up my day to lead a team of 10 volunteers at the Brisbane music festival Sounds of Spring. Pretty cool, huh?
I’ll be starting early in the morning and going until midnight, but it will be worth it. Acts such as Little Birdy, I Heart Hiroshima, The Living End, Tim Rogers, Hungry Kids of Hungary, The Beautiful Girls, Drawn From Bees, Shihad… and stacks more. Shall be fun seeing what goes down there behind the scenes. Rad!
Hello, readers! How is everyone today? Just a general update of the awesome things I’ve been up to lately.
Last week I was lucky enough to score a free ticket to Creative Drinks. My dear friend Hannah Suarez of Brisbane Creative Industries was the speaker of the evening and did very well. Her presentation is on SlideShare here and includes some helpful networking event tips.
Tuesday I was also in attendance at my favourite Brisbane events company Iceberg Events‘ Networx, Working the (Real & Virtual) Room. Director of Paragon Associates, Lisa Butler kick-started the evening with information on busting networking myths and emphasised that anyone can learn to network effectively. More friends of mine were speaking on the topic of working the virtual room (specifically Twitter) – in fact, the whole panel trio of Darryl King, Clare Lancaster and Greg Lexiphanic! Ignoring the occasional train screaming through South Brisbane, discussions of Twitter and social media run amok against a background of a Twitter projection of the #networx hashtag.
Yesterday I attended ANZ’s Small Business workshops discussing online marketing (specifically Google’s AdWords and social media) and brand awareness. The day was a good one and I met various new people interested in learning more about their businesses online. I was even outed as a secret live-twitter bug, which was a great example to those wanting to understand the scope social media can have. There are more ANZ Small Business workshops happening all around Australia until around November, so get in quick to enrol (they’re free too)!
Lastly, things are rolling faster and faster for Brisbane Twestival Local. Committee positions are being snapped up fast, bands and artists approached, venues scoped. We are hoping to gather the support of the voted-in beyondblue: the national depression initiative as our charity of choice to support, a charity I have long been a fan of.
Phew! I think that’s about it. Oh! And the BTUB Wine Night was a complete success as well. My first paid event as a freelancer. Feels good, man.
Looking for full-time employment has unfortunately taken a back seat to these activities. It’s a shame I’m having so much fun… well, no. Not really.
On Friday I spent my day volunteering for Fireball 2009 with New Fangled Functions at City Hall. It was a pretty good day, setting 400 places for attendees of the charity ball raising funds for adult burns research and development. I did take a photo of the gorgeous table settings before I left, but it didn’t save to my iPhone, alas.
I was unable to make the event itself, but from what I’ve heard it was a great success. Well done, Kellie, Michael and the team at New Fangled Functions. (And happy birthday, Michael!)
A few of you will recall an event I co-managed in February called Twestival at Brisbane’s Metro Arts. Well, it’s on again and I’ve been handed the reins!
Saturday, September 12th is Twestival Local. It’s the same deal, but we choose our own charity to support instead of a global charity being chosen for all events around the world. I quite like this idea as it creates a close-knit sense of responsibility for Brisbane and Queensland. The links on the Brisbane branch which I give are:
We are seeking one lucky charity, a kick-arse venue, charming sponsors, wicked bands, entertainment, artists, stalls, web masters, event gurus, stage managers, admin and general awesomeness for this event. Please e-mail me at events@nicolejensen.com if you would like to give a hand or offer up some contacts for us.
Lastly, I came across this useful article on how to secure a sponsor for an event. It’s pretty cool.
Patron concerns regarding safety and security have been labeled “inaccurate” and “irrelevant” by Brisbane live music venue The Hi-Fi.
Retweeted at least five times was the link which exposed the relatively new venue in Brisbane as one which does not take seriously the views of its patrons, let alone one which responds to such matters in a responsible and attentive manner.
Long-time live music scene patron Kathleen was so appalled by standards of health and safety at The Hi-Fi that she took to writing to them. She commented on unnecessary queues in cold weather, broken glass, ill-placed bathrooms in the venue, poor band management and more importantly, extremely poor security.
I saw people waiting outside in a queue for 20 minutes and they had tickets. The queue wasn’t even that long, they were just being made to wait. The first band were already playing. The door staff would let people in in a trickle, or not let people in at all.
It’s winter. Queing for a show already paid for which is already starting… not a great start to the night, no.
I queued and got inside and headed for the toilets, which were to my dismay, up a flight of stairs down a deserted corridor. I don’t mind that the toilets are up a flight of stairs, but they are well away from the main room and I believe this puts your patrons at risk of assault or rape. I think you urgently need to address this by having security patrol upstairs regularly.
Issues are getting serious now; when your patrons believe that they are not safe in your venue, you are doing something wrong. Very wrong.
I was shocked that you were serving drinks in glass, especially with the recent “spate” of glassings. I was standing in the middle of the steps on the dancefloor for both sets and by the time the Dreamkillers had finished playing, there was broken glass all over the floor. The broken glass on the floor only increased while The Fireballs played. I saw punters deliberately throwing glasses on to the floor and into the crowd. I was truly horrified.
I saw the crowd break up fights and scuffles but security never intervened. Security was also nowhere to be found when punters were smashing and throwing glass. Security were nowhere to be found when a young man had a fit on the dance floor, I saw his mates carry him out. I noted one security guard on the barrier but he stayed in the one spot the entire time and didn’t move or interact with the crowd.
Like I said before; very, very wrong. And my favourite summary sentence from Kathleen:
I have never been to a venue with such weak and obviously incompetent and overwhelmed security.
This was the abysmal reply which Kathleen received from Scott Ahpee, a month later and after a second e-mail:
As the General Manager of Operations, I read through your email immediately on receipt, and clarified all matters with our venue staff. Replying to your email was (until today) on my ‘to-do’ list, but a detailed response on every matter would require time I’ve yet to have spare. However, since you clearly require a response immediately, I write this now. On discussion with venue staff, management, security and production crew, as well as discussions with the tour manager of the Fireballs, I found most of your complaints to be inaccurate, and others to be irrelevant. If you do not wish to return to the Hi-Fi, that is your choice.
Time yet to spare? Perhaps Mr Ahpee should be allocating time to deal with public complaints about his venue before a significant amount of patronage is lost? Your venue has been complained about in the retrospect of health and safety concerns, which I deem to be quite damn important. There are reports of glassings and injury as a result of lack of security and you claim them to be “inacurate”? Also, if he had so little time to write an e-mail, I question if Mr Ahpee even had such discussions with the above mentioned parties. Might want to check that ‘to-do’ list again.
Meanwhile, the Hi-Fi bar is looking to utilise my favourite social media network, Twitter. How on earth will they be able to manage a constant stream of customer comments of 140 characters if they take a month or so to reply [even if indecently] to a formal complaint?
A few days ago the 2009 dates for the music festival tour Parklife were released by Sydney events company Fuzzy. Hurrah!
So the dates for this winning festival are:
You can find more info on each on and their retrospective Facebook event pages (of course) here. As far as the acts are concerned; there has been some comment around the place that Canadian electro duo MSTRKRFT and the UK’s Lady Sovereign will be touring. I’ll report back with an official list when it arises.
Also, if you’re a Sydney student looking to get some hours up on your degree, why not apply for a Parklife Internship? There are roles available in event management, PR, marketing, touring, HR and production. I would apply immediately, but I’m neither in Sydney or a student. Shame! You’d best hurry along though; applications are due this coming Monday, 25th of May.
Nicole thanks Semi-Permanent volunteer and attendee Natalie Perkins* for this guest post.
Semi-Permanent hit Brisbane on Wednesday, and I was lucky enough to grab a ticket in return for volunteering to pack the swag bags. This gave me the opportunity to see how the event was organised, as well as participating as an audience member. I left the conference full of ideas and inspiration, but I also left carrying a semi-permanent reminder of the awful seating at the Brisbane Convention Centre!
The speakers were generally fabulous and were very relevant to my own area of art/ design practice. The standout speaker for me was Timba Smits, who is an absolute juggernaut of motivation, inspiration and hard work. I did a recap of Semi-Permanent on my own blog, and went into further detail on my favourite presenters
As a volunteer and a member of the audience, I was impressed with the organisation of the whole shebang. My fellow swag packers were design students from the Sunshine and Gold Coasts, and we all worked together as some kind of fabulous packing contraption to pack over 700 bags in around 2 hours. During that time I noticed that Sasha, our humble volunteer herder and conference organiser, was busily organising all the other aspects of the day. I didn’t see any dramas, everything looked under control! As a volunteer this was heartening, but as an audience member it’s even more meaningful because you want to know that the conference you’re attending is credible and well-oiled and valuable!
I was stoked to see that Mag Nation had a stall! I adore magazines and books and was keen to delve into a few throughout the day. I took home a copy of Wooden Toy issue 5.
Overall, the day felt a little bit like being in a full day of lectures at uni or TAFE. It was hard on the butt for a few reasons! The speakers did go overtime which meant that our breaks were sacrificed. Obviously if you get passionate people speaking about their creative practices, they’re going to go overtime. I don’t know if the scarce break syndrome was due to Brisbane’s Semi-Permanent being crammed into only one day, but I beg the organisers – can we graduate to a two day event next year?!
Extending the format over two days would mean that other interactive activities could be integrated – activities that alleviate the sore butt syndrome, and encourage networking and participation within the audience! I would love to see micro-activities between organiser-audience, speaker-audience, audience-audience that allow everyone to mingle and move their limbs and make connections.
Another bummer was to do with access to food/ drinks and the scarcity of time available to access those things. The convention centre has a Subway right across the road, and Melbourne St and it’s various delicious edibles about 5 minutes walk away. The shortened lunch break meant that people were scrambling to get fed and watered, and liberate their bladders! Can we integrate some kind of in-house munching experience? This would also enhance networking and community-making.
My last beef is with the swag bags themselves. I was a little horrified to see the amount of useless bits of paper in the bags. Can we rethink the concept of the swag bag for next year, so it’s inline with eco-design considerations? As a print designer, I’m already painfully aware of how much paper waste my practice produces. As an artist, I try to incorporate salvaged and reclaimed paper stock into my work as a way of off-setting my paper wasting ways. There are a bunch of smart and innovative people behind and around Semi-Permanent – this could be something that is solved in a really interesting way: through smarter packaging ideas, and encouraging sponsors to promote their products in more creative ways.
THE SEATS. I will preface this by saying that I am fat, like a lot of people. I ended up with a bruise on my hip because of the stingy seating at the Brisbane Convention Centre. It made me think about how boring the venue choice was for such a creative industry. I absolutely abhor having to sit still for eight hours and it’s not just because I have a slamming booty. Do we need to sit in stadium seating? Is there any other way of holding a creative conference?
As a conference attendee, I find value in the following things:
Semi-Permanent Brisbane met most of these criteria. I did manage to do a small amount of networking (amazing considering the amount of free time was miniscule!) and I was impressed with the speakers. I would like to see more practical topics discussed – many creative people get too caught up in the creative process and neglect the management facet of their practice so I think it would be incredibly valuable to learn how other creatives do administrative stuff in an innovative way. I will be anticipating the conference next year, if just to see how many of the issues from this year are addressed. Until then, I’ll be icing my bruised hip and drawing… always with the drawing!
**Natalie is a freelance graphic designer and illustrator who doesn’t really like talking in the third person. Her personal illustrative work deals in symbolism, appropriation, the feminine, detachment and obsessive compulsion. Her proudest achievements include being on the verge of completing a double degree in visual arts and education for nearly a decade, being a housewife who can only bake cupcakes and making her debut on the Brisbane emerging arts scene this year by appearing in the Semi Permanent 2009 book and getting an invite to her first group show at KILN in July. Her work is currently showing until early May at KILN’s Works on Paper exhibition.
Two days ago the tubes were aflutter with scrambling tweeps and Facebook geeks, hunting everywhere online for word regarding the March 30th disappearance of a 15-year-old from Brisbane. Today I was browsing past my Facebook groups page and found the group Missing Teenager: Ethan Johnson, Brisbane, Australia was at the top of my groups for having the most activity. Ethan had been found safe and well!
While the bulk of the official search was taken up by police, the Facebook group members made suggestions for online haunts left unsearched:
“Have we considered looking into any online communities which Ethan is a member? e.g. World of Warcraft, interest forums, MSN contacts, MySpace, Garry’s Mod, Xbox Live? If we know Ethan’s username* then I’m sure my 15yo son would be happy to check his contacts/forums etc.”
Facebook was also a source of comfort to Ethan’s family, and of suggestions from others who had missed (and found!) loved ones:
“My mum’s friend son has an illness & disappeared from home for several weeks, in the end he was found interstate with some friends. As Ethan is/was in Sydney, maybe he has friends in Sydney or the surrounding areas. There are some music festivals on this weekend in NSW for the Easter long weekend… maybe Ethan had some friends attending and wanted to join?”
“My Aspergers son was taken by his father who disappeared with him and it took five weeks for me to get him back. Once again, different from this because I at least knew who he was with (if not where) but I still know the pain of not knowing where or how your child is. I also know that his type of Aspergers means he has an obsession with his computer and spends hours on it socialising online. If he went missing, because of this trait*, his computer is the first place I would look.”
The final message from Ethan’s family has been posted online and thanks everyone who helped in their search in any way:
“There are so many people in this group – some of you have been here from the beginning, and others only joined us recently, but you have all contributed to helping us get the word out; and many of you have helped to keep Tammy’s spirits up while she sat helplessly at home waiting for her boy to be found.
All we can say is: Thank you.
Thank you from Tammy – she’s over the moon at the moment, and busy as all get-out answering phones:
Thank you from Brett, who is finally seeing a smile on Tammy’s face for the first time in almost two weeks:
Thank you from Amber, who is elated that her big brother is coming home:
Thank you from Donny – you people have made her proud to be a Facebook member!No one really expected this kind of a turn-out, and your support for Ethan and his family has been powerful, wonderous, almost miraculous, and something for you to be PROUD of!”
If you are following the Facebook group thus far, please don’t leave just yet; Ethan’s family wish to show him the 7,700 people who wanted him to stay safe.
I love social media. Did I ever tell you that?
EDIT: A comment on this article reads: “Why isn’t this all over the television? When Daniel Morcombe went missing it was everywhere. I found out about this through Facebook… So there must be hundreds of people who are unaware.” Another reader agreed. What do you think?
Another comment corrects me, quite rightly:
I run the Australian Missing Persons Register, a volunteer service to help the families of the missing, without charge…the bulk of the search was NOT undertaken by the police, it was undertaken by me, and my associate… It was actually me who located Ethan and Kevin who drove 2000km in two days to pick Ethan up and return him to QLD. Using the internet to locate the missing is something I do every day, all day for the last four years with a good success rate.
Many thanks, Nicole.
*which makes me ponder one’s Web Wills. How would people use your online network activities to find you if you were lost? What would they do with your online accounts if you couldn’t be? Another blog for another day…
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