Affinity EMAG June 2014 by 6StarDigital

MAGAZINE

Issue 18 - June 2014

AFFINITY

The Launch of AFFINITY FUNDRAISING Our greatest achievement so far. See how you can contribute to raising funds for your favourite charities… ASSOCIATION SPOTLIGHT

The Small Business Party Of Australia. Can you afford NOT to be a part of this ever-growing phenomenon?

WHAT’S NEW AT AA! Check out our new organisations that have joined the AA Bandwagon…

What’s In store for you this month… Editors Letter

Association Spotlight (SBPA)

Member Engagement

Affinity PROFESSIONAL

Legal, HR/IR, Insurance, Foreign Exchange, Business Coaching, Safety In the Workplace… Affinity TRAVEL

Explore some of the greatest parts of the world through Affinity Travel where you will get discounts of up to 70% on accommodation and flights. Affinity COMMUNICATIONS

Affinity LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT

Affinity NETWORKING

Affinity FUNDRAISING

Affinity HEALTH & WELLBEING

Affinity MEMBERS

Affinity SHOPPER

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Editors Letter ! End of Financial Year strikes fear into most of us at this time of year but not the team at AA. We look forward to the frenzy simply because the end of June signals the onslaught of memberships for a large majority of organisations and Associations across Australia and New Zealand. With the EOFY approaching, we decided that this as as good a time as any to do a shameless promotion for our Member Benefits program and prove to those who are not yet our loyal followers, just why you need us. Affinity Alliance is the only benefits program in Australia & NZ with its own designated Travel Concierge service. Your members simply call our CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM on 1300 793 044 and give the general information required for their next trip and the rest is up to us. We will source you not only the best airfares and accommodation but we will also provide it to you at a discounted rate. What other benefits program can offer you that? In addition to this, our providers are growing at an exponential rate across the globe and we will soon have the most benefits on offer than any other program that you may have considered and at the best rate. Our new online search directory will give members the convenience of searching under category, sub-category and location, making the entire experience seamless. Check out our new website and see the difference for yourself. Visit www.affinityallianceco.com.au Also new on the block this month, we have finally launched Affinity Fundraising to assist with many different charities. Check out our webpage for participating organisations and see how you as an organisation and individual can

help in our fight to raise valuable funds for much deserving charities.

New Organisations

May/June has welcomed a large number of new members to Affinity Alliance camp. We can hardly wait to get started in the new Financial Year and reward even more members with the extended array of benefits. • General Surgeons of Australia • Lung Foundation Australia

Don’t forget to check out our new site with all the trimmings along with the Dining Out & Entertainment Guide. Not only will you have exclusive access to the finest restaurants in the country with some fantastic deals for our AA members, you will also be privy to the best in entertainment and events. Be the first to book the latest show or concert and show off to your friends and of course don’t forget to tell them that you can only have access through ‘Affinity Alliance’….

• Ambulance Service Welfare Fund • Small Business Party Of Australia • The Mining Hub

New Providers • Danis Designs

• Jigsaw Autism Services • Go Health • Swim Fin • Logic Business Resources • Chavez Chiropractic • Gem Candles • Life Fitness • Shabby Shed • Golf 2 Day • Onsport Thank you to all of our providers who have offered fantastic exclusive benefits for our members, we could not do it without you.

DINING OUT & ENTERTAINMENT

IMPORTANT Information

Be sure to check out our BRAND S PA N K I N G N E W w e b s i t e www.affinityallianceco.com.au and remember to LIKE us on Facebook. This is where the majority of our providers update their deals and send out special offers, so please encourage your members to take a few minutes of their time to jump on and click that button. It is well worth the effort. Well that is it from me for now, so until the next issue of our fabulous EMAG, stay safe, stay well informed and most of all, stay YOU…

Fiona McTaggart AA Managing Director

If you would like to advertise your organisation or business with Affinity Alliance to offer our members even more value for money, please contact our head office on 1300 793 044 or email

admin@affinityallianceco.co m.au for details and a copy of the AA Media Kit.

ASSOCIATION SPOTLIGHT

The Small Business Party Of Australia Great News for Small Business… The Small Business Party Of Australia(“SBPA”) was registered as an association in February this year and launched in April, and was the brain-child of long time, self-employed Business Consultant Mr. John Codrington of Ourimbah on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The party’s next step is to find 500 other like-minded people to join with him to enable the SBPA to be registered as an official political party. So far about 50 others have joined him as members of the SBPA with a steady flow each week. Mr. Codrington says that he and these other members of the SBPA recognize that the major parties no longer satisfactorily represent the interests of the Australian populace, and especially those of the near 60% of the Australian workforce employed in Australian small business. Rather than cutting Government services and jobs, the SBPA believe the Government should be cutting the red tape which puts unnecessary burdens on small business and hinders business growth. “Of the numerous Associations throughout Australia representing small business, most of these associations are ‘apolitical’, their lobbying of the government to obtain benefits or changes in legislation, killing off red-tape and regulations tends to fall on deaf ears, because these Associations lack the necessary political muscle to make themselves effective because of this stance” Mr. Codrington commented. When the SBPA has its 500 plus members, the SBPA will enforce its views by representation in the Upper House of the Federal Parliament (the Senate), and perhaps some seats in the Lower Houses too.

Recent statistics have shown a real and frightening trend where more small businesses are closing than are starting up, a trend which if not reversed will have dire consequences for Australia, its economic growth, and for jobs for our kids! It’s the party’s view that the time for action is now; to leave it any longer will make it harder to reverse the damage already being inflicted. The SBPA is calling for all Small Business owners, their staff and families to support the SBPA. Join now and support the Party that has been established to ensure a secure and vibrant future for you and your business, your family and for all Australians. A very small investment of $77.00 (includes $22.00 Joining Fee) to show your support and be a part of future history is a small price to pay to have your voice heard.

For more information about the SBPA, its policies and its platform go to: www.smallbusinessparty.org.au, or to join now www.smallbusinessparty.org.au/joinus-now

Exclusive offer to

Affinity Alliance Members Only…

What are your concerns as a small-medium business owner? Become a Foundation Member of the SBPA and Affinity Alliance will subsidise your membership fee of $55. Joining Fee of $22 applies. As a Foundation Member you will be the voice for representation in parliament for any policy changes required for Australian businesses to:

• Eliminate unnecessary red tape • Invest in a vibrant growing Australia • Invest in our kids

To find out more, go to www.smallbusinessparty.org.au/join-usnow use coupon code SBPA-AA14

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT !

Leveraging the Engagement Touchpoints… What does Member Engagement mean to you? by Fiona McTaggart - Affinity Alliance As we noted in a recent blog post, "What does member engagement mean to you?", “engagement" has become a bit of a buzzword for companies, non-profits and membership organizations alike. But it also seems that the term “engagement” means different things to different folks. For-profit marketers and social media managers often use the term “engagement” when referring to how an individual is engaging online – in terms of website visits, page views, email opens, social media mentions, “likes” or “follows.” But while building a robust online community is increasingly important, that is only part of the engagement equation for membership organizations. For associations, clubs and other membership organizations, members are their reason for being, so getting and keeping members truly engaged in the organization is critical for survival. In his post, Building a Strong Nonprofit Part 7: Engagement Pyramid and Cycle Michael J. Brennan offers a simple equation for looking at engagement: Engagement = Relationship + Action

As Andrea Pellegrino (Demand Perspective Blog) reminds us, “It’s All Engagement…every customer service inquiry, complaint, voicemail, email or other message. Every website visit, page click, email open and click-through…is engagement. Every online search that turns up your association or one of its products or services or initiatives…is engagement. Every forum where the issues that concern your members and industry are discussed (even if they are not yours) is engagement.” Leveraging the “Engagement Touchpoints” So if “everything” is about engagement, what member “touchpoints” should you focus your attention? That will depend on your members and their preferences for communicating with your organization as well as their online and social media habits. But here are some tips for building engagement through: • your website •

your online communities

•

social media

1. Engaging members through your website In a recent post – If You Build It Will They Come? – we suggested that while building your online community is only part of the engagement equation, the reality is that “your website is still your primary identity online.” Your website is where your members go for information and insight; where they can participate in your online community; where they can register for events; manage their membership profile and even their yearly renewal. This is where the membership equation (above) really rings true – you want to build the relationship and encourage action with every website visit and as often as possible, to ensure you’re providing tangible member value. If you’re just getting started – here are some resources: For some small or fledgling member organizations, the first big challenge is to actually build a website! So, if your organization is just getting started in developing a website or looking at a wholesale “refresh”, here are a couple of resources that

AFFINITY MAGAZINE • Help with managing website development: The Nonprofit Website Handbook is a comprehensive, “how-to” resource that offers an overview of the website design and development process. It was written and designed by Yesenia Sotelo, founder at SmartCause Digital (a web development and digital strategy firm). They also offer additional resources, such as the Website Launch Checklist - here. • Help in making your website "awesome": John Haydon's post – Ten Ways To Make Your Nonprofit Website Simply Awesome – outlines “10 must haves” for “awesome” nonprofit websites. While all 10 of John's “awesomeness-building” tips apply to membership websites as well, these 5 are particularly applicable: •

Professional design

•

Intuitive navigation

•

Answers to common questions

•

Strong SEO

•

Sharable content

You can read John Haydon's post for details on all of his 10 “must haves” and you can check out his other free website resources and tips - here. •Help with website building solutions or platforms: We created a guide - Membership Software Selection Guide - to help associations, clubs and other membership organizations choose the best system to suit your specific needs in building a membership website. It offers advice on how to define your needs; what to take into consideration; how to create a short list and evaluate your options.

Fresh content is key to get members to your website and keeping them coming back The key goal for any membership website is to get members to the site and keep them coming back for more. This means offering the right content – fresh, up-to-date, targeted to your audience and easy to find – to keep them engaged and to ensure they experience membership value.

Developing fresh content: In terms of how to approach content development, our recent post – 3 Tips for Keeping Your Website Fresh – suggested that small organizations just getting started with website content development take “a meal planning approach”. In other words, when thinking about scheduling content for your website, think about what news you’d like to dish up each week or month and map that to your organization’s activities and information. What content do you have on hand and what do you need to develop? What ingredients do you need to shop for (develop, re-purpose, etc.). Start with a realistic and manageable time frame for planning - can you schedule one or two months of content? In her post, 7 “Best Practices” for True Member Engagement, Anna Caravelli (The Demand Perspective) suggests that to ensure “your members use your site as an integral part of their daily life,” your staff and/or volunteers should consider developing new daily or weekly routines to promote connecting with members. Caravelli suggests that to ensure that “your discussions and concerns focus on understanding members” you develop routines such as these:

• Weekly “make them happy” meetings for all staff: staff compares notes about what they heard from or learned about members; bring up member concerns or business trends; work on solutions or new ideas about how to better serve them • Individual departments that interact with, serve or develop products for members have an abbreviated meeting on this topic daily, before starting work. • Weekly Click Through's: “Assemble the appropriate teams (e.g. program developers, marketers, member service staff, social media staff etc.) to click through areas of your website to resolve problems, test new features and simply make sure everything makes sense from a customer’s perspective. In her blog post – What They Want to Hear Versus What You Want to Say – Kivi Leroux Miller also offers some suggestions around content development strategy. She notes that when you’ve identified information you want to provide members (e.g., “your own agenda”) but you realize that there is other content that members want; you find a way of balancing the two agendas by “put[ting] some cheese sauce on that broccoli”. Kivi suggests: On a quarterly basis … come up with a list of topics that you want to cover in your educational programming or communications, whether that's new blog posts, website downloads, webinars or training videos. You’d pick the top five topics. This is the broccoli. Next, you’d look at sources that give you clues about what the locals are interested in right now. You could look at recent keyword searches that brought traffic to your site, as well as searches within your site.

AFFINITY MAGAZINE You’d also look at comments on your blog and Facebook page. Since you regularly present webinars, you could look at the chat or evaluation surveys from those for comments. You’d compile this information into a separate top five list. Remember, this list is based on popularity with your target audience, not on what you want them to know. This is your cheese sauce.

content management tool to make their job easier. Otherwise, fresh content may be put on hold while you wait for a “techie” volunteer or an outside service provider to upload the content to your site. This may leave you feeling like “the victim of a "hostage" situation with [a] web developer. ...And what starts out as fresh content ends up a little stale by the time your supporters see it on your website."

Ensuring content is targeted to your audience

In a recent post – Can Moving to the Cloud Impact Member Engagement – we suggested that if your website content is being created by a number of volunteers, board members and/or staff, you might consider using cloud technology so that they can all create and share documents online. In addition, if your website is managed through a web-based or SAAS system (such as Wild Apricot) that offers easy-to-use content management systems, you can offer a number of content providers administrative access to upload content to your website to ensure it remains fresh.

While offering fresh content is a priority, it’s also important to ensure you understand your audience and are offering the content they need and want. One strategy you can employ to help define your target audience is to develop user personas. John Haydon offers a helpful blog post - How to Create User Personas for Your Website - that explains how this works. Haydon suggests“[d]eveloping user personas [fictitious characters that represent the various different types of people that visit your website] for your website will help you design a website that resonates with visitors, motivates content sharing, and converts ...Personas will also help you optimize your website for search because you have a better understanding of the keywords they’ll use in search engines.”

Ensuring content can be easily updated While developing fresh is important, another key consideration that goes hand-in-hand with this is ensuring your website can be easily updated. In our post – Tips for Keeping Your Website Fresh – we noted that many small organizations rely on volunteers or staff with limited digital skills to update content on their website. This means that you need to ensure you have a user-friendly platform or

For example, you could have one volunteer responsible for managing the member’s forum, and another could be your blog writer, posting frequently on your blog. The Chair of your event could have access to administer the event registration and post event details on that area of your site. This way, you can offer up-to-date web content on a regular basis, without having to be “held hostage by your web developer,” waiting for an external provider or a busy volunteer to post the content to your site.

Ensuring members can easily find what they want! It’s not just about the type of content, you also have to take a step back and take an objective look at your website to ensure

members and new visitors can easily find what they are looking for. The technical word for this is “intuitive navigation.” Be sure your navigation menu is simple and easy to use so visitors can easily search for topics. To ensure your website is user-friendly or offers an effective “user experience”, you can refer back to your “user personas” noted above. Think about how a typical member might use your website – what are they looking for regularly? What do you want them to discover?

2. Enabling two-way communication and content promotion through online communities Engaging members on your website starts with offering fresh, useful content that is targeted to your audience. But keeping them engaged and participating involves - at the very minimum alerting them to fresh content and enabling two-way communications. • Alerting them to fresh or new content: • You can keep your members informed of fresh content by including information in other channels, such as: •r e g u l a r u p d a t e s i n y o u r newsletter: be sure to include a regular section and/or news article with updates on new content with live links to the new web material • any publications you create and/ or send to members: for example, you can include an update to the bottom of any “member updates” or any regular email to members or include the link to your blog, member’s forum or other news page at the bottom of all outgoing emails.

AFFINITY MAGAZINE • any publications you create and/ or send to members: for example, you can include an update to the bottom of any “member updates” or any regular email to members or include the link to your blog, member’s forum or other news via social media: Social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook are also great ways to keep members informed of new content. For example, we alert our followers when we’ve added a new article in our Hub and/or blog post by Tweeting, and posting on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Find ways to leverage and promote new online content to get and keep members actively involved.

Enabling two-way communication: Your website should be the "mother ship" of your organization's online community. But information shouldn't just flow out to members; you need to promote two-way communication opportunities as well. This means opening channels so members can also communicate with your administration and leadership too. This can be done through: • online forums: here's a resource that outlines How to Start an Online Forum • a blog: create a blog if you don’t have one and if you do, be sure you enable members to comment on your blog posts; • online surveys: you can conduct regular surveys to elicit member input or you can simply pose mini surveys or questions on your website or Facebook page to get conversations started. And once you get some two-way conversations going, be sure to respond to and promote (and amortize) feedback and comments by noting these in blog

posts, twitter and in your newsletter as well. •v i a s o c i a l m e d i a : e . g . , encouraging communication via Twitter or Facebook - e.g., ask questions and listen to member's comments; post mini surveys on Facebook.

3.Engaging Members Through Social Media We noted earlier that the term “engagement” often refers to how an individual is engaging online - in terms of website visits, page views, and social media mentions. And while we cautioned that social media participation is only part of the member engagement equation, it is increasingly important to enable and promote two-way social media engagement with members. As we note in our blog post – Are You Engaging Members Through Social Media? – each organization’s social media strategy needs to be determined based on your particular goals. But here are some ideas to consider as you develop the social media component of your member engagement plan.

Show and tell to engage While many non-profits are successfully raising awareness of their missions via social networks, membership organizations can also build engagement with both existing and potential members by showing and telling via social media. As Debra Askanase has suggested, “photos and videos have become key social currencies online.” Of course, it’s more than simply posting images for folks to "like" or "re-pin." The ultimate goal is to draw members to your website, where you can truly engage them and demonstrate member value. Here are some tips on how you can consider drawing members in using visuals.

Pinterest - more than pretty pictures: So how - you ask - can a membership organization leverage photo and video sharing for member engagement? In a Movie Monday video - Is your nonprofit organization using Pinterest? Noland Hoshino explained “why Pinterest is such a great tool for storytelling, for driving traffic to your website, for engaging supporters, and for finding out who exactly is sharing ("pinning") your pictures and videos.” Hoshino suggests that Pinterest’s open system offers a great way for a non-profit (or membership organization) to post numerous photos - “a whole storyboard” about your organization which can be viewed by anyone online, not just those who have signed-up (as with Facebook). The key benefit is that when folks view your images in Pinterest, they are linked to the original source - your website! Each image pinned on Pinterest includes a “backlink” to the original source location, which drives increased traffic to your site and also increases your chances of ranking higher in search engine results. Hoshino suggests that Pinterest’s open system offers a great way for a non-profit (or membership organization) to post numerous photos - “a whole storyboard” about your organization which can be viewed by anyone online, not just those who have signed-up (as with Facebook). The key benefit is that when folks view your images in Pinterest, they are linked to the original source - your website! Each image pinned on Pinterest includes a “backlink” to the original source location, which drives increased traffic to your site and also increases your chances of ranking higher in search engine results.

A secondary benefit of Pinterest is that you can find out about your supporters or members by using the source to see who’s pinning or repinning images. The more you know about who your supporters are and how they connect with you, the easier it will be to truly engage them. So if you haven’t considered Pinterest until now, Hoshino suggests that you think of it this way - while Google is all about searches, Pinterest is about inspiration. And in our hyper busy world, people can check out a visual that tells your story, even quicker than reading a 140 character tweet.

What about Facebook? Do images rule there too? The short answer is yes! As Facebook guru, John Haydon, suggests, “[p]eople love pictures. People upload more than 300 million photos to Facebook every single day! Facebook users love liking, commenting on, and sharing photos more than any other type of content on Facebook. So posting photos automatically gives you an advantage in the EdgeRank game.” In his post - Creative Ways to Use Photos To Increase Engagement On Your Facebook Page - Haydon offers “six ideas to help you get more from the photos you post on your Facebook Page.” Along with using Pinterest, Haydon suggests: posting large photos and “posting photos as links to gain EdgeRank advantage over other types of content."

LinkedIn can provide recommendations and help with your Board But engaging members on social media is more than just about images. With networks such as

LinkedIn, you can raise awareness and build membership through peer recommendations. As we noted in a blog post a while back Is Your Organization LinkedIn Yet? while LinkedIn started as a social media tool used by individuals to network, find a job or further their c a r e e r, s o m e o f t h e r e c e n t enhancements at LinkedIn might make it a better fit for your membership organization.Creating LinkedIn Company pages Recently, LinkedIn launched redesigned company pages that offer a new look and additional functionality. The LinkedIn Blog offers details and a video you can watch here. If your organization hasn’t developed a corporate page on LinkedIn, you might want to re-consider. After all, we know that word-of-mouth and recommendations can have a strong influence on individuals’ decisions to purchase products and join organizations. As we noted in a recent post - Can LinkedIn Recommendations Grow Your Membership? - a recent MetLife/Ipsos survey found that: “[recommendations from friends, family and colleagues appear to have the greatest influence over a person’s decision to join. Nearly one-third (28%) of association and affinity members said that such recommendations were the most important factor impacting their decision to join. It was also important to many members that the association be well known and have a good reputation. ”When you have a LinkedIn company page, individuals can write recommendations about your organization, which in turn can drive membership growth and might also impact retention. Wild Apricot learned first-hand the impact LinkedIn recommendations can have.

With our focus on small nonprofits and local associations, we recognized that one of the best things for any company – particularly a smaller one – is good word-of-mouth from current customers. So to leverage positive customer feedback, we encouraged customers to post reviews on our LinkedIn page. Another new feature that might draw you to LinkedIn is Board Connect. LinkedIn suggests this enhancement will help organizations “deepen relationships and cultivate connections” which should help you identify and attract volunteers and board members.

! Re-defining engagement at your organization We hope ideas to develop strategies needs.

this article sparks some help your organization member engagement that meet your specific

Once you create a framework and establish routines for identifying and developing fresh content for your website; connecting with members through online communities and social media, you can build on this foundation over time to both retain existing members and attract new members.

The rest will just fall into place. Interested to learn more? Follow our blog at www.affinityblogger.com.au

Affinity PROFESSIONAL ! LEGAL NETWORK INSURANCE FINANCE HUMAN RESOURCES INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Affinity LEGAL NETWORK You don’t win without a Coach! So Why Tackle Conflict Without One? by John Campbell (Principal) from Mediation Matters Position Vacant COACH REQUIRED! Very few, if any, world champions or Olympic gold medallists, have taken the winner’s dais without the assistance of a coach. In fact, the vast majority would credit much of their success to the commitment of their coaches and the work done with them in preparing for competition.

In recent times, there has been a rise in the existence and use of business coaches and life coaches, applying very similar principles – in that a person or business is coached to achieve best possible performance.

The same can be said of coaching in times of conflict. In fact, Vince Lombardi, arguably one of the most successful coaches across any sport t h e w o r l d o v e r, b u t especially in American Football during the 1960’s, said “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society”. And in terms of coaching he said “they call it coaching, but it is teaching. You do not just tell them…you show them the reasons”.

Conflict coaching can help people work together for the successful resolution of dispute or conflict.

What is Conflict Coaching?

Conflict Coaching can be variously described, but at its core, it is a process where one person (the coach), assists another person (the client) to identify and develop effective skills and strategies that will enhance their own capacity to engage in, manage, deal with or otherwise resolve conflict in a productive way. It is a self-reflective process that aims to help the client explore the choices and options that are always open to them in any conflict situation. It is a very personal process – involving as it does one-onone coaching.

Throughout the whole process, the Conflict Coach remains neutral. This is a cornerstone to Conflict Coaching. In this way, the Conflict Coach is really honouring the fact that the client is the expert in his/her own life and work and recognises that every client is creative, resourceful and able – with coaching – to engage meaningfully in the resolution of his/ her own dispute or conflict.

! !

The Conflict Coach uses certain process skills to assist the client to: •

• •

! How Does it Work? !

The Conflict Coach will assist and enable the client to reflect on his/her own approaches to conflict. It helps to develop a greater understanding and insight into his/her own dispute resolution style and looks at ways to apply that more productively. It does this by helping the client to:

• • • •

•

• • • • •

Identify their specific goals in relation to managing conflict Recognise their own interests Perceive the interests of others Reflect on any of their own behaviours that are counterproductive Identify and practise the behaviours and skills required to resolve conflict constructively Improve communication skills, in order to interact more effectively Develop a plan to reach identified goals Determine and take the required steps to attain those goals Consider the barriers to reaching their goals Recognise and work to reduce the harmful impact of conflict on themselves and others

The Conflict Coach achieves this by asking the client questions to enable him/her to think through his/her past and potential approaches to managing conflict. The Conflict Coach discusses what worked well and not so well in those previous or potential approaches to managing the conflict. These questions are really designed to have the client consider the issues in deeper or newer ways.

• • • •

Develop more clarity about the situation See the situation from all perspectives Evaluate past approaches to conflict Considering future approaches to conflict Rehearse a difficult conversation Develop a plan of action to address the conflict situation Make high-quality decisions to manage the conflict with confidence

The Conflict Coach also serves as a confidential listener and ‘sounding board’. Importantly though, the Conflict Coach is not:

• • •

•

!! !

A mentor or advisor; the coach does not tell the client to how to proceed or give advice A mediator; the coach does not talk with the disputants together A decision maker; the person in conflict makes the decisions and holds responsibility for these decisions A counsellor or therapist; the coach does not dwell on the past experiences, the process is future - focussed An advocate or agent: the c o a c h d o e s n o t a p p ro a c h anyone on behalf of the client

MEDIATION MATTERS Affinity Alliance Members receive an exclusive rate on Conflict Coaching services Conflict Coaching can be extremely useful and productive in a broad range of disputes – in fact, in almost any situation in which a person is in conflict, the assistance of a Conflict Coach can be invaluable.

At Mediation Matters, we have assisted individuals work through conflict in a variety of circumstances, including:

•

• • • • • •

Workplace disputes Divorce/Property settlements Community/Neighbour disputes Family/Estate disagreements Business conflicts Partnership disputes Committee/ Organisational Disputes (not-for-profits/ associations etc)

There is no doubt that elite sportspeople may succeed on their own. The reality is that only with the assistance of a coach, are they really able to reflect on their own performance, identify where they might be able to improve and be guided in measuring that improvement. In doing so,

the coach helps ensure that when the sportsperson enters the arena, steps onto the blocks, takes the field or the court, he/ she is as well prepared as possible for the task ahead.

Similarly, when a person is in conflict, the assistance of a Conflict Coach to work with them in preparing for the process of resolving the conflict is critical.

At Mediation Matters, we are pleased to work with Affinity Alliance in offering our Conflict Coaching services as a member-benefit to Affinity Alliance members at an exclusive rate.

!! !

70 REASONS TO WISE UP ON SUPER - BY MARK BOURIS

Australians who once thought they’d retire at 64 have to adjust. Anyone born after 1965 will be retiring at age 70 (to receive the age pension), which will become the official retirement age in 2035.

People have some thinking to do, and that should revolve around work, getting your time-frame right and income.

Starting with time-frame, if you’re 45, men on average will live for another 40 years and women around 45 years. So we have more years to support ourselves than our parents did, and as the retirement age rises to 70, we’ll also have more years to grow our savings.

But these are only averages: significant numbers of women will live to 95 and many men will make it to 90. That means a 45-year-old who stops working at 70 would have to support themselves for 20 to 25 years in retirement, because if the man dies first, and he is five years older than his spouse, then there has to be enough left to fund perhaps another 10 years for his spouse.

Which brings us to the ability of your portfolio to provide enough income. Most people focus on the growth of their retirement lump sum. But more important is the amount of income your nest egg can generate above inflation over time.

Many people with super are encouraged to have their nest egg weighted in equities, until the last few years before retirement, when they are encouraged to switch to cash and bonds. They think that with these fixedinterest investments, the yields will be similar to equities or property, but the volatility will be negligible and the capital safer.

Actually, in retirement, you still need income-producing growth assets (equities). This is because you have to keep it growing ahead of inflation for a long time.

Have a look at this scenario: two neighbours invest $10,000 in 1980. One invests in 12-month term deposits, rolling them over every year; the other invests in the top 200 Australian companies by size (the ASX 200). They each take the annual income each investment produces. By 2013, the total interest received from the term deposits amounts to $23,935. However, the total income from the shares is $136,445.

The shares produced more income despite booms and busts over 33 years. The riskiest investor was actually the deposit holder, because he underestimated the peril of inflation and the real time-frame involved.

But what if another global financial crisis occurs on the eve of your retirement? A good financial planner sets aside some of your nest egg in cash, enough to last two or three years.

Which brings us back to work. Find a way to do some part-time work prior to turning 70. It can be structured in a way that’s tax effective and delaying draw-downs from your super for even a few years makes a big difference to how long your lump sum will last.

The change of the retirement age to 70 will not suit everyone, but it’s a chance to look at some serious topics and plan accordingly. Good luck.

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

A Candid Look At Direct Insurance Is it really the best option? by Adam Piles from Your Risk Adviser A new trend in insurance has steadily grown in the form of direct insurance. As the name implies, Direct Insurance can be bought without financial advice, with little information required either online or over the phone to get cover started. Every day, television viewers are bombarded with messages about direct insurance products and how easy they are to obtain. A recent survey shows that direct insurance sales have risen with 18.5% of policy holders choosing to go with a direct insurer. Some experts have attributed the shift in preference from traditional insurance to direct insurance to several factors including: •The convenience of the internet to purchase household and financial products, and growing support of consumers for online purchases. •Desire to buy products and receive instant gratification. •The lack of time and perceived ease of purchasing direct insurance products. Another factor is the perceived cost of traditional insurance products. Financial planning has always been the traditional way these policies have been obtained, to ensure that policy holders are adequately covered. With direct insurance products, customers no longer get financial advice and often underestimate

the amount of insurance they actually need and opt for products that seem cheaper but don’t really provide sufficient life coverage.

A study by Comminsure also found that contrary to public perception, direct products are as much as 96% dearer than traditional advice based products.

Benefits of Direct Insurance

Personalised Advice, The Traditional Alternative.

Many insurance companies have taken advantage of the direct market because it has allowed them to market to a new target audience, one who has not been keen on life insurance in the past for various reasons. Even as insurers benefit from this trend, so too has the broader Australian consumer, with insurance now a more common discussion topic than ever, and easier to access. Disadvantages of Direct Insurance The biggest advantage that people perceive about Direct Insurance is actually its most significant risk. People obtaining direct products do so without advice; the tendency is for them to significantly underestimate the amount of cover they need and too often choose products that are not suitable to their needs. People generally are unaware of the implications of purchasing an insurance policy with no underwriting or “4 easy questions”, with almost all policies having significant exclusions or conditions, with the greatest limitation relating to pre-existing medical conditions, duration of cover and occupational and past time limitations.

There is no quick solution to financial security. The best way to obtain the most comprehensive, cost effective cover to meet your needs is through a qualified insurance adviser. It will not cost you more than dealing with the insurer direct, but you will benefit from having a qualified insurance professional on your side to assist with product selection, sum insured calculations, policy administration and claims management. Right Choice Financial Services are insurance experts, assisting both individuals and businesses to address their insurance needs. For your cost and obligation free consultation please contact 1300 558 374 or email sales@righcfs.com.au to see how our staff can help protect those you love. Right Choice Financial Services Pty Ltd (ABN 49168595033)is a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR No. 455286) of Dover Financial Advisers Pty Ltd (ABN 87 112 139) AFSL 307248 General Advice warning-‐This ar3cle contains general informa3on only. It does not take into account any of your personal circumstances, objec3ves, ﬁnancial situa3on or needs. Please consider the appropriateness of the informa3on in light of your personal circumstances and seek proper advice prior to ac3ng on this informa3on.

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Affinity HR/IR How to Write a Policy & Procedures Manual by Sharon Collitt from Employment Tool Kits If you are operating a business on small-scale then it becomes quite intricate task specially when employees do not per form in a proper manner e.g. they do not complete their tasks on time. It actually becomes a more aggravating situation for a business owner. That is why, there is need to fix up these errors and loop holes through developing a proper manual for certain procedures and policies that is called Policies and Procedures Manual. Setting up Policies and Procedures Manual is in fact an ultimate solution to your problem. A Policies and Procedures Manual is basically a kind of tool that allows decreasing your anxiety, enables you to work freely in your time and most importantly to work with great dedication for your business.

company, all you need to do is to simply present them a Policy and Procedures M a n u a l . Yo u s h o u l d encourage those employees to take it at home along with them and read it very carefully and attentively for all policies enclosed in it. It will ensure them to work for a particular business organization along with a reference based tool. However, if they have any particular query or question regarding this Policy and Procedures Manual, then initial harbor of call should be procedure manual.

As the owner of a particular company or organization, you initially need to spot them in that direction first through not answering their questions and queries. All you need to tell them is to simply refer to your manual. However, if they are still having problem with a W h a t i s P o l i c y a n d particular query or question, Procedures Manual is all then it’s time to support them with an exclusive answer. about?

It is basically consists of two I m p o s i n g a P o l i c y a n d Procedures Manual in a essential parts i.e.: business is in fact one of your solutions to liberty. It is mandatory to explore in • Policy Section detail that how much time a • Procedures Section Policy and Procedures Manual can work effectively for a business. An effective Policy section comprises of all Policy and Procedures essential policies for your Manual is one that could particular business whereas help you to save your the procedures section has valuable time, stress and bit by bit information money. Getting hold for a regarding how to take on all Policy and Procedures necessary business tasks. Manual can get your life back if you are really Whenever an employee joins c o n c e r n e d a b o u t y o u r you at your business or employee’s work ability.

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15 Ways to Use Software to Improve Your O r g a n i s a t i o n ’ s K n o w l e d g e Management You may have seen signs that knowledge isn't flowing easily through your nonprofit: Staff can't find documents, or research things that others already know, and decisions are made without full information. Software can't solve all your problems, but it can probably help. You’ve likely experienced the common symptoms: Staff members write documents from scratch without realizing that similar documents already exist. They spend time researching topics when someone else in your organization is already an expert. Decisions are made without full knowledge. Text, pictures, or other content doesn’t make its way to the places where it would do the most good. You have a nagging feeling that people aren’t talking to each other about things that affect them both. These are warning signs that knowledge isn’t flowing optimally through your organization. What’s the treatment? Some would tell you that you need a “knowledge management system.” That might be useful, if the term “knowledge management system” actually described something that you could go out and buy. The need to share knowledge is a common problem that has a number of different causes. As such, there’s no simple way to solve it for all organizations. The term “knowledge management system” is so broad as to be meaningless – covering everything from processes to search solutions to reporting dashboards. What’s more, knowledge management isn’t primarily a technology problem. Process solutions, new workflows, and communication changes can help as much or more, so no software tool can provide a one-stop solution.

But software can certainly be helpful with the many and varied knowledge management issues that organizations typically face. It’s important to start with your goals: what are you actually trying to achieve, in more practical terms than “managing knowledge”? With your goals in mind, you can start to investigate the types of solutions that might help.

relevant information or to ask each other questions. • Blogs or Wikis. Ask staff members with knowledge in a particular area to manage a wiki or a blog to share information and resources with the rest of the staff. Check out WordPress, TypePad, or Blogger for easy-touse and inexpensive blog tools. Consider MediaWiki, JotSpot,

This article is designed to give you a head start by suggesting some of the ways other organizations use software to address four common knowledge management goals. We’re just scratching the surface each of these bullet points could easily be an article in its own right, and for every piece of software mentioned, there’s likely ten more worth looking at. But hopefully they will inspire you with some ways you can help your own organization.

Goal: Encourage people to take advantage of other people’s knowledge Helping your staff connect with internal subject matter experts can be a great place to start a knowledge management effort. For most people, it’s more natural to call someone than to look up answers in a system. And it’s usually less complex to link people to someone who can answer a question or tell them what resources exist, rather than surface the answers or resources themselves. What types of software solutions might be useful in connecting people to others with the appropriate expertise? • Interest Group Email Lists. Email is a powerful and affordable tool. Setting up email lists for specific groups – using either through email software like Outlook, or external list tools like Google Groups or Listserve email lists – can allow those interested in particular topics to share

and Wikispaces as wiki options. • Virtual group collaboration tools.

• Collaboration tools can help bring geographically separated people together. Working teams or interest groups could hold meetings via a conference call, online chat, or online meeting t o o l s ( s u c h a s We b e x o r ReadyTalk). Or they could work together using wikis (such as those above), collaborative management tools (such as phpGroupware or Zimbra), or online word processors (like Writely). • Expertise repositories. You can also explicitly track expertise and allow people to search through it.

AFFINITY MAGAZINE For instance, you could ask staff members to fill out a survey (perhaps with SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang) which itemizes their areas of expertise, and then surface that information online or in a database. This information tends to get out of date quickly, though, and to suffer from staff modesty (i.e. “I’ve done some research there, but I won’t check that box because I’m not an expert”). Several vendors offer tools that automatically extract information about staff expertise from emails and document – these solutions can be very effective but expensive to implement.

Goal: Ensure everyone can find the documents and other resources useful to them This is one of the most common reasons that people investigate “knowledge management systems”: People can’t find the documents or resources they need. Or worse, they don’t what exists and proceed to reinvent things. What types of software might be useful to an organization that wants to make their existing resources more findable? • Enterprise search. If you’re like most organizations, you have useful information and resources scattered among different file servers, intranets, the company website, and more. A number of vendors (such as Google and Microsoft) offer search solutions that allow keyword searching across a multitude of sources and formats. • Tagging solutions. Asking staff members to “tag” documents with keywords, and then allowing o t h e r s t o b ro w s e b y t h o s e keywords can be an affordable way to surface key documents. De.licio.us and Flikr offer free functionality that allows you to tag resources in a public environment. Several vendors also offer tagging solutions appropriate for organization use. Note, however, that no tagging solution is likely to make all your

documents easily findable unless every staff member tags nearly everything he or she touches.

most common questions, answer them in a document, and then distribute the document to staff.

• Intranets and shared document spaces. Consider providing areas where teams or experts can upload resources for others to use. These areas might take the form of an organization intranet (built through tools like Drupal or Sharepoint) or shared document spaces in a group collaboration tool (consider Google Groups or WebOf fice). Keep in mind, though, that a staff member isn’t likely to voluntarily upload a lot of documents unless it saves her a lot of time to do so.

• Intranets. For many organizations, the list of FAQs becomes large enough that it’s difficult to manage in a document. The answers can instead be organized into a website viewable by your internal staff.

• Content management systems. If you formalize your methods of tagging and uploading documents, you enter the realm of content management. A “Content Management System” (CMS) is used to display text and documents on a website. While these applications are most familiar as a way to update text, more sophisticated CMS tools have power ful mechanisms for organizing and browsing through documents which make them very applicable in this space. Consider tools like Drupal, Plone, or CommonSpot.

Goal: Help staff easily answer common questions • For many organizations, searches for information follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of people look for 20% of the possible infor mation. Making it easy to find this frequently requested information can have a big impact on productivity all by itself. Ask staff what information they frequently look for and what questions they are frequently asked to identify the core questions. • What types of solutions might be useful in helping staff find the most commonly requested information? • Create and distribute FAQs. The most obvious – and often very effective – way to address this goal would be to itemize the

• Knowledge base. A system that carefully organizes answers to common questions, make them searchable, and allows crossreferences is frequently called a “knowledge base.” This type of system can be particularly useful for people, such as like hotline or call center staff, who spend a lot of their time answering questions. A number of vendors offer software to help build knowledge bases of this type. • Expert systems. The term “expert system” defines a knowledge base that includes logic to help diagnose problems. For instance, it might step the user through a series of questions to determine if a constituent should see a doctor, or if they’re eligible for Medicaid. These systems are most frequently used to help with complex questions that are asked over and over, and are typically built from scratch.

Goal: Ensure senior staff has the right information to make decisions A good KM strategy should do more than allow people to find the knowledge that exists. It needs to ensure that the right people can easily use that accumulated knowledge to make decisions. In practice, this often means pulling together infor mation from a number of different sources to provide a quick overview. This is easier said than done, though – creating useful overviews requires careful definition of what metrics and information will best support effective decisions. What types of solutions might be useful in quickly conveying key organizational information?

What types of solutions might be useful in quickly conveying key organisational information?

•Consolidated status emails or documents. At a basic level, it can be helpful to ask key staff members to provide periodic status reports that include the key metrics and information you’ve defined. These reports could be weekly, monthly, or quarterly. They might be in the form of an email or a document saved to a central location. Perhaps a staff member could consolidate the status updates into a summary sheet of key metrics. • Solid reporting systems. Take a look at the reports you are able to get out of the processes and systems you have. Do they give you the information to make decisions? If not, can they be tweaked to do so? Or can you build new reports? •O n l i n e d a s h b o a r d s . I f y o u automatically create an online version of the summary sheet described above, it’s called a dashboard. These dashboards typically pull information from a number of different sources and provide an overview via charts, tables, and indicators. This type of dashboard can be constructed using a portal software (such as Sharepoint or Plumtree), or it could be more cost effective to build it from scratch.

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Finding a Better “Knowledge Management System” Looking to better use the knowledge your organization already has? If you just send out an RFP for a “knowledge management system”, you’re headed for trouble. Instead, start by diagnosing your actual issues and identifying practical goals so you can treat the symptoms you actually have. There’s no one size fits all solution – but at least you can get closer to a treatment that will work for you.

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Affinity LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT !

Affinity DINING Choose from over 6000 Restaurants across Australia & New Zealand….

Some exciting news… The exciting news is only the beginning, with the continued growth of our Dining & Wining Directory, Affinity Alliance is certainly expanding in leaps and bounds.

Adding up to 6000 more restaurants to our Dining Directory Thanks to our dedicated team members and the collaboration with Dining Out & Entertainment Guide, Affinity Alliance has been able to offer our members more value for money than we could ever imagine. The new Dining & Wining Directory will be available in your Generic Member Directory or to view online as of May 2014. With so many additions, it has been a work in progress,but we know you’re going to love it!

About the Dining Directory Restaurants, Cafes and Bistros from all over Australia & NZ have become involved in what we can only describe as colossal. It has been a huge work in progress but we can now start to see the light

at the end of the tunnel. Members will be able to show their Affinity Alliance Membership Card or Virtual card at participating restaurants and venues to receive their discounted offer. The online directory will make it easier for members to search state by state and dine at their favourite little bistro, cafe or fine dining venue.

Become Involved If you own a restaurant or venue and you feel that this is an opportunity not to be missed, then you would be right. The Affinity Alliance team is awaiting your submission. The requirements are

Not only will you receive a full page in the AA Dining & Wining Directory, you will also receive a full page on the Affinity Alliance website www.affinityallianceco.com.au and regular monthly advertisements in our Affinity EMAG and infinite exposure to our 400,000 strong member database. This is a FREE offer and one that is too good to refuse, so best you get in early as submissions will be closing at the end of April 2014. For more information on how you can become a part of the Affinity Alliance Dining & Wining Directory,

“Add your Restaurant to our Dining Directory and get more exposure” simple and the return is great. There is no cost involved. All that we ask is that you can offer an exclusive discount/benefit or service to our members upon dining at your venue. It really is that simple. We will even set up your webpage and directory page if required.

Contact our head office on

1300 793 044 or email your request to admin@affinityallianceco.com.au and we will email you the requirements.

Affinity NETWORKING !

Which LinkedIn Groups Are Worth Your Time? If you’re enduring the job search process, you’ve probably heard (and hopefully followed) the advice to create a LinkedIn profile. But how exactly is this different from submitting your resume to some large black hole of a resume database? The big difference with LinkedIn is the interaction piece. Aside from sharing general updates on your news feed, upping your interaction in groups is a great way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by recruiters.So, how do you get started? Here are a few types of groups that will make the most of your LinkedIn experience.

Alumni LinkedIn Groups Most universities will have official alumni groups, and this is a great place to start your LinkedIn networking adventure. You’ll want to join all the alumni groups you have affiliations with—your college’s main group, any relevant department or major groups, specific alumni interest groups, and so on. As a result, you’ll instantly have access to a massive network of people you have something in common with. Once you’ve joined your alumni group, try clicking on the “Members” tab and using the search function to find alumni in the areas you’re interested in learning more about. You can try searching for positions (paralegal, teacher, sales director), skills (marketing, design, wet

lab), or industries (oil, fashion, higher education). Once you’ve found people you want to speak with, try reaching out to them for an informational interview (because you’re in a group with them, LinkedIn won’t charge you to message them!).

Industry LinkedIn Groups While we’re on the topic of industries, groups dedicated to specific fields are also great to check out. Try searching for a few different keywords for your industry—for example, if you’re in supply chain management, you might also want to search for “procurement,” “purchasing,” and “sourcing.” To help narrow your choices, favour groups with larger memberships or groups that are more local. Not only are these groups a great place to learn about what’s going on in your professional world—i.e., they often discuss the latest industry happenings and share job leads—having the group logo on your LinkedIn profile also helps to brand yourself as engaged and committed pro in your field. Not bad!

Active LinkedIn Groups There are plenty of other groups you can join—job seeking groups (“Portland Job Seekers”), skills-based groups (“Adobe Photoshop Group”), and general interest groups (“Grammar Geeks”). The options are endless!But don’t waste your time on groups that aren’t doing much. In general, look for groups in your search results that are labeled “very active” in grey under the group description.

Affinity FUNDRAISING !

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

AFFINITY FUNDRAISING Affinity Fundraising has officially launched… Well there has been a lot going on at Affinity Headquarters in the last couple of months as you may have already gathered and I am very proud to announce that Affinity Fundraising has now officially launched and is ready for the onslaught of individual memberships. Memberships are now open for Affinity Fundraising and you can show your support by purchasing yours today at www.affinityallianceco.com.au/ fundraising. We will be continuing to grow our list of organisations that we will be supporting over the coming months and welcome all enquiries. Affinity Fundraising will be focusing our efforts on fundraising for the following: • Hill Family Channel Swim • Edens Journey • Feed The Homeless • Cancer Council • Schools & various other charities

How does it work? Go to www.affinityallianceco.com.au select the Charity you wish to support and purchase an Affinity Fundraising membership. Your membership will give you access to thousands of benefits across a wide range of industries focusing mainly on Lifestyle & Entertainment and designed to save you money, whilst feeling good about supporting your favourite charity. You will receive a membership card (plastic or virtual) your choice and you can gain access almost immediately after joining. To make the pot even sweeter, $30 of your $45 membership is directly contributed to a charity of your choice. It really is that simple and everyone wins. If you have a charity or an organisation that you are passionate about and you would like to help raise some valuable funds to get them on their way, then why not recommend Affinity Fundraising or even better, give us a call and we will contact that particular organisation directly. No charity or event is too big or too small and we would love to help. So pick up the phone today or visit our website www.affinityallianceco.com.au for further information. Do it for yourself if for nothing else!! Happy Fundraising!

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Affinity Alliance remains dedicated to its members in providing the best there is in exclusive benefits and services across a wide range of Industries. If you feel that your business or company can offer our members an exclusive benefit and you want to be added to our long list of professionals and receive FREE advertising to our complete database, contact our HEAD OFFICE today 1300 793 044 Building our Provider List Our capability to deliver high quality, tailored and customised benefit programs with dedicated and personalised service, sets us apart. We appreciate that organisations today need to be flexible, innovative and affordable without compromising quality and value.

Who do we serve? Affinity Alliances has been built on strong values of innovation and integrity. We pride ourselves on delivering the highest levels of service for our people. We work hard to establish strong relationships with our clients and members by undertaking regular surveys and feedback reviews. Our member base is made up of professionals across a wide range of industries such as Architecture & Engineering, Medical and Dental, Finance, Information Technology, to name just a few.

What are the Benefits of an AA Provider

• Affinity Alliance invests in the marketing of your service via an integrated communications and marketing strategy. To maintain our quality standards and to deliver sustainable benefits, we enter into supplier Agreements will all of our partners. If you would like a copy of our Partner Agreement, please contact Head office on

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admin@affinityallianceco.com.au

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• Expose your brand to our market • Increased traffic to your business through Affinity Alliance channels • Introduce your business to our stakeholder network • Access our fast growing member base • Your product information is promoted and marketed on Affinity Alliance’s website - saving you time and money • Increased number of sales, and in turn, revenue for your business • Brand recognition by association with our existing partners

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Affinity MEMBERS AREA !

One area that is extremely popular with our members is Affinity Travel and what better way to go exploring than with someone who has been everywhere and experienced everything?… Welcome to our new section of the Affinity EMAG, SHORTY’S ADVENTURE SERIES. Each month, our roving reporter, Shorty Thompson will share with you some of the best unexplored areas of Australia and beyond. In his travels you will discover some hidden gems and most likely experience things you have never and will never experience again. Enjoy the 8th wonder of the world, we at Affinity like to call Shorty! Hi Folks! My name is not important but everyone knows me as Shorty. I won’t bore you with my life story but after living on my boat at Hope Island Marina for a few years and having a few health issues, I decided to pack up and join a mate of mine, Bob Lane, on a pub crawl of the Aussie Outback! We will be on the road for the next couple of years trying to find the quirky little bush pubs that tourists don’t normally get to see. My story will be told over several issues, so hold on to your hat and enjoy the ride! My journey began on the 11th January 2014 when I flew from Brisbane to Darwin in Australia’s top end. I was picked up by Bob in his luxurious motor home in Darwin and so the journey began. Our first port of call was Adelaide River, about an hour and a half south of Darwin on the Stuart Highway. We struck gold right off the bat. Most of you would remember the movie “Crocodile Dundee”. the water buffalo from the movie passed away and he was take to the taxidermist with the plan of mounting him in the main bar. Unfortunately his legs were too long so they were shortened by 30cm and now he stands proudly in the main bar. The locals all have their own version of the story and it seems everyone of them was an extra in the movie. If so, it had a bigger cast than “Ben Hur”. We stayed there for a few days enjoying a few coldies in their fantastic tropical beer grade. We thought we would put the tiny in the river for a bit of a fish but the local reptile population put a dampener on that. I am not going to be a crocs next meal, I can guarantee you that! we set up camp at the Adelaide River Racecourse where we found another little pearler of a bar called “The ARSS Club” (Adelaide River Show Society). It’s just an open tin shed where the local station hands and miners come to unwind. What bunch of characters! You would think the world was going to end the way they knocked them back and believe it or not the food was spectacular. Fresh barramundi and chips with salad…$7.50. What an absolute bargain! Our next stop was to what is an Aussie icon as far as bush pubs go. The world famous “Humpty Doo Hotel”. The pub is owned by Rod Parry, a mates uncle, so we were invited to park our bus out the back. What a great venue. Live music every Friday,

Saturday and Sunday. It fills up with pig hunters and station hands and things have been known to get a little out of control at times, just to keep life interesting. Every second 4x4 has a cage on the back with savage looking pit bulls in them. These guys take their pig hunting very seriously as the dogs have kevlar breast plates to protect them from the nasty tusks of the giant razorback pigs. They also have GPS tracking devices fitted to their collars these guys mean business.. Sitting back and listening to a local band knocking out some Jimmy Barnes classics, Bob and I decide to treat ourselves to some well deserved ales, whilst munching on some local cuisine - crocodile and buffalo burgers. (Don’t knock it til you try it.) We then found ourselves in a chopper ride to explore the area further. The sights were spectacular. So far this trip is shaping up to be one of my favourites. Loving every minute of this adventure but little did I know that this was just the beginning. We also managed to get bogged out in “Never Never Land” but one phone call to Rod at the pub and in no time we were rescued. We were half an hour from the pub but it took him 4 hours to turn up?? When questioned as to why, his short reply was “Nothing disturbs my drinking time”…

Needless to say, us city slickers were the laughing stock of the pub, plus we had to shout the bar! We certainly learnt a harsh lesson that day. It would have been cheaper to call a tow truck - From SYDNEY!!!

We had such a great time here and ended up staying for over a week. There are lots of historic places to be seen including the combined Post Office, Police Station and what bush town would be complete without a gaol?

After about a week in Humpty Doo, it was time to hit the road again. We headed south to find a pub called the Grove Hill that was recommended by a Humpty local. Apparently it is about 30kilometres down a dirt track off the Stuart Highway sitting beside the Ghan Railway Line. Words cannot describe what we found. The whole place looked like a Mad Max movie set or, if you’ve ever seen the movie Wolf Creek, this reminded me of that! Pretty scary actually. Everything was just slapped together from old recycled corrugated iron sheets. The main bar was filled with pre- WWII artefacts and the grounds littered with old farm machinery and wrecked cars. We managed to get bogged yet again but this time, it was in the bus. After a lot of digging and swearing, we finally became un-bogged - for want of a better term but found ourselves shouting the bar yet again as we needed to call on the help of the locals.

Two of the locals, an author and artist who go by names of Big Kev and his wife, Lady J, took us out bush to a secret waterfall that tourists are totally unaware of. I must say, I was impressed with this little hideaway. The food at the pub was exceptional. A little pricey but I guess you can expect that. We were the only campers but I am told that during the dry season, there are literally thousands of people that arrive for the B&S Ball which is held around Easter. After a week at the Daly, it was again time to move on. So it was back to the Highway and we continued on heading towards Alice.

A grizzly old codger by the name of Stan owned this ram shackled old bush pub and when I asked him why, no sooner had he replied, “I always wanted to own a pub and this was the only one I could afford.” Now that is honesty at its finest. Again, the only other people around were some professional pig shooters and itinerant mine workers. The facilities were archaic to say the least as you would expect, but it did have running water and flushing toilets, albeit in a tin shed out the back. No thunder box for this little gem! We stayed in Grove Hill for about a week which was certainly a great experience. Once again, it was time to move on. We headed back down the dirt track towards the Stuart Highway towards a pub called “The Daly Waters Pub”. Bob had frequented this pub before, so therefore it came highly recommended. It lies 5kms off the Highway down yet another dirt track (a phrase I am sure you will be hearing a lot of during my adventure series). Words cannot describe what I found at this place. It has Australia’s most remote set of traffic lights and a huge camping ground to accommodate our 19metre behemoth camper. As soon as you enter the main bar, you quickly realise why the Daly Waters is so popular with the tourists. The entire bar is crammed with mementos left behind by weary travellers. There is everything from bras, panties, undies, drivers licences, you name it, it is pinned to the bar. This pub has a lot of history that not too many people, including me had any idea about. there is a 10,000ft runway at an abandoned airstrip that as it turns out was in fact Australia’s very first International Airport. True Story… Up until the 1970’s, Boeing 707’s and DC10’s were travelling to and from all points in Australia and overseas.

The next pub was “The Threeways Roadhouse” where we only refuelled but nevertheless there was still a lot of history with a remembrance wall for all of the truckers that lost their lives driving the road trains and trucks. A very nostalgic moment was had by all. That night we free camped at a place called Bonney Well. No pub, but awesome scenery. Our next stop would be a roadhouse pub called “Wycliffe Well”… The UFO Capital of Australia. TO BE CONTINUED….

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