ABIF Application: Providing an introductory training session to Aboriginal Tourism Operators on the use of Wordpress for fast and easy website maintenance Section 1: Information about your organisation and other organisations involved. Name of the organisation: Dale's PC's & Software Small Business Centre Derby ABN: 41 891 761 610 Registered Business Name and address: Small Business Centre Derby. PO Box 73 DERBY WA 6728 Name of the person we should contact about this application Ross Sullivan Phone: 08 9193 1328 Fax: 08 9191 1081 Email: sbcderby@westnet.com.au www.dalespcs.com Has the Small Business Centre applied for funding for this project or related initiatives from any other State or Federal agency? No We declare that we have read and understood the SBIF Guidelines. To the best of our knowledge, the information contained in the application is complete, true and on behalf of the Small Business Centre Derby.
_______________________ Elsia Archer Chairperson
____________________ Ross Sullivan Manager
(Date) Section 2: Information about the Project Please describe the project and how you intend to carry it out. The project is aimed at assisting Indigenous tourism business in the Fitzroy Valley to develop and maintain an internet presence by way of: 1. Provide the Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Operators with an overview of how the Wordpress website maintenance software can assist them to maintain their individual websites and give them added functionality. 2. Present a training session which demonstrates the capabilities of Wordpress for website construction and maintenance and its ease of use. 3. Outline the benefits of using the freeware Wordpress software to construct a website for the Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Association (FRATA) which will be simple and easy to maintain and enhance. 4. Provide an estimate of the likely cost for FRATA to implement a Wordpressbased website solution. The audience for the training session are members of FRATA who are all Aboriginal Tourism operators from the Fitzroy River Valley as well as people involved in running the Aboriginal Arts Centres in the Fitzroy River valley. It is anticipated that there will be 20 people involved in the training session, principally Aboriginal tourism operators and tourism trainees working with the operators, however it has also been indicated by the community that the aboriginal youth would also like to be involved in basic office skills and computer operations which can possibly mapped to courses being offered in Perth – primarily E-Central TAFE based in East Perth. Project guidelines / outcomes : The initial project has now been split into two. One project involves the FRATA organisation and the tourism operators and their respective businesses. Another inititave that I will be engaging in is possibly working with the Kimberley TAFE and Petrine McCrohan to provide a course which will introduce basic office and business communication skills which then would lead into an introductory course on Wordpress and building the individual's resume' online. This will be an outcome or deliverable on the completion of the course. During the timeframe of the course the client will also be able to operate a basic web account and learn basic computer operations. The type of skills developed will map to current TAFE certificates offered here at ECentral TAFE in East Perth. Any student who completes this course should be able to gain entry to the following courses as a prerequisite to entry. The courses that a successful graduate could apply for include • Certificate II in Business Adminstration
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Certificate II in I.T. Certificate III in I.T. (General) Certificate 1V in Web Development (on completion of Certificate III in I.T.). Section 3: Assessment Criteria Significance and benefit to Aboriginal business development and local community. Explain how the service or project you are proposing is needed in the local community and how it will make a significant contribution to fostering Aboriginal small business development and/or sustainability. •
Describe how the project will complement existing services you offer to small business in your area
The Derby SBC works with some of the individual tourism operators as well as FRATA to assist their development. Assisting them to develop online tools is a critical step in bringing them closer to the area where much of the tourism product is now sourced, that being on line. Education amongst the younger aboriginal youth and bringing access to new technologies allows further employment opportunities especially with greater growth and development in the region. The project is an enabling platform for all those involved to : • • •
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Expand their current business and save time, cost and learn new business skills using existing technologies via the internet. Learn about I.T. As an alternative career pathway for aboriginal youth to pursue. Foster a sense of achievement and pride in having an “online prescense” with a site containing their own commercial or personal blog with their own resume, interests and social media connection to the outside world.
As a result of the project proposal, will there be any impact on employment in the region?
Whilst not an immediate impact, as the businesses grow and develop, employment opportunities will develop. Critically, these jobs will be “on country” which is well recognised as having many spin off benefits including: • • • • •
People being able to look after and manage areas of significance; Avoid reasons for travelling into town where many social problems exist; Opportunity for young people to learn more about their country and culture; Begin to meet the requirement for communities to be sustainable as programs such as CDEP are gradually removed. People will be able to start their own businesses in web development and “take charge” of their own content and cultural identity and security.
Outcomes Outline the sustainable (ongoing) outcomes (benefits) from the project. • • • °
The Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Operators will gain an understanding of the potential value of the Wordpress software for easy maintenance of their websites. The Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Operators will appreciate the functionality of Wordpress and be in a position to assess its benefits to their operations and what would be involved in implementing this solution. An estimate of the likely costs to the Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Association if it chose to implement a Wordpress-based website solution as a case study. How will you measure the outcomes of the project?
The project can be measured by the extent that the operators utilise the technology where they are able to with a secondary measure being the impact that it has on their businesses eg bookings, referrals etc. °
If you are considering a pilot project, please tell us how the pilot could be turned into an ongoing project if successful.
See grant application information for an ongoing project proposal / outcomes. Project management. Please provide an overview of how the project will be managed, paying particular attention to financial and project management control. °
Who will be running the project paying attention to the financial and project management, what is their experience and qualifications
FRATA will be the chief organisation running the project along with Dale Robinson from Dale's PC's & Software. The training occasion will coincide with the inaugural meeting of FRATA so as to enable the members to participate in the session. Please find attached information from Wordpress – the first three pages outline their training undertaking generally with the balance an example of an extended program they have conducted in the south. °
Please provide a plan for delivering the project showing the starting date, significant milestone times, use of personnel and the expected date of completion.
The ‘Introduction to Wordpress’ training session will be delivered to the Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism operators attending a general meeting of the Fitzroy River Aboriginal Tourism Association on the 1st May 2010 in Broome. The costs of bringing the operators together for this session are covered separately, so this proposal relates to the cost of bringing the training provider, Dale Robinson, from Perth to Broome and return. Section 4: Budget for the project • Please provide a budget that includes the main cost items, timeframes and explains/justifies the level of funding requested. This ABIF application is to cover the costs of flights from Perth return for Dale Robinson. An online search for flights show the cost for this is around the $550 to $700 range. As such, this application is seeking the upper limit of $700 to ensure sufficient coverage of the anticipated cost. • Please outline any other contribution to the project both cash and in-kind Dale's PC's & Software is prepared to provide the initial training session for free and will be sourcing their own accommodation and transport costs whilst up here. Section 5: Other Information Please provide any research or background that supports the need and of this project for the Aboriginal small business community. Outlined sufficiently above. Please provide other information and documentation that will support your application. Please find attached information on Dale's PC's & Software and Wordpress as mentioned above.