Newcastle Art Gallery is partnering with the State Library of NSW to present the most historically important artefacts about colonial era Newcastle ever put together. Featuring the rare and beautiful Macquarie Collector’s Chest this is the first time the chest has been seen in Newcastle since it was created here two hundred years ago.
The chest will be the centrepiece of an exhibition called Treasures of Newcastle from the Macquarie era which will be on display at the Gallery from March next year.
The chest is constructed of a combination of Australian rosewood found from the Hunter River to the Port Macquarie region of NSW, and red cedar found in NSW coastal regions from the Illawarra to the north. It opens to present a wonderful array of artefacts, specimens, painted panels, and compartments. The artwork on the chest depicts colonial Newcastle and the surrounding areas. It is thought to be the work of Joseph Lycett - a noted convict artist of the period. Lycett was patronised by both Macquarie and Captain James Wallis, Commandant of the secondary penal settlement at Newcastle, north of Sydney.
The pillars of the Newkulele Revolution... The Ukulele + the nation's community uke groups + some of the world's best performers + our quest for excellence in ukulele learning + our beautiful beachside city = Newkulele!!! Discover why Newcastle has the highest number of ukulele players per head population of any Australian city! Discover why our city was voted Australia's most liveable city or why Lonely Planet nominated it as one of the most visitable cities in Australia! Help Newcastle become Ukastle for a whole weekend.
"The chat is loud, the vibe is lively and the tills are ringing. This is Newcastle but not as we have known it.
Australia's
seventh-largest and second-oldest city is no longer all steel mills and
coalmines, clubs and pubs. In has reinvented itself to offer a winning
mix of spectacular coastline and surf beaches, a cosmopolitan cafe
scene, great restaurants, smart bars, boutique shopping precincts and a
diverse arts scene."
Newcomers to Newcastle are often puzzled to be given directions to places that seem to have no relationship to their name. I would guess it is at least 30 years since there was a bank at bank corner.
Bank Corner Hunter Street Newcastle NSW.
Opposite Doc's Pharmacy, diagonally across from Spotlight, and
National Park Street (Musos Corner)
Dairy Farmers Corner Hunter Street Newcastle NSW has not seen a milk delivery for many a year yet we still refer to it as this. You'll find this at the end of Hunter Street as a T intersection with Tudor Street.
Newcastle NSW Australia - Train Station. "Where's The WiFi?"
Tourism is a huge industry for the Newcastle and Hunter Region. And yet as we discovered at the recent Lunaticks event on Tourism and Technology, we have a long way to go.
Tourism isn't the only industry that needs good access to facilities to streamline communications. So what are some of the elements that need to improve and what's happening in other locations that we can see is becoming a trend we need to be tuned into?
The Need For Speed
Reliable high-speed connections across the whole region is vital. Many areas are still reliant on slow broadband that is too slow and too inconsistent in transmission capacity. All the mobile apps in the world are useless if there is poor reception and black spots. Bear in mind we are spitting distance to the coast even from the Hunter Valley, we're not in out the back of Beyond!
Wired For Sound ... And Internet
Hotels and accommodation needs to provide quality high speed internet that works and is able to be accessed by mobile devices like iPads and Tablets and these should be freely available as a part of the room rental. Tourists are visiting from a drive away, some from overseas and everyone wants to be able to plan their next adventures and keep in touch with their business and family while they are away. Charging extortionate rates and providing inadequate access is like renting a hotel room and telling customers to bring their own sleeping bag. Just not on. In a recent tourism forum in Bermuda one minister observed "It was very clear that destinations that do not embrace the latest
trends in technology, which are here to stay, will get left behind”. We are competing not just with domestic tourist areas, we need to be competing at the level that meets the expectations of our visitors from around the world.
Content - What's Up Doc?
It's no use if we have great broadband facilities and apps if there is no good and cohesive information on all of our business, to be found online. This is the responsibility of every business in the region to get their best foot forward and their party face on and findable online. If I come to Newcastle and want to find something to do - I can't find it if you didn't put it there and tell me all that I can possibly know about your offer. I want to be able to do a casual search in general terms and know what's around in Maitland if I go to the art gallery, what else can I do while I am there? Where can I have lunch? Who has good coffee? Where can I get a full breakfast at 6am or supper if I get in late and am looking for something to eat at 10 PM. If I am planning a trip to the Vineyards, where can I stop on the way and have devonshire tea? Where can I drop off my dry cleaning and get it back overnight? If my car is suddenly making a weird noise, who can I get to look at it over the weekend? How the hell do I get to the airport without a car?
These are all fundamental basic, basic issues that don't even begin to be innovative. Let's see what something new looks like.
TweetingSeat
is an interactive park bench designed to explore the potential for
connecting digital and physical communities. Each time someone takes
place on the bench, the TweetingSeat takes two photos and uploads these
to Twitter. One camera is focused on the bench, capturing sitting
people. A second camera is placed on the bench and takes a picture from
the point of view of the people who sit on it.
"Take a private tour with a knowledgeable local person as your tour guide! Reliable guides carefully selected and approved by ToursByLocals." Read more here
Back Home
What are you doing to prepare your business to meet the expectations of customers?
As a traveler, what do you need to make your stay as satisfactory as possible?
Update:
Here's Carol Duncan with the Lord Mayor visiting a tourist 'touch screen' that now greets our visitors (if they can find one), instead of a person. Classic radio.
"I took my friend to Newcastle Railway Station to find out more about
where he met the coach, the timetable and how much it cost. With no
information obvious to either of us, we used the touchscreen kiosk
within the station booking office."
The topic this month for The Lunaticks Society event was Role and Impact of Technology in Tourism and Hospitality. This gave us a panel representing Newcastle Events, Hunter Wine Country and the developer of the Newcastle App, Andy Howard.
Lots of figures produced on visitors (most are repeat visitors, so domestic travelers) and perhaps surprisingly that day trippers spend the most money on their visits. Or not such a surprise if they are leaving with a car full of great Hunter wines!
In 2011, a total of 7.8 million visitors came to the Hunter and around 60 per cent of travelers now want to book online. As was made clear by the panel, visitors expect to be able to book online immediately and this is no longer an optional service for business to provide, it is just part of the cost of doing business.
In this way we see that local tourist and businesses offering hospitality are being driven by the marketplace to adapt. Unfortunately for many small operators this is still not so well understood and the technological literacy in small business is lacking.
As is often the case with panel discussions like this there is a focus on statutory bodies, government grants and other political issues that relate to funding constraints and reference back to old thinking and how we've done things in the past but with a new website function or a bit of technology thrown in. And still the distinction between Newcastle, other council areas and other established tourist areas keeps us from understanding this great place where we live, whether we are in the suburbs of Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens and the wine areas, is one region. That parochial thinking prevents us consolidating efforts to attract more visitors for longer stays into the whole region.
This is unfortunate as while it may be the reality of funding and scope of interest that these bodies deal with, it ignores the massive opportunity that we have to create engagements in new markets in new ways using personal networks and the potential for the whole community to be actively engaged and encouraged to be promoting the area. Hey. This is Our Region.
What's clear is that small business operators need to lift not just their literacy with the new technologies, they need to be competent with them. Websites need to be made useful, (most that I see are not). Content in the form of articles, blogs, images and resources to download, needs to be created for every single business. This acts to improve visitors to a site and social media allows for social sharing of this material. This is the new marketplace and these are the tools that need to be understood and well-utilized. Multiplied across the region and we have a huge net to catch tourists with money to spend.
Local areas need to have access to good broadband and we need to work together to help businesses and the communities share ideas, opportunities and open the door to more collaborative open culture. Perhaps it is also time to wake up to our position in the world. For someone in Europe, or China or the US the Hunter region is the backyard of Sydney. We should want people to know we are here, instead of them flying into Sydney and then out to Queensland and other well established destinations that are known by name to those overseas. And to educate our local market to the full range of options that are available across the region. Together we have some critical mass. There is potential to make this region the best resourced, most effective and digitally savvy area in the country. Someone will do it first. It can be us.
For small operators who are not up to speed with the digital world there is help but those of us who can help cannot do so without knowing who needs it and who wants it and who is prepared to invest in their own business to bring them up to minimum standard at least.
There is a lot of work to do.
You can find Andy Howard's blog on the discussion last night here
The ABC Open photography challenge is to take photos from the past and merge them with the same view now. Check out the Newcastle entries for Series 2.
Looking for food ideas or recipes? Check out my Pinterest board for some inspiration. Lots of main courses, appetizers, canapes, and desserts. Also vegetarian and vegan recipes... and some great cocktails
When you're looking at a pin with a recipe, just click on the image to go through to the full instructions on how to make that dish. Click to go to my Foodie board
I've added a Recipes tab at the top of the page for easy access.
While you are there check out my other Pinterest boards. Great for a rainy day too. Something for everyone!
If you have any questions about Pinterest contact me and I'll be happy to help you find your way around.
If you have been paying attention to what you see on search when you're looking for things on Google you will remember seeing the first section with the maps and coloured markers that show the local businesses first by location. This was a feature of Google Places and a business service that was free and available to help local businesses get found online. Well this is ending and from now on businesses will need to join Google+ Local which means you need to get that Google+ account and get cracking on building your social network.
Google Plus is free and as Google changes the way they filter results for search will become more and more vital to your business and to establish your bona fides online. Behind the scenes, there are ways that you can verify your content on your website and make it more valuable as a verified authorship of content that goes up on the web in your name. This is part of Google's ongoing war to get rid of spammy, low-value sites showing in results and encourage good quality information by genuine businesses and real people. That's good news ... and it will take some work.
Don't be left behind when it comes to presenting your best business face online. Get found - and show your expertise and authenticity. Call me if you need a hand.
Props to Newcastle Council for hosting a workshop yesterday on Running Your Own Creative Business with Monica Davidson for AFTRS (Australian Film Television And Radio School). Well done.
The event was well attended and went for the full day and covered much good information that anyone considering running their own business would benefit from knowing but with a special focus on those in creative industries.
Back To Earth
At different times we have had topics at our Lunaticks events with many of our excellent young (and not so young) in attendance and there is often a tendency to speak in ways that demonstrates some believe that this creative issue puts people separate from other businesses.
In reality, every creative business needs the practical business savvy too and every conventional business can use some creativity in how they operate their business and especially .. and especially now... how they choose to promote the business and show off the great products and services they have to offer.
Now just imagine our businesses were all optimized to show their best face to the world - and deliver to an excellent standard. Then we'd really have something.
Shot on location at the remains of The Jolly Roger Nite-club, Newcastle, October 2011. Producer: Shane Burrell Director/Editor: Holly Clayton Director Of Photography: Gavin Banks Camera Assistant: Riley Cope Grip & Replay: Joel Colthorp
Sometimes it's hard to know when it is time to move from our home. Maybe
it's too big now, or the garden is too much trouble... So I thought I'd ask
Tiron Manning from Shedden Real Estate what people need to know when
they are first starting to think about whether to downsize or just find a
home that is a more comfortable fit for them going into the future.
Fab article from The Design Files on a City Guide for Newcastle NSW
Find out more on things to do around Newcastle - antiques, a museum, nifty boutiques and fashion finds. Some wonderful photographs too. Great stuff! Read it a The Design Files
