Business Calendar

ARE YOU STILL WITH ME? CHECKING THE PULSE OF YOUR MARKET BEFORE IT FLATLINES Fed Uni SMB Campus, Building T, 107 Lydiard St South

Date: Wednesday 21st
Time: 9:00am - 12:00pm

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Federation Business School

Cost:       Free (bookings essential)

Dr Moulik Zaveri, Federation Business School, who brings more than ten years of industry and academic experience in marketing, will facilitate the presentation. Drawing on his expertise in marketing research and services marketing, Dr Zaveri will present to participants effective marketing research techniques that help business formulate effective marketing strategies.

The presentation is targeted at SMEs and SoHos (Small Office/Home Office) businesses. It will delve into topics related to customer expectations, experience, and satisfaction and pre-empting strategies to develop a healthy on-going customer relationship with clients. Participants will:

• Gain a better understanding of marketing research and how to use it to their advantage within SME and SoHo context.
• Learn tools and techniques to measure customer beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour.
• Be able to develop strategies to provide better service/products backed by customer research.
• Appreciate the importance of value-based marketing.

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS NETWORKING Ballarat Business Centre, 15 Dawson Street South

Date: Wednesday 21st
Time: 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Ballarat Business Centre

Cost:       $25.00 (bookings essential)

Love it or hate it, effective networking generates up to 90 per cent of business leads, making it an essential contributor to small business success.

Find out how to build relationships that are both meaningful and authentic, develop your own 30-second ‘elevator pitch’ and discover the many ways networking can deliver value to your business.

Meet other small business operators, grow your confidence, and put new skills into practice in a relaxed and comfortable environment guided by expert advice and feedback.

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE

HOW TO RECRUIT IN A CANDIDATE SHORT MARKET IN 2019 Oscar's Hotel & Cafe Bar, 18 Doveton Street South

Date: Thursday 22nd
Time: 9:00am - 11:00am

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Inspire HQ

Cost:       $25.00 (bookings essential)

If you have tried to recruit a new staff member at any stage in the last few years, you know how hard it is to find any candidates, let alone the perfect one. Sourcing great candidates has always been a challenge, but in this candidate short market, it’s becoming almost impossible. Tap into Ange Connor’s 10+ years of experience and find out why traditional recruitment practices are broken, and what is needed to recruit successfully in 2019.

You’ll learn how to:

• pitch your role to attract the best candidates
• use social media and job boards to their best advantage
• build your employer brand and position yourself as an employer of choice

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE

THRIVING IN THE CUSTOMER ECONOMY Runway Ballarat, Flecknoe Building, 124 Albert Street

Date: Thursday 22nd
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Held as part of the b31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Think Curious

Cost:       $20.00 (bookings essential)

Customer expectations are shifting fast, fuelled by digital and global disruptive trends. With this comes massive potential for businesses to thrive and grow.

This workshop will cover:

• The rise of customer experience as a competitive advantage
• How to build customer-centricity into your business using practical tools like customer personas, interviews and journey maps
• How marketing is evolving and what this means to attracting and retaining customers in your business
• How to gain and use customer feedback

The session is facilitated by Merryn Olifent, a digital and marketing leader with more than 15 years experience delivering digital transformation programs in financial services, consumer technology and travel - bridging the worlds of marketing and technology to help businesses transform and grow around their customers.

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE

DAY TO DAY MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION OF STAFF COURSE Oscar's Hotel & Cafe Bar, 18 Doveton Street South

Date: Friday 23rd
Time: 9:00am - 4:30pm

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Victorian Chamber of Commerce

Cost:       $450 Use Discount Code “B312019” (bookings essential)

This course will turn you into a leader who can inspire, influence and help your employees to achieve their full potential in a fast-paced business environment.

You’ll gain the knowledge and skills to effectively handle difficult situations and have the confidence to hold professional discussions and achieve positive results.

This course is aimed at those responsible for team leadership and performance.

 This course will increase your knowledge of:

•              Consistency and fairness in decision-making

•              Managing performance to achieve better results

•              How to have the ‘difficult’ conversation

•              How to identify underlying causes of poor performance and behaviour

•              How to discipline staff appropriately, including conducting interviews and maintaining documentation

Peter Maplestone is a Senior Consultant at the Victorian Chamber delivering coaching, training and consulting services, specialising in leadership, management, performance management, problem solving, leading and managing change and many more.

Peter enjoys working closely with clients to identify learning and development solutions that will impact company initiatives and performance.

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE

PROTOTYPING WITH THE RUNWAY FAB LAB Runway Ballarat Fab Lab, Flecknoe Building, 124 Albert Street

Date: Tuesday 27th
Time: 10:00am - 2:30pm

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Eurekative

Cost:       $20.00 (bookings essential)

The Runway Ballarat Fab Lab is open for those wishing to prototype their inventions, test out equipment, and to build things. In this workshop we will introduce the machines in the space, as well as design and laser cut a name badge for each participant. Participants will come away with knowledge about prototyping using laser cutters, 3D printers, milling machines, sewing machines and several other tools. They will have a good understanding of iterative development ideas for design and also a name badge. Your facilitator, Robert Layton, prototypes for early stage startups through Eurekative and is the Vice President of the Ballarat Hackerspace. He has extensive knowledge of the prototyping workshop and a wide range of technical knowledge.

Session 1: 10am – 12pm

Session 2: 12.30pm – 2.30pm

For further information and to book: Contact Robert Layton rob@eurekative.com.au or call 0430 013 554

RESPECT, MENTAL HEALTH AND OUR WORKPLACE Oscar's Hotel & Cafe Bar, 18 Doveton Street South

Date: Wednesday 28th
Time: 7:30am - 9:00am

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Hosted by Inspire HQ and presented by FCW Lawyers

Cost:       $45.00 (bookings essential)

As work demands increase, choice increases and the world becomes less certain, evidence suggests we will see the rise of mental health issues from employees.

What are the obligations and responsibilities of employers? How do employers develop the skills that safety legislation and the Law now requires of it?

The law remains an eloquent source of how employers should respond and once understood, can assist employers to strategically manage mental health issues in a respectful environment. This can decrease the likelihood of employees developing serious illness, improve productivity at work, better employee health and help to attract and retain talent. Is it hard? No! It requires learning the law, having a commitment to a respectful and generous culture and understanding the tenets of workplace wellbeing. 

This session will provide you with the legal knowledge, the outline of how to create a strategic mental health plan for your organisation, and the evidence that supports and explains the right interventions.

For further information: CLICK HERE

SIX STEPS TO AN ENGAGED, MOTIVATED TEAM Platypus Coworking, Level 2, 51 Lydiard Street South

Date: Thursday 29th
Time: 9:30am - 11:30am

Held as part of the B31 Ballarat Business Festival
Presented by Potential Psychology

Cost:       $35.00 (bookings essential)

Forget Carrots and sticks! Modern psychological models of motivation delve deeper into human behaviour, exploring what drives us, inspires us and what keeps us happy and well - while also boosting productivity, initiative and engagement. 

In this workshop we will:

• Delve into current scientific models of human motivation
• Explore six simple strategies that you can implement to better motivate team members (and yourself!) and create a flourishing workplace
• Develop your confidence as a leader and manager by giving you the tools and knowledge to know, understand and inspire your team.

About your workshop leader

Ellen Jackson is a workplace psychologist with 20 years' experience consulting to organisations in human behaviour at work. She holds postgraduate University qualifications in positive psychology, goal setting and motivation. She now works with Ballarat's leading organisations to create thriving, flourishing workplaces, and she is the host of The Potential Psychology Podcast.

For further information and to book: CLICK HERE