Dear Friend

The calendar year is coming to a close and it's a good time to do a pulse check on your business, review the year that was and refresh your goals for the year ahead. Read this great article on Top New Year's Resolutions For Business Success from The Balance.com

It's been a busy second half of the year, so as expected our newsletter is full of  information, updates & links from all the happenings over the past few months. Please click on the featured links or go to our website for more information on any of the topics that are of interest.

We look forward to seeing you at our End of Year Celebration "It's In The Bag" on Thursday 30 November for a chance to catch up with friends, network with new members and of course, celebrate the year's successes. See you there!

Kind regards,

Kelly King
HBWN Committee President

HBWN Members had fun at the Winter Chillout Event on 31 August. 

Winter Chillout 

Our Winter Chill Out event was held on Thursday 31 August at Chop and Chill. 56 Hastings Business Women's Network members were in attendance as we enjoyed a relaxed evening and a chance to mingle with fellow HBWN members. Our fabulous sponsor Focus Magazine got involved with a fantastic activation wall, setting up a fun 'photo booth' with some glamorous fur props for our members to have fun with! You can check out the event images here.

Be Good To Yourself Empowerment Event

On Thursday 21 September, female business owners and employees attended a different kind of workshop, ditching the suits in favour of lycra, and meeting at the beach rather than the boardroom. Hastings Business Women's Network members participated in an empowering Mind Body Session with Innovate Body and Mind Studio, followed by a nourishing breakfast supplied by XS Foods. Check out the event photos here.

HBWN Focus Group
In lieu of an annual survey the HBWN committee opted for an out-of-the-box approach this year, and instead conducted an interactive focus group session with current members, held on 11 October. The main purpose of the Focus Group was to collate feedback and member input to plan our events calendar for 2018.  Focus Group topics included: innovation, event relevance, sponsorship, communication, value for money, and inclusion. The response to this new approach from those who participated was overwhelmingly positive, and we have implemented the themes discussed in building the 2018 calendar of events.
 

2017 Annual General Meeting

HBWN elected its 2018 Committee at the Network's Annual General Meeting on Thursday 26 October, which doubled as a fundraiser for local cancer initiative, If We All Had Wings. The AGM included a lively breakfast with a 'wear pink' theme and featured special guest speaker, Skye Petho from If We All Had Wings. Check out the event photos here.

It's In The Bag End of Year Celebration event is Thursday 30 December at Ana Mandara. Register here

International Women's Day  breakfast is on Thursday 8 March, 6.30am at Panthers Port Macquarie. This year's theme is #PressforProgress. Now, more than ever, there's a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. A strong call to #PressforProgress. A strong call to motivate and unite friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.

Monthly Coffee Catch Ups

Meet up with Mel, our fantastic Membership Coordinator and other members & guests on the last Tuesday of every month at 10am at Hastings Coffee Co within The Westport Club. Register here for the next Coffee Catch Up.

Find out more about our upcoming events here

A warm welcome to our new members. We look forward to meeting you at one of our upcoming events.

• Anna Battersby                   Haven Waters Motel & Apartments
• Brooke-Lynn Berndt            Vanglo Beauty
• Crystal McGregor                Amarna Pty Ltd Consultancy
• Donna Mudford                    Park Lane Jewellery With Donna Mudford
• Keeley Wallace                    Designs by Keeley (FreeThinker)
• Kellie Mears                         Kellie Helen Mears HR Consultant
• Megan Philippa                    The Westport Club
• Melissa Shiplee                    bubbly.m events Management
• Alisha Bank                          Webstudio
• Alison Davis                         Donovan Oates Hannaford
• Jaclyn Fenby                         Donovan Oates Hannaford
• Jen Lloyd                             JEN Travel - An Affiliate of Savenio Travel
• Natasha Olynick                  Natasha Olynick Naturopath
• Natalie Dugdale                   Outsource Institute of Technology
• Margret Meagher                 Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail

Snap Printing 

Snap Printing Port Macquarie offer a wide range of different services to help you with your online and offline marketing. Some of their services include corporate printing, logo development and eNewsletters.  Their team can help you reach new and existing clients through online marketing solutions. 

The HBWN's relationship with Snap has helped us build our brand and increase our exposure within the community. Our website and printed materials used to promote our members and fundraising  events are beautifully designed and printed by Snap.

Caron Dyball, owner of Snap, is a HBWN Tall Poppy and is very generous with supporting the HBWN.

HBWN has continued to make a contribution to the community through our support of If We All Had Wings, Share The Dignity, REAP Port Macquarie and the Hastings Education Fund.

Read more here about how your membership dollars have made a difference in our local community over the past year.

Do you know a member who has received an award, been recognised or has made you a happy customer? Want to share details of any upcoming events or happenings on our Community Notice Board. Please send details to hbwncommunications@gmail.com