As 2019 draws to a close, we dare to mention the enormity of the year that was.
Now in its 33rd year, the Cairns Business Women’s Club has encouraged thousands of women, referred local businesses to a countless number of companies, forged business relationships and friendships, nominated members in awards ceremonies (you should do that!) and patted ourselves on the back for a job well done (you should do that too!). Ultimately what inspires us is our community of intelligent and committed local women in business, and to remind them that they are not alone.
The CBWC was formed as a place for women in business to feel encouraged and supported, a space to learn something new and challenge ourselves; it’s a community that connects.
In September, the Cairns Business Women’s Club hosted ‘The Write Stuff’ – a celebration of the local business women who are putting their experiences into print. We spent time with writers Jilinda Lee (“Rock Your Stripes”), Rita Zappulla (“Today’s Profits, Tomorrow’s Freedom”) and Tammie Matson (“Planet Elephant”, “Elephant Dance”, and “Dry Water”) to not only discuss their journey into becoming published authors, but to talk all things literary from business advice through to novel fantasy and fierce ‘fem-oirs’. The room was filled with business women making plans to sharpen their pencils in anticipation of becoming published writers. Next time you see a local who has invested in writing a book, I urge you to support their journey by purchasing their book.
Wrapping up the year that was, the Board’s focus has been drawn to the upcoming Annual General Meeting on February 21st 2020. As is each year, all board positions will be vacated at this meeting, so we are now encouraging members to consider giving back to their club by taking up a position on the CBWC Board. We welcome enquiries about the roles and responsibilities and are excited about the contributions that our members can offer. In addition, the one outstanding juncture we have identified is that Cairns women, more than ever, are busy. Our members are time poor, and often feel strained to attend each monthly event. The Board feels we could better serve our members by reducing this pressure by reducing the number of lunchtime events scheduled for 2020 to a total of four lunches. To balance this out, we will increase the quantity of our evening networking events, which will free up time to host some business skills workshops as they become available. Stay tuned for more information.
Coming up in quick succession to celebrate the end of the year, we have two outstanding events to add in bold markers to the calendar. On November 15th, the final Business & Bubbles event for the year will be held at the Harbourside Bar & Kitchen. We love supporting our members and local businesses, and this venue is a brilliant new concept that has recently emerged. Harbourside Kitchen & Bar is Cairns’ only entirely-organic wine bar, harnessing on the natural wine movement. Over 500 wines made using organic, biodynamic and ecologically sustainable practices and minimal intervention are available. From trailblazers in the Australian wine world through to classic from the Old World, we are excited to showcase this property to our network. Food is sourced from our abundance of growers in Cairns and surrounds.
Welcoming Christmas all too quickly, we have the extraordinary Cal Wilson at our end of year Christmas Party on December 13th. Hailing from across the Tasman, Cal has quickly become like Russell Crow and Pavlova and Australian’s have claimed her as our own. A perennial guest on favourite television shows such as Spicks And Specs and Have You Been Paying Attention, she has also written for Charlie Pickering’s The Weekly and filmed her own Netflix comedy show at the Montreal Comedy Festival, Just For Laughs. Fair to say, this is a lunch you don’t want to miss.
As we enter the final stretch of this year, the CBWC Board wish you all the best for living a life you’re proud of in 2019. Thanks for choosing to play with us, and we look forward to everything 2020 brings.
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