The Freelance Jungle is back for May!
A writer, illustrator, theatre set guy and a IT/startup dude walk into a bar and balloons fall from the ceiling, eating contests ensue and everyone has a fair few belly laughs over the ultra loud music. Last time, we crashed a pub’s birthday party, got free drinks and free pizza, talked about theatre, freelancing, beer and went around the table telling our innermost freelancey thoughts. This month? You tell me! NOTE: We’re changing the... Read More
Guess who’s a Pozible Ambassador- yep, me!
Pozible Ambassador Network It is with great pride that I announce I am part of the Pozible Ambassador Network. Those crazy crowdfunding cats, Alan and Rick, have asked me to help out future crowdfunders. While I haven’t done my own crowdfunding project (yet), you may recall I helped the transition from Fundbreak to Pozible back in 2009, and gave them their early start in social media and blogging. Since then, I have helped the guys on the odd occasion,... Read More
Case Study: La Maison website copy and communications strategy
Background: Working with Second Storey Productions, La Maison Sydney, makers and retailers in eclectic furniture and homewares, was looking for a completely new online solution. Unashamedly Creative was brought in to assist with the voice development, copywriting and social media review and planning. Objective: To create a new website with SEO friendly copy that did not lose the beauty and personality of the La Maison range or the lead designer... Read More
Case Study: Copywriting for PosterCandy
Background: Combining years of printing experience with new technology as an Instagram print creator, PosterCandy were in the market for copywriting and branding advice for their brand new product. Objective: To create a welcoming site with simple, clear and fun instructions on how to use PosterCandy to create wonderful prints and posters from an individual’s Instagram feed. The product is consumer neutral (anyone can use it), so the language... Read More
Ode to a Glasshouse: Losing the plot over work
The Glasshouse, Woolgoolga To say this week has been busy (or a nightmare) would give busy or nightmare new meaning. Coming to the end of a 50 hour week and knowing I will be working tomorrow and Sunday too is a little daunting. Make hay when the sun shines and all that, and I truly do love my job. But sometimes being a freelancer can really suck. Sometimes having any job (even one you adore), is a big pile of poo. But instead of pushing through into... Read More
Let’s get trekking back to the Freelance Jungle!
Who’s a cheeky monkey? Come down to the shores to frolic and play with other critters in the Freelance Jungle. Here is your time to purge those stories of nightmare clients, heap praise on the nice ones and generally talk about all your bumps and scrapes for yet another month of freelance life. The Freelance Jungle is for you if: Hot desking is a concept that means more than just keeping your toasted sandwich warm Some of the clients you’ve... Read More
Case Study: Infinity Professional ChangeMakers relaunch
Background: Educator and personal coach, Karen Lambert, was looking for a way to cut above the noise and clutter within the personal coaching industry and develop a strong presence online. Her coaching service was failing to attract the clientele who would most benefit from her services. Objective: Establish a niche market within the highly competitive field within performance coaching Create a strong, SEO friendly presence through website copy Identify... Read More
Case Study: eXpertLocal Launch
Background: Collaborative consumption startup, eXpertLocal, was looking at launching at the beginning of 213. CEO Jervis Bharucha engaged Unashamedly Creative to help with the initial marketing and planning, main website copy, and to generally support marketing, content and social media initiatives for the new business. Objective: To create a strong, SEO friendly presence through website copy To create content to help customers learn about experienced... Read More
A to Z of Hosting Ideas on eXpertLocal
A to Z After spending a little time in a hammock in Hawaii and being up close and personal with a little too much cheese and cider, the team of eXpertLocal have come up with an A to Z of suggested tours you could host! A is for art gallery tours. With a huge number of small, pop up and interesting art installations in Sydney, a locals guide to all things art is totally a must! B is for beer tasting. Between the Red Oak Brewery, the Mac and several... Read More
Be a host on eXpertLocal!
Are you on the search for the best iced coffee in town? Why not build a posse via eXpertLocal? Experience based collaborative consumption business eXpertLocal has just launched and they’re on the lookout for hosts! What does a host do? A host is a person like you who turns their knowledge and love for a particular topic into an experience for other people. It’s basically like being a tour guide, only showing what you think is cool... Read More
eXpertLocal is now recruiting hosts!
Guess what everybody? I’m super proud to announce eXpertLocal is now officially open and ready to take hosts! What this means is my latest awesome collaborative consumption client is looking for passionate locals who would love to share their version of beautiful Sydney with other people by setting up a tour. It doesn’t matter if you are a mad keen fitness enthusiast looking to do a surfing sea-fari or if small bar crawls, checking out live... Read More
Planning the Freelance Jungle for 2013
Who’s a cheeky monkey? A very quick note to say the Freelance Jungle is having a nap in December but will be returning for January 2013. It’s also jumped ship to Meetup so that you can join the group and catch up on the events you want to attend. The Freelance Jungle is a social club for freelancers. We get together, share our monthly stories and drink some fine jungle juice. It’s free, it’s not about presentations and people won’t try... Read More
Why is Creativity Important in Marketing?
Admittedly, there are self indulgent idiots within the marketing industry who have given creativity a bad name by making campaigns that are heavy on the abstract and light on the message. However I do believe most customers, clients and people can spot the difference between ‘wanktivity’ and ‘creativity’. Therefore I make it my mission to prise the word ‘creativity’ back out of their cocaine encrusted, award clutching hands and explain... Read More
The Rise of Co-working Spaces: A Sharehouse of Ideas
Larissa Meikle from the Loop pops buy to share some news and views on co-working! Take it away Larissa! Read More Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you need custom content created or marketing help! Read More
What we could all learn from Radiohead
Last night with tens of thousands of other people I was brutally assaulted, seduced and made to feel like I was privy to something huge yet private all at once. The circumstances of this bizarre yet thought provoking situation was seeing Radiohead at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Here’s the disclaimer: I am a card carrying Radiohead fan. I’ve often joked I could say my life is complete once I finally get to kiss Thom Yorke’s bung eyelid.... Read More
Retail Survival Guide: Myths and Misconceptions
We’re hearing a lot in Australia currently about how retail is suffering and having a bad time of it. So how can you as a retailer, small or large, help yourself to survive? Consider this your retail survival guide! Myths and Misconceptions First of all, dealing with this problem effectively needs to start with a little bit of myth busting. Ready? It’s not cheap imports via internet shopping that is causing you problems. Price isn’t always... Read More
The Results of the TaskRunners Survey
Thank you to everyone who who took the time to respond to the very first survey by new collaborative consumption business, TaskRunners. For those of you who don’t know, TaskRunners aims to carve out opportunities for free time and extra cash by sharing tasks across neighbourhoods and communities. This exciting little client of mine is run by soon-to-be-mumma on a mission Cheryl Leong who is throwing her all behind hooking up people with assistance... Read More
Interns and Startups in Australia
It’s super popular to grab an intern for some extra work with your social media, blogging and whatever else you have going. However there is a lot of misconception about what you can and can’t do with an intern in the startup arena. Having investigated this for a couple of my clients, this is what I found out after speaking with Fair Work Australia. Unless you are a registered arts body or not-for-profit, you need to either pay your intern... Read More
Roadtesting: Who Killed Creativity?
As someone who carries a title of ‘unashamedly creative’ and talks about being a ‘creative copywriter’ choosing a book called “Who Killed Creativity?” seemed like a logical thing to do. I was super sceptical at first when it talked about paralleling crime scenes and psychological profiling with the creative process but having now finished it, I am really, really pleased with this book. Having read a heap of business, marketing, abnormal... Read More
Pozible Crowdfunding for Startup
Last night I crashed an intimate evening of people discussing how to use crowdfunding for startup with Pozible Co-founder Alan Crabbe. Why crowdfunding and startup? Crowdfunding is a great way to measure early adoption of your product and/or to financially support your goals in a way that can also be used to demonstrate popularity with Angels, funding bodies and more. But how do you use it to its best advantage? The platform is a tool: The... Read More
Rockin’ The Freelance Jungle
Put on your party pants and join us for a coconut of jungle juice- it’s time to get all Rockin’ with the October Social Club meeting for the Freelance Jungle! Welcome to spring time and the narrow end of the pointy stick we’ve called 2012. Perfect timing really if you want to have a couple of beverages, share a laugh and generally talk to current, past and future freelancers about what it’s like to put your bum in the wind and squeal “Yeee-ha”... Read More
Bill Tai at SydStart 2012
Bill Tai was someone I was definitely looking forward to at SydStart and he didn’t disappoint. There is just something nice about understated honesty and you have to respect a guy who compares business to the thrill and adrenalin of kite surfing. According to Bill, a startup business is like a wave- you can only ever be in front, behind or on the wave itself. Too early and even the best idea will just end up not quite getting to shore, too late... Read More
Be your own strategic freelance marketer
It’s easy for me to stand up on the roof and shout “look at me, I’m a creative Sydney copywriter and strategic freelance marketer!” but what would be the point if I didn’t take my own medicine and try to write a lot and market myself? When you become a freelancer your clients don’t just turn up at your door asking to hire you. Even the super popular ones are rocking it through making themselves known to people on a regular basis. You... Read More
Australia- you so hot right now!
After a cruisy beginning to the Sydstart morning, Pollenizer unleashed a firecracker in Mick Liubinkas. Funny, energised and just that smidge of rye that grabs attention, his presentation was the double barrel Espresso needed to get the presenter specific portion of SydStart humming. Here’s what I took from what Mick had to say: Focus- none of the B2B and B2C “let’s stick a leg over both sides of the fence and hope it works” stuff. Pick... Read More
SydStart Morning Couch
You’d think after living in Sydney for seventeen years I would know how to get off a bus in the city near Town Hall and find the Sydney Convention but…well…there are pancakes that have a better sense of direction than me. That, coupled with not being a morning person meant I missed what seemed a nice wee jam on the couch as the kick off to SydStart. It was honestly quite nice to peel back a door, not know who the heck anyone was and... Read More
TaskRunners becomes Unashamedly Creative!
The latest startup as part of the Australian collaborative consumption movement, TaskRunners Australia, has joined the Unashamedly Creative portfolio! Since the collaborative consumption (or collcon as it is affectionately known) hit Australian shores in earnest, over 60 new businesses have sprouted around the country. The latest, TaskRunners, is about bringing people together to lighten the domestic burden, help small business operators and give... Read More
The A to Z of Aussie Freelance Resources
If you freelance and you are in Australia, here are a few things that’ll probably make your life easier. If you have any to suggest, by all means send them through! Couple of notes: I have tried to be accurate with URL and description, however if I have got something wrong somewhere, do let me know this too! Any mistakes are not intentional. This list has been done voluntarily. I’ve tried to keep it relevant and helpful to Australia but not include... Read More
Updated: A to Z of Aussie Collaborative Consumption
Welcome to a list I hope will grow and come to life as the collaborative consumption movement does in Australia. Please feel free to email me at any time to let me know of new things you find or have started up so I can add them to the list. The list is up to date as of APRIL 2013 (now in 12th revision!?), so if you are missing or know someone who is, let me know! Couple of Points: 1. I have tried to be accurate with URL and description, however... Read More
Freelance Jungle Rides Again!
We’re back in the saddle Sydney for our 2nd FREELANCE JUNGLE! It won’t be this awkward, trust me. Excited? Oh you better be- there’s people and beer and conversation, oh my! Think of this as a social club for those of us who freelance and those who are thinking about jumping into the freelance pond. It brings us all together so we can have a drink, have a chat and just have a bit of FREElancer fun on a Thursday night. You... Read More
Guest Post: Give a man a fish … Teach a man to fish
Continuing our freelancer guest post series is Karen Lambert- a personal coach who can help you build confident connections with clients, Angel investors and more. Take it away Karen! Give a man a fish … Teach a man to fish So the story goes that if you give someone a fish they’ll eat for a day, but if you teach them to fish they’ll eat for a lifetime. The message – learn stuff that helps you to survive and you’ll... Read More
Guest Post: Social Media 101 (mark II)
Social Media 101 (mark II) This is Part Two of a Two-Part Blog Series by the Queen of Social at Sarah Allen Consulting on how freelancers can use social media marketing to get results. If you missed Part One or would like a refresher, click here. Howdy freelancers. You’ve had a few weeks now to digest Part One on Social Media 101 for Freelancers, which was all about the importance of seeing social media as a conversation, finding... Read More
My Experience: Freelancing in account management by Carolyn Stebbing
Another freelancer has dropped by to share her experiences- welcome Carolyn Stebbing and her experience of freelancing in account management! Take it away Carolyn. My Experience: Freelancing in account management by Carolyn Stebbing Earlier this year I dipped my toes into the freelancing pond. I was keen to adjust my work-life balance and freelancing offered the change of pace I’d been craving. I figured that in between contracts I’d... Read More
Why Change Aussie TV?
Think about Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Skins, Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, Extras, Weeds, Scrubs, Black Books, The Wire, Treme, Sopranos, The Good Wife, Louie and Californication. Now ask yourself- have we had anything remotely close come out of Australia recently? You may have seen the campaign “Save Places for Aussie Faces.” Now ask yourself what future our fledgling writers, directors, actors and producers have in this... Read More
It’s not “Do not buy anything ever” month!
Can you help me defend what is a cracker of an idea? “Buy Nothing New” month is being featured in a poor light in the Daily Telegraph. Take a look at the article here and please make your own determination but… This October, it is planned that two people will be housed in a sustainable pop-up house in Sydney’s CBD. They will have to source all their clothes and all the furniture for the house second hand. It’s promoting... Read More
Creatures of the Sydney Freelance Jungle Unite
Down in the depths of the Sydney jungle beats a drum calling all the freelance critters together. We’ll meet by the light of the moon, drink fermented beverages and tell tall tales of life on the edge of the freelance jungle in Australia’s biggest city. To be included ‘neath the night sky and talk turkey with the gang, all you need to be is the kind of person who can relate to the following: 1. Your washing doesn’t include much business attire,... Read More
CASE STUDY: Space Heroes Universe Character Refinement and Development
Background: A start-up in the virtual world space Space Heroes Universe prides itself on story driven elements intermingled with online community building and game play amongst children. Geared at the 6 to 12 year old market, creating believable, fun and appealing storyline characters together with appeal to the Gen X parental market is extremely important. Unashamedly Creative was engaged to work with the Marketing Director to flesh out some of... Read More
CASE STUDY: SYDNEY MUSIC SCENE SURVEY
Background: In response to the purchase of the Excelsior by Merivale and the perceived decline of viable music venues in Sydney, myself (Rebekah Lambert) and veteran indie rocker about town Rich Berndt devised and conducted a survey about the state of live music in Sydney. Objective: Our aim was to establish a baseline of habits and key demographic markers in order to begin with extraction of data that could prove useful to three key groups: a) Musicians... Read More
CASE STUDY: POZIBLE “LET’S TALK CROWDFUNDING SYDNEY” EVENT
Background: Australia’s leading crowdfunding platform, Pozible, required assistance with their first major Sydney event entitled “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” The first event in Melbourne, whilst still positive, had less than 50% turnout. Pozible engaged Unashamedly Creative to assist with the event’s management and communications for the event in Sydney to test whether the series was a viable national road show. Objective: • Lift conversion... Read More
The Australian Freelance Market
As an Australian freelancer who is passionate about the local landscape, Rebekah Lambert, a creative Sydney copywriter and freelance strategic marketer, undertook a survey of the Australian Freelance Market. The main aim of the survey was to understand the issue facing freelancers as well as gather contacts within the industry. After searching for a good six months prior to launching the survey, despite inclusion of freelancing in Census data, articles... Read More
Just Don’t Move: Pt 3
I often talk about empowered customers and how we all have so much choice, flexibility and options these days. It isn’t until you move and you deal with utility companies however that you realise how screwed in certain departments you are. Here is my third and final part of the series entitled “Just Don’t Move” We’re rolling out a National Broadband Network…Unless you live in Waverley- iiNet is my provider and have... Read More
Just Don’t Move: Pt2
I often talk about empowered customers and how we all have so much choice, flexibility and options these days. It isn’t until you move and you deal with utility companies however that you realise how screwed in certain departments you are. Here is my second part of the series entitled “Just Don’t Move” Second Hurdle: Entering the Gas Company Wasteland- We have a very old airy house and one gas appliance- a gas heater. Considering... Read More
Just Don’t Move: Pt 1
I often talk about empowered customers and how we all have so much choice, flexibility and options these days. It isn’t until you move and you deal with utility companies however that you realise how screwed in certain departments you are. Here is my first part of the series entitled “Just Don’t Move” First Hurdle: My Electricity Company Thinks I am a Shapeshifter- I notified the electricity (Energy Australia) of our new address... Read More
Leap, leap?!…Ah Why not Leap?
Today is the day after the Leap year day. The time when I remember my sister’s friend Kris who only gets an “actual” birthday every four years and takes it in her stride by following the ‘less is more’ motto, the time where traditional marketers push people towards making a change in life (“leap into my sale otherwise my boss will beat me, please!” ) and where I think of frogs doing extraordinary feats, whether they be cartoon or carbonated... Read More
A Fab Feb eMuse from brainmates!
Welcome to the Fabulous February edition of eMuse! We’ve got exciting news about a new partnership, we look at the minimum viable product with Adrienne, Nick dons his spacesuit for some sci-fi inspired innovation, Nat implores us not to forget the buyer and the brainmates get set to get conversational in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne with Product Talks. Read on to find out more!In this issue: brainmates and Ryma: Delivering Product Management... Read More
Collaborative what now?
This post is dedicated to all of the wonderful people out there who are embracing collaborative consumption on a business and everyday level who sometimes find it a little bit hard to explain the concept to friends, family and people in the street. In particular, this is my little bit of love for the guys from Open Shed. What the heck is all this stuff about Collaborative Consumption? Take yourself back to kindergarten or pre-school… Here you... Read More
Sydney, now it’s your turn…. Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!
After a successful Melbourne event in late 2011, Pozible now brings “Let’s Talk Crowdfunding!” to Sydney. This free event is for anyone who wants to learn more on crowdfunding for creative projects or simply for people interested in self funding through platforms like Pozible. Join us for a helpful, informative and passionate discussion on crowdfunding your dreams and ideas with like minded individuals. The evening is aimed at giving anyone... Read More
Retail and the Multi-Channel, Mobile Australian Consumer
By far the biggest impact on retail seen in the last twelve months has been the maturation and genuine arrival of mobile commerce in Australia. And of course when you get a room of 100 clever, on the ball Product Managers in one room together, brainmates Product Bash 2011 was dominated by the influence of mobile commerce on the retail experience. Our panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director... Read More
How to Stay Afloat in a Competitive Retail World
As brainmates continue our exploration of the discussion coming from Product Bash 2011, our panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head of Online for the Woolworths non-food businesses Dan Murphy’s, Big W and Dick Smith, shared their thoughts on “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail” in relation to how to stay afloat in... Read More
December eMuse
Welcome to the December eMuse for 2011! This edition we wrap up our remainder of Product Bash 2011 articles, uncover the results of a retail survey in our latest whitepaper, check out the Agile Conference, think about the year that was 2011 and push forward to training in 2012. Hold onto your pencils Product Managers, it’s a big one! In this issue: Product Bash 2011 – Continued Retail Survey: A fresh perspective from brainmates Agile... Read More
Product Bash 2011: The Future of Retail and Burning Audience Questions
At Product Bash 2011, brainmates asked their panel of Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style Tread, Andrew Rechtman, Product Director of PayPal Australia and Daniel Roberts, Head of Online for the Woolworths non-food businesses Dan Murphy’s, Big W and Dick Smith, to put on their best gypsy garb and take a deep longing gaze into the retail product manager’s crystal ball to give their perspective on the future of retail in relation... Read More
Why every office should have a Labrador
Morale Office Gibson T. Dog provides more than you think to the day to day operations of Unashamedly Creative. Here in no particular order is why every office should have a Labrador. Lunchtime Companionship With a Labrador around, you always have a lunchtime companion who is very keen (and I mean VERY keen) on hanging out with you. You never have to feel like a complete Nigel eating lunch all alone with a Labrador around! Exercise is Mandatory It... Read More
Make the customer the centre of your retail experiences
brainmates saw 100 passionate and hungry Product Managers join us at the beautiful Gaffa Gallery in Sydney on the 10th of November, 2011 for the end of year wrap up, Product Bash. This year we tackled the affect of the growth of mobile and online commerce on more traditional forms of retail under the topic heading “The Internet Super Mall and the Future of Retail.” We were very pleased to have join us Mark Rowland, Co-founder of online shoe retailer Style... Read More
Don’t wait for help, create help yourself
I’ve been examining why my head has an issue with the #occupy movement. It’s really hard for me as I agree we need to fix the inequality in the system yet feel so sceptical and puzzled by this movement. I have almost felt a traitor to my beliefs and the beliefs of my family. But then it hit me last night why it bugs me. It reinforces the concept of entitlement. It kind of smacks to me as though “we can do what we like for ourselves and don’t... Read More
Ten minutes with brainmates Natalie Yan Chatonsky
What lead you to first get into Product Management? My first exposure to launching new products was when I was in business development at Yahoo. When I first started working at Yahoo in the late 90’s (prior to the dot com boom), it was my job to recruit offline big brand retailers to build their first online store through an Yahoo! Australia & New Zealand’s shopping mall. My role was to go out there and talk to retailers about how e-tailing... Read More
Calling all freelancers!
Are you tired of auction sites trying to get you to work for $2 a 500 word article or deploy a whole website for $200? Have you had to mop up after countless el cheapie projects for your clients after things have gone drastically south? Do you sometimes wonder why employment agencies or digital/ad agencies pay you 30% of what they bill you out for? Are you working at places that don’t allow you to stretch yourself as much as you would like? Do you... Read More
Seriously sales girl, calm the $X#@ down!
I am completely and utterly allergic to “in ya face” sales techniques. In order not to increase my own blood pressure or worse still, be court ordered to pay for some poor unsuspecting retail shop assist’s counselling for Post Meeting-Angry-Bek Syndrome, I have given myself the following limitations: I have completely abandoned shopping at major department stores due to an overwhelming desire to head butt staff who seem to not watch what I... Read More
The Crackhead’s Get Rocked
As you know, Richard Berndt has donated his time and talent to creation of the musical score for the Crackheads. I can now share with you a sample of that hard work. With the Crackheads film, we toyed with the idea of taking off two well known songs- namely the “Home and Away” theme (changing it to “Homo and Away”) and “Fishheads” (changing that to “Crackheads”) ala Weird Al Yankovic. But unfortunately,... Read More
From the Puppeteers Pencil
Fear not, the puppet project is still alive and kicking, well as much as their stumpy little footsies will allow anyway! It’s just been a little hectic of late on both the commercial and creative levels. The potted history of puppet events are as such: Paul has pretty much finished building our stage, with the exception of a hinge or two. Next comes the backgrounds and how to deal with them Rich has been composing for the background ads and music,... Read More
brainmates August eMuse!
brainmates – product management people After 7 years of brainmates, we’ve celebrated with a new look eMuse! Let us know what you think via brainmates on Twitter. This month sees brainmates Natalie add a splash and a dash to the Product Management cocktail shaker, we examine Turning Ideas into Business Cases in depth and Adrienne reminds us there is a little bit of Product Manager in us all. Cocktail Recipe for Happy Product Professionals After... Read More
Artist in Profile: Shy Magsalin
Shy Magsalin is a passionate theatre maker who has studied and worked with some of the best companies in the world. Is Australian theatre culture strong enough to keep a talent such as hers from leaving our shores permanently? Shy Magsalin- To keep you really hungry keeps you inspired to keep learning Madam Fling Flong’s is a favourite little haunt of mine. Over the top of Sonis on King Street in Newtown, it’s tucked away enough not to... Read More
Artist Profile: Rich Berndt
Over ten years ago, Richard Berndt left the country to pursue his dreams of becoming a rock star in the big city. The goal posts may have shifted, but the journey is no less fulfilling. Read More Like my style? Enjoy the content? Contact me if you need custom content created or marketing help! Read More
Artist in Profile: Ryan Linnegar
The beauty and darkness of Ryan Linnegar is explored time and again through his photography and lyrics. But who is this poet, musician and artist really? The Courthouse Newtown is not your usual choice for conducting interviews if a journalist and I soon start to understand why. Here I am sitting in front of a rather nervous Ryan Linnegar with the cursory jug of Coopers Pale at the ready whilst I sit there trying to test levels on my Sansa music... Read More
The Thylacines- Taking a Bite Out of the Sydney Music Scene
Imagine if you knocked on a door and there before you was a sweet little old lady with a quietly elfin smile above a lace collar and cable knit cardigan. Imagine she asked what you wanted in a smoked encrusted Scottish brogue but didn’t wait for the answer. Instead, as your lips part she is grabbing at your collar, pulling your face to her knee and just at the moment you think you will wet your best undies in fear of the blood nose you surely know... Read More
Sydney Music Scene Study
In response to the purchase of the Excelsior by Merivale and the perceived decline of viable music venues in Sydney, myself (Rebekah Lambert) and veteran indie rocker about town Rich Berndt devised and conducted a survey about the state of live music in Sydney. The responses were collected via Survey Monkey through publicity on online channels- notably this website and interested social media groups- February 2011 until July 2011. We collected 137... Read More
Case Study: The East Village Hotel Website Build
Background: In an ever increasing environment of competition in the functions, hotel and restaurant arenas, The East Village Hotel were seeking low cost devices to showcase their hotel to the general public and offer a way for each market to obtain the information they needed in a timely fashion. The website was hard to navigate, unable to be updated easily and had no way of capturing who was requesting information. Objective: To provide the hotel... Read More
Puppet on a Shoestring: The Story of Birthing a Puppet Film
From moving to script to actually getting things done is a pretty hard process. It is rewarding though. Time consuming, at times very overwhelming, and punishing because you finish on task and several more sprout up like snakeheads on Cerberus. I am learning as I go along. Music and Sound Anyone who has ever done anything remotely linked to sound will tell you if you screw up the volume or the mix, it just won’t work in your favour. Thankfully,... Read More
Musicians are doing it for themselves
Sydney has certainly moved to a brighter future in the music scene since the 2000’s when poker machines ruled, entertainment licences cost venues a kidney and bookers chose bums on seats over quality, but the scars still linger. Audiences are still not brave enough to trust venues to walk in and take pot luck, some bookers persist in fragmenting bills and not knowing the style of music that gets played and venues and bands collectively barely break... Read More
East Village Hotel nominated in Sydney Business Awards!
We’ve spent quite a long hard year or so creating an East Village Hotel to suit our loyal locals, fabulous foodies and function friends and we cannot thank you all enough for choosing us to be a nominee! We promise to value this compliment with giving you great value, excellent service and a fun, friendly place to meet for many years to come. In the mean time, if you would like to share the love, you can vote for us here Like my style? Enjoy... Read More
Path to new Australian TV: Closed Until Further Notice
Australia, to me at least, has a fairly non-existent television market. Even with the introduction of brand new digital channels, we live on a staple diet of imported television and the grisly fat of TV executives and producers who have grown plump and lazy on a diet of reality TV, serial cop and hospital shows. In terms of longevity in the international market, our most successful export is Neighbours. We lay claim to the ratings success of the Masterchef... Read More
No excuses, no, none
It’s really easy to make things overly complicated so you don’t have the chance to succeed. In my time, I have heard from band members who wouldn’t set up a MySpace because the lead singer wanted to “consult with a MySpace employee first”, worked with a film maker who spend so much time on researching a project and carrying on with self indulgent fantasies they only have journals of plans and no films to show for it and gotten in my own... Read More
Will Sydney lose another venue?
It all began with a fairly innocuous occurrence- the SMH writing a paragraph on Justin Hemmes’ recent purchase of the Excelsior Hotel and his big plans for the venue, and others in Surry Hills like it. Soon Facebook started popping up links to the article everywhere as musicians and punters alike started to feel the first cold dreadful feelings about what this could mean for a scene that can still feel the loss of its beloved Hopetoun. Would Surry... Read More
Building the Darlinghurst Theatre
It is with great pride Unashamedly Creative begins a new relationship with an old Sydney favourite, the Darlinghurst Theatre Company! The home of sustainable, independent theatre for over a decade, The Darlinghurst Theatre Company are about to embark on their biggest journey as they transition from their current home to a beautiful new home in the Tabernacle Building and with it, onwards and upwards in the Australian arts scene. The same hungry love... Read More
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Theatre
Sydney cries out for culture. Her inhabitants get a strange set jaw and bristly look about them whenever someone suggests Melbourne may be more cultured. We join Facebook groups in the tens of thousands bemoaning the demise of iconic places such as the Hopetoun. We are eager to stand in front of the Petersham Roller-rink, Glebe’s Valhalla or Luna Park with cardboard signs and talk vehemently and with passion about the evil sell outs who bow... Read More
