Melbourne has long been a destination for people from around the world, who seek to lead enriched, safe, and fulfilling lives. At last count, almost 45 per cent of Victorians were either born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas.

We were born in over 200 countries, speak over 200 languages and dialects, follow more than 130 religions and are identified with over 200 ancestries. And it is at events such as the Polish Festival held at Federation Square where the city really gets to enjoy the benefits of this cultural diversity. Read all…

On 12 November 2010, Jimmy and Gina Stolfo celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary at Doutta Galla Queens Park aged care facility. Surrounded by their family, friends and fellow residents, it was a grand celebration of many years of happiness together. Doutta Galla CEO, Mark Anderson, said it was inspiring to see a couple so in-tune with each other.

“Gina and Jimmy have been with us at Doutta Galla Queens Park for the past five years, and it’s wonderful to see their dedication to one another,” he said.

Gina, now 69 years old, first met Jimmy when she was 15 years old, shortly after arriving in Australia from Italy in 1956. Read all…

People have talked about integrated comms for decades. It’s become a tried throwaway line behind which strategies more holey than holy reside.

Enter social media and an Australian public that leads the world in its uptake. Once you placed an Ad, sent out a brochure and maybe rang the press, now you need to do all of that as well as have an impressive web presence and conversations with multiple audiences online. The scope of activity has got much larger  and more complex but automation has kept step so it doesn’t mean a swelling marketing team. You need to be much smarter, employ the best tools available and have effective measurement systems in place. Read all…

Doutta Galla Yarraville resident, Urania Michaelides has been awarded the MS Society’s $3,000 Go For Gold Scholarship for her outstanding mouth paintings and inspirational outlook on life. Doutta Galla Chief Executive Officer, Mark Anderson, said Urania is a creative power at the Yarraville facility.

“Urania has been living at Doutta Galla Yarraville for the past five years and, in that time, we have been amazed at her level of community involvement and her constant search for new challenges,” he said.

The Go For Gold Scholarship is awarded to people with multiple sclerosis across ACT, NSW and Victoria who display a goal and the potential to achieve it. It covers various aspect of life, including employment, sport, travel, education and the arts. Applicants were asked a series of questions on how they are coping with MS and how $3,000 would make their dreams come true. Urania said it was a lengthy application process but well worth the effort. Read all…

Morgan Stanley outlines the 10 most influential internet trends likely to influence the way we create, consume and exploit digital media in 2011.

Filmed at the Web 2.0 Summit, earlier this month in San Francisco it proves once and for all that user-generated content is alive and well (and that compelling content will always beat high production values).

Marketing aged care is like a cross between chess and bingo. You need the strategic mind of a chess player, but you have to bring everyone to the table and build a sense of camaraderie if you are to be sustainable over time. Call it chingo!

Research consistently demonstrates that people make health related decisions in close consideration with family members, friends and health care professionals (generally General Practitioners). That is, they go to people they trust, people who are credible advisors.

In addition to marketing and communication to build company brand awareness, aged care businesses needs to build networks of advocates and referrers at a local level – people who will be called on for trusted advice by residents and their families when they make that difficult decision.  Effective marketing requires a short and long-term approach. Read all…

Citywide is a major Australian physical services company providing civil infrastructure, open space and environmental services to government and private enterprise. The company has grown significantly over the years, expanding to bases in Sydney and Canberra as well as its original hub, Melbourne.

Citywide Open Space is responsible for maintaining many of Australia’s most prominent parks and gardens. From shaping world heritage listed Carlton Gardens and Government House in Melbourne to creating the spectacular Sydney Living Colour displays, Citywide Open Space is Australia’s leader in innovative, sustainable garden design and management.

This year Citywide has embarked on a new journey aiming to attract qualified overseas arborists to our sunny Australian shores with the help of the Ellis Jones online engagement practice. We’re utilising social media research and strategy to map the online activity of prospective employees and referring groups, placing content in networks to drive interest in a website specifically designed to appeal to arborists. Read all…

Mulana is a series of works by Victorian artist Megan Cadd that revolves around key events she has experienced over the last few years. The meaning of Mulana is ‘spirit’ in the Yorta Yorta language.

This exquisite exhibition reveals a personal journey which reflect her spiritual exploration of a colonised life and the path to healing and forgiveness. It’s a journey she has taken at once alone and in tandem with her people.

Being such an amazing life journey displayed through this art, it got us all at Ellis Jones thinking…

At conception, our individuality is formed and we develop deep physical and mental traits that have been passed down through complex DNA. This is the beginning of the ‘person’ and the ‘personal’ – from birth our experiences are very much our own. But, apart from these traits, we are born otherwise naked; a blank canvas.

To find meaning in life we search for connections – to other people, to the land in which we live. We adopt cultures, we consume knowledge and we grow into spiritual beings – aware of our nature. Imagine if that learning, that cultural intelligence and the connection to homeland was rocked, suppressed by external force. Read all…

The 3rd Knowledge Cities World Summit was recently hosted by a proud Melbourne. Our city’s status has been elevated from liveable to Knowledge City, due to our education institutions, research centres,  innovative output and capacity to attract knowledge workers.

Creating a Knowledge City demands the integration of all aspects of a city’s economic, social and cultural life into a coherent whole, for the benefit of all.  Melbourne is fortunate it enjoys a temperate climate and plenty of space. In global terms the city’s legacy – the infrastructure, institutions, celebrations and social values held by our people – encourage free expression and the pursuit of ideas.

With strategic intent, Melbourne is aligned with other Knowledge Cities such as Boston, Manchester and Barcelona.

Read all…

Today, Council on the Ageing (COTA) Victoria Chief Executive Officer, Ms Sue Hendy, called on candidates for the November 27 state election to demonstrate how they will respond to the impact of the rapidly rising costs of life’s essentials – food, water and energy.

“Over the past ten years, food prices have risen by 41 percent while electricity is up 52 percent, rates 83 percent and health services 64 percent,” Ms Hendy said.

“We can expect significant price and cost increases in future, as the state modernises its energy assets, makes the transition to renewables and pays off costly water infrastructure.”

“At the same time, the price of food and fuel will rise due to predicted global shortages.”

Ms Hendy said the utility bills of pensioners and low income seniors make up a higher proportion of their spending because they can’t afford energy and water efficient appliances, or access to government schemes to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Read all…