It was great to have national conference in our own state this year, Melbourne did try to put on nice weather…..at least there was no rain!
We managed to show off the local neighbourhood a bit with amazing views from the Longest Lunch venue over Albert Park Lake and the NxtGen Lunch at Trunk Town in the city. All the feedback was positive from the conference and it was great to meet a few more local members – I’ve always got more to meet! Next year’s location will be announced when our new CEO, Greg Griffith, commences in October.

As soon as conference was over it was straight into organising events for September and October. We have quite a few coming up, including, but not limited to another Conversation Series on family business compensation and accountability (the topic coming straight out of the feedback from the last event).

We also have a Succession Course coming up on September 21, this is an issue that I have heard from many family businesses, so if you are facing challenges, you are not alone and hopefully we have the answers.

Importantly coming up is National Family Business Day! We celebrate on Monday 19 September, but in Vic, we are starting early! We are holding an event in conjunction with Swinburne Uni, a presentation titled ‘A conversation about business transformation in a family SME’. Check out the FBA website for more ideas on how to celebrate Family Business Day and also to register for the event.

As we look further ahead we have our Annual Adviser Breakfast where we get to hear from Frank Walker, I’m sure we’ve all heard the radio ads! Our end of year/ Hall of Fame event will round off the year nicely in November – watch this space for the confirmed date.

As we race into October, the year seems to be flying by. A member of FBA, Headland Machinery is hosting an Oktoberfest event and are inviting FBA members to join them – it will be a fun networking event with over 100 attendees, mainly manufacturers and wholesale distributors, it will have wine tasting, beer on tap and german sausages and snitzel –
click here for more information.

Finally, I want to say congratulations to Nelson Bros Funeral Services for being named in the 2016 Generational Lord Mayor’s Commendations recognising family businesses that have operated continuously within the City of Melbourne across at least three generations.  There is more about the award and Nelson Bros Funeral Services on the City of Melbourne website.

Cheers,

Vic/Tas State Manager
Alex Petersen