Weatherman part of Craft Fair fun

Crafty and creative stallholders will take over the Darwin Waterfront this Friday when it welcomes over 2300 passengers from across the country and New Zealand. The Sun Princess Cruise Passenger Ship will dock at Fort Hill Wharf after travelling from Perth, Bali and the Kimberley Coast.

The Waterfront is holding a Craft Fair that will kick off at 9am along the Wharf 1 podium off Kitchener Drive.

The Fair will display handmade wares of local designers from jewellery, to leather accessories and organic skin care products to children’s clothes.

Television personality Monte Dwyer, The Today Show's ex-weatherman turned author, videographer and musician, will be in on the action too. Dwyer will be offering his range of Red in the Centre travel books and DVDs, which showcase stories and characters from right across the country.

“My books are about the people I meet as I travel the country as a working journalist, from the nutters and nudists to the sinners and saints, and all the usual suspects in-between. 

“I started my television career in Darwin and it's always been supportive of creativity, so I’m delighted to be part of the Craft Fair.”

The Craft Fair will start at 9am on Friday 22 July and wrap up at 2pm.

Twittercue: Craft Fair @Darwinwaterfront Fri 22 July 9am to 2pm. Come explore the creative talents of #Topend #DarwinNT designers and artists

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Media enquiries: Jeannette Button on 89419169

Alice Springs residents urged to save water with new plan

A new water plan urging residents to save water is being launched today for the desert town of Alice Springs.

Alice Water Smart was launched by Senator Don Farrell, Parliamentary Secretary for Urban Water & Sustainability.

The plan aims to reduce Alice Springs’ water use by 1600 million litres per year, equivalent to two months average water supply.

Power and Water Corporation General Manager Water Services Steve McKenzie said the plan is unique to Australia.

"Alice Water Smart is a comprehensive water saving program that gets individuals, homes and businesses to work in tandem to establish a water wise future"

"Everyone, from individuals to big business is being asked to reduce their water."

"Over the last 40 years more than half the volume of the Sydney Harbour (250,000 million litres) has been extracted from the Alice Springs bore field."

"Per household, Alice Springs residents use approximately 1,500 litres per day, which is the equivalent of 166 buckets of water."

"For the future sustainability of our groundwater supply we must preserve our water, and we are asking Alice Springs residents to become more aware of their water use and to develop water wise habits."

"In Alice approximately 65 per cent of household water use goes on to gardens, that is about 1,000 litres per day."

The Alice Water Smart consortium, led by Power and Water Corporation, comprises The Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sports (NRETAS), Arid Lands Environment Centre, Alice Springs Town Council and Tourism NT.

The $15 million Alice Water Smart Plan will include projects like home and business water audits, an expanded rebate scheme, smart irrigation for parks and ovals, improved water management and increased recycling, and installation of smart meters to allow homes and businesses to monitor water use, as outlined below:

• Reuse: Existing water reuse infrastructure will receive a $6.5 million upgraded to improve quality and increase quantity of treated wastewater to offset the use of potable water for irrigation, allowing some large water users to use recycled water for irrigation and horticulture.

• Rebates and retrofits: Funding for rebates on water-saving household items will increase from $200,000 to $1.5m. This includes water efficient shower heads, toilets, washing machines, pool covers and efficient garden products.

• Reticulation: Water pressure varies with topographical variability in Alice Springs, this, combined with the desert climatic extremes, places water infrastructure under demand so $2 million will be used to facilitate a system of better pressure management.

• Metering: Smart water meters, which allow customers to monitor their water use and help identify leaks and high water use activities, will be rolled out.

• Parks and ovals: With $1.2 million Alice Springs Town Council will install more of the telemetric irrigation control systems, which monitor weather conditions such as rainfall and humidity to irrigate efficiently. The systems can also detect leaks and shut off supply to the affected line.

• Accommodation: With $210,000 through Tourism NT, accommodation providers will be offered water audits to identify water savings. Visitors to Alice are increasingly motivated by being environmentally aware and responsible. This will aid decision making to visit by those responsible travellers and also improve experience in terms of their environmental footprint.

• Homes and Businesses: A range of household and businesses water audits to provide them with more choice in developing appropriate water saving options.

Funding of $7.5 million is being provided under the National Water Security Plan for Cities and Towns, a key component of the Australian Government’s long-term Water for the Future initiative.

This was matched by Power and Water Corporation with contributions from consortium members.

For more information visit http://www.alicewatersmart.com.au/

Twittercue: @AliceWaterSmart launch today, the new plan urges #alicesprings to save water http://tiny.cc/awslaunch #aws #green

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Media enquiries:

Laurelle Halford from Creative Territory on 0417 222 211 or

Lorraine Hook from Power and Water Corporation on 0401 117 599

Pine Gap installs 40 household solar systems

The number of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) solar systems in Alice Springs has increased by around ten per cent with the installation of 40 systems on Pine Gap staff housing.

Each system is two kilowatts in size and together they will produce 130,000 kilowatt hours per year, which is the entire annual consumption of around 15 average Alice Springs homes.

Alice Solar City has been working with the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG) to help increase energy efficiency of staff housing around Alice Springs.

Margaret Larkin, Deputy Chief of the JDFPG said "It is a goal of the Joint Defence Facility Pine Pap to make a contribution to protecting the environment through energy, water and other conversation measures.”

“Increasing our energy efficiency through the use of solar energy will assist the Facility to achieve this goal”.

“The solar installations will save approximately $25,000 per year off the combined annual electricity bills of our residences.”

Alice Solar City General Manager Sam Latz says, “The 40 PV systems represent increased household energy efficiency for 10% of JDFPG’s housing stock and we congratulate them on this contribution to sustainability in Alice Springs.”

“I would like challenge the Alice Springs community to match this level of 10% of all Alice Springs homes generating electricity from the sun”.

Pine Gap resident Edward said, "It is satisfying to know that I am living in a home that benefits from solar energy while supporting the objectives of the local Alice Solar City program”.

The number of household solar PV systems has increased from two to just over 500 since Alice Springs became a solar city in March 2008.

Twittercue: Pine Gap residents install 40 household Solar Power systems to increase their energy efficiency http://tiny.cc/2n8h0 #sustainable #alice

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For media enquiries please contact Laurelle Halford from Creative Territory on 0417 222 211 or (08) 8952 9412 or laurelle@creativeterritory.com
About Alice Solar City

The Alice Springs Solar City Consortium is led by the Alice Springs Town Council and includes broad community support from the Northern Territory Government, Power and Water Corporation, Tangentyere Council, the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre and the Arid Lands Environment Centre. Funding sources include the Australian Government, the Northern Territory Government, Power and Water Corporation, and Alice Springs Town Council.

5 ways to improve your Twittercue to get your message out

By Tracy Jones

Since I wrote about the Twittercue back in April, we’ve seen an amazing take-up of this idea by social media-savvy PR professionals. (read the original post)

A Google search of the term “twittercue” pulls down more than 2400 results, a far cry from the first time we searched the term and got just 12. Our blog posts have been tweeted hundreds of times by converts and about 10 other blogs have carried posts on the topic.

Thanks everyone for spreading the word, although we’re still working on getting Wikipedia to accept Twittercue as a new term.

From watching the words spread, we’ve picked up a few more suggestions on how to make a Twittercue work better for you:

1. Tweet your own Twittercue. PRs who do are more likely to see their post retweeted, sometimes hundreds of times.
2. Keep your Twittercue to 120 characters or less, otherwise Tweeps have to edit your original post before retweeting. Remember: you want them to Tweet your exact words.
3. Make sure you have a link back to your online media release so people can get the full story.
4. If you are writing a Twittercue in an emergency situation, make sure your tweet is self-explanatory. People don’t always switch between Twitter and a web page if they are on their smart phone in the aftermath of an earthquake.
5. Add appropriate hashtags.

We’d love to hear about your experience with Twittercues and find out if they have been successful for you, so please post your comments to allow us to pass your success on to others.


Twittercue: 5 ways to improve your Twittercue to get your message out #PRtips #socialmedia http://tiny.cc/e1csq 

Darwin woman honored as a Queensland Disaster Hero

A Darwin businesswoman is being honored as a Queensland Disaster Hero by Premier Anna Bligh in Rockhampton tonight.

Accountant Rosemary Campbell went to the aid of her former home town Theodore, which was devastated by the floods in December and January.

The partner of Darwin firm Merit Partners established the Theodore Flood Recovery Appeal, raising $320,000 to date and giving a helping hand to local residents and businesses.

Rosemary said while the award recognised the many people who donated to the appeal in cash and in kind.

“The floods devastated many parts of Queensland and I wanted to do something to help my old home town,” she said.

“With the support of people across Australia, we’ve been able to help Theodore come back to life.”

Theodore was completely evacuated as the flood waters rose, with few in the town escaping the devastation. Virtually every business went under, thousands of hectares of crops were destroyed and residents were forced to come home to a sea of mud.

Using Facebook to promote the appeal across Australia, the Theodore Flood Recovery Trust used an innovative approach to help the town. Much of the money raised was given to local residents as vouchers that could only be redeemed in local businesses.

“Our goal was to maximise the benefit to all of Theodore, helping both residents and businesses and keeping the money in the town. Without a viable business community, Theodore would suffer a double blow from the floods,” Rosemary said.


To donate to the appeal visit: http://tiny.cc/3uwuh

Twittercue: #DarwinNT woman Rosemary Campbell honored as QLD Disaster Hero. #topend #qldfloods http://tiny.cc/rcheromedal 

5 steps to engagement through social media

By Tracy Jones

If you’re thinking about getting into social media, you need to employ the principle of MATES – Monitor, Act, Talk, Engage and Sustain.

We’ve coined the term MATES because it emphasises what communicators know to be the most powerful aspect of social media – its ability to engage in meaningful conversations rather than just mindless promotion.

These five steps will help you get started.

MONITOR: Start your social media journey by looking at what others are already saying and doing in the social media sphere. Google like crazy. Do some searches in Twitter. You may be surprised what others are already saying about you, your brand, your products and your competitors.

ACT: Take the plunge and set up some accounts. Start with Facebook and Twitter then add to your armory as you get more comfortable.

TALK: Now it’s time to say something. Start small by retweeting or sharing what others are saying. You’ll get bolder as you go along by adding your own original content and thoughts. Share your knowledge and expertise with your friends and followers. The most influential participants give something of themselves to their audiences.

ENGAGE: Now it’s time to become a real participant. Comment on other people’s posts. Reply to people who talk to you or about you. Say thanks to those who pass your posts along.

SUSTAIN: Now you’re in the space you need to participate at a sustainable level. Have a strategy for how often and when you will be posting and commenting. Dedicate resources to the task. Make it part of your job, not just a tack-on at the end of the day that is quickly forgotten when things get busy.

Creative Territory offers a mentoring package to help executives get social online. The package includes an analysis of your business and personal needs, setting up your accounts, three hours of coaching at your desk and three months of ongoing support and mentoring. Contact tracy@creativeterritory.com to find out more.

Twittercue: 5 steps to engagement through social media. #PR #socialmedia http://tiny.cc/esguk

Alice Springs Electricity tariff trial closed to new participants

Participation in an Alice Solar City trial which aims to shift the time of day residents use electricity, has been snapped up by over 370 residents - exceeding the program’s target.
“The Cost Reflective Tariff (CRT) trial is now at capacity and is closed to new participants”, said Sam Latz, Alice Solar City’s Acting General Manager.

Under the CRT trial, participating householders have moved from being charged a flat rate for their electricity consumption, to a peak / off-peak pricing structure instead.

This means their power costs more during peak periods (9am – 6pm Monday to Friday) and less in off-peak periods (6pm – 9am), encouraging them to ‘shift’ their power use, which in turn aims to reduce the peak load on the town’s generators.

“By reducing the peak loads on our electricity network, we can help defer expensive investments in increased capacity, and reduce pressure on electricity prices”, said Sam Latz.
“We have seen CRT customers shift their power use for things like putting on their pool pump or a load of washing in the evening, turning off unneeded appliances during the day, and being mindful of when they use the booster on their hot water system.”

“Alice Solar City will now focus on monitoring the consumption patterns of CRT trial participants, producing results that will inform future energy policy.”

“Our target was to have 350 customers in the CRT trial, and we are pleased that residents have been so keen to get involved. In addition to those involved in the CRT trial, 275 extra customers who installed rooftop solar with Alice Solar City are automatically put on CRT.”

“This is a total of 645 residents participating, and Alice Springs is one of the few places in the country where this sort of technology is being trialed.”

All CRT participants have also been given an In-house Display. By touching the portable LCD screen, householders can see their overall electricity consumption, a breakdown of their peak and off peak electricity use and CO2 emissions by day, week or month and power costs for the current month.

“Normally, the only feedback or information we get about our electricity consumption is once every 3 months when we get our electricity bill. This technology instead gives information in real time to householders.”

“The In-house Display allows them to become smarter with their energy use by giving them live information about their electricity consumption and helping them to make more informed decisions about when they choose to use their electricity.”

The Alice Solar City project is part of the Australian Government's Solar Cities initiative, which is helping change the way we think about and use energy. Trials involving governments, industry, businesses and residents across Australia are helping create a new energy future for Australian communities.

Twittercue: Participation in Alice Springs electricity tariff trials exceeds expectations & is now closed to new participants http://tiny.cc/516j4 #alicesprings #topend

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For media enquiries please contact Laurelle Halford from Creative Territory on 0417 222 211 or (08) 8952 9412 or laurelle@creativeterritory.com

About Alice Solar City

The Alice Springs Solar City Consortium is led by the Alice Springs Town Council and includes broad community support from the Northern Territory Government, Power and Water Corporation, Tangentyere Council, the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre and the Arid Lands Environment Centre. Funding sources include the Australian Government, the Northern Territory Government, Power and Water Corporation, and Alice Springs Town Council.

7 tips for communicating when the electricity goes out

By Tracy Jones 

Anyone who has ever been through a natural disaster will tell you that one of the first things to go is the electricity. 

While mobile phone towers amazingly kept working following recent cyclones, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis across the world, power went out for prolonged periods.

For communicators used to having all the latest tools at our disposal, planning for how to get messages across in a blackout is critical.

Here are 7 tips to help:

1.      Rely on radio.

Even if people don’t have battery-powered radios, the one in their car probably still works. Use radio stations to get important messages out.

2.      Make every message self-contained.

People relying on their mobile phone for the internet don’t switch between Twitter, Facebook and the web during a crisis. They tend to stick with one application. There’s nothing worse than a Tweet that only tells you to “check our website for the latest update”. See our post on Twittercues for some hints on better tweeting. 

3.      Stay charged

Always keep your mobile and your laptop fully charged.

4.      Host your website in another city.

Or at least make sure your local provider is really, really ready for any risk.

5.      Use blogs and twitter to feed your content.

You can use blogs and twitter to feed content onto your website and facebook accounts. That way if everything else fails you can easily upload content via your mobile phone.

6.      Have a back-up email account

If your own business server goes down, a back up Gmail or hotmail account will see you through a crisis. 

7.      Remember the old tools

Once upon a time we relied on pen and paper and talking to each other. They still work. 

Twittercue: 7 tips for  communicating when the electricity goes out. #prtips #crisiscomms http://tiny.cc/7tipspower

Are you a PR professional planning a visit to the NT, Australia?

PRIA is looking for potential workshop speakers for events in Darwin and Alice Springs.

If you are a PR professional planning to visit Australia's tropical north, the Public Relations Institute of Australia's Northern Territory branch would love to hear from you.

The PRIA is always looking for guest speakers for their various workshops and seminars, although they work on a very limited budget.

So if you are heading our way and would love to give back to your professional community, please let us know by leaving a comment on this post or sending us an email tracy@creativeterritory.com

Twittercue: Searching for PR pros planning to visit #Darwin or #AliceSprings in #Australia. http://tiny.cc/ntvisit

Codes key to clever campaigns

By Anita Brabham & Domonique Young

About a month ago we came across a presentation from PSFK on mobile tagging and were excited about its potential as a PR and marketing tool. Like so many other innovations, it slipped our mind until we heard a radio segment on the Australian Communication Exchange using the new technology to engage with deaf and hearing impaired people at museums.

For anyone who isn’t in the know, mobile tagging is a barcode, quick response code (QR code) or Microsoft tag that links to extra information about the tagged item via Smartphone technology. Everything from street signs to coffee cups can be coded. All you need to do is take a picture of the code with your phone to access extra information about the item or image. It’s a bit like a hyperlink that links the real world with the digital world.

To see this best at work (and ogle at the endless PR and marketing opportunities this app has), visit the National Sports Museum which transcribed museum audio talks tours into Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and consequently into mobile tags, or Auslan Smart, revolutionising the museum experience for the deaf and hearing impaired. Auslan Smart is the first of its kind in Australia.

In Spain, the postal authority Correos and mobile marketing company Macanudos joined forces to code postal stamps. Take a picture of the QR code with your phone and you were given destination info about Alhambra of the Granada region, or whatever landmark was on the stamp.

Another fine example was New York City Parks. They used mobile tagging at community events to celebrate Arbor Day and add another dimension to the works on display in Central Park. Magma Agency embedded old photographs, scenes from iconic films and music clips from Orchestras who’d played at the park in years past with mobile tags. Each work featured a small tree, which Magma dubbed ‘parknodes’ that housed the barcode. A digital map of the parknodes was plotted, a Facebook page set up and voila, a successful marketing campaign was born. If you’re interested, check out Magma’s video for more.

Like any effective PR and marketing strategy you need to give consumers a reason to take action and interact with you. While at first people might engage with this technology because it like sounds fun, truly effective strategists and marketers should understand their audience and deliver the info they would want.

The possibilities of mobile tagging are endless. Imagine magazines, print ads, tourist displays, books and music linked to extra juicy info or goss? Watch this space, because we think the technology will be used more and more in the future. Oh, and did we say it's currently free to create mobile tags (we don’t think this will last)? To start cracking codes on all your favourite products, simply visit your Smartphone app store and download a QR code reader application.

Twittercue
Mobile codes create clever campaigns. http://bit.ly/ju3jTd #PR #apps