We’ve been spreading the word of sustainable surf crafts & events and the Eco Challenge Gold Coast is gaining interest from all over the world.
157 likes on face book https://www.facebook.com/EcoChallengeGoldCoast in only a few weeks. Please help raise this number by liking & sharing.
And have just launched the website http://ecochallengegoldcoast.com which is slowly building with patronag.
In the beginning I had no idea what to expect but I did know the project would need to be well researched, networked & supported by key people within several different industries.
So with that in mind I first approached the wooden surfboard community because without them the event would have been dead in the water and was pleasantly surprised with an enthusiastic response to which we now have:
Bali Balsa Surfboards by Vince – Bradley Agius
Balsa Gold Coast – Richard Harvey
Classic Waterman – Dick Van Straalen
ecto handplanes – Chris Anderson
Firewire Surfboards – Jaz
Timber Surfboards – Geoff Moase
Surfing Green – Dave O’Reilly
Tom Wegener Surfboards – Tom Wegener
With some of the leaders and shakers in the industry from Bali to Byron keen on the concept it got down to building the blood and guts and there in the need to become a networking maniac.
I started building a database of everyone that I’ve known over the 20+ years of my involvement with Surfrider Foundation who might be slightly interested in supporting this event. And then came the daunting task of really putting it on line and telling people that this event was actually going to take place. No way out from here…plant the front foot take the drop and pull in (surfing terminology)
One thing I’ve learnt from my business mentors over the years is with any project/event you need a business plan so next step was to find someone that would be willing to write one up for me because they do my head in. I contacted Griffith University Community Internship program who passed on my criteria and from that had two students contact me:
- Student: Rinny who was at home in Sweden visiting family when she contacted me. Rinny is a second year student studying a Bachelor of Business. I was pretty chuffed when I learnt that my project was her first choice of three selected companies.
- Student: Pepper, who is currently in her final semester studying a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Ecotourism and Wildlife Biology. In her application Pepper wrote she has a good understanding of the theories surrounding sustainable tourism and creating sustainable events and that she’d love to have an opportunity to put this into practice.
After meeting both these ladies I knew they would have a positive impact on the event and I would fully recommend both of them to future employers and the Griffith University Community Internship program.
There are many supporters of this project that I will be mentioning in future posts and the facebook page so please like and share to keep up to speed with all updates towards our wooden surfboard expression session in March 2014.
Greg Howell
Climate Wave Enterprises
working with the planet