Well, UYMG Sydney 2008 has finished and I am now home in Brisbane again. What an amazing time we all had there. I had loads of fun, learned a great deal and met many wonderful people with lovely smiles. I would like to thank everyone who attended the event. Stephen and the guest speakers gave some great content but the participation of all attendees made the event all so worthwhile. I shall be posting more about the UYMG event over the next few weeks with some photos included.
Before the event, the Alpha Leaders had 2 days of training. Part of the training included a game where we had to split into 2 teams and quickly write down as many things down about a member of the opposite team in 2 minutes. The team that I was in lost the game, but at least that meant that we received the most compliments.
Below are the compliments that I received, in the order that they were written.
Good family man, technical, knowledgeable, helpful, friendly, caring, loving, funny, supportive, expert in his field, honest, handsome (says Robert and Janet), happy, enthusiastic, tall, masculine, intellectual, gentle, sense of humour, good heart, strong, vibrant, loves the weather, amazing, ambitious, entrepreneurial, helpful and genuine.
No wonder the other team won…they doubled up on helpful, lol. Anyway, it was a good exercise to participate in. Too often people find the negatives about others when they should really focus on the positives. There were many very nice compliments, so thanks to all Alpha leaders who came up with them for me.
Below is a video of the Alpha leaders on stage with Stephen Pierce and Alicia Pierce at the close of the UYMG Sydney 2008.
It was also special to have my dad, John, as part of the Alpha leader team this year. I am sure that he entertained many of you with his dad like sense of humour.
UYMG Sydney 2008 is March 14th-16th, so there is not long to go. I will be one of the Alpha Leaders again. This time my dad shall also part of the group, which will make it even more special for me.
The event will be held at the Acer Arena at Sydney Olympic Park, which is very appropriate during an Olympic year. Unlike last year, Laura Remeselnik will be attending. I will be looking forward to catching up with her too.
UYMG events are not only good for learning matters related to Internet marketing, but also for building relationships that could be very beneficial for your business. Last year I recall asking someone what his passion was. He gave me his reply and then another person with a related passion overheard his response. They then got together to discuss how they could help each other.
Below are some photos of UYMG Sydney 2007 that I have not previously shown.
David Lakhani gave a presentation to help people gain motivation. I missed most of his presentation, but my dad was very impressed with it and told me that he caught the attention of everyone in the room.
Patric Chan gave a presentation about web 2.0. Patric certainly does have a great knowledge in Internet Makerting and dad and I were impressed how he remembered everyione’s names. I spoke to his wife, Emily, during the event too and found her to be a pleasant person.
I saw Jennie Armato give a presentation before, so I knew that she was full of life and energy. Jennie started the presentation sipping on a cocktail in a beach scene and had the UYMG audience in a trance. Janet Rundle was her “buddie” and she did a great job helping her out.
Deb and JP Micek gave a couple of presentations at UYMG Sydney 2007, but they were particularly focussed on new media. They also promoted their blog i360 software.
So you can see that there was plenty of talent at UYMG Sydney 2007 and there certainly will be more talent to see at UYMG Sydney 2008. I hope to see you there.
I have always found the Glass House Mountains a spectacular view while driving towards the Sunshine Coast from Brisbane. They are actually volcanic peaks that were created about 24 million years ago. I have often wanted to climb one of them and last Sunday I finally did.
As you may already know from the previous post, Maureen and I stayed at a log cabin at the Glass House Mountains called Crookneck Retreat. If not you can read about it and see some pictures of this lovely place here. We decided that we go on a bush walk while staying at Crookneck Retreat and we were advised that the walk and climb up Mt Ngungun was very nice, so long as it is not too wet. The added bonus was that the walk started about 2.5km from Crookneck Retreat, so it was easy to walk to it.
Maureen and I decided to walk to it. There were quite a few showers the night before, but there had been plenty of sunshine in the morning, so we hoped that the track would be suitable. Along Old Gympie Road we noticed Mt Ngungun to the east. The picture below was taken while walking along Old Gympie Road and it shows the highest peak that we will be attempting to reach.
Not far along Old Gympie Road we had to turn left onto Fullertons Road. Fullertons road was quite a narrow road, so now I knew why Brett suggested that I take Coonowrin Road to get to Crookneck Retreat rather than this road. While walking along Fullertons road we noticed a better view of the cliff of Mt Ngungun.
As we walked further along Fullertons road towards Mt Ngungun we were close to a farm house and we noticed a great view of Mt Coonowrin (Crookneck) and Mt Beewah behind us. The farm house had magnificent views of Mt Coonowrin, Mt Beewah and Mt Ngungun. They also had 2 dogs that let everyone know that we were walking past the property.
When we arrived at the entrance of the walk we noticed that there were about 5 cars parked in the provided car park, so it seemed to be a popular walk. The first part of the walk was a dirt pathway with a relatively gentle rise that snaked up the mountain. We were told by a couple on top of the summit later that there used to be a steeper walk in that section but they closed it for regeneration. We were walking in a rain forest environment with plenty of ferns and trees and the moisture from the plantation made the environment very humid and we were both perspiring.
Then the path turned into a rather steep rock climb. There was a slippery clay type substance between the rocks, so care needed to be taken while walking up. We were concerned with the return trip down, but that proved to be OK in the end. I can understand how this could be a little dangerous if it was too wet. Showers did fall while we were walking up, but that cooled us down a little. Also we noticed that others were successfully climbing down from the summit, so we continued our journey.
The photo below shows Maureen on the way down this rocky climb. To her right is a cave that is part of the scenery on this walk.
At the top of the picture above, there was a plateau followed by a further rocky climb. This section was not quite as rocky but had plenty slippery clay parts to avoid.
Eventually we arrived at the summit and enjoyed the spectacular views. It was very windy at the top and it was also cooler, which was pleasant after a sweaty walk to the summit. A French Girl and a girl from Chile were kind enough to take some photos of Maureen and me at the top of Mt Ngungun, including the 2 below.
I also took this photo of Maureen with Mt Tibrogargan and what I think is Mt Tibberoowuccum in the background.
After the trip we returned to Crookneck retreat where I had a nice shower followed by a relaxing spa with a glass of bubbly. The photo of me in the spa in the Valentine’s Vacation To Crookneck Retreat was taken after this walk and it showed that I did get sun burnt. So even if it is a cloudy day, I suggest that you protect your skin with sunburn cream and also wear better clothing than I did (a collar at least).
I decided to take Maureen away to a romantic location as part of a Valentine’s day gift. I spoke to her in advance so that we could make arrangements for the weekend and we decided that a log cabin would be a nice place to spend some time together. I did quite a bit of internet research to find a nice cabin to go to in SE Queensland, but Crookneck Retreat really did catch my eye.
I rang Crookneck Retreat up to ask them some questions about it, but got their answer machine. Brett returned the call soon afterwards and I found him to be a pleasant person to talk to, so I booked the weekend on the spot.
Crookneck Retreat is located just to the west of the Glasshouse Mountains township, which is about an hours drive north of Brisbane. When we arrived we met Brett, Megan and their kids. They were very friendly and offered us some dvd’s for our stay. We drove down a pathway surrounded by macadamia nut trees, which led to our cabin. There are 2 cabins on this property. Below is a picture of the one we stayed at.
When we opened the door to the cabin, we heard some lovely soothing and relaxing music. The CD was called “Cafe De La Mer” (Jens Buchert). The cabin was very clean and nicely presented. There was a basket on a table with some biscuits and a bottle of wine.
The wine, King River Estate Merlot 2004, was pleasant to taste along with cheese that was placed in the fridge. Also in the fridge were some chocolate coated macadamia nuts and some Maleny Milk. Maureen says the milk tasted very creamy and she really enjoyed it. The cheese was “Maleny Triple Cream Brie” and it was extremely tasty. There was a table on the deck in front of the cabin where you could crack some macadamia nuts that were provided in a basket with a very effective tool. The photo below shows Maureen at the table enjoying some of the treats.
The bed was presented very well and it was also very comfortable to sleep in. The twin spa was located right next to it and the ensuite was located the other side of it.
The other side of the log cabin had an entertainment area and a kitchen. There was also a fireplace and air conditioning system. We did not need to use the fireplace or the airconditioning unit, but the fireplace would be nice to use on a cold wintery night.
I loved using the twin spa. We bought a couple of bottles of bubbly and sipped on them while taking a spa. There were also some scented candles surrounding the spa.
The views of the spa were very impressive. From where I was sitting you could get a view of part of the macadamia orchard and also the top of Mt Coonowrin (Crookneck). Below are two photos that were taken just in front of the window of the spa.
and the zoomed photo
At night we watched some dvds. Maureen and I found the leather couch very comfortable. You can see how content she looks below.
We used the BBQ facilities when dinner time came around. Below you can see Maureen attending to some chicken that we were cooking on the BBQ. They were yummy. Crookneck Retreat does provide BBQ packs at a cost, but we bought our own.
There are plenty of activities to do while staying at Crookneck Retreat, including climbing mountains, going to Australia Zoo, visiting Maleny and Montville or just relaxing in a peaceful environment. We climbed Mt Ngungun on the Sunday and the details of that adventure can be found here.
In summary, both Maureen and I really enjoyed our stay at Crookneck Retreat and we plan to return there. We thoroughly recommend it. You can find more information about Crookneck Retreat here.
As most of you will know already, I am a big fan of Stephen Pierce. I have listened to him speak live several times and I shall be looking forward to seeing him speak again at UYMG Sydney in March.
One of the many amazing things about Stephen is his ability to talk. He comes across to me as someone who can talk about topics such as business strategies, internet marketing and personal development in a structured, comfortable and entertaining manner.
The good news is that you can listen to some talks that Stephen Pierce has done and even talk back to him. DTAlpha TalkBack is the place to go to listen to and talk with Stephen Pierce. He has been doing regular talks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Below is a snapshot of part of the DTAlpha Talkback page.
On the bottom left hand side of this page is a section that leads to some games that you can play for free to help you learn more about internet marketing.
The latest talk Stephen Pierce presented was done on Wednesday and it was titled Making It Easier DONE Than Said . In this talkback session Stephen talks about a strategy for getting things done. In summary, he says that you need to outline what needs to be done first. Do not go about doing things in an ad-hoc manner. After that you need to make a decision and know that you can do it. You need to believe in your abilities. You then need to decide whether to do it yourself, insource it, outsource it or use a combination of the 3. Finally you should ask yourself what you should do more or less of (broaden or narrow your focus).
I been very impressed with the presentations that Stephen provided, but I also found the comments made by Stephen and other contributors very interesting and enlightening. I thoroughly recommend that you check DTAlpha Talkback out now.
