Humour                                                                       Top ^

Here are some words of wisdom about humour we thought you might enjoy.

‘A leader without a sense of humour is apt to be like a lawn mower at the cemetery – he has lots of people under him, but nobody is paying him any attention.’ (Bob Ross)

‘If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas.’ (John Cleese)

‘If you are going to tell people the truth, you’d better make me laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you.’ (George Bernard Shaw)

‘Humour and creativity are intimately related – there is a connection between HAHA and AHA.’ (Joel Goodman)

Humour is a way of creating inverse paranoids – people who think the world is out to do them good’ (Joel Goodman)

Importance of Stories                                                    Top ^

‘The world is made up of stories not atoms’. The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. is committed to the telling of stories and not concepts. Each month, we plan to share some of our favourites.

The tribal wisdoms of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says 'when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount'. However, often in business and government more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

1. Buying a stronger whip
2. Changing riders
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses
5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as 'living impaired'.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed
9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Social Capital                                                                Top ^

Social capital is the glue that holds community together. It is created from a myriad of daily interactions between people. It originates with people engaging in social connections, groups and networks and based on principles of trust and reciprocity.

Building stocks of social capital is essential for a healthy community – it is simply the most important form of capital that any community can accumulate.

We can all contribute to building social capital in so many ways … inspired by the practical work of Robert Putnam and his ‘Better Together’ project (www.bettertogether.org), Bank of I.D.E.A.S has produced its ‘70 Things You Can do to Build Social Capital’ and ‘43 Community Projects that Build Social Capital’ and can deliver presentations to your organisation on the subject if required.

Impact Children and Youth Library – Ethiopia                    Top ^

2005 Nebraska Rural Institute (USA)                                Top ^

The 2005 Nebraska Rural Institute is being held in York, Nebraska on 20-22 September. The Institute welcomes everyone, but they especially encourage economic and community developers, local government and tribal (indigenous) officials, community planners, extension educators, field representatives, volunteers and anyone working in rural areas to participate in this year's Institute. Past Institutes have seen quite a few delegates from Australia attend.

The Bank of I.D.E.A.S. has attended and presented at the Institute on a number of occasions and were invited back this year as part of its 10th anniversary.

Institute website: http://cari.unl.edu/nri/

Contact: Charlotte Narjes, Coordinator (e) cnarjes@unl.edu

Western Australian Community Foundation (WACF)            Top ^

The Western Australian Community Foundation (WACF) was launched by His Excellency Lt General John Sanderson, AC, Governor of Western Australia on 10 June 2004 at a function in the Grand Ballroom at Government House. The WACF has been established to provide an umbrella under which communities across the state can work together to develop leadership capacity and establish endowment funds to benefit the future of their community.

The Community Foundation model creates an opportunity for communities to pool and invest donations, with the interest earned being used to fund local initiatives in their own communities. Areas such as health, research, social services, the arts, economic development and the environment will benefit from funding generated through the Foundation. Community Foundations are a tried and tested model around the world; they however, have a younger history here in Australia. Lessons learned from around the globe and from foundations in the eastern states coupled with input from communities in Western Australia, have led to the development of a model that can, over time, come to support the diverse needs of our state.

Website: www.wacf.com.au

Business Resource - Success Builders                               Top ^

Glen Smyth, Managing Director, of Success Builders paid us visit recently to let us know about his range of audio CD resources. Each CD features the stories of two successful Australian businesses / people. Some of those featured are -

·         Paul Cave - BridgeClimb, Sydney

·         Barb De Corti - ENJO Australia

·         Sue Ismeil - NADs / Sue Ismeil & Daughters

·         Justin Herald - Attitude Inc

·         Tom O'Toole - Beechworth Bakery

·         Amy Lyden - Bow Wow Meow

·         David McMahon & Maxine Horne - Fone Zone

·         Kristina Karlsson - Kikki-K

·         Patria Jafferies - Dome Coffees

·         Bob & Judith Little - 5 Star Supermarket

Every CD in the Success Builders series is full of great information and ideas to help you grow your business. For more information Glen’s website is www.successbuilders.com.au

Heritage Matters                                                            Top ^

‘Heritage Matters’ is a new magazine for New Zealanders restoring, preserving and enjoying their heritage. The first edition was launched last Summer and contains articles which heritage enthusiasts from all over the world should find interesting. The Winter edition has an article which features our great friend David Wilson. Some people may remember David from our ‘Life in the Past Lane’ seminar/workshop.

To subscribe email the editor/publisher Erika Currie erika.currie@xtra.co.nz

Small Towns Conference 2005                                         Top ^

The 2nd National Conference on the Future of Australia's Country Towns is being held 11, 12 & 13 July 2005 in Bendigo Victoria. The conference is being organised & conducted by the Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities (CSRC), La Trobe University, Bendigo in collaboration with
Victorian University Regional Research Network (VURRN).

The conference themes are:

·        Economic diversity and the changing nature of rural communities

·         Population trends and the implications for infrastructure, social and economic development, and land and water.

·         Climate Change and its implications and opportunities for rural Australia

·         Community processes which foster greater community engagement and participation.

·         The Creative Community and its innovative edge

·         The policy overlay – how does it support the sustainable development of country towns

For more details about the conference, including a list of keynote speakers, go to the conference webpage www.latrobe.edu.au/csrc/2ndconference/index.html

The Ultimate Ideas Workshop                                          Top ^

1002 Ideas on Recruiting, Retaining & Recognising Volunteers

Dr Judy Esmond is one of Australia’s leading experts on the recruitment, retention and recognition of volunteers. In August and September she will be running workshops in Brisbane, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth based on her new book ‘Count Me In! 501 Ideas on Retaining, Recognising and Rewarding Volunteers’.

Judy has authored a number of books on volunteering and is one of Australia’s most in demand speakers on the subject and has also presented in the USA, Canada and England.

Details can be downloaded from:

http://www.bankofideas.com.au/Downloads/The_Ultimate_Ideas_Workshop.pdf

Vale – Ron Shaffer                                                         Top ^

Born in Humbolt, Nebraska in 1945, Emeritus Professor Ron Shaffer passed away peacefully at his home on March 2, 2005 after an extended period of illness. Ron was a great friend of the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. and many Australians. He will be greatly missed.

Ron was an Applied Economist by profession and he had a very distinguished career and made an outstanding contribution in the field of community and economic development not only in the United Sates, but also Australia.

 During his long career he held many important and influential positions. Some of these included his directorship of the Centre for Community Economic Development (1990-2000) and as director of the National Rural Economic Development Institute (1990-1998) which was an initiative of President George H Bush. With Ron’s careful leadership 39 states formed State Rural Development Councils. Many Australians will remember Ron when he was a visiting professor at the Queensland Department of Business, Industry and Regional Development (1988).

Throughout his career Ron was interested in helping people come together and have fruitful dialogues about the economic future of their communities. His desire for a community level approach to economic development was a common thread throughout his 29 year career with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ron conducted economic research and taught undergraduate and graduate classes and although he published extensively in academic journals and wrote two text books on community economics, his real passion evolved around how economic theory is played out by real people in real places.

In acknowledgement of his outstanding contribution over many years, in 2001, the National Rural Development Partnership established the Ron Shaffer Award which is given annually for outstanding collaboration in rural America.

Thanks Ron for everything you taught us, and your wonderful friendship.

MOHOW – highly recommend youth consultancy firm               Top ^

Michael O’Meara (MO) has worked with communities in five countries and is one of Australia’s leading youth facilitators. Michael speaks the language of young people and maximises the participation of those with whom he works through sharing experiences and stories that capture people’s imagination and instill self-belief.  

Michael has an entertaining and engaging approach to facilitating the involvement of young people in the social and economic future of their community. Michael is available to provide motivational key note presentations and to facilitate youth planning events in your community, region or country that will result in a new mindset and that places 'Youth at the Centre' of economic and social development.

Contact details: (m) 0418 505 519 (e) www.mohow.com

Recent Projects                                                            Top ^

The months of April/June has involved the Bank of I.D.E.A.S. in projects in Oklahoma (USA), Waiuku, Pukehohe and Papakura (New Zealand), Town of Claremont (WA), Snowy Mountains and Riverina regions of NSW, Etheridge (QLD), City of Melville (WA), Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, General Practitioners Network (WA) and Towong Shire (Victoria). A diverse range of presentations have been made at the Oklahoma Community Institute, Rural Health Week State Conference, National Crime Prevention Conference and State Health Aged Care Conference, and the New Zealand Maize Contractors National Conference.

Iraq                                                                            Top ^

Recently, Peter Kenyon was asked by USAID to go to Baghdad, Iraq for 3 months to help formulate an Iraqi youth development strategy. Peter declined the invitation, citing his total disagreement with the invasion of Iraq. According to Peter, ‘a war based on lies, lack of ethics and incompetence.’

On-line Bookshop                                                         Top ^