Festival season for business owners begins

The festival season for business owners has begun. The Victorian Government kicks off festivities today with the launch of the Energise Enterprise 08 Event guide.

The festival season for business owners has begun. The Victorian Government kicks off festivities today with the launch of the Energise Enterprise 08 Event guide.

The guide lists 385 business education events aimed at providing inspiration, ideas and information to start or grow a business. A spokesperson for Energise Enterprise says: “It is not too late to list an event, so we are hoping to get to 400 events this year. Last year we had 371 events.”

The festival, staged in regional, suburban and metropolitan Victoria, is held throughout August.

Many events are free or have a small charge.

The spokesperson says there are favourite events from last year that have returned, including the speed networking event where business people exchange information and network in a highly charged and noisy environment, that will be held on 16 August in Melbourne and 21 August in Ballarat.

There are also new events including three webinars on managing cash flow, developing a risk management plan and protecting your IP.

Another new event is a morning on marketing to be held on 28 August at the Melbourne Town Hall. “Advanced” entrepreneurs will hear from Peter Williams from Deloitte, Chris Thomas from Reseo and Jason West from Websalad talk about marketing online, web 2.0, search engine optimisation and online reputation management at the Small Business Big Marketing event.

In September the NSW Government holds its small business festival.

To check out what’s on go to www.business.vic.gov.au/energise