Beautiful Docklands

Docklands did not close down throughout December and January when many Docklands workers took their holidays.  In fact, many holiday-makers came to Docklands when visiting Melbourne.

It was business as usual for the Docklands Chamber of Commerce. In January the DCC held its first networking afternoon on board Quest III.

Around 40 people from small and large businesses attended and a fruitful afternoon was spent looking at ways the chamber can help businesses.

We were very fortunate to have Andrew Dunn and Robert Naumann from Cirque du Soleil attend and tell us about the show and invite local businesses to share in the visitation by putting on packages to tie in with Le Cirque du Soleil’s OVO theme.

This represents an excellent opportunity for local businesses to leverage off the successes of other events. Contact the Chamber of Commerce if you are interested to learn more.

The next chamber networking event is 3pm on Tuesday, February 19. This will feature Michael Hauser from Tourism Victoria who will explain how local businesses can take advantage of free digital marketing.

The subjects to be covered include:

Digital marketing and how to get the most out of Tourism Victoria’s digital channels;

How you can promote your business or events through VisitVictoria websites; and

We will also hear from local expert Matt McInnes from Pragmetrics who will discuss how all businesses can benefit from digital technology.

This is a great opportunity for local  businesses to learn ways of promoting brand awareness to target markets through emerging digital technologies.

There were a number of major events in Docklands over December/January.

Cirque du Soleil is performing a season at Docklands and I am hearing rave reviews. Tickets are still on sale, so make sure you do not miss out.

The Chronicles of Narnia finished their season in January which provided plenty of entertainment for kids of all ages.  

Although the 9.30 New Years Eve fireworks were cancelled due to concerns about crowd movement, the midnight fireworks proved to be very popular. Unfortunately many visitors still came expecting 9.30 fireworks.  Hopefully this next New Year’s Eve we will sort this all out to for the best outcome for Docklands.

Destination Docklands put on a magnificent Australia Day weekend that was well attended. I have never seen so many fishing rods with people attached to them ... the bait was obviously perfect.

Many people participated in a “Thong Throwing” competition while others learned to make and fly a kite. It was a great weekend and shows that Docklands is a great place to be.

The Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is coming to Docklands with two events planned.

The weekend of March 2-3 will see a jazz festival at Yarra’s Edge and along Harbour Esplanade there will be locally grown and sourced food, cooked by chefs from the neighbourhood with dishes developed around tasty, earthy flavours.

Once again, there will be a ferry service operating out of Docklands to help you see all the festivities on offer over that weekend.

Something else that may be of interest, we hear that Places Victoria is announcing it will commence the demolition and reconstruction of the wharf along Harbour Esplanade.

This is expected to commence in a month or two and hopefully after the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival that is hosting an event there.

Finally check out Destination Docklands website for many more activities in May including Summer Chills and Frills at the IceHouse, the Japanese Summer Festival and the Summer Boat Show ... all this and more in Beautiful Docklands.

Have a great February everyone – make sure you get out there and discover your surrounds whilst the good weather is here!