The months come around quickly don’t they? The year has travelled fast, November is upon us and Christmas is looming!

The Melbourne Wheel is looking set to roll once more, what a great time to be in Docklands!

The Docklands Chamber of Commerce is holding its AGM at the Mission to Seafarers on Wednesday, October 30 from 6.30pm. New draft rules of association will need to be put to a special resolution and members for the 2013-14 DCC executive committee will be appointed/elected. Please make an effort to attend to find out what the chamber has achieved in 2013.  You will also have the opportunity to mingle with other members and to look around the magnificent heritage listed building that is the Mission to Seafarers – a significant and iconic Docklands institution.

In October the chamber sponsored a fully-subscribed PR training road show – PitchIt2Me – brought to Docklands by Destination Melbourne Limited.  This was held at Kangan Institute – a long-time chamber member. The half-day PitchIt2Me workshop was designed to help PR professionals, business owners and in house marketers improve their traditional and social media relationships and increase their editorial exposure.  If this kind of seminar is of interest to you please contact Nandini ([email protected]).

On Monday, November 25, the chamber is joining with Destination Docklands to host a networking evening of Docklands discovery, for Docklands businesses and stakeholders. The event will be held at Alumbra, Central Pier between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Attendance at this event is strictly by invitation only. If you wish to find out more please contact Nandini, as above.

Nominations are now open for the Business 3000+ Awards to be held in Docklands on Wednesday, November 20. The awards recognise and celebrate the achievements of small-medium size businesses within the City of Melbourne. Enterprise Melbourne is the major sponsor of the Business 3000+ Awards. This year, the awards program has been expanded to embrace all small to medium-sized businesses within the wider City of Melbourne municipality, and the program has been renamed Business 3000 + Awards to reflect this change. Submissions close on Friday 8 November.

On a community note, the chamber is proud to be a supporter of the 2014 Docklands Relay for Life. This is a moving community event that brings people together to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back against cancer. Teams of 10 or more fund-raise by walking or running batons around an athletics track or park  and normally this is an overnight event. However, our  Docklands Relay For Life is a corporate event – held over eight hours  at Etihad Stadium. Participants are encouraged to decorate their team space in the stands and cheer on their team-members.

Throughout the event there are a number of moving ceremonies, including a survivors and carers walk, and candlelight ceremony to remember loved ones lost and support those currently facing cancer. The chamber was made aware of this effort by officers at the Australian Tax Office as they are amongst the main organisers of this event.  For more information, please contact Elise Hopper on 9285 1247 or Cris Lumley on 9275 9569.

A new arts precinct is emerging in NewQuay and Harbour Town. The Mission to Seafarers has recently opened the Maritime Porthole Gallery at 428 Docklands Drive. As a business owner/resident in Docklands, you could visit, view and purchase artworks that celebrate living and working in the maritime heritage location that is Docklands!  

Also emerging in the same area is a new project called “Docklands Spaces” – commissioned by Places Victoria, MAB Corporation and the City of Melbourne and being run by Renew Australia.  This is a project that aims to activate some of the under-utilised spaces in Docklands by providing rent-free space for short term use  to creative groups and local initiatives. The Food Court, a dynamic new art space, is one such project.  Re-purposed from an abandoned food court, a group of artists have created a multi-use arts venue for exhibitions, workshops, events and new creative projects. 

The (f)route Collective is another  such initiative and is about fruit and art in regional places.  These are only a couple of examples of a number of projects springing up in Docklands – and the project spaces are currently located in the piazza area along NewQuay Promenade and Harbour Town.  For more information about these projects or to apply yourself, please visit http://www.docklandsspaces.org.

The Docklands Chamber of Commerce continues to look for new members. We are active in the business community working with businesses to connect, inform and advocate on behalf of our members.  The chamber can help to address local issues through relationships with local precinct management, City of Melbourne and the State Government. As you will have read in this column we aim to support our members and the precinct by promoting and supporting their events, and running our own events that are tailored to be relevant to the needs of our membership. Why not join today? To find out more contact Nandini at
[email protected]