Priceless!

“In 2006, the industry recognised the need for the development of a peak organisation to represent Queensland’s leisure marine industry and to provide a united and representative voice to government, the industry and community that matched the strength and contribution of the industry.

Marine Queensland was subsequently formed as the peak private sector and independent organisation to represent Queensland’s leisure marine industry. Marine Queensland’s purpose is to provide recognised and credible leadership, advocacy and representation for Queensland’s diverse leisure marine industry. This includes harnessing industry associations to work collaboratively, raising the profile of the industry in the public and private sector as well as the general community. It also includes developing mechanisms to facilitate dissemination of information throughout the industry supply chain.

The structure and governance of Marine Queensland caters for the diverse interests and sectors within the industry. Each ‘community of interest’ is under a Division of Marine Queensland. This approach ensures strength from unity whilst maintenance of the identity and focus of the division. New divisions are created as necessary to reflect this approach for emerging or other sectors of the industry.”

Each State has its own focus, goals and vision , which is fantastic and progressive - but as a whole industry, where are we heading?

The need for an overarching governing body for the vibrant marine industry is paramount, we all need to be on the same page, working towards the same goal and  advocating the same message!

With the dissolution of the old AMIF and the subsequent resurrection of the new AMIF (with only 5 members), when is industry unity going to be on the cards?

The current edition of the Ice Jacket accommodates a wide range of manufacturers’ 750 ml bottles, — from vodkas, tequilas, and aquavits, to emerging spirit varieties such as Sochus, Piscos and Cachaças. Retail consumers at all levels will now be able to enjoy the benefits associated with the Ice Jacket-ing of their favorite libations. Additional Ice Jacket models are soon to be introduced.

While numerous products designed to chill a beverage once it has been poured are available in today’s marketplace, only the Ice Jacket is designed to continuously cool a bottle of spirits once it has been removed from the freezer. Eliminating the need for flavor-altering ice cubes in the preparation of shots, shooters, neat drinks and martinis, the Ice Jacket extends the visual bond between logo and customer to the table itself, by a distiller’s trademark becoming functional ice sculpture. Protected by broad patent rights, Ice Jacket Inc. is able to support the demands of the retail consumer as well as its Spirits Industry clients through the development and introduction of custom designed and branded products intended to feature a specific trademark.

Already embraced by luxury retailers such as Frontgate and Solutions, spirits brand owners, importers and distributors are certain to pursue exclusive relationships in support of their marks. No longer bound by inelegant ice buckets hiding
the trademark, their bottle — in its Ice Jacket — delivers the trademark onto the bar or table where it is certain to serve as conversation piece and subject of attention while increasing consumption.

More than solely serving as an effective tool enhancing a beverage’s presentation and palatability, the Ice Jacket will drive both on and off-premise sales, and is ideally suited for use in conjunction with loyalty programs throughout the Spirits, Promotions, and Luxury Industries (For more about the Ice Jacket’s use in support of promotional and loyalty programs, see the Ice Jacket profile in the Inventory Section of Bar Business Magazine’s August/September issue:

When recently asked why the Ice Jacket has been so successful, company president and Ice Jacket inventor, Davis Wolf, stated “Simple to use, fun to decorate, and highly functional; the Ice Jacket is an idea whose time has come.”

Spirits importers, luxury brand owners, retailers and consumers are encouraged to contact:

Davis Wolf
Ice Jacket, Inc.
1.239.919.2233
davis@icejacket.com

That’s right, we practice what we preach and have spent a couple of weeks on the spectacular Broadwater at the Gold Coast and have come back refreshed and ready for action.

Development has begun on the Marine Site website which we are looking to launch early in 2010, so keep your eyes peeled on the splash page as it will not be too long until it becomes the marine place to be online!

Thoroughly enjoyed the Brisbane Boat Show, with the exception of a few familiar faces who are normally there in force (e.g. Riviera) there was a great range of displays to look at and the visitor  numbers when we attended seemed pretty high – another great marine event!

Enjoy your week, keep boating and hopefully we will see you out there soon!

About 2 weeks ago, I sent an enquiry to the Tech Team asking whether they would be able to add a new category for boating and marine products. To be honest I was not really expecting any response, or for them to action it in any way.

To my great delight I received a reply today letting me know that they have added the new category and then went on to ask if I had any suggestions for sub-categories .. of course I did! To my even greater delight, they have already added the sub-categories onto the site … within half an hour of my reply with suggestions!

A fantastic team and a great business – I am looking forward to editing my existing products into their new categories and adding many, many more to the site!

Thanks a bunch to the SOC Exchange Tech Team from the Marine Site Team!

However, for lovers of all things marine – they have hit an all time high through their new offering Google Earth with Ocean.

With Google Ocean you can;

• Dive beneath the surfance and visit the deepest part of the ocean (The Mariana Trench)
• Explore the ocean with top marine experts including National Geographic and BBC
• Learn about ocean observations, climate change, and endangered species, and
• Discover new places including surf, dive, and travel hot spots and shipwrecks

There is a lot of fun to be had and practical uses too – when you have a spare hour or three, take some time to download and check it out!

TheSOCExchange.com.au is a nation-wide e-commerce community where you can sell anything you want  including things like household goods, clothes, shoes, jewellery, furniture, phones, toys, boats, books, real estate, computer goods, electrical goods, antiques, paintings and garden equipment + more.

You can basically sell whatever you’ve got…within the bounds of the law, reason and decency (Great comment from the site “no more selling alligators please”).  

Great initiative from a true Australian entrepreneur. It will be interesting to see how much market space they snap up from the giant eBay – only time will tell, but I predict we will be hearing alot more about The SOC Exchange in times to come!

Widely regarded as a litmus test for the success or otherwise of the upcoming boat show season, the Melbourne event has been labelled “very positive” by industry.

Read more …

HootSuite is the ultimate Twitter toolbox. If you have more than one Twitter profile you can manage them all in one place, add multiple editors, pre-schedule tweets, and measure your success. Hootsuite also has its own inbuilt URL shortening tool, which lets you then track the statistics within the tweet!

HootSuite is a great and easy to use tool that lets you manage your entire Twitter experience from one easy-to-use interface.

Enjoy your hoot scootin experience.