PUCC Events
PUCC Events 2012
CREATE: An opportunity to engage
CREATE is a networking event at the UTS Gallery on Tuesday 25 September 2012 6pm, that will place the Pyrmont and Ultimo business community on the creative collaborative map. The Chamber has been engaging with UTS, creative and businesses to showcase the wealth of talent that our precinct cultivates and to develop new opportunities for the creative industries to flourish. The event will feature two case studies of creative ideas and business and host a speed-dating networking event between 25 Creative and 25 Businesses.
Speakers include:
Pip Jamieson quit her dream job at MTV to co-found The Loop (www.theloop.com.au) in 2008, long-time colleague Matt Fayle. In seventeen short months, the creative industry networking site has signed up brands including Google, ABC, Pacific Magazines, Discovery Networks, Frost* and SBS to headhunt talent. Picking up ‘Best Enterprise’ at this years AIMIA Awards, the site is now a used by a large and expanding community of creative practitioners and companies to promote themselves, collaborate, network and hire.
Tony Shannon is a specialist in the business of digital content and digital media, he will present on the Creative Industries Innovation Centres (CIIC) and services and speak on the theme of ‘Future of Creative Businesses’.
‘The digital world has brought creatives and audiences closer together through disintermediation. This offers both great opportunities and complex challenges for creative businesses. What will the creative business of the future look like?’
Dr Mark Sceats is the Chief Scientist of Calix Ltd. He led the Photonics Cooperative Research Centre for 12 years and has been involved in more than 10 start-ups from the centre’s research. Dr Sceats’ topic is ‘Australia can be first in carbon capture, creating a new industry through innovation.' Due to professional obligations overseas, Elizabeth Elenius will speak on his behalf.
Expressions of interest for participating in Speed Dating or attending the event, RSVP to
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or call 0408 235 552.
WHAT: CREATE speed networking
WHEN: Tuesday 25 September, 6 pm for 6:30 pm
WHERE: UTS Gallery, UTS Level 4, 702 Harris St Ultimo
RSVP:
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Urban Walkabout Pyrmont Ultimo Guide is coming!
Chamber Networking Event 
Pyrmont Ultimo Pocket Book Launch
Wednesday 22 August 6 -8:30 pm
CAFÉ MORSO, lower deck, Jones Bay Wharf
Guest Speaker: Anthony Laver, General Manager Marketing and Strategy, Destination NSW
RSVP: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 0408 235 552 by Thursday 16 August (note: limited spots for PUCC members only)
How to find the best local places to shop, eat and play? How to negotiate your way to the best in food, fashion and lifestyle? Urban Walkabout is the answer and a personal guide to uncovering the hidden secrets of Pyrmont and Ultimo.
Urban Walkabout has announced the arrival of the new Urban Walkabout Pyrmont Ultimo Pocket Book, celebrating with a launch at Café Morso in Pyrmont, co-sponsored by the Chamber.
A discerning eye for all things creative and innovative in the city, Urban Walkabout is for the urban explorer. The printed guides include an illustrated map and business images and reviews that help direct readers to a carefully curated selection of boutiques, local artisans, galleries, designers, cafes, bars and restaurants in each location.
There's also the free Urban Walkabout App which brings you a mobile version of the well known and loved pocket sized Urban Walkabout guides, to allow you to curate the city your way.
See www.urbanwalkabout.com.au.
The launch party has limited spots reserved for Chamber members only. To RSVP or find out about joining, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Pyrmont Festival of Food, Wine and Art in May
PYRMONT FESTIVAL OF WINE, FOOD AND ART
A Festival of Feasts: 18 – 27 May
It’s time to save the dates – the Pyrmont Festival of Wine, Food and Art is fast approaching. The Festival’s major outdoor event is on 20 May in Pirrama Park and promises to be a day of art, gourmet food and delectable Mudgee wines. Admission is FREE with Wine tasting packages including souvenir wine glass available.
Many other events are included, so BOOK NOW your “Mudgee Wine matching lunch and dinners” at one of the many leading Pyrmont restaurants over the Festival from 18 to 27 May, featuring skillfully matched Mudgee wines, gastronomic fare and meet the Mudgee winemaker.
Other highlights include The Star’s Media & Industry Launch at Sokyo Bar on 15 May (by invitation only and for PUCC members, send enquires to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to attend).
Visit the Pyrmont Festival website and LIKE the Festival on facebook, because it really is a great community event.
www.pyrmontfestival.com/gallery.html
www.facebook.com/pages/Pyrmont-Festival-of-Wine-Food-Art/212036048822443
'Paintings of Pyrmont' by Jane Bennett
Feast of wine, food and art
Pyrmont has established a reputation as one of Sydney’s fastest growing dining destinations, and to celebrate, the local business community is dishing up a 10-day smorgasbord of wine, food and art in May.
The sumptuous program is part of the Pyrmont Festival of Wine, Food and Art – a partnership between the Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce, Mudgee Wine and Grape Growers and local Pyrmont businesses.
The Festival is planned for 18-27 May and will include a series of degustation dinners, a long lunch on Jones Bay Wharf, cooking classes, wine appreciation, a wine and cheese master class and art exhibitions. One of the highlights of the festival is the one-day outdoor festival event in award winning Pirrama Park on Sunday 20 May with live entertainment and more than 100 Mudgee wines and gourmet foods for tasting.
The partnership approach places a strong emphasis on economic outcomes for both the local business community and for the Mudgee Region. After the success of the 2011 festival, Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce President, Lawrence Gibbons, is thrilled to be teaming up with Mudgee again for the 2012 event program.
“The festival provides us with the chance to get people to experience what this area has to offer plus taste some of the best wines from the Mudgee Region. Last year the festival attracted people from far and wide, and this year, we have a few extra surprises in store including a long lunch on Jones Bay Wharf. The program is really shaping up well with something to suit everyone’s tastes.”
Entry to the one-day festival event in Pirrama Park on 20 May is free and visitors have the chance to sample gourmet foods from Mudgee and view the many artworks on sale as part of the Pyrmont Art Prize. Wine tasting tickets and glasses will be available for purchase at the park on the day.
The Star will host the media and industry Festival launch on Tuesday 15 May. If you are interested in sponsoring this event or in supporting the Pyrmont Art Prize with competition prizes please contact Margot Natoli.
This event is presented by Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce and proudly supported by the City of Sydney, Destination NSW, Mudgee Region Tourism, Mudgee Wine Grape Growers Assoc and the Mid Western Council.
For more information: Contact Margot Natoli, Festival Event Producer on 0410 338 331 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.pyrmontfestival.com 
Teaming up with the Mudgee Region
Here is a taste of what the Mudgee Region is renowned for -
• 40 cellar door wineries
• Wineries 100% family owned
• Around 6 certified organic wineries
• Free range organic pork
• Free range beef
• A cheese factory
• Olive processing plant
• Balsamic vinegar, relishes & dressings
• A goat dairy
• Specialty cake shop
• Three bread bakeries
• Growing number of restaurants and B&Bs
• Tourism - 476,000 visitors now per annum and growing.
Christmas Party returns
The Chrizzy party returns! Dec 6 at The Photo Studio
A joint celebration of the Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce and the Glebe Chamber of Commerce to welcome the Silly Season in style. Meet old and new friends, have a nibble and a drink (or two) and toast the season!
When: 6th December, from 6 to 8pm
Where: The Photo Studio, 5 Franklyn St, Broadway (Glebe)
Parking at Broadway Shopping Centre (3 hours free parking)
RSVP: Essential, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
NOTE: This event is members only. You can apply for membership at the event or download the form and bring it with you.
AGM: President's message
President's Message, 25 Oct AGM at Doltone House
Pyrmont’s reputation as one of Sydney’s growing tourist and dining precincts was boosted with a twelve day (12) celebration of food, wine and art from 3 to 15 May 2011. Led by the Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce, businesses in the area were teamed up with Mudgee Region Tourism and Mudgee Wine Grape Growers Association Inc to produce a program of 20 significant events spanning 12 days and including 12 degustation lunches and dinners in top Pyrmont restaurants, a children’s art workshop, wine tastings and cooking class demonstrations. All participating restaurants and bottle shops joined the Chamber of Commerce as a precondition to their taking part. The finale event was a one-day outdoor festival of food, wine and art in the City’s award winning Pirrama Park on Sunday 15 May. Mudgee winemakers offered over 120 of the area’s premier wines for tasting from 30 Mudgee wineries along with a number of gourmet food producers from the region. The Pyrmont Art Festival, was in its fifth year and was incorporated into the outdoor festival and around 300 pieces of art will be on display including a 30 children’s submissions. $10,000 of prizes were won. There was live entertainment all day and ABC presenter, Whitney Fitzsimmons was the host for the day and for bike riders, free cycle parking was provided.
The full event program was promoted on www.pyrmontfestival.com, including a directly linked event program www.pyrmontuncorksmudgee.com.au, together with the Pyrmont Art Prize. The website, together with Sydney Morning Herald advertising, a radio campaign and a public relations campaign focused on social media and Pyrmont businesses commenced at the end of the second week of April 2011. Pyrmont also displayed 17 street banners for the four (4) weeks leading into the festival, with 30,000 flyers for a local resident mail drop and general distribution via City of Sydney libraries and community centres and via Mudgee Region Tourism distribution avenues.
The official media launch for the Pyrmont Festival was held at Star City on Tuesday 3 May and was very well attended. The attendee list included the Lord Mayor and City of Sydney Councillors, Mayor of Mid Western Region Council Mudgee Region Tourism and Mudgee local Council representatives, NSW Tourism, the Mudgee Wine Grape Growers Association Inc, Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce and food, wine and art media.
The Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce ran a successful SHOP LOCAL campaign throughout the month of August. Banners were installed with our Shop Local branding along Harris Street, Pyrmont. In the lead up to the Shop Local campaign, a significant number of retailers, restaurants and services with retail premises were approached in both Pyrmont and Ultimo to discuss participation and membership in the Chamber and in the Shop Local program. 280 businesses in Pyrmont and 148 businesses in Ultimo were approached. Two thousand post cards were printed and distributed to local shops and residents encouraging people to spend their money in the precinct. The same image and message were produced in a series of half page ads in the weeks leading up to the 18th in the pages of the City News. At the start of the month, the City News donated a cover feature with the Shop Local message profiling a local retailer, reinforcing the importance of supporting local shops. An eight tabloid sized guide to the local precinct was also produced profiling local businesses and services countering the impression that Pyrmont lacks a retail base. Fifty thousand copies of the supplement were printed and produced on newsprint in the pages of the City News and the City Hub on August 18th 2011. Participating businesses needed to join the Chamber and were eligible to receive half price ads, with the Alternative Media Group donating the other half of all print ad costs. The eight page supplement appeared in the Alternative Media Group’s annual BEST OF SYDNEY guide PLUS An additional 10,000 copies were produced on a glossy 52 gsm which was trimmed and stapled. Post cards were widely distributed to businesses throughout the peninsula. The glossy brochure was distributed to businesses in Pyrmont, Ultimo and Glebe as well as to apartment units throughout the peninsula.
To combat the perception that Pyrmont and Ultimo are lacking in general retail and in personal services and to counter the prevailing view that the precinct does not have much on offer generally, the PUCC ran a series of ads which highlighted events and profiled businesses in the precinct. At the centre of Pyrmont is Star City casino, whose Lyric theatre showcases a number of internationally renowned musicals and performances. As well, several existing and new music venues (including Rock Lily) in the casino regularly feature high profile performers. Monthly ads highlighted performances at the complex. On the Pyrmont side of Darling Harbour, the Maritime Museum has regular exhibitions which were featured as does the Sydney Heritage Fleet (both of whom are members). The Sydney Fish Markets also has regular events. In Ultimo, the Powerhouse has monthly exhibitions which were highlighted. At the Broadway Centre (in Ultimo) the Hoyts Cinema several dozen films screen daily in a large multiplex as does the IMAX at Darling Harbour. The campaign was intended to bring visitors from across inner city to the Peninsula and to encourage locals to spend time and money in the precinct. The ad ran monthly from November to October (except during the month of May when all activity focused on the Pyrmont Festival). Ad space was also allocated to promote quarterly networking events. Ten ads were run with half of the cost of the campaign donated by the Alternative Media Group
In addition to all of the above, the Chamber has held five quarterly networking events with tonight’s AGM being the fifth event. The first networking event was held at Seviches at 1 Harris Street. Held on Tuesday December 14th, it was the Chamber’s official Christmas party. The event also featured Wine Tasting by the Mudgee Wine Association and served as an introduction to the upcoming Food, Wine & Art Festival in Pirrama Park. The second event was held on Wednesday 24 February and was cohosted with the Potts Point Business Partnership and the 2010 Business Partnership. In the lead up to the State election the Chamber hosted a Q&A with Don Page MP, Shadow Minister for Small Business and Commerce. Members were encouraged to bring their own questions for the candidate. A robust discussion about the issues and problems confronting local small businesses was held on the evening. On May 3 the 2011 Pyrmont Festival of Food, Wine and Art launched with a flourish on at Star City's smart new Bistro 8. The Members only launch event was lubricated by generous quantities of premium Mudgee wines and featured a number of distinguished guest speakers. Among them, Andrew Stein, President of MWGGA, noted that this was Mudgee's first-ever festival partnership with a Sydney precinct and vividly described Mudgee's "diverse range" of both wines and wine-makers .. "the youngest is just 27 and the oldest, over 70"... and the unprecedented success of the region's unique blended wine, Mudgee Gold. On Tuesday 9 August, members returned to Bistro 80 for a sneak preview of the changes coming to the casino. Members were treated to a special hard hat tour of the billion dollar facility which promises to be an entertainment destination, featuring more than 20 new restaurants, bars and cafés, a new five star hotel and spa, retail boutiques, an international nightclub and a fully refurbished casino. The event was booked out and was over capacity with three groups donning hard hats and looking behind the scenes at the soon to open complex.
A monthly newsletter has been generated. Broadcasts went out to a data base of 900 plus local businesses Monthly newsletters provided local businesses with news and information about a range of activities on the Peninsula. As well as keeping members informed about the Chamber’s own events, newsletters provided extensive coverage of a range of developments on the peninsula, including a massive redevelopment of UTS (complete with a new building by Frank Gehry), the redevelopment of the CUB site directly across Broadway and the billion dollar makeover of the Casino. In addition, newsletters included profiles of members, paparazzi shots from quarterly networking events and general information about changes to management at key institutions in the precinct. Content from the newsletters was uploaded to the website, with newsletters providing a link to the site, invite members to “click through” for additional information.
This year’s accomplishments would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of the executive committee. So a big thanks to:
Rob McCourt, Secretary
Bruce Napthali, Treasurer
And Sherryl Ryan, Margaret McCue and Brenda Rea who have served on the committee in at large roles.
For the last three months, the executive committee of the PUCC has worked tirelessly to prepare a three year business plan as part of the new arduous requirements by the City of Sydney for Chambers of Commerce to receive economic development funding. The Chamber retained the services of Charles Perry to write and prepare the plan, which is nearly ready for submission. Next year the Chamber will again seek funding to hold our successful food and wine festival and shop local campaign. We look forward to the coming year and thank the local business community to promote and champion the local precinct.
Annual General Meeting Oct 25 at Doltone House
Annual General Meeting Oct. 25 at Doltone House
WHAT: Pyrmont Ultimo Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting
Members are invited to discuss reports from the past year’s activities, committee elections and general business. The invitation and AGM documents are on the PUCC home page, click on AGM documents to view and download.
WHEN: Tuesday, 25 Oct. from 6 pm to 8 pm.
WHERE: Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf, Pyrmont.
RSVP: Essential, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
NOTE: This event is members only. To apply for membership, download the form at www.pucc.com.au and bring it, with payment, to the event.
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