Happy New Year

Kia ora te whanau . . . All the very best for an inspiring and fulfilling new year, and a very warm thank you to everyone in The Big Idea community.

It’s been a huge year for many of us and at The Big Idea, we’ve been encouraged by the way you’re using the site to support your aspirations, goals, visions and dreams. Here’s to 2010 being a stellar year for you.

A message from The Big Idea Trust

Whew!! We got there and many of you will be feeling the same way. It’s been a roller coaster ride and for us at least, the best way forward was to treat the recession and its immediate impact as a ‘dangerous opportunity’ – following ancient Chinese wisdom.

We took some risks and tried new things in our quest to build a sustainable income base for The Big Idea.  Our determination to succeed remained strong despite it all. The big shining highlight this year was the re-launch of The Big Idea and all our measures show that we’re hitting the spot and the tools and innovation that The Big Idea provides really do help you.

In 2010, we’re aiming to use The Big Idea website more to help organisations reach the creative community using web technology in new and interesting ways. For example, this year we provided ASB Community Trust with SoundOut, a forum to talk to you about funding issues; and the smART talk forums produced for Creative New Zealand offered great learning opportunities relevant to growing audiences for the arts.

The Big Idea team not only delivers the website but also does other work as well to help keep the site going. The projects we undertake are always a pleasure because they’re so interesting and we meet a lot of great people along the way. This year we:

• Continued to deliver ART Venture 08 (a business acceleration programme for creative entrepreneurs working in the Auckland region)
   
• Established with ART (Arts Regional Trust), ART generator, a new network for creative entrepreneurs that included the a day-long expo and forum, Survive & Thrive
   
• Produced an arts and cultural arts infrastructure development plan for Waitakere City Council
   
• Are reviewing options for the future of Trash 2 Fashion, one of Waitakere City Council’s signature cultural events
   
• On behalf of North Shore City Council, we are assisting a major local arts organisation to future-proof
   
• Began working with ‘climate change hubs’ in the environment sector to assist sustainable organisation development
   

We’re looking forward to shutting off a little so our first Navigator Bulletin for 2010 will be Thursday 14 January. We won’t be working full-time during the holiday period but will still be checking emails and overseeing the site. 

Continue to send in your media releases and news stories and we will run them in the new year and of course keep doing what you do on the site. If you are new to The Big Idea, read this article for some tips to get started.

One final thought for everyone - the past is history, the future a mystery and the present a gift – enjoy it. We remember reading that years ago – it’s a great rule to live by.

Take care and enjoy the sunshine . . .