It's humbling to have such strong support from my business community.  Please visit each website below to support them.

The Local Business Banking team at Commonwealth Bank have sponsored my bike, a 2006 Harley Davidson Road King.  Thank you to John Powell, General Manager Local Business Banking, for supporting me.  Without your support John, I would not be participating in The Black Dog Ride.

VIVO CAFE

Angela and Con Vithoulkas kindly made their restaurant/cafe available to use for my private fundraising.  Their continued support is appreciated.

BRASSERIE BREAD

 Brasserie Bread have donated their Team Building baking course.  As David James, CEO of Brasserie Bread puts it: "As a group activity, making bread is a great leveller. It requires thought, skill, creativity and teamwork - all desirable attributes, especially in the workplace."  Petra Buchanan, Vice President, Marketing at Unisys Asia Pacific, said: "Baking bread is a wonderful way to connect with colleagues. The workshop activities included a fun and interesting set of challenges which could only be successfully completed by a team."  Valued at $2500, this team building course for 10 people will be auctioned by VIVO Cafe owner/manager Angela Vilthoulkas on the night.
UPDATE: Great news!  CEO/Director and co-founder of Brasserie Bread Michael Klausen will personally conduct the team-building course!  Michael was recently guest chef on the popular TV show Masterchef  You can view Michael's time on Masterchef by clicking on Masterclass in Week 9 here.

MUMU GRILL

Team-building Beef and Beer Masterclass for 6 people valued at $510.  MUMU Grill is Sydney’s only sustainable steakhouse and home of Sydney's first Jamon bar. In the heart of Crows Nest with a large alfresco area.  Thanks for your support owner/chef Craig Mcindoe.  I attended this course as a guest of Craig, and you can view the photos here

Hungerford Hill
Hungerford Hill have donated a mixed case of premium wine, valued at $300. Celebrating its 40th vintage in 2010, Hungerford Hill is a Hunter Valley icon and a champion of New South Wales winemaking.  Family owned and operated,Hungerford Hill produces a range of exemplary wines from its home in the Hunter Valley as well as cool climate regions of Tumbarumba and Hilltops in Southern New South Wales.

Motionworks brings 13 years of industry experience with a proven teaching ability to provide high quality learning resources that encourage and challenge participants to break through to new levels of excellence and impact in their work.
radsmarts is dedicated to providing the resources to help you succeed: build a more creative, persuasive and profitable YOU.

Special recognition and thanks to radsmarts' Robin Dickinson who has provided "diamond-tipped focus" to my planning for my participation in and fundraising for The Black Dog Ride.

Thank you Helen Crozier who has donated a YOUR TECHNOLOGY WISH IS MY COMMAND PACKAGE valued at $299

The Sassy SEO has donated 1.5 hours free SEO/Marketing consultation to anyone who drops their business card to Kristin Rohan   Further, Kristin will donate some bottles of wine & wine bags.

Fletcher Tax Accountants specialises in compliance and tax planning for sole traders, small businesses and property investors.  Save time, money and stress in the tax arena!  FTA is donating a $200 consultation voucher to answer myths, queries and/or to go against preparing your BAS or Tax Returns.

The WordPress Guy has donated a "Blackdog Website Launcher Package":
1 domain name with 2 years registration with crazydomains.com.au $24
1 years webhosting on mediatemple.net (Grid Service) $220
3 hours of WordPress support from me towards getting the WordPress website up and running or support for an established website or to transfer a free blog to its own hosting etc

Value: 3 x $165/hr = $495
Total Value: $739

Gelatomassi have kindly donated two prizes:
1. Gelatomassi "Experience" to the value of $50 - gelato, drinks and coffee for a family
2. One gelato cake for any occasion to the value of $65 

Thank you to Carm and the Ruggeri family for donating a $100 dinner voucher to their new restaurant la casa

Special thanks to Gina Lofaro from Wordmisstress who kindly helped "make every word count" on my Introduction Page on this blog.

Thank you Lorri Loca from I’m Starvin Catering for donating:
1) I’m Starvin Catering Drop off Catering Lunch to your office.  Suited for 5 guests. Value $50
2) I’m Starvin Retail – Pick up Lunch – City Store!  This is a Sandwich and Drink for 5 days at $12 per day.  Value $60

Defining Style has donated a "Create Your Natural Confident Style" - consultation with Personal Image Stylist Robin Powis worth $255.

Great support from Catriona Pollard at cpcommunications who has provided stories to support me and my efforts with the Black Dog Ride

See:
http://www.cpcommunications.com.au/_blog/PR_and_Marketing
http://socialmediawomen.wordpress.com/events/external-events/

Thank you Aliza Shehzad from Le' Spice for donating a hamper pack valued at $100.  Le' Spice also blogs here.

Thank you Deb from Dello Mano for donating a chocolate selection from her family business.  Dello Mano is family owned and commited to creating beautiful and delicious chocolate morsels. Their signature line is our very own Dello Mano Belgian Chocolate Luxury Brownies.

Thank you to Sydney Networking Coach who has donated 10 tickets to the "Turning Small Business into Big Business Series" 

Thanks to Michael Field for donating his ONSITE STRATEGY WORKSHOP (half-day)  An onsite strategic planning workshop can be utilised to tackle a key issue or opportunity.  The half-day format is fast-paced and focussed.  The end result is a simple go-to-market strategy.

Thanks to Iggy Pintado for donating a signed copy of his book Connection Generation to every attendee at my fundraising event.

The talented Emily Bolderman from Bird Project has created an inspired masthead for this blog:

After a brief consultation Emily came back with the following:

Values: Personal commitment, Community, Education (raise awareness of Depression), Honesty, Demystify depression, Empower

Tone of voice: Personal, Fun, Camaraderie, Power of team- collaboration and connection, Inclusive, Informed, Committed, Down to earth.

Rationale: The logo is designed to work in sync with photography and other imagery to be used in the masthead.  It is an energetic and masculine evocation of bike riding; bold with reflective surfaces, bumps and scratches and movement. It’s a logo with grunt.  Based around an accesible and no nonsense typeface in a frame, that could be reminiscent of a licence plate, the splatters of dirt and imperfect forms also serve as a metaphor for the scars of life. The handwritten tag line grounds the logo in the personal.  The vivid orange adds an upbeat and fun vibrancy to the mix.

Thank you Emily!