I am forever grateful to the universe that directing Madeleine towards the Chemical Free Community. She has not only been invaluable in supporting me with the growing workload behind the scenes of ChemFreeCOm but she consistently reminds about being grounded and self loving. Which has been a life saver as it’s so easy to work 16hrs day 7 days a week and be in a continuous state of overwhelm. It has been interesting to sit back, watch and listen to Madeleine’s view on what we do.
The goal was to connec
t – but we didn’t think we’d end up with some of our members’ traveling for over an hour to join us at a Meet Up.. we are so grateful.
Since joining Chemical Free Community in June, I have been thrilled to be involved in getting the regional members ‘meet and mingle’ events up and running. After our first successful Sunshine Coast-based event at the Elixaba, Maroochydore in June, Jillian and I have since run our first Cairns event at Cherries Health + Wellness Store, and a second event on the Sunshine Coast at The Shak Organic Café and Wine bar, in October.
Each one has been an act of faith, put it out there and they will come. And no two have been the same.
We have been blessed to have had wonderful venues, catering, and some great guest speakers. These events have been an amazing opportunity for me to meet ChemFreeCom members as well as others just as passionate and working in the industry, some of whom travel great distances to attend.
At each event I have had the opportunity to find out more about how are members are making a positive contribution to society with their product or service. Jillian and I really appreciate that what make these events successful are all of the above factors – we certainly couldn’t do it without the community!
It’s also a great way for us to get direct feedback about what services ChemFreeCom members want, be they existing ones or new ideas. Thanks to Caz from Organica Floret our local organic rose farmer, who also produces ‘out of this world’ honey, we transformed the members logo into tamper stickers for our members to use on their products.
What I enjoy the most, however, is the way these events provide a forum for members to meet each other. The feedback so far is that these have been invaluable experiences for members to connect and co-create visions for future collaboration with others in the ‘chem-free’ industry, and gain a sense of being part of something bigger – a community – and the support that comes with it. We often sit back and watch the magic and are continually surprised at the things that are discussed and agreed when our members start connecting. At each meet and mingle we ask that each member, while chatting, should ask ‘what can I do for you to help your business’ and then it is reciprocated. It can be as simple as a Facebook like or as complex as creating a new product.
To date each event has taken on a different format, drinks around the Elixiba, a dinner among friends at the Shak, at catch at Cherries store and we may even go for a sundowners session in the park next. We are excited to experiment with many more Meet Up events to come.
Jillian and I are looking forward to the next quarterly event on the Sunshine Coast, to continuing events in Cairns, and getting events up and running in other QLD regions including Brisbane and the Gold Coast (dates and venues TBA). If you are interested in hosting or attending an upcoming Chem Free Com members meet and mingle event in your region please don’t hesitate to contact us at Chemical Free Community.
We look forward to seeing you at an event soon!
