The City of Greater Bendigo in partnership with Be.Bendigo has been hosting a series of free webinars to provide valuable information and resources to help local businesses through the changing environment as a result of COVID-19.

The webinars will begin again in August with a new virtual cafe series, but here's a chance to catch up on any webinars that you've missed. 

Past webinars available

AFS Chartered Accountants Partner Damien Palmer hosted the first webinar on Tuesday April 28, covering information on the JobKeeper initiative, cash flow management during COVID-19 and information on Federal and State Government support and stimulus packages. If you missed Talking COVID-19 - Navigating government support and cash flow management, the webinar is available to view here.

Katherine Hietbrink from Robertson Hyetts Solicitors and Conveyancers hosted: Talking COVID-19 - Navigating challenges through employment law on Tuesday, May 5 at 12 noon. The webinar is available to view here.

Anna Doughan from Robertson Hyetts Solicitors and Conveyancers hosted: Talking COVID-19 - Commercial Leasing and Contracts on Tuesday May 12 at 12pm. The webinar covered leasing and contracts, landlord and tenant issues. Please view here.

Joe Ciancio, Managing Director from Maxsum Consulting hosted: Talking COVID-19 - Navigating cybersecurity - Critical IT security steps on Tuesday May 19 at 12pm. The webinar tackled critical IT security measures that have been missed to get remote ready and how to fix them now. Find out what’s missing from your remote working set-up that is leaving your data, your people and your business more exposed than ever. Please view here

Joe Ciancio from Maxsum Consulting hosted Talking COVID-19 – How to use COVID-19 Stimulus Packages to make IT lemonade and hit the ground running on the other side of COVID-19 on Tuesday May 26 at 12pm. Please view here

David Robertson, Head of Economic and Market Research for the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank hosted Talking COVID-19 – An Economic Snapshot for Regional Victoria on Tuesday June 2 at 12pm. 

David discussed current economic indicators and gave an overview of what will be required over the next 18 months to help with the region’s recovery. Please view here. .

Briana Cowan from Mingle Media hosted: Talking COVID-19 - Marketing on social media during a crisis on Tuesday June 9, 2020. Learn tips and tricks to market your business on social media and how to leverage the power of social media so your brand stands out. Please view here.

Briana Cowan from Mingle Media hosted: Talking COVID-19 - Building a social media strategy beyond the pandemic on Tuesday June 16, 2020. In this webinar, you will learn how to build a social media strategy, we will cover off objectives, content pillars and your target market. Please view here. Please note the free mentoring sessions mentioned in the presentation are available here.

Pam Macdonald from Broadspring Consulting hosted: Talking COVID 19 Leadership through the pandemic on Tuesday June 23. This webinar highlights the strengths and skills that have displayed by the most effective leaders during the pandemic and will discuss what impacts this may have on how to lead more effectively in the future. Please view here

Leadership and change management expert Pam Macdonald from Broadspring Consulting hosted Talking COVID 19 - Why people keep asking when will it be over- how we respond to change on Tuesday June 30. As an experienced change management professional, Pam explained the typical responses to change (both emotional and practical) and why these responses need to be revised. 

People are generally okay to get through a crisis or something that has a clear end date. What happens to our wellbeing when there is no specific end in sight can be highly destructive. This webinar covered uncommon beliefs about change, the stages of change and emotion that people go through. Pam also covered what leaders and managers could do to communicate accurately and honestly in an environment where they don't have all the information and where the answers are unclear. Please view here.

Joe Ciancio from Maxsum Consulting hosted: Talking COVID-19 -Phishing for love, masks and money - A look at how phishing emails have changed during the pandemic and how to spot these serious new threats with the right cyber security on Tuesday July 7.

This webinar explained what you and your team need to be looking out for and how your business can actually use this as an opportunity to start getting cyber security right in your business. Please view here.

Managing Director Joe Ciancio, Maxsum Consulting

Joe graduated from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Science (Computer) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Elec.) The final year of his Computer Science degree was completed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan.

He spent the next four years living and working IT and electronics industry both in Tokyo and the IT epicentre - San Jose, California USA.

During this time working abroad, he regularly visited and gained an insight into many of the world’s leading IT and electronics companies throughout the UK, Europe, North America, South East Asia, North Asia and the Oceania region. He founded Maxsum Consulting in 2001 specialising in technology consulting, IT security, cloud services and IT infrastructure.

Owner Briana Cowan, Mingle Media

Briana has a vast experience of customer service, sales, account management, marketing, and social media across retail, telecommunications, small to medium business and not for profit. 

After working in corporate marketing for 9 years, she saw an opportunity with social media. Mingle Media was established in 2014.

Over the past 4 years, Briana has worked on accounts and created campaigns for Federal MP's, businesses in Health and Beauty, Real Estate, Hospitality, Fitness, Women's Footwear, Events, and many more.

Every year she attends the Social Media Marketing World Conference in San Diego to keep up with the latest trends and tools.

Pam Macdonald, Director Broadspring Consulting

Pam Macdonald has run a boutique leadership consulting practice in Bendigo since June 2008 and has over three decades of experience leading change, working with teams and coaching/training people to be their best.  She is a Fellow Certified Practising HR professional with AhRI and a past member of the Vic State council, as well as a Graduate of the AICD where she was an active member of the Bendigo Regional Committee, as well as being a Fellow of the AITD.  Pam is known and respected for her practical advice that is grounded in her unique experience across change management, HR management and line management areas.  Pam has worked in the public and private sectors, as well as in professional and financial services and has experience across a wide range of functions in organisations as well as having provided quality practical advice to businesses in regional Victoria (and Australia) across a range of sectors.