Letter to the editor: Kind and compassionate customer service

/

Here is a shout out to Chapman Animal Hospital.
Last week we had to put down our dog due to cancer.
The vet came home and the whole procedure was conducted with utmost professionalism and compassion.
Received the attached (unexpected) card today in the mail with a memento of our dog's paw imprint, which made our day.
Thanks to the whole team at Chapman for taking such good care of her when she was sick, in the final hours and afterwards.
Legendary customer service and care.

Steeve Poligadu

Carnaby's black cockatoo numbers 'increase dramatically' with artificial hollows

/

Sarah Taillier for the ABC:

Artificial nesting hollows are helping revive the numbers of the critically endangered Carnaby's black cockatoo, after it lost part of its breeding heartland to bushfire in Western Australia.
The largest known nestling ground for the Australian bird species is in woodlands at a farm in Coomallo near Badgingarra, about 200 kilometres north of Perth.

MMG Golden Grove 2016 Round 2 Community Investment Program

/

MMG strives to be a responsible business underpinned by strong values and a belief that ‘We Mine For Progress’ - our progress and the progress of our stakeholders’. Benefits of our operations are shared by investment in the sustainable future of the communities in which we operate.

The MMG Golden Grove Community Investment Program is designed to provide support to community groups that make a difference by enhancing well being and improving the social, environmental, educational and economic outcomes for the local communities in the Midwest region of Western Australia. 

Applications for Round Two of the 2016 MMG Golden Grove Sponsorship Program are now being called.  A total of $15,000 will be available to assist local community groups and committees.

If you are a Not for Profit organisation and would like to apply for assistance to benefit a local initiative that delivers a sustainable whole community benefit, please email us at GGCommunity@mmg.com to request the application form.

Applications close on 23 September 2016.

All applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria and successful applicants will be notified by the end of October.

For more information please contact Michelle Holmes, Senior Specialist Community Relations - michelle.holmes@mmg.com.

Cucumber Virus first found in Geraldton now discovered in Perth

/

Joanna Predergast for the ABC:

A cucumber crop in the Perth horticultural area, which extends from Gingin in the north to Karnup in the south, has tested positive to Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus (CGMMV), making Perth the third location in the state to test positive for the disease.

The disease was first found in Western Australia in a cucumber crop near Geraldton in July and has since been found in Carnarvon.

Click here to read article.

A sad day for Geraldton - Senses sign gone as it's too offensive

/

Yesterday, Senses Cafe announced their much beloved sign is saying goodbye, as it is considered "offensive". The hashtags in the post tell us how they feel about it. 

Everything Geraldton receives some stupid complaints. Believe me. 

We usually just shake our heads and hit 'archive'.

But I'll never forget the day we received our first complaint about the Senses cafe sign. It was in May of this year, and Senses, as is their custom, had a little joke for people to enjoy while sipping their coffee. It was a joke about how people say they hate Crocs (the sandals), but seeing the company was worth $2billion, some of you "sonsabitches" must be lying. 

I shook my head when I saw the complaint. This is what it read:

"I wanted to have breakfast at Senses this morning but was too taken aback by their kerbside sign displaying profanity! I spoke to the Manager who was patronising and dismissive and told me there was nothing wrong with it and 'each to their own'.
I love a laugh as much as anyone but my kids deserve better than to be over inundated with profanity when the English language is so rich with other more eloquent and expressive options.
I had to make a formal complaint to Centre Management and yet I still doubt it will change anything.
Since when did it become ok to do that? If I went I the shop and said "I would like to order breakfast, b!tches" it wouldn't be acceptable now would it!
Work on your Customer Service Geraldton, it's downright disgraceful"

That's right folks. This person felt the need to go to centre management to complain about a joke about crocs because it had the word "sonsabitches", and then request that EG share the complaint to our tens of thousands of readers. 

I get that you probably don't call your daughter a bitch. 

But fun fact: Lots of millennials call each other "bitch" in much the same way that a 70 year old man would slap his mate on the back and say "how's it goin' you ol' bastard?!" Does he literally mean "how are you, you who are aged and conceived out of wedlock"? No. Is he using the term "bastard" to convey an insult or slur? No. It's the English language. It evolves. Words have multiple meanings in different contexts. 

If you're offended by that, you're the one with the problem, not the 70 year old Vietnam vet talking to his mate. 

I often use my wife as a barometer to see if things are over the line, so I showed her the photo with the Crocs joke. She laughed and nodded muttering "so true, so true". Then I read the complaint to her. She was as shocked as I was that someone was so petty that they felt the need to complain about this joke.

I put off responding to the complainer for a few weeks as I knew if I shared her thoughts she'd probably be crucified by our readers anyway. 

What's so bad about swearing anyway?

A few weeks ago I was walking along with my eight year old, and we overheard someone swearing. My son pointed it out to me, knowing it's not behaviour we normally encourage. 

I sat him down, and bought him a juice. "Ezra, there's something I need to tell you about swearing," I said. 

He looked at me, as though he already knew that swearing was bad, and he didn't need to have it explained further. 

"There's nothing technically wrong with swearing. I've taught you not to say certain words, because there are some people who live among us who are upset when they hear those words. But lots of people aren't offended by those words at all, and they don't have a problem using them. And there's nothing wrong with people who swear. You're not better than them if you don't swear. What's more important than whether you swear or not is what's in your heart, and how you treat people."

I gave him an example. 

"If you said to your little brother, 'Israel, I think you are a horrible person, you are not smart, you're ugly, and I will be happy when you die,' you haven't technically sworn have you?" 

"No," said Ezra. 

"But you were horrible to your brother, and you made him feel really bad about himself, didn't you?"

Ezra nodded. He could see where I was going with it. 

"But if you walked in and said 'Israel you effing legend, that was effing brilliant!' you've just sworn, haven't you?" He nodded, eyes narrowing. "But you've actually been really nice to him!"

He asked a couple of questions, then explained it back to me. He understood.

I don't care if my son "swears" or not to be honest, I care that he's kind to people. I explained a little about our culture, how you still need to watch the words you choose depending on the company you're in, and he seemed to get it. 

And now my eight year old understands the point of not swearing. He hasn't started swearing or anything. But he's not going to grow up with some narrow minded binary idea that specific words are intrinsically bad or good. I'd rather he understood we all have the power to make others feel good or bad with our words. Some words were perhaps originally created to hurt people. But words often get co-opted for a different purpose. And if they're making people happy, who cares?

And that's why I can't understand why someone felt the need to complain about the Senses sign. Clearly, these staff members are going above and beyond the call of duty to make people smile while they sip their lattes. They're putting a little bit of happiness into Geraldton each day through that sign. It's become something people look for. It should probably be heritage listed. That sign added value to the entire Northgate shopping complex. 

For Senses to then be attacked by self righteous zealots who are so insulated from the real world that they lack the common decency just to shrug and keep walking if they don't like the joke, is crazy.

 

I'm sure the person who lodged the complaint with centre management thought that's what Jesus would want them to do.

After complaining about that sign, did they make sure the news agency stopped selling pornography? Then did they make sure centre management stopped Coles from selling the local paper with prostitute ads next to kindergarten enrolment notices? Then did they complain to the fashion stores for all the sexually suggestive posters? Of course not. They knew the most pressing matter they needed to deal with that day was a joke with the word 'bitches' in it.

The problem with this brand of religious zealotry is its inconsistency and hypocrisy. 

If the standard for removing something is "I'm offended", then society will never try anything new.

Life would be boring if we only created art and products that were guaranteed never to offend.

Having grown up in churches I know these "offended" people well. They are professionally offended, all the time. If the pastor hasn't offended them by saying something they disagree with, then they're offended that Janice didn't give them enough eye contact on Sunday. They're offended that the new guy sat in their seat at church. They're offended that kids don't play in the street any more. Then they're offended that there are too many kids in their street playing Pokemon Go.  They're offended that the local coffee shop didn't have their exact same sense of humour. These people usually need to go and get a job, stop being busy bodies, stop getting their thrills off of killing other people's fun, learn how people in the real world actually live, and stop being shocked that some people see the world differently to them. 

If people changed the question they asked themselves from "does that offend me?" to "is that hurting anyone?" maybe we wouldn't be wasting so much time banning signs, debating marriage equality and fighting to remove criminal conviction records for people who were gay in the 70's. 

But to Senses Cafe, for all the wonderful signs over the years, thank you. 

And here's some funny street art we spotted the other day in town. Please don't be offended.

Make your mark on our CBD

/

Geraldton’s CBD is about to get a whole lot brighter with local artists being called on to help enhance bollards.

The City of Greater Geraldton has put a call out for local artists to create maritime or marine themed designs that will be used to decorate the bollards throughout the City centre.

In order to help make our community more vibrant, the top 10 selected designs will each receive $500.

With the original idea formed by the Mid West Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Future Leaders program, City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said he encouraged all local artists to get creative and make their mark on the community.

“This is a great idea from the future leaders of our City and what a wonderful opportunity for any artist to be seen and have their artwork displayed in a prime location,” he said.

“As part of the City’s Growth Plan which is in the final stages of drafting, we have put a big emphasis on the revitalisation of our City and also activating our CBD and making it a vibrant place to live, work and invest.

“And we know public art has received great feedback from our community in the past, so we look forward to seeing what our local talented artists come up with.”

Designs must be submitted as a high resolution PDF or JPEG with the dimensions of 750mm x 750mm.

Entries close 9am on Monday 3 October.

For more information and full specs head to www.cgg.wa.gov.au and search ‘bollards art project’.

👽 A UFO in Geraldton? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

/

Nadine McKenzie took a photo of her freshly mowed lawn today. 

Then later spotted something weird in the photo. 

"Took this pic in Seacrest today of my handy work with a mower. Then I noticed something to the right in the sky when looking back through them. UFO??? 😱😳😂 
Anyone???"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Local Agent To Leg It For Cancer

/

First National Commercial Geraldton manager Dave Tyson has announced he is supporting the 2016 MACA Ride To Conquer Cancer fundraising initiative, which benefits the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

The bike ride is held on the 15th and 16th of October and covers a total of 200 kilometres from Perth to Mandurah and back.  Each year thousands of men and women participate in the ride with over $15,000,000 being raised for cancer research during the past 4 years.

‘My wife and I have each lost family and close friends to cancer and we are both committed to raising research funds so we will one day see a cure for cancer’ says Mr Tyson.

‘To participate in the 200 kilometre ride in October, I need to raise $2,500.  So far I’ve raised $1,600 so I still have some way to go to reach my goal however the Geraldton public has been extremely generous so far.’ says Mr Tyson.

‘I’m asking everybody in my local community to get behind me with any donation they can afford. It doesn’t matter how small or large; every donation will help researchers get closer to a cure for cancer.’

To help support Dave Tyson in the MACA Ride To Conquer Cancer, donations can be made via the MACA Ride To Conquer Cancer website at http://goo.gl/7X6XO6 .

Geraldton Senior and Chapman Valley Primary to become Independent Public Schools

/

Congratulations to Geraldton Senior College and Chapman Valley Primary School who, along with over 70 public schools, have been announced to gain independent public school status for 2017.

“Being an Independent Public School is about empowering schools to be their own decision makers. We have the staff experience and knowledge to achieve positive outcomes with our students. To be recognised by the Department of Education for us to be able to continue to make the changes needed for the future is extremely positive,” said Greg Kelly, Principal of Geraldton Senior College.

“This status allows greater flexibility in how we operate as a school. We will continue to deliver high quality education for the students of the Geraldton community. We invite our community members to join with us in growing and developing as a public school. This supports our future direction as a public secondary school who offers education for those in Years 7-12 commencing in 2019.”

Application for this initiative and making the decision to go down this track began 6 months ago when staff and the community were consulted in the possibility of applying for this change of status. The application process was thorough and explored all areas of the schools including future plans. School Council chairpersons were involved in the process and lobbied heavily for their schools to be selected.

“Working closely with our parents and community was a valuable part of this process, and together we all worked extremely hard on our application. Becoming an IPS enables our school to continue to grow and improve. We couldn’t be happier with the announcement that we are able to join the ranks of other highly successful IPS schools within our system,” said Mel Hancock, Principal of Chapman Valley Primary School.

“I am excited for a fresh vibe that will come about the school and reinvigorate an enthusiasm for teaching and classroom engagement,” says Caroline Rowcroft, Chair of the College Council at Geraldton Senior College. “The school has so many strengths already and the future continues to look bright.”

Changes afoot at St Georges Beach

/

Recently installed Geotextile bags to reduce erosion of St Georges Beach.

With the recent completion of coastal protection works at St Georges Beach, Rundle Park is now undergoing the next phase of works that will improve community safety at the popular park.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said the works include installing a fence and constructing rain water overflow swales to recharge ground water in the area.

“St Georges Beach has always been a popular spot and since the replacement of playground equipment in Rundle Park the area is busier than ever before,” he said.

“Therefore, to improve community safety the City recently installed raised footpaths at the car park entrances which have been effectively slowing down vehicles entering and leaving the area.

“The planned one-way realignment of the carpark will further calm traffic whilst decreasing congestion and a fence to be installed along the west side of the playground will greatly reduce the likelihood of children running onto the road.”

Other works include rerouting storm water into sub-soil drains within the park.

“The raised footpaths are already helping funnel rainwater runoff into the grassed areas of the park where it will be collected in swales rather than letting it flow over the carpark and into the ocean,” said Mayor Van Styn.

“This will not only reduce beach erosion caused during high peak flows, the stored water will recharge ground water as well.”

Works which are scheduled to begin on Tuesday 20 September will take approximately four weeks to complete.

Power Solution Needed in CBD…..DALTON

/

WA Labor Candidate for Geraldton, Lara Dalton has backed calls for the removal dangerous and unsightly power poles in the Geraldton CBD.

“Over the years our streets have been widened, yet the poles haven’t been moved. They are now far too close to passing traffic and create a traffic hazard.

“Removing these poles and putting the lines underground would beautify our CBD and more importantly, make our town safer,” Ms Dalton said.

Ms Dalton called on the Liberal National Government to work with Western Power and provide adequate funds to get the job done.

“Despite this issue being raised in Parliament in 2013 by Labor MLC Darren West, the poles are still there.

“This is not a massive infrastructure project and could funded from the existing budget.”

Ms Dalton said that Geraldton had not been treated favourably by the Barnett Liberal National Government since 2008.

“We are still waiting on the promised Stage 2 of the Geraldton Regional Hospital, a mental health facility and a 138-room Aboriginal Hostel.

Why you should never do "Share to Win" competitions

/

Over the last year or so I've noticed a proliferation of "share to win" competitions on Facebook. 

Everything Geraldton has run a number of "like to win" comps in the past, and they're a nice way for our audience to win a prize. 

BUT, it may interest you to know that it's actually against Facebook's terms to make "sharing" or tagging a friend a condition of entry.

Business owners beware: if you post something with "Share this post to win" on your Facebook page, you actually risk Facebook shutting your entire page down. 

Here's the link. (Section E 3)

Why is this a problem?

Apart from the fact that very few people want to be constantly spammed with "share to win" posts in their newsfeed, there's a technical reason why you cannot make sharing to win a condition of entry on a Facebook page:

A page owner has no way of knowing who shared a post, unless the sharer has their privacy settings set to public.

Recently a competition appeared in my Facebook news feed. I clicked and had a look, and the post had over 490 shares. But when I clicked on the "shares" link, I am only shown 83 names. So although 490 people think they've entered a competition, really only 83 people have a chance of winning.

Most Facebook users have their privacy settings set to "friends". So when they share a post from a page, the page administrators cannot see their name. When they click the link to see who shared a post, Facebook only shows them the names of people who shared it publicly. 

When you enter a competition that asks you to "share", the page admin then checks the names of who shared the post, and picks a winner. The problem is, your name probably isn't even on the list, even though you shared it with all your friends. 

Unless you went and deliberately changed your privacy settings to "Public" (which most people do NOT want to do) your name isn't in the draw to win anything, despite you sharing the post. 

If people are following the terms of entry, but they're technically not in the running to win because the business cannot see the names of who shared the post, then not only has that business broken Facebook's terms, but there could be legal or ethical implications. It's like obtaining a raffle ticket but your entry never goes in the barrel, it goes in the bin. 

Running a competition in Western Australia is covered under the GAMING AND WAGERING COMMISSION ACT 1987, Section 104. 

Section 3 states: the permit holder shall ensure that every ticket or chance sold or subscription received is included in the drawing of a standard lottery; ... 

Section 11 states: "Records relating to the lottery shall be maintained for a period of twelve months and shall be made available to an authorised officer of the Gaming and Wagering Commission or a Police Officer upon request."

So not only does anyone who has been told they're in the draw HAVE TO BE ACTUALLY IN THE DRAW, but you have to be able to show the Police that this is the case, for the next 12 months. 

"Share to win" competitions on Facebook conflict with this section of the Act, because the method of entry is not consistently measurable by the business owner. 

But I didn't know!

Neither did we until a few years ago. But once it was explained it made a lot of sense. We still get a lot of businesses asking Everything Geraldton to run Facebook comps with "sharing" as a condition of entry, and while we acknowledge it's tempting because of the amazing reach those posts get, we don't think it's ethical, and it's a clear breach of Facebook's terms.

We will still run "Like to enter" competitions on Facebook, which are quite popular with many of our followers.

What should I do?

If you run a page, our advice is to make sure you never make "sharing" a condition of entry for a competition. "Like to win" is still ok. Or "visit our website and fill in this form", or whatever you can accurately measure. If whoever manages the social media for your business isn't aware of Facebook's terms, and the laws around Trade Promotions in WA, they could be getting your company into hot water. 

If you're just a Facebook user who sees these "share to win" competitions all the time, it's up to you if you want to spam your friends. But you'll need to change your privacy settings to public to even have a chance of winning, which means ANYONE, even people not logged into Facebook, can see your posts. 

But I've seen lots of organisations do this?

So have we. We've seen government agencies do it, large media companies, social media professionals, and lots more.

We haven't named or singled out any company in Geraldton doing this, because it's likely they simply didn't know how Facebook's sharing mechanism worked. Social media is still very new and confusing to a lot of us. 

In addition to the confusion, few of us read the terms and conditions when we sign up for anything, even a Facebook page. 

But we hope that once people understand how sharing and privacy settings work on Facebook, they'll realise "share" is not a suitable way to gather entrants for a competition. "Liking" on Facebook is perfect, though. 

Footnote: It may be argued that by "liking" the post as well, people have entered the competition, even if their "share" isn't visible to the page admin. The two arguments against this logic are that 1. it's still a breach of the ACT, and 2. people who "like and share" from a shared post on their friend's page will have their share appear on the original page's list, but NOT their LIKE. In a nutshell: Many people's names will only appear in the list of those who "shared" the post, not those who "liked" it. 

Footnote: Another new type of competition is the "Post on your page with this hashtag". While the rules around these are also ambiguous, it's worth noting that, again, unless the person posts with their privacy settings set to Public, their post will never be able to be seen by anyone other than their friends, and they won't be in the draw for anything.

 

City reminds residents of firebreak deadline

/

The City of Greater Geraldton is reminding property owners and occupiers that the 5 October deadline to clear firebreaks is rapidly approaching.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn is strongly urging property owners and occupiers in the Geraldton region to adhere to the firebreak deadline.

“The temperature may be cool now, but bushfire season is just around the corner and we need to be prepared,” he said.

“Firebreaks are a crucial element that protect not only your own property from bushfires, but they can also stop fires from spreading to adjacent properties.”

Firebreaks serve a valuable role in protecting properties from bushfires during the summer months, even more so now that higher than average rainfall will see an increase in flammable scrub.

Mayor Van Styn also reminded property owners who may not have cleared their firebreaks yet that they are required by Local Government law to do so.

“Once the 5 October deadline has passed, City Rangers will begin conducting fire prevention work inspections and they will have the power to issue infringements for non-compliance,” he said.

“Don’t risk the $250 fine, or worse, losing your life or your home to a devastating fire. Clear your firebreaks and keep them maintained throughout the year.”

Property owners are expected to maintain their firebreaks from 5 October 2016 until 1 May 2017.

Small vacant lots under 0.4ha must be slashed and have Wattle bush removed. Occupied blocks require a three metre clearance of all flammable material around structures and buildings and Wattle bush must be managed.

Larger blocks will also require a mineral earth firebreak installed along the entire external boundary of the land.

To find out more information, pick up a 2016-17 Firebreak Notice from the Civic Centre, or download a copy from the City’s website at www.cgg.wa.gov.au.

SUPER "SUITE" SALE

/

!!!!!!!!!!!!SUPER "SUITE" SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come down and check out our huge range of dining, bedroom and lounge suites!!
There is Plenty of Super "Suite" Deals to choose from!!!!!!!!!!!

FREE GIFT WITH EVERY SALE OVER $700
Mention this add when you Buy any suite and get free delivery and $50 OFF your purchase

Swift lounge suite $2049

Deco Queen bed suite $2459


Moza pce dining suite $1899

 

Text message scam warning

/

ANZ are warning customers of a scam text that is doing the rounds. ​

Here's an example of what it looks like. ​

​

There are two main types of scams like this that circulate by text.  

The first tries to get you to submit personal data for nefarious purposes. Be aware of this. 

The second is even more maliscious.  This is where hackers can essentially take over your phone just by you clicking a link. It may not be obvious they have done this at first, but they can essentially control the camera, microphone, and see everything you do without your knowledge. 

If you are running an old version of Android or iOS (iPhone) your phone can sometimes be hacked with a simple text message.  With one particular Android vulnerability, you don't even need to open the message. 

Unfortunatly for most Android users, security updates are few and far between. Unless your carrier issues a security update for your phone (which they rarely do) you're pretty vulnerable all of the time. You can root your device and install the latest version of Android yourself, if you don't mind spending a bit of time mucking around. 

Apple recently found and fixed a security vulnerability in their iPhone, so if you have the latest software then you're ok. 

As a general rule though, don't click on links from unknown sources. And don't forward links you are unsure about.  

And keep your iPhone running the latest version of iOS.  

Wildcats in Geraldton for two games and a coaching clinic

/

The Perth Wildcats are in Geraldton this week. Today they attended a breakfast at the foreshore and challenged a few people from the City to a 3 on 3 shoot out. The Wildcats are playing 2 pre season games, against our Buccs and the Adelaide 36's. They're also putting on some coaching seminars. For game tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/perth-wildcats-vs-sk-electr…
For coaching info head here: http://www.cgg.wa.gov.au/…/…/perth-wildcats-coaching-seminar