Travelling to: This afternoon I’m flying out to New Delhi, India, along with 15 other Australian women to attend the annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Event (DWEN). The event is an amazing forum to discuss issues and ideas with other female business founders from around the world. Last year, I met some dynamic women at the event in Rio de Janeiro, including the inspiring Sue Chen (who was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs 2011) and who you’ll meet in the pages of my upcoming book “Power Stories: The 8 Stories You MUST Tell to Build an Epic Business” (October 2012, Wiley).
It’s a jam-packed schedule but I might squeeze in some time to get a henna tattoo, an Ayurvedic massage and visit the Taj Mahal. Stay tuned.
With the lovely Suzi Dafnis at last year's DWEN event in Rio
Loving: The latest issue of Latte magazine published by Business Chicks. Of course, I’m 100 per cent biased on this as I’m the editor of Latte! But I simply love working on a magazine that discusses real issues facing women in the business world. It’s not all about board quotas and equal pay, it’s also about style, fashion, travel – and new ways to change the world. It’s distributed to over 25,000 Business Chicks members – I hope you enjoy it!
Buying: Gastro Stop. I’m going to India. One must take precautions. Enough said.
Meeting: Author and screenwriter Seth Graham-Smith. Seth is responsible for the spike in popularity of the literary mashup genre, thanks to his epic Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, we’re talking Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet living happily in the countryside while undergoing intensive weapons training in order to slay the zombies who are taking over the world. Although this was originally conceived as a book for a niche audience, it became a bestseller. It has since spawned a video game and a Hollywood movie is also underway.
Meanwhile. Seth penned Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which debuted at number 4 on The New York Times bestseller list. That’s right, it’s about an axe-wielding President of the United States who spends his time killing “the undead” for the sake of the mankind. And, you guessed it, the blockbuster Hollywood movie will be released in Australian on 2 August.
I was fortunate enough to chat with Seth on his visit to Sydney from his Los Angeles last week and also managed to get a sneak peek of sections of the 3D movie. I have to admit, I’m not into vampires (or Abraham Lincoln for that matter) – but what I saw was awesome.
Playing with: The new Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. I went to the launch of this phone – an event held at the Capitol Theatre which was bigger than Ben Hur – complete with Jessica Mauboy singing her aptly named song “Galaxy”. We’re talking a lot of glitz and glamour – for a phone. I will admit, it’s very nice to use.
Speaking about: ”How to boost your creative business by networking and building your profile” at the Etsy Conference. This was part of Vivid Sydney and held at the Museum of Contemporary Art. I even managed to weave in my baby kitty Rex in the keynote so everyone could see him on the big screen. Yes, I know … any excuse.
