Jo Jordan - j2 Creative Industries

02/10/2022

Well that’s a wrap! 🤠

Despite the rain, the 2022 Australian Camp Oven Festival was a wonderful weekend celebrating camp oven cooking and Australian bush culture.

Adelaide, one of my volunteers, told me proudly that in her youth she was the billy boiling champion for 6 years running! It was so wonderful to see the next generation continuing to embrace this tradition and the event.

Congratulations to the hard working ACOF committee behind the festival 👏🏆

The festival will return again in 2024.

30/09/2022

Volunteers are the backbone of regional and outback events and the Australian Camp Oven Festival in Millmerran is no exception. Meet Margaret, Mary and Lex, just three of the festivals hard working 140+ vollies I have the pleasure of coordinating over the long weekend.

04/09/2022

A spectacular winters day to be heading to Roma ☀️✈️

19/08/2022

A shout out this morning to Melissa Gooderham and the team at Moreton Bay Region Industry and Tourism as they head into Day 2 of the Tastes of Moreton Bay event.

This time last year the team was faced with a snap lockdown thanks to Covid 😢 This year Day 2 is likely just to bring a few cases of sunburn as it is a spectacular winters day today in Moreton Bay 🙌 ☀️

If you are yet to make plans for the weekend, day tickets are still available here 👉 https://www.moretonbayfoodandwine.com.au/tickets

18/08/2022

Friday Flashback!

It is hard to believe it was 10 years ago that the j2 team delivered the Thiess John Holland Charity Dinner in the AirportlinkM7 tunnel.

This is definitely the most logistically challenging event I have ever delivered in my career. 550 guests were shuttled 900m to the underground event site that was 240m long and only 16m wide.

The event had a 7 week lead-time and involved 183 coordination and event crew! Some suppliers took one look at what was involved and walked out refusing to even quote!

Huge credit to the event design and delivery team that came onboard including event stylist Sharon Penny, technical manager Paul Bearne, the j2 team, caterer Wine & Dine'm Catering (who prepared a three-course meal for 550 guests in the fire egress of the tunnel!) and the many suppliers involved. 👏👍👊

Norwest Productions Chandeliers To Die For CRYSTALABRA Bart Hassam Floral Design Iceworks Design Pty Ltd TDC - Technical Direction Company Moreton Hire

17/08/2022

Last Saturday night I attended the Victory in the Pacific Ball at the The Events Centre, Caloundra. My good friend Rhonda Pattinson has been assisting the Caloundra RSL Sub Branch to coordinate the event and I helped out with checking in the 310 guests.

Everything was going to plan until just before the show started when the MC slipped and broke her wrist 😯 In a flash, local Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie MP stepped up to help out. After a quick trip to his car to grab his Elvis costume (yep, he carries it in his car at all times 😆) Jarrod delivered the MC duties and a little more on the evening!

Thank you Rhonda for the wonderful work you do in my local community and congratulations to the Caloundra RSL Sub-Branch for a memorable commemoration honouring our veterans and serving Defence personnel.

27/07/2022

Last night I had the pleasure of addressing Destination Scenic Rim members about designing event experiences and leveraging major events. It was a timely discussion ahead of the July Farm Gate Trail this weekend in the Scenic Rim.

If you haven't yet experienced this 'Lonely Planet Top Ten Destination to visit in 2022', I encourage you to grab an empty esky and to head to the Scenic Rim this Sunday for their Winter Farm Gate Trail. For more info and to download a map to guide you to the 26 farms and small producers opening their gates - head to https://lnkd.in/g4cXZEgz

18/06/2022

In just over 2 weeks tickets are on sale for the 2022 Australian Camp Oven Festival! I attended the festival for the first time last year and it is a wonderfully authentic celebration of camp oven cooking and Australian outback culture 🤠

I will be heading to Millmerran again this October Long Weekend to manage the festivals 120+ volunteers. If you haven’t been before, I encourage you to pack up the family, hitch the camper and to head to this picturesque little town around an hour from Toowoomba.

🎟Tickets go on sale on 4 July and the 1200+ campsites will sell out within hours - so mark it in your diary! 📔

14/05/2022

My heart goes out to the organisers of the Hampton Festival, Paniyiri Greek Festival and Regional Flavours who have made the difficult decisions to cancel or postpone their major events due to the current weather conditions. So much work goes into these festivals behind the scenes!

Next weekend is The Gathering, an amazing two-day Celtic festival in Ipswich that I have been mentoring for a number of years. Right now the organisers are watching the weather, checking the ground conditions and demonstrating nerves of steel while the next week plays out. Fingers crossed the weather forecasters have the prediction right as it is supposed to clear from Tuesday. Come on Mother Nature we need a break and this event has been 12 months in the planning!

Attached are some pics from this wonderful and authentic celebration of Celtic community and culture (where you can even pat a Highland Coo 😍). Fingers crossed we have blue skies and fine weather next weekend 🤞 ☀️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

05/05/2022

This week Scenic Rim Eat Local Week launched in delicious style in the spectacular grounds of the Scenic Rim Farm Shop & Cafe .

I have been working for the past six months with Scenic Rim Regional Council on a strategic plan to shape this authentic celebration of food and farming from 2023 onwards and assisting the team with the fresh new look for this years program and website.

It has been so interesting to liaise with the extraordinary producers and farmers in this region who are the backbone of this event and the reason why Lonely Planet named Scenic Rim as one of the Top 10 destinations in the world to visit in 2022.

If you are into amazing food and farm gate 'experiences' I encourage you to check out the 2022 Eat Local Week program here - https://www.eatlocalweek.com.au/

23/04/2022

Lest we forget 🇦🇺🇳🇿

Leading into Anzac Day I thought I would share some footage and pics from last year. In 2021 I had the privilege of working with the Ipswich RSL Sub Branch and leading the City Events Team at Ipswich City Council to coordinate the Main March through Ipswich.

Being a proud garrison town and home to the ADF’s largest base at RAAF Base Amberley, the streets were lined with thousands of people commemorating the spirit of the ANZACs. It was also the first time since Covid that the Ipswich community had come together on mass.

This year I will commemorate Anzac Day differently. But whether you on your driveway or head to a Dawn service or march this is one day Australians stand united in - lest we forget…

15/04/2022

🌻 This one will make you smile 😁

Last weekend thousands of people visited the Kalbar Sunflowers in the Scenic Rim. The Scenic Rim is one of Lonely Planet’s Top 10 regions (in the world!) to visit in 2022.

Check out the comments in this post - so many people simply enjoying the spectacle of sunflowers on mass! An example of a very unique regionally significant event in the stunning Scenic Rim 🌻🌻

Are you heading to the Kalbar Sunflower Festival this weekend? Send me your pics 🌻

15/04/2022

If you are lucky enough to be taking a mini break across Easter - enjoy! If you are heading to somewhere in regional Queensland, on your travels look out for the amazing street art to be encountered.

Here are just a few of my favourite pieces if you happen to be in Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Millmerran (home of the Australian Camp Oven Festival) or in my hometown on the Sunshine Coast!

Details on the locations and artists are in the image captions.

10/04/2022

THE POWER & THE PASSION

It is so great to see major events and concerts finally returning to regional locations. The last big concert I attended pre COVID was Elton John at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in March 2020. On Saturday night I returned to the stadium to see Midnight Oil on their farewell tour. For me, it was the first time since COVID that things felt like normal again - no masks, no limits, just people coming together on mass to celebrate.

Midnight Oil didn't disappoint and I found myself transported back 30 years when I last saw them in a pub on the Gold Coast (since demolished!).

As anticipated and well timed before the election, Peter Garrett reminded us all of the importance of protecting the environment, the rights of Australia’s First Nations peoples and the legacy we need to leave our kids. The power is in our hands, we just need the passion.

Here's a clip from the event - it is so wonderful to see people singing and dancing together again 😄

08/04/2022

✈️ PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOS! 🚂

It's not long now until Planes, Trains and Autos at the The Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich on the May Long Weekend!

This is just one of the events of regional significance I created with the amazing City Events Team during my time at Ipswich City Council developing their city-wide events strategy.

Here's a clip that Ashton Greaves just shared with me featuring yours truly chatting with Roothy from Creek to Coast at the inaugural event. Ashton is the lead producer of this event that reflects the heart and soul of Ipswich.

If you are looking for a great day out for the family you'll find all the details here - https://www.ipswichfestivals.com.au/

https://creektocoast.com.au/planes-trains-and-autos/

Planes, Trains and Autos is an exciting, family friendly event that celebrates all things aviation, rail and autos in the city of Ipswich.

03/04/2022

BAMBA GII - STRONG HEART 🖤..
Back in 2021 Jess and the team at the Surat Aboriginal Corporation delivered the first Bamba Gii Festival, a celebration of the South West Queensland Indigenous Cultural Trail in Roma, Queensland. It was also the first time the small team had ever delivered an event on this scale - no mean feat!

Amanda at Lingo PR and Digital, did an amazing job of steering Jess and the team through the event planning process and I came on a few weeks before the day to guide the team on production management for the main stage and Busby Marou

It was wonderful to see the community come together to deliver this first time festival and to celebrate the life and legacy of Angie Walsh who founded the Surat Aboriginal Corporation and the Cultural Trail.

Thanks to Natalie Walsh and the team at My Maranoa, here is a little clip from the first time festival that will return in 2023.

Special thanks to DW Sound, Festival Hire and Big Screens Australia for road tripping it out to Roma for the weekend to deliver the event 🚛

Also, here's a link to the South West Queensland Indigenous Cultural Trail for when you are next passing through the region - https://www.swqict.com/

https://fb.watch/c7omTYqzRB/

31/03/2022

After a busy two decades running j2 ideas & events and working in the local government sector, it seems I have come full circle and I am back to what I love most - freelance consulting.

My new venture focuses on the development of regionally significant events and the capacity building of regional and outback event managers and committees across Queensland. While I have been working in this space on and off for many years, I am excited that this will be my full-time focus moving forward.

To find out more, head to www.j2.net.au 👈

31/03/2022