Queensland

THE QUEENSLAND ANNOUNCEMENTS

It's been another inspirational night at the 2008 Queensland Awards Dinner held at the Broncos Leagues Club in Brisbane.

Click here to view the list of award winners

Our evening started with the announcement of the South-East & Central Queensland Regional Winners and culminated in the announcement of our Queensland winners. A whopping 260 people attended our Dinner including some who had travelled from as far as Gympie, Rockhampton, Tully & Townsville.

Ya Ya Bitsi blitzed the competition with their wonderful book "GenYcare - Tips we want to share" filled with tips for saving the planet. Not only is it full of great information but the drawings and photographs were all the work of the students themselves. The whole publication is very professional and "green".

Our North Queensland teams' trips weren't wasted taking out four of the written awards between them.

We would like to congratulate all of our winning teams at both regional and state level. You have all done an exceptional job and rest assured ALL of the awards were very close and often difficult to split.

Amanda Fitzgerald from Network TEN was absolutely wonderful as our emcee and we are so pleased she was able to be with us for the evening. She brought even MORE glamour to our already beautiful evening and what an amazing host!

With our original guest speaker, falling ill during the week of the dinner, we were fortunate to have Lindsay Adams from Remacue join us instead. Lindsay gave us all some great advice about not being so driven by goals that we don't appreciate our experiences. He also spoke about looking at things that happen in our life that force us to take on a different perspective - to refocus. Thank you so much to Lindsay for giving us such great insight and thank you to Remacue for the books provided for all award winners on the night.

Thank you of course goes to our Award Sponsors for the evening;

• Stockland
• Queensland Government Department of Education, Training & the Arts
• Ipswich Motorway Upgrade (Wacol to Darra)
• Tarong Energy
• Logan City Council
• Longhaus
• Deans Iceworx
• Coca-Cola Amatil
• Broncos Leagues Club
• Lindsay Adams & Remacue

We would also like to thank our supporters for the great lucky draw prizes;

• Tangalooma Resort
• City Beach
• Stefan
• The Hon. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia
• Tukka Restaurant
• Australia Zoo
• Riverlife
• The Hon. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.

We wish all of our Queensland teams all the very best for the National Judging on 24th & 25th of November. National winners will be announced at the National Dinner on the 26th of November. Go QUEENSLANDAAAAAAH!

See all the great photos at www.exclusivephotos.com.au

All of our regional winners should be as equally proud as our State Winners - you have achieved an amazing thing to reach such a high level of professionalism and confidence to achieve your awards and Young Achievement Australia Queensland is proud of all of our Queensland teams for their dedication and hard work!

Congratulations to all teams and participants for a great 2008.

Good luck with your exams and stay in touch!

Thank You from Kerrie, Laura & Jenni.

The sponsors logo paled in comparison to the bright young people at this year's Sun Metals Young Achievement Australia North Queensland Regional Awards Dinner. Students participating in this year's Young Achievement Australia Business Skills Program™ converged on the Mercure Inn on Saturday the 18^th of October to find out who would be representing North Queensland at the State Awards.

Click here to view photos and a full list of award winners

The highest accolades awarded on the night are the Tertiary & Secondary Business Person of the Year. The 2008 secondary winner was Frankee King from Tully State High School while the tertiary award went to Sarah Ripley from our own James Cook University School of Business.

The Secondary Company of the Year was awarded to Savonya from Tully State High School while Maniyax from the JCU School of Business will represent North Queensland for the tertiary category. Other awards given on the night were as follows:

Environmental Sustainability Award: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Pam Lane Media Award: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Community Value Award: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Special Performance Award: Savonya from Tully State High School

Best Use of Technology Award: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Outstanding Product or Service: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Marketing Initiative Award: YAVA from Kirwan State High School

Business Plan Award - Secondary: Savonya from Tully State High School

Business Plan Award - Tertiary: Maniyax from James Cook University School of Business

All of our regional winners competed at the State Awards in Brisbane on the 31^st of October. A full list of winners can be viewed by clicking here

This is the first year the YAA Business Skills Program™ has been included in the JCU Business degree as a subject. Students from the James Cook University School of Business have been extremely grateful for the opportunity to experience a real life business before they graduate. Another great development for our program in North Queensland!

A huge thank you also goes out to our emcee, Hugh E Urquhart and our lovely guest speaker, Anita Hagarty. Anita's rousing message about being true to ourselves, having the courage to do what is right for us and finding our true passion was fantastic. Thank you to both Hugh & Anita.

After spending the evening with these inspirational young business people, it is difficult to be pessimistic about the future of our country. If you're concerned about your investments in shares, why not invest in our young people instead.