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September 2007
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YAA WA in 2007
After a very exciting year in 2006, culminating in the Wesley College team Psychyadelic picking up the national award for Secondary Company of the Year, YAA in Western Australia has begun 2007 with a variety of companies and products from around the state and many very successful events already held.
Our new State Manager Joey King has continued to offer programs into schools in the metropolitan and regional areas. Most excitingly, 2007 has seen the addition of several new sponsors to the Business Skills Program™ and their valuable support has allowed more students to benefit from completing the program.
Our first event of the year was the Mentor Information Evening, held at IBM. It provided important information for the new mentors commencing the program in 2007, including some valuable advice from experienced mentor David Tydeman.
This was then followed in May by the Management Skills Seminar at Penrhos College. A variety of guest speakers addressed the students on a variety of topics relating to business management and marketing. Following this the students then broke up into workshops for their specific directorates to gain specialised knowledge and tips from business professionals in areas of marketing, finance, manufacturing etc.
All companies are well into the program, with many beginning the production process as well as completing key YAA paperwork and their Business Plan which will provide the direction of the company as they progress through the program over the next 4 months. Many innovative products have been developed by the students including T-shirts, CDs, jewellery, bandanas and stationary and selling will begin over the coming weeks.
The Business Skills Program™ calendar is looking very busy for the next couple of months. After handing in their Business Plans, companies are now preparing for the Trade Expo in Forrest Place on Sunday, 26 August 2007. This event will be an opportunity for the companies to experience selling in a real market place as they sell their merchandise to the public. Companies will also be given the opportunity to promote their product with a short skit on centre stage. The event will be a very exciting day for all involved in the program and will launch students into the next phase of the Business Skills Program™.
A Revolutionary Trade Expo
 | | A sea of colourful promotional materials and music greeted city shoppers in Forrest Place late last month when Young Achievement Australia held its annual Trade Expo. The expo was officially opened by the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, Dr Peter Nattrass. |
After months of hard work forming companies and preparing and manufacturing products, the secondary and tertiary student companies gathered en masse to sell their unique products direct to the public in a true marketplace environment.
Company staff (students) arrived early on Sunday, August 26 to set up stalls and prepare direct marketing strategies. Companies used a wide range of marketing and sales techniques to sell their wares, including some amusing and creative skits on centre stage. Products on sale included bumper stickers, dog tags, luxury soaps, herb starter kits and more.
The products were developed and often manufactured by the students, and the variety for sale showed the creative diversity of WA's young entrepreneurs.
Mystery shoppers assessed companies on their product knowledge, sales process, marketing, customer service and merchandising techniques, and awards were presented on these criteria.
Following in the footsteps of their 2006 predecessors, Wesley College company Revelooshyan took out the Overall Trade Fair Award for the best company expo preparation and performance.
ECU Business and Law executive dean Robert Harvey presented the winners with their awards. Dr Harvey congratulated the budding young entrepreneurs and all expo participants on the success of the trade expo.
Congratulations must also go to Lya for winning the Sales Process and Marketing Awards; to waYAhead, for Excellence in Merchandising; and to Ya Want Some? for its Sales Pitch Award.
We thank our expo partners Edith Cowan University and the University of WA for enabling such a successful event and congratulations to all students and mentors and we hope you enjoyed the expo and gained valuable business insights and knowledge from the experience.
