Kelsie's Update - AmCham and the Great Ocean Road

Hi Everyone! This week, I had the opportunity to visit the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham). There are 40 AmChams around the world, which exist to help American organizations do business in foreign countries by helping them overcome language and cultural barriers. The AmCham of Australia was actually started by Ford, Caterpillar, and Coca Cola as a way to discuss common issues. However, since the business culture in Australia is similar to ours in the US, AmCham in Australia decided to change their model.

I had a chance to chat with Ray Doyle, who is the general manager of the Melbourne office. AmCham in Australia operates much like our Chamber in Bloomington - they are a non-profit that exists to provide their members with networking opportunities and advocacy.They have just under 800 members, comparable to our Chamber of over 1,000 members. AmCham in Australia hosts over 200 events per year, which is really impressive! They also have a young professionals group called NEXT - Network for Young Professionals. It was interesting hear their take on young professionals and how their group is structured compared to hYPe. NEXT hosts events about four times per year that have a speaker who gives a talk for only about 10-15 minutes. Afterwards, the speaker stays for the networking event so that attendees can have a chance to meet them as well.  They don't have a separate membership for NEXT, but they do charge for their events. It was an interesting conversation and I'm excited to bring some ideas home with me!

Otherwise this week, our group had the change to try stand up paddle boarding on Friday. It was so much fun! We all did much better than we had expected. I would love to buy a board and use it on Lake Monroe this summer! One of the Rotarians accompanied us and took photos, so I hope to get those back soon.

On Saturday, we took a tour of the Great Ocean Road. It was a wonderful trip! Our first stop was at Bell's Beach, which is the beach that's portrayed in the movie Point Break. We also stopped in Lorne, where we visited a pier and saw some seals. It was a beautiful drive along the coast. Our tour guide also took us through Great Otway National Park where we took a walk through the rain forest.  We also saw our first koalas in the wild! However, they are over populated and have destroyed many gum treas in the area. Still so cute! The tour culminated in a stop at the Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge, which was amazing! The photos just can't capture it, but we sure tried. It was a great day and totally worth the drive!


It's been a wonderful time so far and this week, I'm looking forward to visiting the Healesville Sanctuary. Healesville Sanctuary is for Australian wildlife conservation, so we'll get to see some native animals up close. Can't wait!