News/Announcements
INVITATION - AUSTRALIA DAY 2015 EVENTS
The President of the Australian Association (Norway), Peter Vaughan, is delighted to invite you and your spouse/partner to the 2015 Australia Day Reception to be held at the Head Office of Wilhelmsen Maritime Services, at Strandveien 20, Lysaker, from 5.00 p.m. until 7.00 p.m. on Monday, 26th January, and thereafter at the Dubliner Folk Pub, Rådhusgata 28, Oslo.
V.I.P.
Guests -
H.E. Damien Miller (Australian Ambassador to Norway), Anne-Grete Nordeide AM and Mollie Holst OAM. Come along and meet our Ambassador and listen to his important Australia Day speech.
Admission to Reception: no charge for financial AAN Members, otherwise Kr. 200.00 per head payable in advance (preferred) or at the door. Payment will be regarded as the AAN annual subscription for 2015 entitling the payer to AAN Membership and its benefits. Finger food and drinks provided.
Reception Dress Code: neat, casual (no denims).
Admission to Dubliner Folk Pub: no charge. Pay for your own drinks.
Enquiries: Peter Vaughan President petervau@online.no 4173 7731 Adam Delacorn Vice-President
adelacorn@gmail.com 4884 5125 R.S.V.P.: by Friday 23rd January to: Andrew Miles Secretary andrewmiles78@gmail.com 9942 9265 Payment: AAN Account “Australian Association Norway,” account number 1503.02.42138 and please advise your SURNAME and AUSTRALIA DAY on your Internet bank payment, and send these details to: Robert Lister Treasurer aanbank@broadpark.no |
EGM & Xmas drinks - Dec 4th, The Dubliner
Dear Members & Friends of AAN, Please note the important self-explanatory attachment, giving formal notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association, primarily to elect a Committee to run the Association next year. Meeting: 6.00 p.m. at the Dubliner Pub on THURSDAY, 4th December. Following the meeting there shall be adequate time for informal general comment and your suggestions to the new Committee. The meeting and informal discussion are expected to take no longer than an hour. Another important element of the evening is to enable Aussie newcomers to Norway to meet those who have established themselves in Norway, and to do this in the normal pre-Christmas spirit which we enjoy. It will be a great opportunity to stay on for a few drinks and something to eat, whilst having a chat to new arrivals and existing friends. The interim Committee encourages you to attend. If you have not already done so, please contact me if you are interested in joining the 2015 Committee. Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you on the 4th. Kind regards, Peter Vaughan Interim President Australian Association (Norway) |
AAN Revival
At an informal Committee meeting in Oslo on 14 October 2014, it was agreed that AAN should not be disbanded, but opportunity given to a new Committee to revitalise the organisation. This will be very much a team effort and an Interim Committee was appointed to achieve the above and to hold elections for a new ongoing Committee as soon as practical. The plan is to have a newly elected Committee in place and up and running by 01 January 2015. It will then develop an events calendar for 2015 and confirm arrangements for its first gathering on Australia Day, Monday 26 January 2015. Members appointed to the Interim Committee are: Executive Members (voting rights):
Non-Executive Members (voting rights): The Constitution provides that there shall be at least one voting Committee member. In practice there have been 4 or 5 Committee Members in past years.
Advisor (non-voting):
A significant team effort is required by the Interim Committee to achieve AAN renewal and all and any suggestions from you shall be warmly received. Please co-operate and contact any of the above Executive. Likewise it is very important that the above vacancies be filled and this is obviously a priority. Any Member willing to help should please contact any Executive Member. The Interim Committee feels that it is essential to meet the changed needs of AAN Members, whilst developing a program that embraces the traditional Aussie national celebrations and commemorations. New sponsorships shall be sought to support these activities. Please direct your comments on any aspect of the above to an Executive Member. We very much look forward to your support for a truly refreshed New Year for AAN. |
AAN 2013 Activities
There has been very limited interest in the position of President and as a Committee member of AAN. Simon White and I have shared the position of President for the past six years and are unable to fill the Presidents position due to work and family commitments. The key issue comes down to the demand to organise events and continued activity within AAN. As a result of this we believe that it is necessary to significantly downscale the activities and ambitions of AAN in 2013 and beyond. We recommend this reluctantly, however, it is clear that we lack resources to arrange and run events. We can review our situation again in early 2014 to see if there is any new interest in taking over the running of the Association. This means that we will not request membership fees in 2013 and will not establish a calendar of events. We both however offer to remain as board members and perform the following tasks: - Official representatives of AAN ref authorities. - Maintain website - Administer facebook group - Administer support of new AAN events (ref below) - Organise occasional "offers" requiring minimal administration and effort (ie 3rd party events or offers) Robert Lister, AAN Treasurer, has also agreed to continue his support in 2013. As the Association is well financed and equipped, AAN will support selected activities proposed by members of the Australian community in Norway. This support may consist of: 1. Financial support to a maximum value of 1500kr per event as well as underwriting. 2. Promotion via email distribution list, website and Facebook pages 3. Equipment support (e.g tables, BBQs, PA system, tent etc) Suitable activities should meet the following criteria: a. Open to all members of the Australian community in Norway b. Appeals to a broad cross section of the community c. Be of a nature that positively reflects on the Australian community as a whole. d. A maximum of 10 activities could be financially supported each year. e. Be well planned, organisationally and financially. If you have any comments regarding the downscaling of AAN activities or have some ideas for events that you would like to run then please email us at info@aan.no Shane West & Simon White |
Auction: Signed Orica-GreenEDGE jersey
At the recent AAN reception for the Orica-GreenEDGE cycling team, AAN was presented with an authentic Santini jersey. The jersey is signed by 7 of the 8 man team that competed in the Tour of Norway. Signatures include Stuart O'Grady, Baden Cooke, Michael Hepburn and Sebastian Langeveld. The unsigned jersey has a value of around $230AUD. AAN would like to auction this jersey and donate the funds back into the Association. The auction will be carried out as a first price sealed bid auction with the following rules:
All bids should be sent to info@aan.no before 5pm CET Tuesday July 10th. Remember - your first bid is your final bid so make it count! Follow the GreenEDGE team via their website and backstage videos from TdF. |
2012 Membership
Registration for 2012 AAN Membership is now open and payments can be made securely online from the Membership page. In 2012 we have decided to reduce the cost of membership significantly to reflect the improved financial position of the Association and our desire to reduce any barriers to becoming an active member of AAN. In addition, we've also introduced a new long distance membership for people living more than 150kms from Oslo. Your support is vital to the continuing existance of AAN in Norway. You can also support AAN through giving your time to help arrange and hold events. Please contact us if you would like to help out. We are very much in need of people. In addition to supporting AAN you get the following benefits: 1. AAN events each month Throughout 2012 AAN will hold monthly events where AAN members can receive discounted, priority entry when admission is charged. We'll also ensure that members have preferential pricing on anything supplied at those events. 2. Reduced prices on flights to Australia Australiatur.no (www.australiatur.no) has very generously offered all AAN members a 10% discount on flights to Australia. Australiatur.no are specialists on tours and flights to Australia and will very happily help you out with your next trip. Where conditions allow you may also receive more flexibility to change your ticket without any additional costs. Feel free to contact Australiatur.no when shopping around for tickets, you might just be very pleasently surprised at the deal you can get. Some conditions will apply to this discount offer so check with Endre or Bent at Australiatur.no for more details. To receive this offer you will need to show your current AAN membership card. 3. Free rental of AAN equipment AAN has recently purchased numerous pieces of equipment to help in the running and planning of our events. For most of the year this equipment is sitting in storage so we would like to offer the use of this equipment to AAN members free of charge. Renters of the items will be required to leave a small deposit (and a donation if they wish) that will be returned once the equipment is returned to AAN. Details about the equipment and conditions of rental can be found here on our website. See you at an event soon! |
New slogan!
The Association recently held a competition to find a unique slogan to introduce us more informally: Australian style. We had many good responses and finally voted on two lovely lines from two different entrants. So we actually have two winners! They are Natasha Weerasinghe and Craig Jasienski. Thank you both for your efforts! You'll be receiving your AAN polo and t-shirts shortly, together with a free 2012 membership. So we now have a friendly brand new slogan to remind us of Australia and also to celebrate us being all the way up north of the globe. The Australian Association Norway's new slogan is: Check out our new t-shirts and polos sporting the slogan and logo here. |
New AAN t-shirts and polos
With the launch of our new slogan we have some cool, newly designed T-Shirts sporting the slogan along with a Mooseroo! A very unique illustration of a moose and a kangaroo designed by Ingun Redalen White. Some have already been spotted wearing the T on an informal work Friday in and around Oslo. ![]() Our committee members will also be wearing a navy blue Polo with a bottle green AAN logo at our events. These are also on sale and are fantastic in quality. ![]() Reserve your t-shirts and polos here We have limited pieces as this is our first test print batch and we plan on ordering subsequent pieces as we receive orders. The T-Shirts and Polos can be paid for and collected from selected events. Please check out our upcoming events on the events page of our website (www.aan.no). Or they can be viewed and purchased from Shane West in Stabekk. Seeing how hot our first efforts go in demand, we may just be inspired to come up with more cool AAN products! |
Pub night instead of quiz night
Unfortunately, we've been unable to find a quiz master to prepare and host the proposed quiz night next Friday evening (Oct 21st). If any of the Australian community is prepared to generate questions and host a quiz night then AAN would be very happy to arrange a venue and prizes. We are confident that we will be able to hold this event in 2012. In place of the quiz night a few of us will be meeting at the Dubliner on Friday Oct 21st from 6pm for a few drinks. |
Xmas Party help needed!
We had such a great response to the family BBQ (more than 125 registered) that we have decided to hold a family Xmas party on Dec 11th - so make sure you you pencil it into your diary. We need your help to make it happen! We need ideas on where we can hold this event. Keep in mind that it needs to be central to Oslo, relatively inexpensive to hire, and should be able to accommodate 100 people comfortably and still allow the kids to run around a little. All suggestions welcome! |