ecolimo have been talking to Jack Green, we now have all our electricity in the office 100 % offset.

Having made the big move up the Hume Highway there was an impression that Melbourne did the coffee scene so much better.

Well in my humble opinion it was not the culture shock I expected. Having been spoiled in Melbourne by the Michael Sergi and his crew from Zapper in South Melbourne I was not too sure how we would cope with the move to Emerald City.

Well let me tell you so far so good. We have settled north of Sydney in the suburb of Pymble and just down the street is a coffee roaster and barista named Dean. His business Sibonis supplies brilliant coffee either in beans or as the finished product.

For meetings we have been visiting Bills in Crown Street in Surry Hills, a little overpriced, probably due to the location but at least there is usually parking and so far the service and coffee has been exemplary.

a couple of the fleet at Bills in Surry Hills

Was out early on Friday to see a presentation from Jon Dee about lessening the use of paper in the work place.

Project paper-less is about finding ways to change the way we do business. Talked to Hugh Millikin, the CEO of Indigo Pacific . His company was one of the sponsors of the project and presented on using forms via Adobe and how these forms can contain controlled information. In fact you could program the document to be available at a certain time. There was also a demonstration from Redmap on how to make all your documents available on line and search-able.

This is the way of the future. With the improved infrastructure now available, this technology is here and ready to be used.

Met up with Kylie Ahern today. Kylie is the CEO of Luna Media, publisher of G Magazine and Cosmos. She is an inspiring person and has got a great product. It is great that we are able to tap into such experience to help find our way in Sydney. Look out for chance to earn a mini subscription to either of these fantastic magazines just by travelling in Ecolimo.

Ecolimo have decided to go waterless when washing our cars. We met Christian from Eco-Organic car wash at the office. His demonstration was so successful that we have decided that this is the way to keep the cars clean.

Blue Earth Day saw Ecolimo being pampered by Cristian, Peter and myself along with Robyne and Alice spent some time at Darling Harbour. Met Sam and Ollie from Rosnay organic wines and sample a couple ther wines , Robyne was impressed as well so we bought a couple of cases and are looking forward to sampling the product. Sam is passionate about the organic production of wine. He also produces olives and was about to head back up the road for the olive picking.

Met Scott McDougall, he is a Canadian environmentalist and was spruiking to Australia about greenwashing, and I don’t mean our association with eco-organic car wash products. Scott told me about all the different ways you can be caught out. I was aware of a few but if you look The web site ecologo.org you can see for yourself.

We at ecolimo were aware of the importance of backing up our statement of being carbon neutral as we have been audited by climate friendly . Please visit the climate friendly web site to find out more about where they obtain their carbon credits

Drove Robert Clarke CEO of the Andromeda Group and his GM Ian the other day. Andromeda is a comercial company coming up with climate change and business strategies, Robert is passionate about his work and Ian looks to keep the business on track to a successful future.

The 2008 Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards were launched at Ravesi’s at Bondi and organised by Sally Burleigh Public Relations. Ecolimo was there to assist picking up guests to attend the launch. I picked up self taught fashion designer Ben Pollitt. Ben, who has his own label Friedrich Gray, was the winner of the 2007 award in the fashion design section. Ben told me how exciting it was to be in the industry and of his new plans. Also on hand was fashion icon Peter Morrissey. Peter is the mentor in the fashion design section and was mentor to Ben through the 2007 award.

As Alan was held up at the airport, the unsuspecting customers had to put up with me driving them to ANZ Stadium for the deciding game in the State of Origin decider between Queensland and NSW.

Apparently the trip to Homebush is a nightmare when there is big crowd expected. Luckily these blokes worked in radio and were well connected, a quick call to their mate “Wally”and I was given some sound advice on the best route to the stadium.

It was only later as I wandered back from the drop off and saw the traffic along Hombush Drive banking way back did I realise how valuable this advice had been.

Veteran traffic reporter Ian Wallace was the “Wally” on the line. My advice when you hear his traffic reports over the airwaves … take heed.

Live green was run by the City of Sydney on Sunday 17 August at Victoria Park in Camperdown. The weather was magnificent and the crowds flocked to see the entertainment provided by the likes of Jazz Nouveau and others

as we were busy promoting our vehicles we missed a lot of the entertainment and speeches and as I talked to a visitor to our display I was pleased to here that her workplace utilised the hybrid vehicles that we use as limousines at ecolimo. After ascertaining that she worked with the City of Sydney it was a little embarrassing to realise that her position with the council was the Mayor. Although originally from Victoria I had heard of Clover Moore and now am able to put a face to the name.

Attended a Lunch run by the Melbourne based Irvine Club at Wildfire . It was thanks to an invite from The General (Tony Phillips) a Melbourne customer and was a great day. This was the first venture outside of Melbourne.

I made the mistake of committing to another event at 5.00 PM. A very silly move as unbeknownst to me the real action is after the lunch. The speaker was Mark “MG” Geyer, the so called “bad boy” from the game of Ruby League. MG was full of great stories and was able convey some life changing experiences and what effect they had on his life. He really demonstrated the power of determination and will.

The Irvine Club was formed in 2004 by to provide an opportunity to bring together members to share their love of sport as well as helping those less fortunate with financial assistance. It is a not for profit club set up to run two invitation only business lunches a year.

Australia’s top scientists donned their formal rags for the the science community’s version of the Oscars, the Eureka Prizes. Ecolimo was on hand to ferry some of the guests. It was sold out weeks ago and the event has grown since 1990 when it was held in a dining room at the museum.
We were a driver down as Grant had a child with pneumonia and it was up to me to do one of the trips. Well so much for satellite navigation as I tried to find the best way via double bay to the AJC at Royal Randwick Racecourse where the event was held. How I wished that I had Wally on the blower, see previous post “its who you know” as I managed a version of Mr Magoo. Most of the time it’s OK but those Eastern Suburbs can be tricky for the veteran drivers let alone an imposter from the south.

overheard in the car last week.

“How about we make a start with carbon neutrality? And people can make their choices… it’s a war to save the world, it really is that simple. At the very least, we should all live within the same global footprint. So, for example, if you choose not to eat meat, that probably means you can drive further than meat eaters. Especially if you’ve got a smart car. And if you’ve got no car and you can’t afford food, then you are up for some serious offsets. Like education. And health.

Meanwhile, there’s work to be done at the big end of town. So how about following the advice of people that are doing some serious thinking and working towards a non-proliferation treaty on coal fired power stations.
What? Do politicians have something more important to do? Go on, save the world. It’s not that hard. Everyone’s ready to start the long march

Go on. It’s not that hard. It’s about changing habits. If we can give up smoking we can give up compulsive acquisition. Why not change what it means to keep up with the Jones’s. Go on, have a no-buy day.

And if it still seems too tricky then take a minute to ask someone over seventy what could be done. Living without some things obviously didn’t kill them. Our grandparents, they didn’t wash their clothes all the time. Smart people, those ones that have seen other times. They understand alternatives.
And they know stuff, like how air is sometimes as good as water and in a smarter world, our air won’t have added pollutants in it, like detergent has.”

this really made me think

I would love your comments

The Save Water Save Energy Expo is Australia’s largest showcase of products and services which save water and energy, increase recycling and save the environment.
You will be able to see us there. Please visit stand H01 and enter the competition for a free transfer and return valued at up to $200

visitors fill out the tickets at the Save Water Save Energy expo

our Prize winner

The Save Water Save Energy Expo saw many entries in our competition for a free transfer and return valued at up to $200.

Our winner was Dennis Khoo but we will be contacting all entrants with a thank you  message.

Ecolimo sponsored an auction item at the Ruyton Ball the other week. The auctioneer and MC was Darren James from Radio station 3AW in Melbourne. He did a fantastic job and our item raised over two thousand dollars. We had a chat about the move to Sydney and his former colleague and boss Steve Price now ar 2UE who has also made the trip up the highway.

Next time we were in Melbourne was for Derby Day and who did we see….Darren James..again this time he was even more relaxed as there no Buy Swap and Sell to be out of bed for.

We were in Melbourne for Derby day, it is the busiest day or the year in the limousine and chauffeur driven vehicle business.

we were guest of Lexus of Blackburn and managed to see home a couple of winners early. Our luck deserted us for a few races but we managed to come screaming back and ended up even for the day. There were a few other people down from Sydney and all had a great time.

With Cameron, Lisa and Georgie from Nine’s TODAY show.

Spring and early summer is the time for weddings, and we have been busy in Melbourne and Sydney over the last six weeks.

We had a wedding in Melbourne and had promised our LexusGS450h. We had it booked into Blackburn Body Works for some repair work on the Monday. I had talked to one of the workers there, Kevin, and asked about some extra work being done. As it was to be ready we were unable to get that done so we went ahead with repair from a minor accident.

As were not at fault RACV had looked after us as they have before. The quality of work at Blackburn body work can’t be denied as the car has come back looking great. The down side is they have no idea of what a week is, I rang up on the Friday morning to see what time the car was to be picked up. You can only imagine my reaction when we were told Tuesday (three days AFTER the wedding).  The offer of a Toyota Camry did not quite fit the bill for an environmentally friendlier option at this stage, they will be a choice next year apparently.

I was real dilemma  but I made a quick call to Lexus of Blackburn. Thanks to Ryan and Des  we
re able to borrow a loan car and the Tracey was delivered in an environmentally friendly Lexus.

On the same day in Sydney, again another wedding and who was the one to do the 0100 pick up in Pymble, yes it was me. It must have been a great wedding as the band came out about twenty past one and still I waited finally the Bride and her newly wed husband came out and Danielle still looked like she was ready fro a wedding photo at that time. I wasn’t (something to do with age and the time)

Who couldn’t refuse the opportunity to network with Melbourne’s who’s who in sustainable business- in Melbourne’s most Sustainable building while enjoying a fabulous array of Organic and Bio-dynamic Wines and Cheeses!
that was the blurb from Green pages for the launch of their 2009 Annual Magazine.

Bringing the Wine and Cheese to Melbourne on the day the 2009 Green Pages hits newsagent shelves enticed Rishi. Rishi was there to represent ecolimo and had a great night meeting and chatting to the other guests.

Rishi poses with Greenpages founder Katie Patrick

If you use our frequent traveller cards after ten trips you get a free trip, equivalent to a 10% discount. Also we do not charge 10% on credit cards like in Taxis or most hire car companies, another 10% off our already competitive prices.
A $60.00 fare with us ($54.00 after 10 trips) is comparable to $49.09 (+ 10% surcharge + 54.00) in a cab or another limo company. So you can pocket the savings while doing your bit for the environment.

Wondering about these wind generated power turbines they are amazing pieces of technology.

Talking with Josef Tadich who is an aeronautical engineer with Roaring 40s . He told me the giant blades travel at 300 KM/H at the extremity. Reading Josefs blog I was interested to see what thoughts were on clean coal.

After reading that Karl Kruszelnicki had described clean coal as a “complete furphy” and likened it to Nazi propaganda. it was a good read.

Saw Mr Gore deliver the keynote address to 1000 people in Melbourne. He told guests at the launch of a new think-tank – Safe Climate Australia of the mounting challenges requiring immediate action. After less than six hours sleep in two days Mr Gore managed to enthrall the audience with a speech from the heart

Safe Climate Australia is a non-government organisation formed by a group of concerned scientists, community and business leaders. It’s aim is to review climate change trends and shift society towards a net zero-carbon economy.

They are running to raise awareness of climate change please check the web site.

The second episode of the Irvine Club in Sydney.

Kerrie O Keefe was the speaker, and while I didn’t mind him on the radio was not sure how he would be live.

Kerrie delivered in spades. The line of the lunch (IMHO) was when during question time he was asked which of the Chappells, Greg or Ian had been the better to play under.

“Lock in Answer “C” please Eddie”

the timing of a Ponting on drive (well circa before the last 18 months)

The Irvine Club was formed in 2004 by to provide an opportunity to bring together members to share their love of sport as well as helping those less fortunate with financial assistance. It is a not for profit club set up to run two invitation only business lunches a year.

We transported the presenters in the Annual Eureka Awards.  The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are a unique partnership between government organisations, institutions, companies and individuals committed to celebrating the vitality, originality and excellence of Australian science.

We would like to thank Sydney Toyota for the loan a of  New Generation Prius for the night.  It must have been a great night as the cars were waiting for a quite while.

This was the second year that we have done the event and again it seemed as if all the presenters managed to have a great night.

The crowd is there

Alan was on hand to deliver a multi media star in Sydney this Month, Platypus Bill and his 3 minders arrived in eco style for the at Parliament House for the rally. Platypus Bill had traveled down from Newcastle on the train with other community members to protest the damming of the Williams river
near Dungog which would destroy the habitat of 30 Platypus families.

Save the Williams River

The river starts in World Heritage Barrington Tops National Park and gently meanders down through the Williams valley. There are a variety of native species that call the Williams riverine system home; the platypus; a diversity of fish species including bass, mullet, eel and bullrout; five species of mussels; freshwater crayfish; long-necked turtles; as well as a rare stand of river oaks, covering 2 hectares.

Russ spent time visiting from the US. He popped in to help with the implantation of the new management system for bookings. it is a slow progress but well worth the time. Russ as well as working for Limo Express in Havensack New Jersey and writing article for the limo magazine is now off to the limo show in Las Vagas

After a month of learning a new system we now have more professional way of keeping the bookings in order.

We are able to dispatch jobs via the Blackberry hand held devices in all the cars.

Each car has its own email address and we are able to send updates to the driver as well as a  copy to  clients.

let us know what you think of the new system.

After a logistical nightmare thanks to the success of the SLAM Rally we picked up the RocKwiz band James Black,Mark Ferrie and Peter “Lucky” Luscombe after playing the AC DC classic Its a long way to the top if you want to Rock and Roll. This was a repize of the the original in ACDC film clip for “It’s A Long Way To The Top” in 1976

The boys were just about done after the effort (it really was a long way to the top….of Bourke Street) and were ready for their tour of Adelaide for the festival over there.

2009

May

“Hello Don
I’m just letting you know that Maria and I will transfer the funds to your account this evening. My apologies for the delay.
Can you please thank the three drivers for us. They did great work on a very difficult day and helped everything to run very smoothly for us. Greg did a wonderful job for Maria and I especially given the bush fires and his home being in the Dandenongs. We have included an additional $150 ($50 for each driver) in the payment which we would like you to pass on to the drivers with our thanks for their very good work.

Many thanks

Bruce

2010

July

Hi Don,

Thank you to you and your team for transporting family members and friends last week. We all enjoyed the courteous and friendly service. Also, despite a one hour flight delay due to bad weather Allan still dropped them off in time. It was a great effort and much appreciated.

Regards,

August

When is a free trip not a free trip?

Well I guess I should call it a discount trip. The trip is free but the extras are payable to the driver. Thanks to all our loyal customers who are taking the twenty trips and using the free  trip vouchers. Look forward to more of you coming back again.

Again it is flat out in for derby day, sadly Lexus have forgotten poor old ecolimo but I guess I need all brain cells firing as it looks like being a cold old day so there will be bedlam on the road. Any tip would be appreciated as I have no idea what or who to back.

Merry Christmas

designed and digitally altered by Alice Evans-Pyke

the best comments on this post will be up for a special prize (winner notified in our Australia day 2011newsletter)

1. An electronic payment system in the cars  - we have been looking at different mobile payment systems and hope to have this in place in the near future.
2. Expand to other capital cities – we have also been looking at the feasibility of this and are looking at licensing the Ecolimo name in other capital cities with a central booking system.

and some things we won’t be taking on board

1. providing martinis in the cars
2. cloning Don
3. supporting Collingwood

but hey it doesn’t hurt to hurt to ask….Thank you

The winners of our competition will win tickets (notified March 10 by email) to see  DBR and DJ Scientific with Emeline Michel Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre

Artist(s)
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)—six string violin
Emeline Michel—vocal
Elan Vytal aka DJ Scientific—turntables

The virtuoso violinist DBR , DJ Scientific and the queen of Haitian song, Emeline Michel, are a potent combination to be reckoned with.Having carved a reputation as an innovative composer and performer, Haitian-American artist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)  melds his classical roots and his own cultural history with vibrancy and imagination.

DJ , composer Elan Vytal, aka DJ Scientific, combines precisely engineered hip-hop beats and scratched rhythms with classical and world music sounds, both live and sampled, creating a uniquely contemporary, urban sonic experience. Named the ‘Joni Mitchell of Haiti’,  Emeline Michel merges native Haitian compass beat and rara with jazz, pop, bossa nova and samba.

or the “I cant believe it file”

There was a problem with a Prius taxi (Melbourne’s first) it has 600K on the clock so you can see it has been a hard working car. We went to our usual repairer and then it was towed to a Toyota specialist in the city. ” we will look at it in Wednesday’ was the response.

 This was not good but as I guess there were a lot of cars in for service prior to school holidays understandable. 

still no call by Friday!!!  (Apparently the Staff member that I spoke to on Monday has left the company (problably why he could not call or return my call on Wednesday!!!)

Your chance to enjoy the frivolity of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Celebrating 25 years of funny business in 2011 the Festival is a Melbourne institution.

Thanks to the generosity of Australia’s largest touring comedy agency A-List Entertainment all you have to do is tell us why you would like to go (and give a small review after the show).

The show you will be attending is Greg Proops(April 19th to 24th Tue-Sat 7pm,Sun 6pm Athenaeum Theatre) Subject to availability on the date.

“The always dapper Greg Proops with retro hair, glasses, interesting voice and mannerisms is best known for his unpredictable appearances on US and UK versions of Whose Line is it Anyway? Proops has a fun, self-deprecating, flamboyant, quick comedy style with depth, range and most importantly, great jokes.” A-List

be quick as the closing date for the competition is two days time Thursday at Midday

Enter via email twitter facebook or phone

winner notified on Thursday at 3:00PM and their winning entry will be published in the comment section below

you prize will include passes to the the show and transfers to and from the show (up to $100.00 each way)

Tweet

This month we are running a promotion in conjunction with the inaugural Eco Xpo in Sydney on the 6-8th of May. If you attend the Eco Xpo you will find hundreds of eco products and services including eco travel, green building, organic food & wines and eco fahion as well as a chance to win a free transfer with Ecolimo when buying your  online ticket.

We are offering the chance to try the great tasting organic wines from Rosenay Wines. Being certified organic means natural growing of the fruit (no pesticides or artificial fertilizers) and very low sulphur in the wine making.
Please ask when you make a booking this month and we can have driver give you a sample bottle. (subject to availability)

choose from

the 2006 Vintage – 375ml
Triple Blend

The Rosnay Triple Blend strives for balance and complexity through blending. The bold fruit of Cabernet, the spice and pepper of Shiraz,and the velvet texture of Merlot are combined with minimal intervention, very low sulfur and minimal oak. Bottled under natural cork, it is drinking well now and benefits from breathing before serving.

or the 2008 Vintage – 375ml
Chardonnay
Cowra is famous for great fruit driven and consistent Chardonnay. Rosnay 2008 Chardonnay is a classic example of Cowra’s speciality. Picked at optimum ripeness, unwooded, and in bottle at 14% alcohol,
it is a tight, clean, and “classic Chardonnay” style, showing a balance between fruit, acidity and sweetness.

Also there is  chance to win a $200 gift voucher from Rosnay. To go into the draw just forward our July newsletter to 5 friends.

If you recommend a new customer you will receive a $60.00 discount once that person has taken 4 trips with ecolimo.

Please mention this offer and have the new customer mention the link when booking the first trip.

Who is ecobear?

He will be out and about at ecoxpo please say hello.

Ecoxpo will be held on the 12th and 13th of May in the Byron Kennedy Hall at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park

We really hope he pulls his weight this year.

still waiting on the artist to release the next picture

All good as the sun comes out. It makes you think time to head out an enjoy the day

We recently released our 2012 Customer service survey please feel free to have a look, we will be publishing the results later this month

ecobear remembers to book ahead. He will be relaxed in the knowledge his car is there ready and waiting

Thanks to our friends from A list entertainment we have a selection of comedy DVDs to give away

Please comment on this post and the first 3 comments published will be able to chose a copy of one of these DVDs

1. Carl Barron (all the stuff I have done so far)
2. Jimeoin (Jimeoin’s Box set)
3. Straussman (The bare necessities 5 disk box set)
4. David William
5. Wayne Brady
6. The Umbilical brothers
7. Kitty Flanagan
8. Eddie Ifft
9. Arj Barker

the first 3 published comments will get the DVD of their choice mailed out

the welcome home we would all love

this is w

Hi Don,

I just thought I should share my appreciation of Neil going the extra mile…

On Monday on the way to my early morning flight I had an engaging conversation with your new to me driver, Neil. Turned out he had worked in Geneva in the same industry as a company that I was meeting that day, and on the journey he gave me his insight in to the industry and companies in it.

On Thursday night, after two state hops and many client meetings, I get back to Melbourne and Neil is there to pick me up again and waiting in the car is a printout that he’s prepared of a news article describing the acquisition made on Tuesday by the company I met on Monday.

As someone I described this to said: “that’s so good it makes the hairs stand-up on the back of your neck”.

Keep up the good work Don and send my thanks to Neil. Feel Free to use this endorsement if you like.

John Phillips

welcome to our newletter

this is the week of the GP in Melbourne.

Please be aware this is a busy time, my suggestion is to try the marvellous public transport system provided on the day.

We have limited vacancies available and will do our best to look after you if required

so eco bear is keen to get to the grand prix

We Have two tickets for the sold out Friday night Game at the SCG between the Sydney swans and Geelong

Please let me know if you would like to come, you can see Don try and get his Cats over the line and come for a beer with Mark after the Game.

Either comment or contact ecolimo with why you would want to put up with the company and we will send out tickets, either Adult and Child