HomeEventsAbout Our Events

About RBF's events

  • PDF
  • Print
  • E-mail
Ryde Business Forum organizes a number of regular events to facilitate business-to-business, business-to-government and business-to-community communications, and to educate and inform its members and guests on items of business interest. You can view this year’s schedule of events on our Events Calendar page.
Please note that if you have paid for an event, and need to cancel AFTER the RSVP date has closed, we will in most circumstances be unable to refund your payment as we will have given catering numbers to the venue concerned and will be charged for your food and beverages whether you are there or not. There are exceptions to this rule, such as emergencies on the day (ie car accidents).
Our events include:
Business Breakfasts, workshops, seminars
Business Breakfasts provide a kick start to your day without encroaching on your working day. Up to six times a year Ryde Business Forum brings you a guest speaker on a topical business or political theme. Over the last couple of years we’ve held educational breakfasts on topics such as changes in superannuation laws, the Lane Cove Tunnel Project, federal privacy laws, credit card fraud and many more. Breakfasts start with registration at 7am and are over by 9am. You'll enjoy a hot breakfast and glean valuable information.
Our breakfasts and seminars are aimed all business sizes from small business to large, and occasionally we do industry-specific seminars for, eg, retailers.
At right, our special guest speakers in 2009 were hard to top. Here Prime Minister of Australia The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, and Member for Bennelong The Hon Maxine McKew MP are pictured at our sellout breakfast.
Our breakfast workshops provide small groups, ie up to 20 people, with an almost one-on-one educational experience on a range of topics which to date have included several aspects of marketing, changes in industrial relations law, requirements for employers, website privacy and how to develop your own Google advertising campaign. Enjoy a continental breakfast and get a jump on your competition! Pic below is one of our workshops in action with presenter David Caruso.
back to top
Business Luncheons
Ryde Business Forum holds several Business Luncheons each year, with a high calibre of speakers such as (then) Australian Prime Minister the Hon John Howard MP (pictured at right), Professor Di Yerbury (then Vice Chancellor Macquarie University), Mr John Brogden (then Leader of the Liberal Party of NSW), the Hon. Tony Abbott MP (then Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations), NSW Commissioner of Police Andrew Scipione, and many others. At right - our guest of honour at one of our 2009 events was The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister of Australia.
Our Patron, Level 1 and Level 2 corporate members can enjoy special benefits at our luncheons. More information is available in our Apply to Join section. We welcome corporate tables at our luncheons from member and non-member organisations.
back to top
Business After Hours
To showcase their products, services and facilities, members have the opportunity to host one of our popular Business After Hours events, which are held monthly at a different member's premises each time. During the last few years these events have regularly drawn in excess of 80 members and guests eager to find out more about the host company.
Business After Hours is held on the first Monday of every month except January. It's a great way to enhance your business-to-business communications with your fellow members and guests in a relaxed atmosphere.
These events run from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm, with refreshments and finger food provided by the hosts.
Ryde Business Forum’s Business After Hours events have traditionally been free of charge for both members and guests to attend. From February 2009, however, we arecharging non-members/guests to attend these events.
Other large Chambers of Commerce and networking associations charge for similar events, as many of you will be aware if you’re a strong networker. Business After Hours has always been a free of charge benefit for our members, so they can network and catch up. Of course guests are welcomed – we hope that guests will like what they see and become a member too – but if guests attend regularly without becoming a member, they are also getting the networking benefits our members get without the commitment of membership. We don’t think this is fair to our members.
So…here’s how it works if you're not a member and would like to attend:
Non-members/guests will now be eligible to attend one Business After Hours free of charge. We think you’ll meet enough people to gauge an impression of our organisation and the depth and breadth of membership.
After that, we will ask you to pay $40 inc GST for each Business After Hours you attend. We would prefer you to pay prior to the event, or payment can be made at the door by cheque or credit card. If you plan to attend even five of our ten Business After Hours events each year, you’ll probably discover it’s financially worthwhile becoming a member – then you can get discounts to other events and have full access to our membership list as well as other benefits.
If you decide to join us within three months of attending your first BAH in 2009, we will refund $40 off your initial membership fee. Click here to find out more about the benefits of membership, and how to become part of Ryde’s biggest business-to-business communication organisation.
When we host a joint Business After Hours with one of our local Chambers of Commerce, members of both RBF and the co-host Chamber can attend free of charge. Once again, guests who are not members of either RBF or the co-host Chamber will be charged $40 per head.
Would you like to host a Business After Hours event? There is a charge of $550 to host Business After Hours, which covers the Forum’s administration time and costs in preparing for the event - organising and sending invitations both electronically and hard copy, collecting RSVPs, follow ups, event coordination liaison with the host, promotion in regular e-news and local media, promotion on the internet both before and after the event. Hosts are responsible for food and beverage costs for the evening.
If you're a member and you'd like to host Business After Hours, contact Ryde Business Forum for more details. If you don’t have enough space in your office or facility to host a large number of people, we can arrange for a co-host venue. When Business After Hours is co-hosted by two or more members, the hosting cost is split between the hosts.
Information on hosting a Business After Hours is available here as a PDF. This information also contains a booking form which must be completed by the host prior to the event.
back to top
Ryde Business Expo
RBF partnered with Expo Edge, the City of Ryde and Venues at Macquarie to hold the first Ryde Business Expo in 2007 and followed up with successful events in 2008 and 2009. We are now planning the 2010 Ryde Business Expo, our biggest yet, which will be a key event during NSW's Small Business September.

Ryde Business Forum organizes a number of regular events to facilitate business-to-business, business-to-government and business-to-community communications (aka networking), and to educate and inform its members and guests on items of business interest. You can view this year’s schedule of events on our Events Calendar page. 

Please note that if you have paid for an event, and need to cancel AFTER the RSVP date has closed, we will in most circumstances be unable to refund your payment as we will have given catering numbers to the venue concerned and will be charged for your food and beverages whether you are there or not. There are exceptions to this rule, such as emergencies on the day (ie car accidents). Read more in The Fine Print.
Our events include: 

We also work with the City of Ryde, The NSW Department of Industry & Investment, other business associations/Chambers and some of our members to bring you jointly-badged events and give you the opportunity to expand your business knowledge and contacts.

Business @ Breakfast 

 

As Business After Hours is all about networking, Business @ Breakfast has a networking focus - with a great guest speaker thrown in!

Business @ Breakfast operates along these lines:

  • 7.00am - 7.40 am Registration and Networking
  • 7.40am - Take your seat promptly for breakfast. Typically it will be a continental breakfast but it may be hot plated too depending on the venue and speaker
  • 8.00am - We welcome you and introduce the guest speaker
  • 8.30am - It's back to doing business @ breakfast - feel free to get up and chat to others or if you have to head off, now's the time.
  • 9.00am - Off to work!

Sadly, unlike Business After Hours we can't make the events free for you to attend, but with continental breakfasts the costs are usually $30 per head for members and $40 for non-members. This covers the breakfast, room hire, and our admin time to set up and market the event. Hot plated breakfasts will cost a little bit more. Whatever the case, we think it's a very affordable way to hear a good guest speaker and get energised for the day ahead, as well as make new contacts or chat more with your existing ones. 

 

Breakfast Workshops

Our breakfast workshops provide small groups, ie up to 20 people, with an almost one-on-one educational experience on a range of topics which to date have included several aspects of marketing, changes in industrial relations law, requirements for employers, website privacy, social media as a marketing tool, credit card fraud and how to develop your own Google advertising campaign. Enjoy a continental breakfast and get a jump on your competition! Pic below is one of our workshops in action with presenter David Caruso.

workshop with David Caruso at Dunmore Lang College

Business @ Lunch 

Ryde Business Forum holds several Business Luncheons each year, with a high calibre of speakers such as (then) Australian Prime Minister the Hon John Howard MP, Professor Di Yerbury (then Vice Chancellor Macquarie University), , the Hon. Tony Abbott MP , NSW Commissioner of Police Andrew Scipione, and many others. 

Business @ Lunch provides you with networking opportunities before and after the guest speaker. We find that different members attend different functions, and luncheons are very popular with our bigger corporate members. This introduces our regular attendees to people they might not see at other functions, as many corporates bring guests. We've heard about great deals being done over lunch with us, so do book in for the next one we hold - you might meet the business partner or client you've been looking for!

Our Patron, Level 1 and Level 2 corporate members can enjoy special benefits at our luncheons. More information is available in our Corporate Membership section. We welcome corporate tables at our luncheons from member and non-member organisations alike. We also offer fantastic sponsorship opportunities for our keynote speaker events. Having a photo of the Prime Minister speaking in front of your company banner is priceless - yet it's affordable. Find out more here and about our corporate speaker CEO Club series here.

Business After Hours 

Business After HoursTo showcase their products, services and facilities, members have the opportunity to host one of our popular Business After Hours events, which are held monthly at a different member's premises each time. During the last few years these events have regularly drawn in excess of 80 members and guests eager to find out more about the host company. 

Business After Hours is held on the first Monday of every month except January. It's a great way to enhance your business-to-business communications with your fellow members and guests in a relaxed atmosphere.

These events run from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm, with refreshments and finger food provided by the hosts.
Ryde Business Forum’s Business After Hours events have traditionally been free of charge for both members and guests to attend. Since February 2009, however, we have been charging for non-members/guests to attend these events.

Other large Chambers of Commerce and networking associations charge for similar events, as many of you will be aware if you’re a strong networker. Business After Hours has always been a free of charge benefit for our members, so they can network and catch up. Of course guests are welcomed – we hope that guests will like what they see and become a member too – but if guests attend regularly without becoming a member, they are also getting the networking benefits our members get without the commitment of membership. We don’t think this is fair to our members. 

So…here’s how it works if you're not a member and would like to attend: 
  • Non-members/guests will now be eligible to attend one Business After Hours free of charge. We think you’ll meet enough people to gauge an impression of our organisation and the depth and breadth of membership.
  • After that, we will ask you to pay $40 inc GST for each Business After Hours you attend. We would prefer you to pay prior to the event, or payment can be made at the door by cheque or credit card. If you plan to attend even five of our ten Business After Hours events each year, you’ll probably discover it’s financially worthwhile becoming a member – then you can get discounts to other events and have full access to our membership list as well as other benefits.
  • If you decide to join us within three months of attending your first BAH in 2010, we will refund $40 off your initial membership fee. Click here to find out more about the benefits of membership, and how to become part of Ryde’s biggest business-to-business communication organisation. 
  • When we host a joint Business After Hours with one of our local Chambers of Commerce, members of both RBF and the co-host Chamber can attend free of charge. Once again, guests who are not members of either RBF or the co-host Chamber will be charged $40 per head.

Hosting Business After Hours

Would you like to host a Business After Hours event? There is a charge of $550 to host Business After Hours, which covers the Forum’s administration time and costs in preparing for the event - organising and sending invitations both electronically and hard copy, collecting RSVPs, follow ups, event coordination liaison with the host, promotion in regular e-news and local media, promotion on the internet both before and after the event. Hosts are responsible for food and beverage costs for the evening.

If you're a member and you'd like to host Business After Hours, contact Ryde Business Forum for more details. If you don’t have enough space in your office or facility to host a large number of people, we can arrange for a co-host venue. When Business After Hours is co-hosted by two or more members, the hosting cost is split between the hosts.

Information on hosting a Business After Hours is available here as a PDF. This information also contains a booking form which must be completed by the host prior to the event.

Tweet Ups

Our newest event is a free event for social networkers or people interested in finding out more about social networking and meeting new people as a result. Tweet Ups are monthly coffee get-togethers before work for people you've 'met' on Twitter. They are held on the first Wednesday of every month at Silverchair Cafe, 80 Waterloo Road, North Ryde. While it's free to come along, we ask you to buy your own food/drinks at the cafe. Tweet Up events are fun, casual, and a good way to build your ever-expanding business network.

Ryde Business Expo

RBF partnered with Expo Edge, the City of Ryde and Venues at Macquarie to hold the first Ryde Business Expo in 2007 and followed up with successful events in 2008 and 2009 at the Stamford Grand North Ryde. This event will not be held in 2010 but we expect it to return in some form in 2011.

Share
 

Online payments now available

Acceptance Mark

Attending one of our events? Pay securely online with Visa or Mastercard using Paypal and get a tax invoice/receipt by return email for your records. It's the surest way to secure your seat for sellout events. Payment options are available on each appropriate event in our Events Calendar.

Would you like to join us? You can now join and pay online easily. We offer quarterly pro rata membership rates so you can join at any time of the year - find out what SMEs and Corporates get as membership benefits.

bannerad3