VLS Industry engagement event: Maritime Law Association of Australia and NZ (MLAANZ)

On 1 November 2012, the Victoria Law School (VLS) hosted an inaugural event with the Maritime Law Association of Australia and NZ (MLAANZ). Professor Nick Gaskell of the TC Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland was guest speaker, and he discussed legal and practical issues concerning electronic bills of lading. It was evident from the breadth of the presentation, and of the questions asked after it, that the notion of electronic bills of lading is both topical, and offers some unique challenges for the shipping industry. Thanks to Ashley Sievwright for his assistance with event.

The photograph shows, from left: Dr. Michael Spisto (VLS); Mr. Andrew Tulloch (Partner, DLA Piper Law firm), Mr. Ron Bartsch (AV Law Aviation Consultants), Mr. Chris Barry (Mathematics and Aviation Studies, Brentwood Secondary College)[guest speaker], Mr. Charles Giacco (VLS)

19th Annual Hospitality Tourism and Events Expo

The Centre for Work Integrated Learning, along with the School of International Business, hosted the 19th Annual Hospitality Tourism and Events Expo at VU's City Conference Centre on Friday 7 September. More than 260 people attended, including 88 industry representatives from across the three sectors, along with VU students from Higher and Vocational Ed courses.

Diane Smith, VTIC CEO

Prof Alison Morrison (Head, School of International Business) introduced Expo Guest Speaker, Ms Dianne Smith, (CEO, Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), and International Business Adjunct Professor), who gave the closing address at the Expo. Dianne’s presentation was warmly received by students and guests, and included a range of inspirational insights from her personal and professional experience. The presentation also provided the ideal forum for the launch of the VU Todd Blake Student Award.

The Todd Blake Student Award is a legacy project in honour and memory of the former CEO of VTIC, Todd Blake, who was well known for his passion for and commitment to the tourism, events and hospitality industries, as well as his leadership and can-do approach to life.

Todd was also a VU Alum, and had launched the inaugural Victoria Tourism Week at 2010’s VU Expo. The Expo was a featured event in the official Victoria Tourism Week (VTW) Program. VTW is an initiative of VECCI through VTIC, the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, and Destination Melbourne (a VU partner).

Some great feedback on the day was received from industry partners. ‘Really impressed, the day ran well, we were made to feel welcome. Great to be involved – the students were delightful!’ said Maria, of Qantas Holidays & Viva Holidays.

Rosane, Team Leader, Coaching & Development Choice Hotels Australasia Pty Ltd, said: ‘Thank you for the opportunity to promote Choice Hotels today at the Expo, it was a great morning and we were able to speak with a lot of great students who showed a lot of interest and had some great questions.’
Kellie, Marketing Manager at Destination Melbourne said she was very impressed with the calibre of students at this year’s Expo.
Louise, an Event Specialist with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia, added, ‘We have found the Expo to be an excellent avenue for signing up volunteers.’

SAP Innojam success!

A VU Master of Business ERP Systems student, Selvie Grech, wrote a blog about her experiences in the SAP Innojam event which was hosted our City Flinders campus in August this year. She posted the blog on the SAP Community Network, which gets more than 1.2 million unique individual visits each month. Selvie’s blog and associated picture was highlighted on the opening screen of the site. Rohini Sreedhar, a former VU student, also had her blog highlighted.

The site also distributes a newsletter to it millions of members every 2 weeks. Each newsletter usually has approximately 5 news items. Selvie’s blog was highlighted as one of these news items in the September newsletter.

The Australian InsideSAP industry magazine contacted Selvie to get permission to publish a copy of her blog in their 2013 Yearbook. The magazine has approximately 8,000 subscribers.

This is a great achievement for Selvie and Rohini and good exposure for VU. But it also demonstrates how some simple effective social media activities can reach an enormous audience.

Read more about the SAP Innojam at he SAP site.

Potential Unlimited 5 Launch

A band performs at the launch

Earlier this month, Potential Unlimited 5 launched another 11 acts through their unique VU student record label. Students of the Music Publishing and Recording unit were required to identify, contact and license a particular song from an emerging band or artist. They were then required to construct marketing tools and identify areas of marketing which would be most beneficial to their chosen act. They also uploaded these marketing materials to the Potential Unlimited website - www.amusicdegreethatrocks.vu.edu.au. The groups were then given 80 copies of the CD to go out into the market and use to promote their chosen act.

A soloist takes the stage

On Thursday 4th of October, the Potential Unlimited 5 launch was held at Kindred studios in Whitehall Street, Yarraville. The launch event was an undertaking by students from the Live Performance Management unit, and forms part of their assessment.

Due to be finished in December, Kindred studios will house the VU Music & creative industries units in a state of the art facility. The Publishing and Recording and Live Performance students who put together the Potential Unlimited 5 CD and launch event were impressed with what VU is building at Kindred studios, and were happy to have Potential Unlimited 5 launched there to help bring attention to this exciting new facility.

When completed, Kindred will offer a brilliant creative environment for students to work on sound production, performance, composition, studio work, live sound production, sound production software, public address system to name just a few.

Potential Unlimited has proven to be a very popular assignment for the unit Music Publishing and recording unit, with one group concluding their assignment presentation this year by saying, 'We really liked the music industry, and after this experience, we like it even more!'.

Part of the audience enjoying the launch & venue

Student Danica Bulovic said of the evening, 'I think we had at least approximately 90 people there at one point, which was a really excellent turnout. The vibe of the night was really laid back, in my opinion, just like going to see local bands at your local pub. We had free beer on tap and 4 really cool bands play - Velour Fog, James Gowans and band, The Evidence and Luna Ghost - with the set up of the venue allowing everyone in the room to have a really excellent view of the stage.'

Potential Unlimited 4 was shortlisted in the 2011 Independent Music Awards, a US based, global competition for all forms of music. With a judging panel is drawn from US based music industry executives as well as some prominent artists, last years panel included Keith Richards. Potential Unlimited 4 went on to win in the Campus Records category, becoming the only non-US campus to ever win in this category - a feat we will hopefully replicate this year with Potential Unlimited 5.

2012 Kirby Moot wrap-up

On the 10th, 11th & 12th of October, Victoria Law School (VLS) held the 2nd Annual Hon. Michael Kirby Contract Law Competition.

L-R: Robin Brett QC, Prof. Andrew Clarke, Judge Misso
(Semi-final, 12th October 2012, Adelaide University 1 v Bond University)

There were a total of 80 participants, from 22 teams and 12 different Universities around Australia. These included Victoria University, Bond University, University of Queensland, University of Western Sydney, The University of Newcastle, The University of Adelaide, The University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT, Deakin University, Queensland University of Technology and Latrobe University.

Hon. Prof Frank Vincent AO QC, Hon. Prof Michael
Kirby AC CMG, Michael D.Wyles SC

Victoria Law School entered three teams; they all competed extremely well and were part of the final eight. The final, between Adelaide Team 1 and VLS Team 2, was close, with VLS being the victors on the day.  Congratulations to VLS Team 2 on a superb win.

The event was a great success, giving all participants a rich clinical and learning experience. The VLS would like to thank each and every team member and their dedicated coaches. The standard of advocacy was superb; the competitors are terrific ambassadors for the next generation of legal and professional talent.

A huge debt of gratitude goes to each of our Arbitrators. Their ethic of public service is deep and profound, and on behalf of all students we thank you for your time, dedication and wisdom. Particular thanks goes to our stellar cast of arbitrators for the final, the “dream team” of Justice Kirby, Justice Vincent and Senior Counsel Wyles.
We are lucky in law to have enduring friends and partners in our sponsors Lexis Nexis, Oxford University Press and Leo Cussen. Thank you for your generous contribution to this event.

John Eldridge & Rebecca McEwen, Adelaide Uni 1
(Grand-Final, 12th October 2012, County Court)

Thirty VLS student volunteers generously gave their time and effort to this event. This is fast developing into a jamboree - an all-in effort - and one of great camaraderie.

Special congratulations for a magnificent organising job to Vivi Tan and student Melissa Radosavac, and Allyce Cowan from our administration office. 

We’re delighted this competition is named in Michael Kirby’s honour. Michael is our patron and special friend; he is an Adjunct Professor of Victoria Law School and a Doctor of the University.

We look forward to VLS MKM 3 in 2013. We look forward to welcoming regional and international teams in due course.

A big thank you to everyone involved, and congratulations to all of our competitors. They did VLS proud.

Results

2012 Kirby Moot winners: Victoria Law School Team 2 - Robert Forrester and Mitchell Latham. The winners were awarded $1000 prize money, together with an Oxford University Press Australian Law Dictionary, and a book pack containing law guidebooks and legal skills books.

Victoria Law School Team 2 (Highest scored team in the prelim
round & and Winner of the moot) L-R :Hubert Algie, Vivi
Tan (Moot Co-ordinator), Robert Forrester, Mitchell Latham,
Stephen Tamburro

Runners Up: University of Adelaide Team 1 were awarded $800
Best Speaker in the Preliminary Rounds: Mitchell Latham (Victoria Law School Team 2) and Rebecca McEwen (University of Adelaide Team 1) each received $250
Best Speaker in the Final Rounds: Amy Reid (Bond University) received $250
Highest Scoring Team in the Preliminary Rounds: Victoria Law School Team 2 received $400
Best Team Memorandum for Claimant: Queensland University of Technology Team 1 received $200
Best Team Memorandum for Respondent: Queensland University of Technology Team 2 received $200

Observers at the 2012 Kirby moot Grand Final

Moot gathers momentum

The second annual Hon. Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot is gaining momentum, with 22 teams registering to participate. The Moot will be held over three days in October - from Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th.
The 22 teams will consist of over 80 students from universities all over the country, including 3 teams from VU:

• RMIT (JD program- 3 teams)
• University of Melbourne (3 teams)
• La Trobe University (2 teams)
• University of Queensland (1 team)
• Queensland University of Technology (2 teams)
• University of Newcastle (1 team)
• University of Western Sydney (2 teams)
• Macquarie University (1 team)
• Bond University (1 team)
• University of Adelaide (2 teams)
• Monash University (1 team)

The Kirby Moot reinforces the Victoria Law School's focus on commercial law, as well as its participation in many international commercial law competitions such as the Vis Moot and the International Maritime Law Moot. It is hoped that the  Hon. Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot will continue to run successfully for many years to come, and that it will raise the Victoria Law School's profile as a serious contender in the provision of quality legal education in Australia. Read more about the Moot here.

Transport Law unit an Australian first

L-R: Ron Bartsch, Dr Michael Spisto, Mr Charles Giacco

Earlier this month, BLO2502 Transport Law students were treated to a talk by Mr Ron Bartsch, aviation lawyer, UNSW academic, former head of safety operations at Qantas, and former B717 captain, addressed the Transport Law students (and other VLS/VU students and staff) on the topic of the history of Australian civil aviation regulation. Ron strongly supports this unit of study, saying "Victoria University must be commended for their initiative in identifying and promoting the importance of aviation law as a distinct and important area of law."

BLO2502 Transport Law is a unique law elective unit of study at Victoria Law School (VLS) which provides a specific focus on Aviation Law and Maritime Law in Australia. It is the only unit of study of its kind at any university in Australia.

Transport Law also involves a close industry connection, with participation from leading aviation and maritime industry representatives also involved in the delivery of Transport Law.

In addition to law students at VLS, Transport Law is also available as an elective unit of study to all Faculty of Business and Law students, as well as students from other institutions desirous of undertaking specialised studies in maritime or aviation law.

Any queries about Transport Law can be directed to the unit coordinator, Dr Michael Spisto, or to assistant lecturer, Mr Charles Giacco.

Hospitality Career Development Seminar report

18 Hospitality students attended the annual Hospitality Career Development Seminar, organised by Work Integrated Learning Co-ordinator Tania Piacente. This year the event was hosted by Crown Hotels.

L-R: Liselle Boykun, Paula Ntalianis, Jessica Dijanestic, Keaton Male,
Tania Piacente, Austin Norman

The first presentation was conducted by Paula Ntalianis, Training Manager, Crown Hotels & Retail. Our two current Co-op students at Crown, Jessica Dijanesic and Keaton Male, also conducted a presentation to students highlighting the benefits of undertaking Co-op at Crown, and explained the rotational nature of the program offered to successful candidates. Students work in various departments across the three Hotels – Crown Towers, Metropol and Promenade in areas such as Housekeeping, Bell, Reception, Reservations, Spa, and Crystal Club.

The second hour of the event was a tour of Crown Metropol. Students were able to tour the property and see the Crown Training College, guest rooms, Day Spa, pool and Club 28.

Mary Moran, a Tourism and Hospitality student, said of the event: "It was such an amazing opportunity to see part of the Crown complex and also what they have to offer both their guests, and individuals who would like to be involved in their organisation. It was definitely a very pleasurable and inspiring experience which really solidified where I want to be for my Co-op year as well as career-wise."

Ashleigh Peebles, a Hospitality student, also gave great feedback on the event. "It really highlighted what I can see in my future career and in the hotel and hospitality industry. The tour of Crown has opened my eyes to the opportunities in the hotel industry, and I endeavour to pursue a long career in the industry. Thank you again for a wonderful experience!"

Moot news

Following the success of the inaugural Hon. Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot Competition, the Victoria Law School is looking forward to this year's competition in October. We have so far received registrations from the Queensland University of Technology, University of Newcastle and the University of Western Sydney, and Victoria Law School will likely register multiple teams.

In other mooting news, the VU mooting team comprising of Melissa Radosavac and Robert Forrester advanced to the semi finals in the 13th International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot Competition, held from 6-10 July at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. Robert won the best speaker in the finals award. The team was coached by Vivi Tan and  Associate Professor Bruno Zeller.

A/Professor Bruno Zeller sits on the bench for the ADR Moot final

Associate Professor Bruno Zeller, visiting professor at City University Hong Kong, wrote a moot problem for a mediation/arbitration for the The International ADR Mooting Competition. Held from 29 July – 4 August 2012, the International ADR Mooting Competition is an international mediation and arbitration competition open to all universities. It is conducted by City University of Hong Kong in association with the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Columbia University (New York).

The International ADR Mooting Competition is an international mediation and arbitration competition that is open to all universities. It is conducted by City University of Hong Kong in association with the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Columbia University (New York).  Associate Professor  Bruno Zeller judged several moots, and sat on the bench for the final.


AFISS workshop participants

Emerging Marketers 'How To Get That Marketing Job' event report

Emerging Marketers is a national special interest group initiative of the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI). Emerging Marketers provides opportunities for marketing students from tertiary institutions, recent marketing graduates and marketers with less than 5 years of experience to network and socialise.

Fabrice Baucherat, Rebecca Dalton, Melinda Wright & Steve Sammartino 

The most recent event held by Emerging Marketers (Victoria) was “How to Get That Marketing Job”. The event was hosted and co-sponsored by VU. Held at the Convention Centre, the event was a huge success with a total number of 95 registrations. The event aimed at providing students and young marketing professionals with an insight into what is required to establish a successful marketing career.

Dr Maxwell Winchester, (Snr Lecturer, and Post-Graduate Marketing Course Co-ordinator) opened the event and welcomed guests. Four senior marketing professionals shared their success story with the audience. Steve Sammartino, Director of Planning at GREY Group, emphasised 'owning your digital footprint' in order to differentiate yourself. Rebecca Dalton, Marketing Specialist at Telstra, spoke about the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Placement, Promotion), telling attendees that in each of their cases, they were in fact 'the Product'. Fabrice Baucherat, Marketing Manager at Dahlsens, stressed that Marketing is all about Sales, and the bottom dollar. Fabrice suggested that in interviews, applicants should assert that their main objective for the organisation is to increase revenue. Melinda Wright, Marketing Manager at Gloria Jean’s Coffees, highlighted the importance of attitude, passion, and at times 'getting your hands dirty'. Melinda was so impressed by the questions students put forward that she has engaged with the Centre for Work Integrated Learning and Teaching and is keen to explore the possibility of Business Integrated Learning for marketing students at VU.