Hannahke

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Our Diary

June 28.

We met Simon, Nick and Erin at Youngcare in Brisbane. They were all pretty excited about Oscar. We had a talk about how to get the best result for Youngcare, and Oscar. Simon has promised to let us know next Monday what is the best way to let all the media and others know about our project. Then, will be ready to start trading. Thanks to James at Symmetrix Design in Merrimac Queensland for designing our site for free (James loves charities he said!) and Chris at Descnet in Perth for putting the site on his ISP Server (Chris is also a charity junkie!!).

July 3.

We launched our site today. We put the media release out to lots of radio and television companies. Channel nine reporter Phillipa Mooney visited our house with the camera and did a story for tonight's news. Thanks to Phillipa but we need lots more publicity for the charity so please ring 0419431599 if you can help.

July 9.

Today we got our first offer which was exciting. Thanks to Raelene at IGA we are waiting to see what else comes in. A big thanks to The Cage at Triple 'M' for putting our story on the radio today. All traders please email us off the link on the home page.

July 12-13.

This is amazing. Yesterday, we were on ABC Radio in Brisbane and we now have five trade offers. One is for a dinner menu from an Elvis Presley concert which happened in 1975 at the Las Vegas Hilton. It has his embossed (not actually signed) signature and is a souvenir edition. We are seriously thinking about making this our first trade. But this is also amazing. In less than a week, our idea has spread from the Gold Coast to Canada. Yes CANADA! A Canadian radio station (CBC) rang us this morning to interview us. They are from the same area as the Red Paper Clip Guy who traded his paper clip for a house in Kipling, Canada a couple of years ago. When they interview us later today, we are going to ask the station to try to get the Red Paper Clip Guy, Kyle Macdonald, to email us to say hello. We were also on the Channel Nine Today show LIVE this morning from the beach at Surfers Paradise. Thank you to the crew who were so much fun. And the Gold Coast Bulletin has taken our photo. We reckon we will be ready to make our first trade in about a week.

July 15.

Today we made our first trade. It was sad to see Oscar go but he has been replaced with an amazing trade and that is a 1975 Elvis Presley dinner menu which was a souvenir from his dinner shows in Las Vegas. It is 32 years old but importantly, next month is the 30th anniversary since his death. The A4 size menu is in good condition and features a full size photo of Elvis and his printed signature on one side and the night's menu on the other. It was tough making the trade because we were offered more than thirty other items including a signed Luke Power Brisbane Lions cap, mag wheels for a Lexus, a food hamper from someone in Hong Kong and even a gold plated Chinese jewellery box. The other good news is Oscar has gone to live in Noosa and the person who traded him, Boylo, is trying to get one of the local art galleries to display Oscar. We will keep everyone posted on how this is going. Thanks Boylo.

July 18.

Today we are going on SEA FM Gold Coast (Paul & Moyra), 4BC radio in Brisbane and Channel Nine local news. Tomorrow we will be talking on the John Laws radio show around Australia. Please keep the bids coming in and keep checking out our diary and progress tree.

July 23.

The big news today is that Oscar our Pet Rock is now a megastar at an art gallery in Noosa, Queensland. The gallery is called Cooper Gallery and the man who traded his Elvis menu for Oscar took our rock to the gallery. He explained the story of Oscar to Narelle at the gallery and she agreed to put him on display with a sign telling the story of Youngcare and Oscar. So he's like a movie star! The other big news is that a national television show may want to talk to us ... and we would have to get Oscar back just for that day so he can be shown on TV. The trade offers keep coming in. We have been offered a canoe, some more wheels for a car, some signed Indy car posters from 10 years ago, and even other pet rocks. Please keep thinking of some imaginative things to trade us for the Elvis menu and please tell your friends about the site. Thank you.

July 29.

Today, we had an offer for a StarWars lego cardboard cut out which is also a collectors item, like the Elvis menu. We hope to be ready to make our next trade decision by Wednesday. We want all traders and other people thinking of trading to use their imagination. The trades we accept don't have to be worth money. We would rather they were imaginative. For example, if you are a sports club manager or a band manager or the boss of a business, you could offer a day with your sports team, or a day with your band as a trade. That would make it all the more exciting. But thank you to all the people who have offered trades and we will announce our next trade in a few days.

Auguest 1.

We have had an amazing response to being on Seven Sunrise on July 31. Thanks to Narelle at Cooper Gallery and Shelley at Leopard Couriers for getting Oscar, our pet rock, back to the Gold Coast for the live program. We were originally offered a $1700 gold bracelet from a lady in Burleigh Heads called Vicki. She offered that item for a swap for the Elvis menu and we agreed. But as soon as we went on the Seven Sunrise program, Mel and Kochie offered an amazing offer, in exchange for the jewellery. Their offer was a day at Brekkie Central with the Seven Team including airfares and accommodation for whoever was the lucky trader. Of course, we said YES so the bracelet only lasted a day before it was swapped with Channel 7. Thanks to Kochie, Mel and Nat who all said they wanted the bracelet. It wouldn't suit Kochie but who knows!!...maybe it will.. So the latest offer from us is a day at Brekie Central with the Seven guys. Thank you so much to Seven and Vicki. Please now think about a trade for the day at Brekkie Central. We will decide on the next trade in a few days.

Auguest 7.

Well, what a week. After the Sunrise program on July 31, we have had the most number of trade offers. We have been offered Canberra Raiders signed league jerseys and even a moped motorbike. We have also been offered a holiday voucher for two people to Thailand. Amazing really as we started with Oscar our pet rock just one month ago. We want EVERYONE to remember that what they offer trade does NOT have to be more valuable than the last offer. We would rather trade something interesting (like a 1950s pushbike or something) than something valuable - but not as interesting. So please keep thinking about unusual trade offers and start typing!! Remember, we have to get the car for Youngcare! We hope to be ready to trade again this weekend.

Auguest 9.

Big news! We have swapped the Day At Brekkie Central on Seven Sunrise with a Melbourne based business called Events With Style. Their offer is a $9000 wedding package which can be used anywhere in Australia. It is an amazing offer. The reason we chose it over the many other offers is that we believe it will attract lots of interest across Australia - and it is 'different' which is what we are always looking for. The full details are: A $2000 photography voucher from Kristof Photography; a $2000 gown from Fairytales Bridal; A $2000 voucher from Events With Style for chair covers, invitations and linen; a $2000 video voucher from Eldorado Productions; and a $1000 car hire voucher from Fleetwood Limousines. Mary-Anne Lowe from Events With Style said only the car hire voucher could not be used if the successful trade person was not from Victoria. Like Mary Anne said, "cars can't fly!!!''. Another big part of the offer is that the winning bid will also get a free entry into a major (and fun!!) competition being run in Melbourne later this year (including airfares to get there). It's called the Amazing Docklands Bridal Race and has a first prize of about $25,000. So thanks to all our trade offers and thanks to Seven Sunrise. Mary-Anne plans visiting the show soon for a behind-the-scenes look at the show. Full details of the bridal offer and Amazing Race are at: www.bridalexpos.com.au Please now start thinking of items and ideas to bid for the bridal trade.

Auguest 15-16.

The wedding package has sent our site crazy. We have had lots of funny emails from people planning to get married. One man hadn’t even proposed but he thought it would be good to have the wedding planned – and then ask his girlfriend! We have had an offer of a signed and framed Wallabies rugby jersey. The pictures of it look great but we want EVERYONE who is thinking of putting in an offer for the Wedding Package to remember this: Our idea to trade Oscar The Pet Rock all the way to a new car is NOT about getting more and more valuable offers. It’s about people offering FUN things rather than valuable things. So please keep that in mind and please keep emailing us with your ideas. We hope to decide by the end of the weekend.

Auguest 19.

Well, after much discussion, Luke and I have chosen the signed and framed Wallabies Rugby jersey as our next trade item (see our Progress Tree for pictures). We made the decision for two reasons. Firstly, it's a great offer as it will hopefully appeal to car dealers or business people who may be interested in trading us up for a new car for Youngcare. Business people love rugby and the World Cup is on in about 6 weeks. Secondly, the people who traded with us (Suncorp) have decided to donate the Wedding Package to Youngcare. What this means is that Youngcare will benefit as they plan to auction the Events With Style $9000 wedding package at their October 6 charity ball. So anyone still keen on the wedding package should contact Youngcare.com.au now to make an offer or work out how to bid on the night. We will be handed the Wallabies jersey tomorrow (Monday) and will immediately put that up for offers. AND PLEASE REMEMBER. We are after unusual offers rather than people thinking they have to offer things worth more or more money. This project isn't about money...it's about fun!! And it's about helping Youngcare and the families who need their support. Thanks to Suncorp and Mary Anne Lowe at Events With Style.

Auguest 24-25.

It's been a quiet week so far as trade offers. But we're not worried as we want would-be traders to think up imaginative things to offer for the Wallabies jersey. We are also lucky enough to have our story published in the QLD Motor Traders magazine (MTAQ), so we hope a car dealer sees the article and has a look at our project. Next week, we are off to Noosa to visit Oscar, our Pet Rock, at Cooper Gallery.

Auguest 30-31.

The trade offers for the Wallabies World Cup jersey are coming in, but it's all very quiet out there. Jeff from NSW offered us $1850 for the jersey and a Victorian man called Peter also offer quite a lot of money. But we are determined for something unusual as we think that will keep the newspapers, television and radio interested in our project. We also want to keep all those would-be traders interested, so accepting money is not what we want to do. We have emailed our website to WorldWideWallabies supporters' club and one supporter group, called OneRugby, has sent our website to its 10,000 members. Thank you Debbie. So come on! Please show some imagination and offer some crazy trades. We want to get the car for Youngcare by December as their first apartments open on 9 December.

September 6 -7.

Thanks to 4BC, John Laws and Majella at ABC612 for keeping our project in the media this week. We are really struggling for any offers for our Wallabies jersey - except money - which we don't want (see above diary entry). We visited Oscar at Coopers Gallery last weekend. It was sad to see him sitting there alone, but there were lots of finger prints all over the glass box which is protecting him, so we reckon he must get lots of visitors. Call in and see him at the gallery in Hastings Street if you are in Noosa. And pllleasse tell your friends to think about trading something unusual - or fun - for the jersey.

September 14.

We have just received an exciting offer from a major sports team in Australia. The team has asked us to keep it quiet for a few days -- but we can tell you that they want the Wallabies Jersey, and we definitely want what they are offering, as it's a great trade and will hopefully get us closer to the car for Youngcare. So we'll hopefully be announcing our next trade in a few days. Keep watching our site and keep thinking of ways to help Youngcare.

September 21.

Wow! This rock trading is hard going but we’re still having fun. Thanks to Misha and Tim from Coffs Harbour for the trade offer of a 1984 Holden car for our Wallabies jersey. We loved the photo but don’t reckon that’s the sort of car Youngcare wants!! We’re trying to get them a people mover (like a Toyota Tarago or a Honda Odyssey). The car doesn’t have to be fitted out with the hydraulic aids for the passengers. We just want a late model people mover – and then we can help Youngcare get it all fitted out. We’re still waiting on that one magical trade … and may have some news on Monday regarding the major sports team which has contacted us and is thinking about getting on board. So we’re keeping our chins up. Please look for an update on Tuesday, the 25 th. Hannah and Luke.

September 28

Quick update. We were in contact with Seven Sunrise late yesterday and they asked for an email update of where we're up to. As our Diary shows, we're still looking for that one magic trade for our Wallabies jersey. The producer of Sunrise will put the email to Kochie and Mel this morning so hopefully they will read it out on Sunrise TODAY!! Please keep thinking of something fun or unusual to trade for our Wallabies jersey. Pics of the jersey are on our Progress Tree.

October 3.

This is big news. We have today met Team Australia Champ Car driver Will Power, who is a legend in the world series. We handed him the Wallabies jersey and he has given us an amazing race package for TWO people for the Gold Coast race on October 21. See our Progress Tree for all the details. Thanks to Team Australia, Craig Gore from the Atkinson Gore Group and Chris from BAM Media who we have harassed over the last few weeks!! We need ANYONE thinking about offering a trade for this package to HURRY as the race is on October 21. What you offer as a trade doesn't have to be valuable, as in money-wise. It just needs to be fun (like this package) or unusual or something that will attract attention. But if you're a car dealer reading this, WE'D LOVE a people-mover car for Youngcare as that's our plan. Thanks to all.

October 7.

WE GOT THE CAR! WE GOT THE CAR! A Brisbane man has emailed and we have accepted his offer that he will buy a new KIA Grand Carnival for Youngcare. $41,000. WOW!!. He is even buying registration and insurance for it for one year.

We can't tell you his name just yet as we are keeping that a secret until handover day which will be in about 8 to 10 days! He didn't even want us to tell anyone who he is -- but we talked him out of that, as what he has done will change the lives of so many people through his generosity. So we said "YOU'RE NOT HIDING AWAY''... Luke was jumping about like a frog when the email came through late on Thursday night. The man has since spoken with Youngcare and sorted out all the details. So it's AMAZING! We have turned Oscar into a new car in 13 weeks. Thanks to all the media and traders who have been a part of our amazing and fun trade project. And thanks to all the people who simply emailed to say hello, and to wish us luck. We always knew we could do it and now it's happened!!

We know this man will be proud of his achievement for years and years. So will the Youngcare families. Simon at Youngcare says he still can't believe just 13 weeks ago, we met and showed him Oscar and now a new car is there for the Youngcare families. We will let everyone know when and where the handover will take place. AND THEN we can all thank ????, as he hands the keys to Youngcare. Bye.