July was an especially awesome month for the Melbourne Awesome Foundation. We were able to give not one, but two awesome projects something to get excited about. Swarm, Australia’s only online community management conference asked us to pick an awesome community project to give a free weekend pass to participate and be featured in what will no doubt be one awesome conference for community managers from all over Australia on the 13-14 September. The conference is made by community managers, for community managers, and mixes practical tips with provocative big picture thinking. It’s a transdisciplinary event, with contributors from a diverse range of industries and academia. It’s a peer support community, intended to give community managers in Australia a voice, and facilitate dynamic professional development. (If this sounds like something you’d like to attend you can register here) We had a large number of community applications to choose from and only managed to find one lemon in the bunch, The Lemon Tree Project. The Lemon Tree Project is about creating a place in every street for neighbors to congregate and share. Their vision is to get a communal lemon tree and a park bench in as many streets and reserves around the world as possible. Awesome,… read more →

Here at Awesome Melbourne we are champing at the bit to stand at the edge of awesome and are constantly on the hunt to present you guys with something a little radical. In February we held the Awesome Party where you guys joined use in forwarding $4,317 to the universe with our first mega grant. That set the bar at a height of pretty epic proportions! Until now… The less awesome news: We will be holding off on the June grant, but our sister Awesome Squared will still be granting $1,000 this month. The totally awesome news: We will be giving away $1,000 in July…and the July grant winner will get to speak at TEDxMelbourne about their awesome idea with spreading! You know TEDxMelbourne, right? That massive event where rad people talk, influence and ignite real conversations. And just like us, they don’t ask permission, they just do. This is a crazy awesome platform guys. Not only are we giving you a $1,000 micro-flash of cash to catalyse your project, you will also receive the rare opportunity to share your idea with a massive audience of awesome, diverse and influential people! So let’s break it down: – The winner will… read more →

The Melbourne Awesome Foundation was featured as a segment on the popular Australian morning show, The Circle on 26 June along with Awesome Melbourne grant winner, Tram Sessions. Click here to watch The Circle’s Awesome Foundation feature.  

A new Melbourne project, Poo Power!, which uses discarded dog waste from parks as a renewable energy source is the latest recipient of the Awesome Foundation, Melbourne Chapter. The grant was awarded to Duncan Chew who developed the project after watching people readily scoop their dog’s poo in plastic bags only to send it to landfill but wanting to find a more sustainable way. Duncan Chew discovered there is over 1,350 tonnes of dog waste to be disposed of every day in Australia – nearly half a million tonnes per year. Using this un-tapped resource, the project involves building a digester to convert the dog waste into a biogas. It will then be used in a Melbourne park in a public lighting installation as a community meeting place for use by dog owners and other visitors. “In researching the scope of the project we were intrigued by the strong sense of community amongst dog owners that congregate at these parks,” says Duncan Chew. “We want to nurture this relationship and build a biogas fueled ‘campfire’ where people can come together at this unique meeting space.” The $1000 grant will be used to contribute towards the cost of building the poo-powered… read more →

Three awesome things happened last Wednesday in Melbourne. The Melbourne Awesome Foundation turned one. We threw a party. We gave away $4,317 in our first mega grant.   We got together at Inspire 9‘s co-working space and were greeted at the door by probably the only Tram Inspector we ever will be happy to see. We’d come together on this night on the common ground of a few things: we like to eat, we like to drink, and we like to spread awesomeness. Miss Tresna Lee, you are an epic party planner and many thanks go your way. Here’s what the night entailed:   – Rooftop Honey: One of our previous grant winners gave everyone a sample of their honey tasting spectrum; honeypots from each suburb of Melbourne. We have to say, Northside takes the cake.  – We listened to the sweet sounds of previous grant winner, Tram Sessions, all night. Including the likes of Courtney Barnett and Johnny Rock and The Limits. –The West Winds Gin boys got everyone talking: Sabre gin, matured lemon juice, crumbled Rooftop Honeycomb – need we say more. –Miss Chu, the Rice Paper Queen gave us some incredible chow.- Little Creatures provided us some nice brews. – Monk Bohdi… read more →