Meet the Team

The Schmooze team is made up of a mix of enthusiastic volunteers and professionals who provide the vital expertise to make it all happen.  It’s their job to design and run the events, make everyone feel welcome, and provide the enthusiasm and great ideas!

To contact any of the team please email us at info@schmooze.net.au and we'll direct your enquiry. 

• Professional Team
• Young Professional Team

Phillip Jones, Founder & Director

Phillip founded Schmooze in 2003 to create a collaborative environment for colleagues and friends to develop their careers and businesses, and have a great time in the process. 

In addition to managing this company, he is the director of Two Degrees Group, which provides a range of consulting services including tailored on-demand professional development workshops, discrete professional intermediary services and the design, development and management of professional networks for organisations.

Being a recognised expert on social and professional networking, he's often invited to speak regularly or present training. You can view his professional website here.

In his spare time he loves to read philosophy, military history and the New Yorker magazine etc etc.  He also loves to add & subtract from his wine cellar and perfecting his martinis! He often brings our mascot Harry the terrier along to meetings (he loves to help)- so chances are you'll get to meet him too.  

You can contact Phillip via phillip@schmooze.net.au or call  0414 78 86 81 during business hours.
  

Diana Ryan,members relations manager

Diana has over thirty years experience working as a professional communicator within the television and film industry, retail, community service advocacy and publishing. She holds a bachelor degree in communication, public relations and personnel management, and works collaboratively with small businesses and community service organizations to realize their communication goals. Recently, she established Bliss Key Communication, a creative agency committed to the development of effective and ethical organisational communication.

She believes Schmooze provides a meaningful hub for the sharing of interests and values in the workplace, while developing positive networks for collaboration and community development.

Please do not hesitate to contact Diana via diana@schmooze.net.au if you have any queries or would like to know more about the benefits of connecting with our Schmooze community.

JAMES BAIRD, members relations manager

James has over six years experience providing Human Resources/Recruitment solutions to the Canberra marketplace.
His expertise covers staff retention and attraction strategies, company analysis/profiling and solutions to assist in placing your organisation above the rest when it comes to being an “employer of choice”.

He is committed and passionate about the Canberra marketplace, and is more than happy to share his knowledge and experiences in the hope that it will benefit you or your organisation.

James is available to meet with prospective and renewing members to discuss how best to make the most of a Schmooze membership and answer any questions they have. He also assists with the coordination and running of our events.

He is also a coffee lover and needs very little arm twisting to meet over one, so please contact him on james@schmooze.net.au to learn more about Schmooze and the benefits we can offer.

Richard arranz, members relations manager

Richard is a marketing consultant to SMEs and government agencies working with senior decision makers to develop strategic marketing plans, evaluate programs and roll out campaigns, and special projects.

Clients enjoy his capacity to understand the big picture and how best to carry out projects that provide a return on their money or that establishes a quality in-house marcomms program.

He loves a good chat about all things marketing and enjoys the company of others whether it be talking about sport, the outdoors, current affairs or exploring the world that is Schmooze. Richard is available to meet with prospective and renewing members to discuss how best to make the most of a Schmooze membership and answer any questions they have. He also assists with the coordination and running of our events. Please contact Richard at richard@schmooze.net.au

Schmooze Young Professionals Group Council

The SYPG Council is made up of volunteers who serve for six months in return for professional development and great work experience opportunities.

Each member of the Council is responsible for developing our young professional events and also assisting at other Schmooze activities and you can read more about the Council and how it works here.

We also engage university students and interns for a four week project several times a year and please contact us if you'd like to find out more about these opporunities and take applications throughout the year.

Casey Hamilton, Chair, SYPG Council

In 2008, Casey graduated from ANU with a BSc(Psych)/BA majoring in Linguistics. She promptly decided that crunching numbers in a lab was not for her and completed a summer clerkship with the Attorney General’s Department. With this experience under her belt, she then moved into the health industry, working for an accreditation body.

Her current role is as the Chapter and Faculties Coordinator and Liaison Officer with the Royal College of Nursing, Australia. In this role she coordinates Chapter and Faculty events, publishes e-newsletters and is a general ‘Jill of all trades’. She particularly enjoys working on projects with the New Generation of Nurses.

Outside of work, Casey does event management, namely for the 10thousandgirl campaign, a financial literacy project for young women.

Casey has a passion for science and education, and is commencing her Masters in Science Communication early 2011.

She is the leader of the SYPG and their spokesperson, and you can find out more about her in our featured interview here.

Jennifer Ralph, Deputy Chair, SYPG CounciL

While completing of Bachelors’ of Communication- Advertising and Marketing at the University of Canberra she worked for Prime Television in the traffic department.

Jennifer has just recently returned from a year abroad in Chicago working for It’s Just Lunch- a dating service for busy professionals.

Jennifer has returned to Canberra to complete her Masters in Communication and works on the SYPG Council assisting Casey and all the team in developing its program and running their events.

Jennifer assist Casey in the development and running of our SYPG program and is also a regular assistant at the monthly Schmooze's.

Megan Cook, SYPG Councillor

In 2005 Megan completed a Bachelor of Design, Fashion Design at the Canberra Institute of Technology. Since then she has worked as a Recruitment Consultant, Studio Assistant and Fashion Stylist.

Megan has over 5 years experience in fashion styling, personal shopping, merchandising and assisting with event coordination.

She travelled to Sydney to be the Chief Stylist for a Westfield fashion launch and has also merchandised mannequin displays. She is currently working for Pink Inc boutique in Braddon where she assists with styling, creative visual merchandising and sales.

At present Megan is launching her own vintage collection at itrip iskip.

She believes that every day should be treated like a special occasion... Use the nice tea cups, wear the pretty dress and surround yourself with people and special pieces that bring your life joy.

RAFE MORRIS, SYPG COUNCILLOR

Rafe has many interests and these many interest see to his involvement in many different things.

Musically, Rafe is a guitarist/singer/songwriter who has played over 300 concerts throughout 13 different countries. His songs have been published on 4 albums and his solo album It's not as shit as it looks (2008) continues to receive radio play throughout Australia, Europe and the USA college radio circuit.

Apart from playing concerts and festivals, Rafe takes much pleasure from helping to organise them. He has been -and continues to be- responsible for many concerts around Canberra over the past 7 years and takes great joy in contributing to Corinbank, a great festival supporting local arts. He has also been involved with local radio and theatre.

Currently, Rafe is an intern with PR company Charismatic Communication, he teaches guitar, MC's music nights and has recently started working with the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT (MHCC ACT) to organise their first conference set for February 2011. He is currently studying towards a degree in Business Studies through CIT and Charles Sturt University and is desperately searching for spare time.

Stephanie Hawkins,SYPG Councillor

Stephanie Hawkins recently graduated with degrees in Communications (Public Relations) and International Studies from the University of Canberra. During her studies, she completed different PR internships, including a summer internship with Pulse Communications (a consumer PR agency that is part of the international PR company, Ogilvy).

Currently, Stephanie is the Communications Officer for the St Vincent de Paul Society, in which she carries out the external communications on behalf of the organisation

She recently worked on the highly successful CEO Sleepout  in June 2010 which raised over $340,000 in the ACT alone.

Vinnies offers people in our community a complete range of services that provide specific assistance, and focus on ensuring that the social, economic, and political pressures placed on the disadvantage in our community are reduced. They offer homeless services, including supported accommodation, a drop-in-centre and night patrol van that provides food, clothing, and friendly conversation; tertiary education program with ACU; mental health program; and a youth program; as well as our retail centres which provide quality clothing and household items at an affordable price.