One of the most difficult initial challenges on the path to building a platform of corporate social responsibility starts with deciding what causes to support and how. We've put together a small panel comprising Sam Cawthorn, Adam Smith and our own Erin Hillier to discuss how your team can get started down the path of CSR - and why they should!

Twenty years ago people all over Australia gathered in living rooms, community centres, schools and workplaces to celebrate the first Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. From these humble beginnings grew one of Australia's most popular fundraising events, now enjoyed by over a million Australians each year.

More than 1 BILLION people have watched the blockbuster movie The Pursuit of Happy-ness . Will Smith plays the amazing Chris Gardner and was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his role. So to say we were excited to partner with TRET (Total Real Estate Training) to bring Chris to Australia for the first time is a slight understatement!

The movie itself depicts just one year of Chris Gardner's life. While we couldn't wait to hear that part of the story, we knew there was so much more to the man...

Ovations International was delighted to be awarded the IASB Community Service Award at the recent 2013 IASB Conference in Miami. Aimed at increasing awareness on the ways in which speakers bureaus can make a difference in their local community, Ovations took out the Award for our continued support of the Australian Human Rights Commission throughout 2012.

Jane Rowland-Smith, Ovations Chief of Relationships, was the driving force behind our involvement with the AHRC. We're exceptionally proud of the work Jane has done for this cause. 

This month, Leanne Christie was lucky enough to catch up with chief financial prognosticator, Stephen Koukoulas.

A former senior economic advisor to the Prime Minister and past chief enconomist to both local and European banks, Stephen has his finger on the pulse of the Australian economy - while keeping one eye on the global picture that informs us of what's to come.

If your business needs to know what's coming next for the Australian and world economies, then you need to pay attention to The Kouk!

HOW ARE YOU MANAGING DISRUPTIVE TRENDS? ARE YOUR LEADERS AWARE OF THE NEXT TIDAL WAVE OF CHANGES ABOUT TO HIT YOUR INDUSTRY SHORES? WHAT DISRUPTIVE RIPTIDES WILL BE ERODING YOUR MARKET SHARE TOMORROW?

What new Silicon Valley cloud innovations are likely to change how your IT department thinks about the future? What is going on amongst mobile phone vendors in Bangalore that will upend how you think about mobile devices at work? Which Shanghai pirates are likely to shift your thinking about intellectual property? What Barcelona designer is likely to give shape to the tablet device of tomorrow? And which Sydney cafe owner is likely to inspire co-working and innovation hubs of 2020?

In order to position yourself and your organisation favourably for tomorrow and for 2020, you need to think global, and act local. Glocalization is upon us, and that is why global, yet local, insights from around the world are critical to your business success.

This month's theme of 'Think Global, Act Local' exemplifies a trend from both our speakers and our clients towards thinking beyond the typical geographic boundaries of Australia. It's a trend in flux, with benefits flowing both ways and influenced by a myriad of factors - the new world order of instantaneous information allows us to import and spread new ideas and new tools, while the fluctuating Australian dollar changes the balance of how we prioritise real-world commerce.

To dig deeper into this trend, we spoke to our senior consultant Jane Rowland-Smith.