Luke Woojin Kaihau Holani

After a long decision making process, proud parents Anna and Matt have come up with a “kule” name for their baby and newest member of the Card Smart family. Luke was born on Sept. 26 at 3:04 am. He weighed 3.9 kilograms and was 53 centimeters long. Anna and Matt would like to thank everyone for their gifts and well wishes.

Directors Award 2010 in Melbourne

The 'Directors Award' function in Melbourne was held at Achelya Restaurant in Dockland on the 24th of September 2010.

There were approximately 14 people who attended this function. We were glad to see many new faces including Peter Salpigtidis, Yvonne Leong, and Jeff Karingada.

The Directors announced that all 'Directors Award' winners were in Sydney. However, there were two Appreciation awards presented to Leanne Walter and Wendy Keith. Congratulations to both of you for your outstanding contribution to the company!

Everyone was entertained by the live music and the Belly Dancing Show at 9pm. A lot of people thought that the male belly dancer was more interesting (and experienced) than the female belly dancer. Some of the card-smarters were invited to get up on stage, but they refused to dance. Surprisingly, our director followed the female dancer and started dancing with her, and Cassandra danced with the male dancer.

Towards the end of the function, we were served desserts and coffee. The function ended around 9.30pm, and everyone looked to have enjoyed the event.

Half Marathon Men

Congratulations to Kenny Li and Steve Flood (Techie’s other half)! While we were all still fast asleep on Sunday morning, the boys were up early to take part in the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival. They ran the half marathon or 21 kilometers starting from Milsons Point and finishing at the Opera House . Kenny and Steve would like to thank those who sponsored their runs, and contributed money to the Cancer Council charity. Kenny completed the course in 2:05:53, while Steve completed it in 1:48:43.

Directors Award 2010 in Sydney

Congratulations to the Directors Award winners in Sydney for this year: Doreen Cheng, Kenny Li, Matt Lu and Zoran Novicic. The directors also gave special mention to Leticia Pahimulin, Huy Le and Warren Easton. The Sydney celebration was held at the Victoria Room in Darlinghurst. The mood was very Parisian bordello, which was a change from our more formal functions. The event is beautifully captured in this special clip created by Tommy Tang.

ISTQB Advanced Technical Test Analyst Course

Cassandra, Leticia and Kenny had recently completed the ISTQB Advanced Technical Test Analyst Course in Brisbane. This is a 5-day course (30/08/2010 – 03/09/10) and was presented by Rex Black, past president of the International Standard Testing Qualification Board (ISTQB) in cooperation with Softed Education Company. Rex Black comes from Texas USA and is also the founder of Rex Black Consultant Services(RBCS company).

This is the very first classroom course offered for ISTQB Advanced Technical Test Analyst and the participants came from different parts of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra) as well as in New Zealand. As this is the pilot classroom course, participants are limited to 8 to ensure that there is much interaction between presenter and participants. It is an in-depth course geared toward exploring new ways to plan, prepare and test across the full Software Development Lifecycle, etc.

Towards the end of the course, there was a book signing from Rex Black. One of the course materials was a Testing Book authored by Rex himself and everyone wanted to have his signature on the book. Also, there was an exchange of business cards among participants to ensure continuous contacts, and to further enhanced the ‘bonding’ that were developed during the 5-day course.

At last, Rex presented the participants with a Certification of Attendance and hopefully everyone is looking forward to sit on the exam to be given towards the end of the year.

Happy Birthday Wendy!

A get together was held at the Sydney office last Friday with Matt organizing drinks and nibbles. It was nice catching up with people, since everyone seemed to be working all over the place. We sang happy birthday to Wendy as she blew the virtual flame. We were unable to light the candle on the cake, because there was no match or lighter to be found. Body Smart should be proud that we seem to have no smokers in the group. We met our brand new Card Smarter, Shatrughan, while an ex-Card Smarter in Jeff Verden blessed us with his presence. Matt took the opportunity to solicit suggestions for baby names from everyone. We thank Tommy and Wendy for ensuring that the very “happy" Kenny got home alright. Thank you Matt for hosting the event.

AGM 2010 in Launceston

The company's annual general meeting this year was held at the Country Club Launceston in Tasmania. Paul, Matt and Jess gave a review of the company's achievements for the year, and presented the goals for the new year.

After all business has been completed, everyone had the chance to enjoy sight-seeing, catching up during the formal dinner and hitting a few balls on the golf course.

In memory of the duck that Wendy's golf ball killed

The anticipation as they wait for the penguins to appear

The challenge this year was the flying trapeze. Kudos to everyone who climbed high up and swung in the air. It was an exhilarating and fun experience for all, including those people cheering them on from the safety of the ground.

IMG_4994, originally uploaded by Card Smart.

Christmas Party 2009

The Sydney Christmas party was held at the Bayswater Brasserie in Kings Cross. We were treated to fine wine and food, plus the company of our partners and guests from FIS. We played Secret Santa again this year, but with a twist. As one by one, people took turns opening a gift, one was allowed to steal someone else's gift instead of opening their own. It became obvious soon enough which gifts were popular, like the singing Santa Hat, the gift voucher from JB Hi-fi, the Planet Earth puzzle and the room diffuser. Oh, and to those who wrapped up a package sent to the office as a gift (you know who you are), shame on you people.

IMG_0187, originally uploaded by Card Smart.