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About Her Canberra
HerCanberra. A website for Canberra women…by Canberra women (and one bloke!)
If you want to know who’s behind it, well that would be me. I’m Amanda Whitley – I own a little communications business, Bare Communications, and work from home in between wrangling two gorgeous little girls. I’m an ex-public servant who’s also done everything from present the tv news to operate a stop and go sign.
I discovered how wonderful online life and communities can be when I was on extended maternity leave with our youngest girl, born at 30 weeks…I was lonely, isolated and in need of intellectual stimulation and then I found Mia Freedman’s fab site Mamamia. There I found many likeminded individuals who I still call friends. Essentially, my experiences and work as a moderator with MM was the inspiration for HerCanberra…until now, there’s been no online vehicle to connect Canberra women.
Contributors
Some wonderful Canberra women have volunteered to contribute their time and wit to HerCanberra in their various areas of expertise. Because, really, it’d be pretty boring if it was just me. We have social commentators, culinary whizzes, a home & style guru, a fashion magician, health & fitness experts, movie buffs…and they’re all amazingly talented local women. Learn more about them by reading the bios under each of their posts.
Meanwhile, if YOU’RE interested in contributing – whether that’s by profiling your neighbourhood, sharing an opinion, event or a recipe, just drop me a line at amanda@hercanberra.com.au .
If this is to be a truly diverse website, then we need more than a handful of voices. Unfortunately, at the moment, I can’t offer you anything other than my undying gratitude and the chance to see your words online…unless HerCanberra becomes the Next Big Thing and then superstardom is a given…
What HerCanberra’s all about
I’ve been turning words over in my head for days now, trying to find the right way to describe what this website is about. Part blog, part city guide, part fashion & beauty mag: it doesn’t really fit neatly into any one category. But, if you’re a labels chick, ‘online magazine’ is probably the nearest you’ll get.
But that’s ignoring one of my biggest aims for HerCanberra – and that’s to provide a virtual community for local women…I want visiting the site to be kind of like catching up for coffee with a group of friends, where you talk about what’s in the news, good places to eat, swap recipes, talk about family and friends, share fashion and beauty tips, opinions on books and movies, and much more.
I want to share local knowledge and encourage readers to do the same…what’s on this weekend, where the kid-friendly restaurants are or where’s the best place to take your honey on Valentine’s Day. I want to shine a spotlight on our various neighbourhoods and the businesses within them – the restaurants, the butchers and grocers, hairdressers and beauty therapists, fashion and homewares shops, etc etc! It’s all about discovering all Canberra has to offer women like us.
I want to give local women a place to connect and, if they want to, extend that into ‘real life’ friendships (stay tuned for details of regular HerCanberra get-togethers). From personal experience, I know that Canberra can sometimes be a hard place to meet people and that sometimes our life circumstances can be isolating…for many of us, moving from the workforce into being a Stay At Home Mum or Work At Home Mum can be quite lonely, and being able to connect on an intellectual, social and emotional level online can make a huge difference.
I want to engage you in discussion on issues relevant to us both on a local level and much broader – I want HerCanberra to be a place where we can have stimulating conversations and thought-provoking debates. Other times, I want you to laugh, or to nod your head in familiarity, as I share the funny and frustrating things that make up everyday life in Canberra.
I want HerCanberra to be as diverse as our Canberra women. I hope that women in their 20s will find the content as interesting as those in their 40s…I want single women to feel at home as much as mums…no matter where you are in life, I want HerCanberra to be a place you visit often.
I also want this to be a website which boasts many diverse voices – please join the conversation when ever the mood strikes you. I can guarantee that, while we may not always agree, there will always be respect…
Hope to see you around soon…either here or on Facebook or Twitter…
Amanda
Hi Amanda,
I thought I would contact you to tell you about my female only social service that I have started, the first event in Canberra is in January. I thought it might be of interest for an article for the female readers your website
There was no other way other than the internet to make new best girlfriends easily and quickly in Australia. I tried to find something that would help me, as a new girl, I wanted to go!
So I invented ‘be my wingman’ – new best friends. http://www.bemywingman.com.au
be my wingman is a unique social society
for ladies. Ladies who are looking to make new
best friends, whether you are new to the city, or
looking to fill your little black book with social
connections, be my wingman is for you.
The events are set up in a speed dating format
where participants spend time talking
to each other before switching in relaxed,
fun and new environments with like
minded girls who are also looking
for new friendship.
My story is so common. I moved to Australia 2 years ago from the UK. I am a professional.
At 30 it seams that it is harder to make new female friends. Especially when you don’t have much free time because of work commitments.
Friends can move out of your geographic location, decide to concentrate on new families or you may have just lost contact.
The notion of a friend has been blurred through technology in recent times. It makes the notion of meeting up with someone sound very wholesome. As a woman, your female friends are so important. There is nothing better than some female perspective. There’s also nothing better than a girl’s night out! So now the process can be faster, the process of finding those diamond friends you can count on one hand.
There are ‘friends’ and then there are ‘acquaintances’. I have a large number of the latter, but found that not everyone wants to make new best friends, they may not feel the need.
The concept behind the company/game is:
New City, New Girl, New Girlfriends and New Places.
It is a chance to speed up the process of finding new female friends, for companionship, for travel, for contacts and for fun.
We are now running events every two months in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and start in Canberra next month.
So far I have had great repose! I thought it might be something which would interest your readers? I have had some fascinating insights into female friendships which I would like to share.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hope you all have a happy holiday.
Yours sincerely,
Jade Hill
Founder – Be My Wingman
0415 691 628
So glad that there are people out there like you Amanda and you Jade, taking the time to follow through with a great idea.
All the very best.
Namaste
Kristin
Hi Amanda, just discovered your website. Great idea, I am not too far down the road from you.
Bushbelles