01_QHA_July_Online

NEWS
STRONG RESULT
FOR PUPS
Living a Life Beyond Fear was the theme
explored by Australian big wave surfer Mark
Mathews as the guest speaker at this year’s
Smart Pups Fundraiser Luncheon held at the
Paddo Tavern on April 22.
The annual event, organised by Craig Harley of
IGT, raised more than $82,000 for the Smart
Pups Assistance Dogs Organisation based on
the Sunshine Coast.
Smart Pups trains autism service dogs, seizure
response dogs and multi-purpose assistance
dogs to support children with special needs.
All Blacks Legend Andrew Merthens shared
his story too and ARIA Hall of Fame inductee
John Paul Young was on hand to provide the
entertainment. Ben Dobbin took the microphone
as MC and Donna Lynch kept things moving as
the day’s Host.
The annual event is well supported by the hotel
industry with major sponsors including McGuire’s
Hotels, Lion, Yalumba and Coke.
To find out more about Smart Pups and their life
changing work, see www.smartpups.org.au
QOINING A COMMUNITY
QHA REVIEW | 14
In the 90’s Bartercard was a big thing for some. Now,
with the move to digital currency’s Qoin, the team
behind Bartercard, have taken their system online
building a new community of businesses willing
to accept Qoin tokens in lieu of cash from other
businesses and consumers signed up to the program.
At the time of writing more than 27,000 businesses in
Australia and New Zealand have started to adopt the
digital currency platform
A hospitality example provided by Qoin is that of
The Rusty Barrel, a Bar on the Gold Coast, that was
struggling to juggle cash flow, manage debt and
attract customers.
The Rusty Barrel attracted new customers via free
Qoin directory ads, plus word of mouth and Facebook
recommendations from merchants, agents and others
from the Qoin community.
In addition, Qoin paid for entertainment such as live
gigs and trivia nights. It also covered graphic design
work for marketing, the website and menus.
While fresh produce is sourced from local farmers’
markets using Qoin, owner Billy Crean also recently
engaged with a Qoin friendly local butcher.
He has estimated he has over $500 each week in
costs where he is no longer spending cash, and this is
rapidly increasing.
As with anything new, there can be pitfalls, and this is
where Mick Robinson from Building Tuner works with
venues to ensure that the strategy for adopting Qoin is
the right one.
He says “venues starting to use Qoin need a strategy
that leverages their under-utillised capacity and targets
the specific needs of that business. An open slather
approach can become overwhelming and detract from
the benefits.”
Qoin holds an Australia Financial Services Licence, and
is built on a secure, scalable and robust blockchain
which was an initiative of J.P Morgan and Microsoft.
As a utility coin, it is backed by real goods and
services in a growing merchant ecosystem designed
to give it intrinsic value.
Any venue wanting to source new customers with no
joining or ongoing fees can contact Mick Robinson of
Building Tuner at mick@buildingtuner.com.au or
0422 218 375, for a detailed discussion on how Qoin
works, and to develop a strategy for how Qoin could
be implemented at your business.