Thursday, December 8, 2011

The world’s next Nelson Mandela!


We all have dreams and aspirations – To possess our very own business, to travel the world or to one day become a mum or dad. These are dreams worth aiming for, as upon completion you feel a sense of self worth and satisfaction.
One man from Melbourne, Australia is working tirelessly to achieve his ultimate desire – to eradicate world poverty while working with and inspiring Gen-Y that they too can aim to make a positive difference on this Earth.
His name is Eric Quasi Agyeman, also commonly known as ‘Ezy’.
Eric is only 25 years old, yet he is an accomplished author, inspirational speaker, humanitarian and also owner and founder of fashion T-Shirt label, PVBS – Clothing the Nakid, where every T-Shirt bought clothes one whole child in Cambodia!!

Copyright 2011, Eric Ezy Agyeman
Despite coming from a background of poverty and violence, Eric has come out fighting and today prides himself on inspiring Gen-Y to know that they can change the world for the better.
He is truly an inspirational person who possesses such a positive outlook on life! Click on the YouTube video below to see why Eric Ezy Agyeman is well on his way of becoming the world’s next Nelson Mandela!Last Friday, Eric Quasi Agyeman joined my co-host Brendan Lucasand myself on our radio show,Friday Drive with Gianna and Brendan on 88.6 Plenty Valley FM in Melbourne, to talk about his life to date, current projects and his future dreams and aspirations.




To know more about Eric Ezy Agyeman or to get involved, head to his websites:PVBS, EKAInspirations or his Facebook Page.



Copyright 2011, PVBS - Clothing The Nakid

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Sunday, November 13, 2011

The new girl on the music block!

Yesterday, on behalf of 88.6 Plenty Valley FM in Melbourne, I presented live on site at  the 2011 Rotary Eltham Town Festival, North-East of Melbourne! It was a fantastic day, filled with awesome entertainment, including their very own ‘Eltham Idol‘, as well as carnival rides, food, wine and markets!!


Fortunately, I had the opportunity to interview the winner of this year’s ‘Eltham Senior Idol’ before she went on stage.

2011 Eltham Idol!
(Copyright © 2011, Rotary Etham Town Festival)



Only  18 year old, she writes her own lyrics and music!
Her name is Rikki-Lee Burley!
Listen to my interview with Rikki-Lee below to find out why she is one that will be on everybody’s music radar!!


For more info on Rikki-Lee Burley, head to her YouTube channel or head to her Facebook page.
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Friday, October 21, 2011

Musically ‘hipstensive’!


The Jezabels were formed in Sydney, Australia, where the band members met at the University of Sydney. Since releasing their first EP, ‘The Man is Dead’ in 2009, The Jezabels have taken Australia by storm. In the months to come, The Jezabels will not only tour Australia, but also North America and Europe.
Yesterday, I chatted to Nik Kaloper, the drummer behind Australian music sensation, ‘The Jezabels’. The interview went live to air on ‘Friday Drive with Gianna and Brendan’ on 88.6 Plenty Valley FM  in Melbourne!
Check out the interview below to find out why The Jezabels describe their original sound as ‘hipstensive’!
The audio from this video is Copyright © 2011, Gianna Dalla-Vecchia
Below is a film clip from one of The Jezabels’ first songs from their 2009 EP, ‘She’s So Hard’ – ‘Hurt Me’ was the first song I heard from The Jezabels. Enjoy!

This video is Copyright © 2010, The Jezabels

Here is The Jezabels’ official film clip for their song ‘Endless Summer’ – Their first single from their first full-length album, ‘Prisoner’, which was released just last month!
This video is Copyright © 2011, The Jezabels

For more info on The Jezabels, head to their official website,www.thejezabels.com!
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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

When passion for IT makes a lot of cents

Owner and operator of Australian based IT company, Centorrino Technologies, Adam Centorrino is already a well known IT guru and successful businessmen. Being only 24 years old, Adam spoke to Gianna Dalla-Vecchia about his rise to prominence and hopes for the future.
Image Copyright © 2011, Centorrino Technologies

You often hear stories of successful businessmen who have built major empires through decades of hard work and dedication. However, you rarely hear of businessmen close to home who, by their early twenties, already accomplished a great deal.

24-year-old business owner, Adam Centorrino is one of very few who can honestly claim this accolade, as he pursued his childhood passion, turning it into his career.

From a very young age, Adam, founder and operator of Melbourne based Information Technology (IT) company, Centorrino Technologies realised he was unlike most of school peers. From the age of five, Adam discovered his love for gadgets, but not any kind of gadget like a motorised car or aeroplane, rather he was a fan of the vacuum cleaner.
“When I was four or five I started playing with electronic toys like vacuum cleaners,” said Adam Centorrino. “However, as I got older, I started getting into computers.”

“When I was in grade five, my dad bought me my first computer. I remember reading the side of the case, which said, ‘warranty void if sticker removed’. So I decided to pull apart the whole computer,” said Adam. “Everything was disassembled on the whole floor. My mum nearly had a seizure! Thankfully, within an hour and a half, I managed to put the whole computer back together again.”

It didn’t take much for Adam to realise that he could possibly make a living out of his hobby. By the time he was in grade six, he was already in charge of establishing his primary school’s entire IT network.

“My dad always used to take me to his secondary school, where he worked at the time. I used to love watching the IT guys at work. I didn’t know specifically back then what they were doing, but I felt really inspired to learn more.”
“When I was in grade six, the head of IT came up to me and asked if I could help him set up the primary school’s computer network. What he asked me to do, I had never done before, but in the end, I managed to work it out within three to four hours.”

“Once I hit high school, somehow word got out that I assisted my primary school’s IT department, so the head of IT at my secondary school gave me permission to follow him around like a bad smell,” said Adam. “From year nine onwards, my school started paying me as an IT technician during their school holidays and term breaks.”
“Around this time, I started to fix computers for family and friends. Eventually, it got to the stage when someone said to me that they needed a receipt. And I immediately thought, ‘How do I give him a receipt?’ So, I decided to register my business,” said Adam. “I guess it was meant to be.”

From starting the business with only himself and two employees, Centorrino Technologies has grown to become a huge IT company in a matter of just five years.

“I’m happy to say that within five years, from having only two staff members, I now have 35 employees working for me,” said Adam. “In the IT business alone, I have 13 staff members. It is growing quite rapidly but I still think there is huge potential for us to grow a lot bigger over the next three years.”

“I’ve always wanted to achieve big. I have never thought small. So, every time I look at everything that I have done, or if somebody tells me that everything is fantastic, I always think it’s short of what I expect. I am my own worst judge.”

Unlike many businessmen, Adam did not rely on tertiary studies to assist him in achieving his goals. Instead he has his father to thank for inspiring him to believe that the sky is the limit.

“When I finished Year 12, I was accepted at the University of Melbourne to do a double degree in Information Technology. However, I only lasted at uni for one day, as I was unhappy with the course outline,” said Adam. “Actually, It wasn’t even a full day, I started at 12 ‘o’clock and finished at four o’clock!”

“By that stage, I already had my company up and running with two staff members. So to be honest, going to uni would have been a bit of a burden.”

“The person who really pushed and encouraged me to do what I wanted to do was my dad. He was the one who always drove me to appointments during high school when I didn’t have my driver’s licence,” said Adam. “He always told me to pursue my dream. Actually, he was the one who came to bat for me while my mum almost hit the roof when I announced that I was leaving university after a day.”

In order to run a successful company, one needs to devote many hours into the business in order to reap the benefits. Adam Centorrino is no exception.

“I usually work 90 to 120 hours a week. I start at six o’clock in the morning and finish at eleven o’clock at night. I’ll have a few breaks in between like dinner and so forth.”

“One day, my wife and I went on a cruise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was almost impossible to locate a place where I could access the Internet. I thought I was going to die,” he said. “On the day of my wedding, my wife knew she was marrying both me and my laptop.”

When asked to gaze into his Information Technology crystal ball, Adam is uncertain about what the future holds.
“I simply do not know where technology is going to end up in 20 years or so. I’ve got a feeling that cloud solutions will be a lot more dominant than what they are now.”

“I know that we won’t be using desktop computers anymore. Instead, I believe we will just be using tablets,” said Adam. “All the processing power will be saved on computers in data centres, where websites run from. Everything will be accessed online, like emails and so forth.”

Creating and establishing a successful business is no doubt a challenging but rewarding adventure. In Adam’s view, both his professional and personal life while running Centorrino Technologies have been fulfilling experiences.
“To be successful, you have to be driven. You have to be determined to succeed.”

“You need to be honest and believe in your product and your services. You have to have a great team behind you and you must learn how to manage stress,” said Adam. “You need to be able to communicate with others and be able to sell your product well.”

“Some people call me driven. I look at myself and say I’m an idiot or a fanatic. I am dedicated because it’s what I really love to do,” said Adam. “It’s not just my job, it’s my hobby, my passion and my life.










Monday, August 29, 2011

Owl City - All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour

Adam Young, the man behind American electro-pop musical project, Owl City toured Australia earlier this month, as part of his 'All Things Bright and Beautiful Tour'. I fortunately had the chance to attend one of his two concerts in Melbourne on Wednesday 17 August! Feeling inspired by his unbelievable musical talent, I decided to write a gig review based on his concert held at Billboard!

My article is featured on Upstart, a site for emerging journalists.

Here is my piece below...

Adam Young from Owl City serenaded a sold out concert in Melbourne on Wednesday night, delighting the audience with both his charm and his music. Gianna Dalla-Vecchia reports.

Only two years into his career, singer songwriter, Adam Youngbecame one of the most talked about artists in the music industry.Fireflies, from his third album, Ocean Eyes, reached the number one spot in 24 countries.
Two years on, 24-year-old Young, the musical genius behind electro-pop project, ‘Owl City’, has finally arrived Down Under to promote his new album, All Things Bright and Beautiful.
On Wednesday night, an exceptionally long line of Owl City fans cued outside Billboard nightclub in Melbourne, waiting patiently to see their Adam perform his greatest hits and new creations.
Upon entry at 8pm, everybody flocked to the front of the stage and within an hour, the club was filled to its maximum. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones who managed to gain a spot right at the front.
Being surrounded by a throng of screaming teenage girls waiting impatiently for Young to make an appearance certainly had its challenges, but that’s the price you pay to be up close and personal with an idol.
By 10pm, the Owl City band accompaniment was on stage, although Young was nowhere in sight. By this stage, my eardrums were already sore, as the squeals became more prominent left, right and centre.
Young refused to disappoint, as upon his entry, the club immediately became enchanted with the sound of birds chirping in fresh clover fields, a notable Owl City characteristic.
Owl City: Adam Young 
As the stage lights became more and more luminescent, Owl City’sAll Things Bright and Beautiful album cover, which complemented the sound effects was unveiled as the backdrop. The entire crowd went wild as Young started with a drum solo, while being awash with red laser lights.
Young made his way centre stage where he played his electric guitar and sang The Real World, the very first song from his new album, as the crowd waved their arms in the air.
Within two hours, Young had managed to perform around 20 tracks, many from his last two albums, and with every one of them, there were multitudes of people singing along to every lyric.
Throughout the entire concert, Young came across as such a free spirit and constantly interacted with the crowd. He threw off his shoes and jumped around, making us feel we were no longer in a club, but rather in his living room.
Young concluded the night with the magical, How I became the sea, which coincidently happens to be the last song on his new album.
‘You make me feel so special. God bless you,’ said Young as he left the stage. ‘Melbourne I love you. See you soon’.
After the reception he received on the night, there seems no doubt  Owl City will return to Australia in the near future.
Owl City - 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' album cover
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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Social work sans frontier

Melbourne based social worker, Dianne Yoong has worked with hundreds of families and refugees for over 10 years. This experience has helped Dianne forge some strong and controversial opinions about society’s treatment of underprivileged people. Gianna Dalla-Vecchia reports.

Dianna Yoong (Copyright © 2011, Kiam Yoong)

These days it seems that we all live busy and consuming lifestyles. Whether we immerse ourselves in full time work, study or community service, our time seems to slip away from us. Once you add our extra commitments, ‘me’ time soon becomes obsolete.

However, there is one person who, despite a degenerative neurological disease, throws her personal concerns aside, taking each day as it comes, as she works to improve the lives of society’s abused and oppressed.
Her name is Dianne Yoong and she is a well-regarded social worker, who has always dreamed to make a positive difference.

From the tender age of 10, Dianne became attune to the social injustices evident in her local community. Now at the age of 43, Dianne coordinates a Counselling and Adolescent Program in Melbourne, which assists children from newborns through to 17 who have experienced family violence.

For over 10 years, Dianne has been instrumental in assisting hundreds of needy families. But sadly, for the last four years, she has been fighting her own personal battle, dealing with the devastating illness, Multiple Sclerosis. Despite this hurdle, she remains determined to leave her stamp in the world of social work.

“I received the diagnosis three days after I turned 40. They called me saying that I had ten brain lesions,” said Dianne Yoong. “It’s being a difficult journey, working while dealing with the various symptoms of MS and relapses. Sometimes I’ll need to be away from work for several weeks at a time.”

“Having an unpredictable future has been a very difficult thing for me to deal with. I can’t over plan my life, therefore I just strive for markers instead,” said Dianne. “However, I have become a team leader since my diagnosis. So I am grateful that I continue to be recognised for the work I contribute.”

Dianne Yoong has had to emotionally deal with working with children who have experienced the worst forms of abuse, both physically and emotionally. Despite her dealing with these traumatic cases, Dianne’s personal values have helped see her through her day-to-day work.

“I have very strong values about social injustice and equality. Along with the theoretical frameworks of social work, my personal alignment to Buddhist principles such as compassion informs my values greatly. In this way, I find great inner peace.”

“Social work has such diversity and at its core, it’s about social injustice and the misfit between different systems for people within the broader context of society. It’s a very complex career.”

“I once worked with a young 10-year-old boy who lived a tragic life where his mum, for a number of personal reasons, constantly rejected him. As a consequence he was out on the streets a lot engaging in drug usage and so forth,” she said.

“One day, I met up with him at McDonalds. I remember looking into his eyes and seeing that they were red from substance abuse. I stopped and said to him, ‘When I say happy, you don’t know what that means, do you?’ And he just shook his head and said that he had no idea what I was talking about.”

“This was tragic as this young boy could not identify a simple emotion that most of us experience and take for granted in our lives”.

“Everybody deserves the dignity to be treated with respect. I listen to their journey and their hardship. To be invited into people’s lives and hearing their life story is an absolute position of privilege.”

Australia’s intake of asylum seekers seems to always cause controversy. The last few months have been no exception, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s implementation of a ‘five for one’ deal with Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, has sparked great debate, dividing the country in two.

Dianne is far from a bystander when it comes to understanding the Australian government’s asylum seeker policy. Many years ago Dianne managed an Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in Melbourne, where she witnessed the injustices shown towards Australia’s asylum seekers.

“Australia’s treatment around detention centres is horrendous.”

“We all sit in our ivory towers and make judgements on things that we simply have no understanding of: the plight of people who have experienced political persecution in their own countries and who have seen death and war, civil up rest and poverty.”

“What a lot of people do not understand is that in Australia, compared to the United Kingdom and other countries, we are under our quota for the number of people we actually allow into the country as refugees, as we have signed the Human Rights Declaration Act.”

“Certainly, to say that some people are not legitimate refugees is correct. There would be some people that might take advantage of any kind of policy or opportunity to exit their country.”

“However I believe that this is a minority of people and most seeking refugee status are genuine.”

Dianne believes that the Australian media perpetuates skewed views in the broader community and contributes to society’s lack of understanding and simplistic views regarding the social injustices shown towards minority groups in the wider community, including that displayed to Australia’s asylum seekers.

“I am very critical of the media as they use sensationalism to scare the community.”

“People will say that we report independently on topics. Well that is absolute rubbish.”

“Every form of journalism is somewhat controlled and calculated. It is very difficult for a journalist to report on something that they truly believe in, for they are restricted by policies, Government, media enterprise and funding.”
“I really think that journalism is about entertaining the masses and making sure what is presented is what their audience wants to hear.”

“When I worked at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, the media published news articles which highlighted the fact that refugees were sowing their lips together for no real reason, describing the incidence as barbaric,” she said.
“It is this analysis of ‘difference’ that poses the greatest risk for dominant groups in society, which perpetuate policies that continue to oppress minority groups. An example of this was the introduction of the assimilation white paper policies that saw to the shameful genocide of aboriginal peoples in Australia’s history.”

“A more accurate understanding behind the story of asylum seekers sowing their lips together would demonstrate the desperation and trauma of people who are still treated like second class citizens. Unfortunately, the media don’t always understand these complexities and often align with dominate community and government values.”

“Journalism could be working for the good, but it simply doesn’t sell, it doesn’t always entertain and it isn’t what the masses want.”

“As a society, we seem to focus on trivial matters, which isolate us. We become immobilised and do nothing.”
Despite be diagnosed with a degenerative debilitating disease, Dianne has remained optimistic, embracing all that underpins her role as a social worker.

“Social work to me is a privileged career. There are moments where you feel so solely connected with another person. Many of these people’s stories merge with mine and have left a spiritual footprint in my heart,” she said. “At the end of the day I feel so grateful to have had such a meaningful and rewarding career.”

“In ten years, I don’t know where I see myself. I hope I will still able to walk and continue in my career. That’s my main goal. I still hope to embark on some kind of project. But if I didn’t get there, that would be ok too.”

“I just throw all my cards out to the universe and sometimes things just turn up. That’s where the magic is.”

Dianne Yoong (Copyright © 2011, Kiam Yoong)

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