Murray Now

Born and bred in Sydney, Catharine Heffernan is quite the successful businesswoman in her own right. With 15 years in corporate communications, marketing and event management who would have thought that meeting someone from Deniliquin (Deni as the locals call it), would have an impact that would start a chain of events eventually leading Catharine to the promotion and management of the inaugural Deniliquin Matchmakers Festival.

Catharine Heffernan relocated to Deniliquin from Sydney in April 2010. Besides many years of working for large companies, Catharine operated an event management business “Chocolate Octopus “ in Sydney during 2003-2006 which involved managing a large annual industry exhibition and conference for ASIAL.

After meeting the love of her life her partner being a Deni local after making his own tree change seven years ago, Catharine made the decision to move to Deniliquin, bringing her business with her.

Chocolate Octopus is a newly established communications, events and marketing consultancy based in Deniliquin. “The Deniliquin Chamber had received funding and was planning an event to assist economic development in the region” says Catharine. “The timing was perfect, after meeting with Kathy Hall from the Deniliquin Chamber, I was given the opportunity to take hold of this exciting project.”

“We’ve had an amazing response from the business community, we’ve had our first meeting with 35 businesses attending, all keen to support the event, we’ve also picked up some great sponsors. “Everyone is really pumped about it, getting the community excited, and energized is what this is all about."

As Catharine explains, “The inaugural Festival will be hosted throughout Deniliquin and aims to bring city and country singles together for a fun –filled three days to discover all that the region has to offer and to hopefully find love,” there will be plenty of fun events tailored to suit all age groups across a number of venues in town” says Catharine, “but we certainly won’t be restricting anyone to their own age group, it’s about having a fantastic time.”

The Matchmakers Festival will also include Deni’s Longest Lunch, Regional Food & Lifestyle Expo including local produce and farmer’s market, wine and jazz, local musicians and guest bands, leisure and sporting activities, river cruises, a black tie ball and a leisurely Sunday brunch in the park to close the Festival.

The Deniliquin Business Chamber hopes to successfully grow the annual Festival to become one of Australia’s most popular singles events.

The Deniliquin Matchmaker Festival will be held 24-27 March 2011.

For further information you can visit www.denimatchmakers.com.au The Festival Program, accommodation packages and early bird registration will be available online over the coming weeks.

In the meantime register your interest to attend or even request a sponsorship package if your business is keen to support the event.

Murray Now had to ask Catharine how she came up with the business name Chocolate Octopus, she happily explained “love the word chocolate, it sounds nice and it rolls off the tongue, and octopus is me as one person with many arms in marketing, communication and events. I think it will work really well in tying in with the Matchmakers Festival, it’s kind of sexy!”

To speak to Catharine about Chocolate Octopus professional services email catharine@chocolateoctopus.com.au or phone 0434 656 447