Hi everyone, I've purposely delayed this weekly update so I could include any last minute stragglers before I head off to Europe in a couple of hours. I will be in Vienna for a few days and then in Greece for two weeks. I won't be doing any recruitment updates while I'm away since I'm not taking my laptop. I'll be back in Panama on 27 May so they will recommence after that.

Feature photo

Today's photo was taken by Hive account@kieranstone and is of Southern Cross Station in Melbourne. If you like it, please upvote it here.

Karaoke results

Hive account@jackmiller's ANZAC Day karaoke results are in. Thanks to his efforts, 123.872 SBD and 21.634 steem were raised for the Team Australia account. Post here.

Movement May

Do you feel like you spend too much time sitting on your arse in front of the tv/ computer/ other-time-sucking-device? Do you want to get fit? Do you just like beating other people? Well, I've got the challenge for you. Hive account@aussieninja is hosting Movement May, which is already 25% through but don't worry about that. Basically, you pledge however many kilometres you want to run, cycle, swim, whatever, and then you go out and do it (this is the most important part). If you like, you can make a post to keep yourself accountable and send Ninj the link so he can include it in the weekly updates. Also, the fabulously named @RunBurgundy—which is one of the best names I've seen on steemit—might follow and upvote you.

Meet-ups

Sydney

Credit: Hive account@quochuy

Last Saturday a bunch of Sydneysiders got together in Paramatta, for what looked like an awesome time. As expected, Hive account@rustle did not behave himself and drank his weight in overpriced German beers before passing out.

Credit: Hive account@bearone

Most participants wrote up the day so here are the posts.
Hive account@quochuy's post, Hive account@bearone's post 1 and post 2, Hive account@travelgirl's post, Hive account@phamished's post, Hive account@ratticus' post and Hive account@chrisdavidphoto's post.

Melbourne

Hive account@datascience is trying to organise the next Melbourne meet-up for what looks like the Sunday 20 May. See his post for details.

RandomDrinks is also back. The next one will be at the Melbourne Good Food and Wine Show on Saturday 2nd June. Details here.

Team Australia Christmas party

I know! We haven't even got to that stupid 'Christmas in July' yet, and here we are talking about actual Christmas. It seems the enthusiasm generated by the Sydney meet-up got Hive account@bearone thinking and so we will have our first Team Australia Christmas party this year.

Initially, it was going to be in Sydney but the good places are booked out already or too expensive. So current thoughts are the Blue Mountains. It looks like several of Mallsballers are keen on making the trip over in Hive account@holoz0r's steem mobile, and I am keen on attending as well.

Proposed dates: 14-17 December. Check out this post and this post and have your say.

It's highly likely there will be some fundraising done over the next few months to subsidise the cost, and our Minister for Finance Hive account@ausbitbank said he will also kick in some money.

The usual community notices

You should follow Hive account@mrsquiggle, who is doing a great job recognising Aussie creativity by curating quality content.

Check out Hive account@anzub, the Australian and New Zealand upvote bot in the Australia-New Zealand Discord server. You need to register to receive upvotes and delegations are welcome. Speak to Hive account@jackmiller if you have questions.

Check out the awesome Minnow Support Project (MSP). Details on how to join are here. Come say hi in the #teamaustralia chat room in PAL-Discord. It's fun and you will make new friends.

You should consider voting for the MSP witnesses, particularly Hive account@ausbitbank and Hive account@aggroed, who've a done a great job in getting the MSP project off the ground.

Lastly, if you're feeling generous, you can delegate SP to the Team Australia upvote bots Hive account@centerlink, Hive account@mrsquiggle and/or Hive account@anzub (or any other bot you like) using Vessel. You can delegate to any of the MSP bots using this link.

Candidate 1

Name and bio

Hive account@kenikat is from Sydney. Among other things, she's into urban exploring and Japanese cars. She has experience in building drift cars, fibreglassing, spray painting and panel beating.

Intro post here.

Fun fact

"I'm into cars, computers and cats."
I think you just became the coolest girl I know.

Candidate 2

Name and bio

Hive account@henrywilson is a journalist from Adelaide. He is also an advocate for mental health and an ambassador for Headspace. He also uses comedy to combat anxiety and depression.

Intro post here.

Fun fact

"I'm a stand-up comedian."
Nice. Looking through some of your posts, you appear to be quite funny too, which is good.

Candidate 3

Name and bio

Hive account@lifeobserver is from Sydney. He works in IT and spends most of his time staring at two monitors. However, more recently he's got lost in the woods on a camping trip and surrounded by dingoes while out running. (Hmm, perhaps you should stay indoors.)

Intro post here.

Fun fact

"I am pretty resistant to jokes, if I wanted to I can hold my laughter from any joke, many friends and colleagues have tried but I have never failed."
Interesting. Maybe you and Hive account@henrywilson should get together and see how you go.

Candidate 4

Name and bio

Hive account@jason.che is a self-confessed introvert from Sydney. He is also less than three years away from being child free, which he seems quite pleased out.

Intro post here.

Fun fact

"Just like Facebook, Instagram, etc., my kid wants no association with me here on Discord."
Ha! Kids. So ungrateful and unappreciative. Don't worry, they'll come good when they turn 30. That's what my friend's dad said about her and her brother. Seems like a long time to wait for a payoff though.

Candidate 5

Name and bio

Hive account@almigo is Hive account@andrewsmodels' mate and a radio announcer from the Gold Coast. He's also been a part-time blogger for years and last year he published a book. Since then he's written three more. He's also into home brewing.

Intro post here.

Fun fact

"I once had to pour boxes of live cockroaches over a screaming wetsuit-wearing woman in a bathtub for a radio stunt. I wish I was joking."
This sounds like something off "I'm a celebrity get me out of here". Also, I feel like this would lose something on the radio compared to tv. Then again, screams are screams.

Congratulations everyone, you're now part of Team Australia.

The rules for joining Team Australia

If you’re not yet a member and want to be, this is what you need to do:

1. Vote here for our resident steemit witness and our Minister for Welfare Hive account@ausbitbank.
2. Send me your introduction post so I can find out a bit about you. If you’re new to steemit you'll have to write one so use the introduceyourself and teamaustralia tags to help boost your following. Use this handy guide by Hive account@teamsteem if you don't know what to write.
3. If it’s not mentioned in your introductory post, tell me which city and country you’re in, cos let's face it, a lot of us live in Australia's fourth largest city—London. You need to have a connection to Australia to join.
4. Tell me a fun fact about yourself. This can be anything. For example, maybe you have eight kids and three dogs, or you rode your bike across America, or you won the blue ribbon for javelin throwing at sports day back in high school, or Toadie came into the pub you work at one day and you served him a beer, or, maybe you can fit 55 maltesers in your mouth like Ed Sheeran can. It doesn’t matter what it is, I want a fun fact about you! The more fun, the better.
5. Regularly check the Team Australia and Australia tags and upvote/follow the content you like. You can show your support by following the centerlink curation trail in steemauto. Instructions are here.
6. Comment below or DM me in PAL-Discord that you want to join.

Once I receive this information I will try my best to write a good introductory paragraph about you for the official Team Australia membership updates. So the better your information is, the better I can make you sound. Where relevant, please use the teamaustralia and australia tags to promote your work. I will try and post weekly updates.

Gif by Hive account@justcallmemyth
Team Australia footer by Hive account@bearone
Page divider by Hive account@kristyglas