Isentia takes a moment to celebrate with Variety Australia at the Children’s Christmas Party
Isentia is involved with a number of different charities and not for profit organisations, but for feel good factor it’s hard to go past helping out at the annual Variety Children’s Christmas Party!
A couple of the Isentia ANZ CSR Committee members plus 4 other staff were lucky enough to be able to volunteer at the party this year and I think it’s fair to say we walked away a happy, tired, glittery bunch – really pleased to have been able to help put a smile on almost 4,500 children’s faces this Christmas.
We rocked up bright and early at the All Phones Arena at Sydney Olympic Park and were briefed on the running order of the day while taking in the fairground rides and were quickly dispatched to our respective areas for the day.
Watching the kids faces light up when seeing their favourite superheros or playing with the animals would be a highlight for me. Helping out was the most rewarding and fun experience
– Nat
We had about half an hour to be briefed and clear on our jobs before the kids starting arriving and before long a steady stream of children and their carers filled up the arena with chatter, laughter and the sound of popping balloons!
I was lucky enough to be allocated to a craft stand – making hats! Yay! So I set about with the other 20 or so volunteers to make and decorate hats for the kids to choose from as they wished. There were also face painting stands, a Lego building area, Christmas card craft and mask making in the craft section. But on the other side of the arena the kids were also being treated to pony rides, a stage show including the NSW Police Band, cotton candy, karaoke and so much more! It was exhausting just wandering around watching the kids take it all in!
For me the best part of my day was helping a young man of about 8 build a gold crown that met his very exacting standards – and seeing his smile and that of his carer when we finally got to what he wanted was brilliant!
Oh and of course the day wouldn’t have been complete without a picture with Santa which we managed to sneak in after the kids had left and before poor Santa was all jollied out!
Variety and the Ladies of Variety work tirelessly to put this event on every year. And every year around 4,500 disabled, sick and disadvantaged kids get to come along and enjoy a magical day of fun. But honestly I think that the volunteers get as much out of this day as the kids do!
What stood out for me was the enormity of the event and how smoothly it seemed to go, clearly the Variety people have this down to a fine art!
– Gina
What I can say though is it was one of the most humbling and fun experiences I’ve had in a long time. Such a great day for the children and an amazing event to volunteer at. Nothing as rewarding as hearing these children tell you it’s the best day of their life
– Josh
Isentia is a proud supporter of Variety across all states in Australia and we support them through our services with access to Mediaportal and Connect
Loren is an experienced marketing professional who translates data and insights using Isentia solutions into trends and research, bringing clients closer to the benefits of audience intelligence. Loren thrives on introducing the groundbreaking ways in which data and insights can help a brand or organisation, enabling them to exceed their strategic objectives and goals.
Each country has a different way of celebrating the holiday period. The lead up to Christmas can bring the onset of the largest shopping season of the year.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Click Frenzy and Boxing Day sales are great for consumers but how do they fare for retailers?
In this whitepaper, we look at the volume of media mentions around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day sales and the new addition - Click Frenzy.
We look at the success over the years and what these sales mean for retailers.
We also explore what’s on trend with gifts for children in the lead up to Christmas 2019.
"
["post_title"]=>
string(54) "A retailers guide to trading during the festive season"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(121) "Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Click Frenzy and Boxing Day sales are great for consumers but how do they fare for retailers?"
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(38) "a-retailers-guide-to-christmas-trading"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2023-07-07 03:41:28"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2023-07-07 03:41:28"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(31) "https://www.isentia.com/?p=4536"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
Whitepaper
A retailers guide to trading during the festive season
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Click Frenzy and Boxing Day sales are great for consumers but how do they fare for retailers?
Australia has been a hot destination in higher education for international students, but with recent policy changes and growing anxiety around housing, the student journey has seen a shift, impacting intake into the top Australian universities and making the process a bit unpredictable.
In our analysis we also zoom into the Southeast Asian region, where we uncover what priorities drive students from this region to apply at Australian universities, how housing plays a role and what kind of career outcomes they would expect post-study.
In this report we analyse over 3k posts across social and online media to unpack:
How Australian universities are navigating a "crisis of governance" and public trust, with intense media scrutiny on budget deficits, leadership accountability, and long-term financial sustainability.
How the rapid integration of AI is seen as both a transformative academic toolkit and an existential threat, forcing institutions to prioritise AI literacy and redesign assessments to combat risks like deep fakes and academic misconduct.
How shifting Australian migration policies have made policy safety the primary concern for Southeast Asian students, influencing how they weigh university reputation against visa hurdles and long-term career ambitions.
Reflecting on the media reporting from 2025 provides institutions with the tools to craft communication strategies that address both the domestic demand for accountability and the international student's need for security and value.
Please fill in the forms below and access our reports to get a deeper insight on audience sentiment and behaviour when deciding an education and career in Australia.
Access the SEA insights report here
Access the ANZ insights report here
"
["post_title"]=>
string(56) "Analysing Australia's higher education landscape in 2025"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(136) "A deep dive into how global audiences perceive Australian higher education and the university sector with a spotlight on the SEA region."
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(77) "analysing-australias-higher-education-landscape-in-2025-amidst-policy-changes"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2026-02-23 08:08:30"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2026-02-23 08:08:30"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(32) "https://www.isentia.com/?p=44820"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
Blog
Analysing Australia’s higher education landscape in 2025
A deep dive into how global audiences perceive Australian higher education and the university sector with a spotlight on the SEA region.
The media landscape is accelerating. In an era where influence is ephemeral and every angle demands instant comprehension, PR and communications professionals require more than generic technology—they need intelligence engineered for their specific challenges.
Isentia is proud to introduce Lumina, a groundbreaking suite of intelligent AI tools. Lumina has been trained from the ground up on the complex workflows and realities of modern communications and public affairs. It is explicitly designed to shift professionals from passive media monitoring back into the role of strategic leaders and pacesetters.
“The PR, Comms and Public Affairs sectors have been experimenting with AI, but most tools have not been built with their real challenges in mind.” said Joanna Arnold, CEO of Pulsar Group.
“Lumina is different; it is the first intelligence suite designed around how narratives actually form today, combining human credibility signals with machine-level analysis. It helps teams understand how stories evolve, filter out noise and respond with context and confidence to crises and opportunities.”
Setting a new standard for PR intelligence
Lumina is centered on empowering, not replacing, the human element of communications strategy. This suite is purpose-built to help PR, Comms, and Public Affairs professionals significantly improve productivity, enhance message clarity, and facilitate early risk detection.
Lumina enables communicators to:
Understand & Interpret: Move beyond basic alerts to strategically map the trajectory and spread of narrative evolution.
Focus & Personalise: Achieve the clarity necessary to execute strategic action before critical moments pass.
We are launching the Lumina suite by making our first module immediately available: Stories & Perspectives.
In the current fragmented, multi-channel media environment, communications professionals need to be able to instantly perceive not just how a story is growing, but also how it is being perceived across different stakeholder groups.
Stories & Perspectives organizes raw media mentions into clustered, cohesive Stories, and the Perspectives that exist within each, reflecting distinct media, audience, and public affairs angles. This unique functionality allows users to:
Rise above the noise: Instantly identify which high-level topics are gaining momentum or fading from attention.
Get to the detail, fast: Uncover the influential voices, niche communities, and specific channels actively shaping the narrative.
Catch the pivot point: Precisely identify the moment a story shifts—from a strategic opportunity to a reputation risk—or when a new key opinion former begins guiding the conversation.
"Media isn’t a stream of mentions," said Kyle Lindsay, Head of Product at Pulsar Group. "But rather a living system of stories shaped by competing perspectives. When you can see those structures clearly, you gain the ability to understand issues as they form, anticipate how they’ll evolve, and act with precision. That’s what we mean when we talk about AI built for communicators, and that's what an off-the-shelf LLM can't give you."
The Lumina Roadmap: AI tools for the future of comms
The launch of Stories & Perspectives is the first release of many. Over the upcoming months, we will systematically roll out the full Lumina roadmap, introducing a comprehensive set of AI tools engineered to handle every phase of the communications lifecycle.
The full Lumina suite will soon incorporate:
Curated media summaries: AI-driven daily summaries customized specifically to the priorities of senior leadership, highlighting only the most relevant stories.
Reputation analysis: Advanced measurement tracking how critical themes like ethics, innovation, and leadership are statistically shaping corporate perception.
Press release & media relations assistant: Tools designed to accelerate content creation and craft hyper-focused, personalized pitches that reach the precise contacts faster.
Predictive intelligence layer: Technology engineered to track and anticipate story momentum and strategic change before the window of opportunity closes.
Intelligent agents: Background agents continuously scanning all media channels for emerging key spokespeople and previously undetected reputation risks.
Enhanced audio, broadcast & crisis detection: Complete, real-time oversight of all channels—including audio and broadcast—enabling rapid context building and optimal crisis response delivery.
Want to harness the power of Lumina AI for your PR, Comms, or Public Affairs team? .
Complete the form below to register your interest.
"
["post_title"]=>
string(79) "Announcing Lumina: The purpose-built AI suite for PR, Comms, and Public Affairs"
["post_excerpt"]=>
string(129) "An intelligent suite of AI tools trained on the language, workflows, and realities of modern public relations and communications."
["post_status"]=>
string(7) "publish"
["comment_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["ping_status"]=>
string(4) "open"
["post_password"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_name"]=>
string(76) "announcing-lumina-the-purpose-built-ai-suite-for-pr-comms-and-public-affairs"
["to_ping"]=>
string(0) ""
["pinged"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_modified"]=>
string(19) "2025-12-09 09:39:52"
["post_modified_gmt"]=>
string(19) "2025-12-09 09:39:52"
["post_content_filtered"]=>
string(0) ""
["post_parent"]=>
int(0)
["guid"]=>
string(32) "https://www.isentia.com/?p=43742"
["menu_order"]=>
int(0)
["post_type"]=>
string(4) "post"
["post_mime_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["comment_count"]=>
string(1) "0"
["filter"]=>
string(3) "raw"
}
Blog
Announcing Lumina: The purpose-built AI suite for PR, Comms, and Public Affairs
An intelligent suite of AI tools trained on the language, workflows, and realities of modern public relations and communications.
