I retired from personal blogging in July 2008.
But you can find me over at http://blog.xero.com.
Good fun at the AUT Idealog Trans-Tasman Business Circle event last night at the Auckland Art Gallery.
The team behind Idealog (Vincent, Martin, Matt, Sarah, Ben and the gang) are really taking a lead in starting conversations as well as celebrating success. They are a valuable voice in the industry and you can support them by subscribing here. Nothing better than receiving that bimonthly package of reading joy.
I spoke about the Xero IPO, our reasoning for doing an IPO and invited people to watch us as a case study of putting the funding in place to do things properly. Hamish Carter of course stole the show and relayed some of his experiences of his first job.
I really enjoyed meeting the people at the event last night. A very stimulating bunch. It was great that people stayed on and networked.
Before the event we heard from the Steinlager Marketing Manager on the thinking behind Steinlager Pure, their new beer. We heard savvy beer insider speak such as ‘the hangover myth’, ‘premium hard men’ and ‘a liquid barrier’. Fantastic. I did sample the Steinlager Pure (several times) and I can report that the dreaded Steinlager hangover did not occur. Success!
The night continued with about 20 of us in Ponsonby. A lot of fun and I’m looking forward to the next event.
blog
Cheers Rod, and thank you for such a great presentation — the off-the-cuff, questions-from-the-floor style suits the event really well.
For those who couldn’t make it, we’ll try to get some video up in the next week or so.
Hi
For those of you interested in Trans-Tasman connectivity and discourse, the Australian Film Commission (AFC) has just launched a new screen portal. Peter Griffin is there to check it out - in Sydney. You can see excerpts of Aussie screen culture http://www.australianscreen.com.au
NZ On Air is currently creating a similar project as part of our new digital strategy (nzscreen). Connecting the Creative industries/digital content sector and the ICT sector I consider crucial to the innovation scene in NZ and we are small enough and networked enough to do a great job of that. So, watch this space as Brenda (Leeuenberg) and I take NZ On Air digital….its a work in progress…
On another note - those of you interested in builidng the academic/industry bridge across ICT, check out the presentations from KAREN which i also recently attended http://www.karen.net.nz
And the G3 Games, Girls & Graphics Event in Ak last week. http://www.shoko.co.nz/G3
Clare (O’Leary)
http://www.nzonair.govt.nz
I’d long since given up drinking Steinlager Classic because of it’s toxic after effects which were legendary. So, will give the new version a try based upon Rod’s recommendation.
I can also recommend a tasty boutique drop called Moa that I tried recently. Each bottle is brewed and packaged in the manner of a “sparkling” wine, resulting in a unique flavour. Let’s hope they don’t become extinct anytime soon.
Steinlager Pure and Moa are certainly both good examples of clever marketing and packaging of a home grown product to target a specific audience in a highly competitive global market. No doubt there is a software marketing analogy there somewhere…
LaaS/v I think
Liquid as a service with value add
Speaking of Pure, it’s a pity that it flattens off in the bottle by the time you get 1/2 way down. I am pretty sure it’s been brewed that way so that you have to drink it faster. And have you noticed that when Harvey has a drink his Steinlarger pure is already empty.
Just to let people know there is an lecture by Prof Claire Massey at Massey Wellington on SME’s - looking at intl approaches to SME development and frameworks for NZ firms. Cld be of interest to small business owner operators in Wellington area. Is on thursday August 2nd at 6pm (for an hour) at museum building at Massey Wellington. Prof Massey is regarded as intl expert in this area so shd be good.