10 December 2010
End of the year is fast approaching and things seem to getting even more hectic here at GSP.
All the end of year orders combined with New Year requests means that there are some very highly strung pressured individuals around.
Work is continuing on at this end. I have created templates for the letter head, PowerPoint presentations, envelopes, business cards. All of these need final approval from Peter Piccione and then we would be good to go.
The website is another matter altogether. While it is ready to go live, there are still some pictures that we require and finalising some of the text. The aim is for this to launch in the New Year and so far we are on track.
If I don’t write again before 2011, here’s wishing you all a very happy and safe holidays.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Port Stephens and taking the initiative
29 Novermber 2010
I visited Port Stephens over the weekend. Its about 3hrs away from Sydney and is a quiet beach town with some very beautiful beaches.
The best part is that after every few kms you get a different beach. There is a lot of water activities to do or you can just laze in the sun.
Now back at work, feeling refreshed and getting back to finalising the website.
One of the things that came up was to see what to do with the current GSP website. The original developers wanted a $150/hr for any changes that we were proposing and we would be dependent on them every time for any future changes.
I then looked up the APN directory and started calling people with web developer as their job title with the hope that we could make use of some people from within the organisation and I was right.
I had been in touch with some experts in APN at different sites and can confidently say that the new GSP website will not only be better than the previous one, it will also be future proofed at virtually no cost.
Just shows that there is so much expertise around this organisation. One just needs to take the initiative and ask for it!
I visited Port Stephens over the weekend. Its about 3hrs away from Sydney and is a quiet beach town with some very beautiful beaches.
The best part is that after every few kms you get a different beach. There is a lot of water activities to do or you can just laze in the sun.
Now back at work, feeling refreshed and getting back to finalising the website.
One of the things that came up was to see what to do with the current GSP website. The original developers wanted a $150/hr for any changes that we were proposing and we would be dependent on them every time for any future changes.
I then looked up the APN directory and started calling people with web developer as their job title with the hope that we could make use of some people from within the organisation and I was right.
I had been in touch with some experts in APN at different sites and can confidently say that the new GSP website will not only be better than the previous one, it will also be future proofed at virtually no cost.
Just shows that there is so much expertise around this organisation. One just needs to take the initiative and ask for it!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Week 1 finishes in GSP
10 Nov. 2010
Right, so here I am in Prestons in Sydney.
For those familiar with Auckland, this is the area near East Tamaki or the Airport; a mainly industrial zone where unless you have a vehicle at your disposal you wont really get around very far.
I said my goodbyes and finished up with NZ Mags on the 29th of October and packed my bag and headed over to Sydney on the 31st of October.
Day 1 at work was on the 1st of November. Luckily yellow pages had helped me secure a hotel which was about 10 mins walking distance from GSP, for which I was eternally grateful.
Like I mentioned earlier, not having a vehicle was a serious setback.
GSP is a specialist printer for large-format printing. They produce out-of-home advertising and point-of-sale. They are the only large-format printer to have in-house equipment for every part of a campaign - from screen printing to wide-format digital.
All the nerves disappeared by the end of day one as I met and Andrew Thornberry (Client Service and Traffic manager) who firstly, took me for a tour around the massive 5000m2 purpose built facility and then introduced me to the rest of the team at GSP and then we caught up with Peter Piccione (General Manager).
We quickly got on to business and got an overview from Peter and Andrew about GSP. The way the business had been shaping up; how it fits into APN and the financial results and trends.
Outside of work, Week 1 was spent trying to find accommodation and I was lucky to sort that out with great help from Tammy and Tracy.
So the current situation is that work goes full steam ahead with GSP and I catch a bus to and from work which takes me an hour each way.
Can’t remember how long ago, public transport and I last met up!!
Right, so here I am in Prestons in Sydney.
For those familiar with Auckland, this is the area near East Tamaki or the Airport; a mainly industrial zone where unless you have a vehicle at your disposal you wont really get around very far.
I said my goodbyes and finished up with NZ Mags on the 29th of October and packed my bag and headed over to Sydney on the 31st of October.
Day 1 at work was on the 1st of November. Luckily yellow pages had helped me secure a hotel which was about 10 mins walking distance from GSP, for which I was eternally grateful.
Like I mentioned earlier, not having a vehicle was a serious setback.
GSP is a specialist printer for large-format printing. They produce out-of-home advertising and point-of-sale. They are the only large-format printer to have in-house equipment for every part of a campaign - from screen printing to wide-format digital.
All the nerves disappeared by the end of day one as I met and Andrew Thornberry (Client Service and Traffic manager) who firstly, took me for a tour around the massive 5000m2 purpose built facility and then introduced me to the rest of the team at GSP and then we caught up with Peter Piccione (General Manager).
We quickly got on to business and got an overview from Peter and Andrew about GSP. The way the business had been shaping up; how it fits into APN and the financial results and trends.
Outside of work, Week 1 was spent trying to find accommodation and I was lucky to sort that out with great help from Tammy and Tracy.
So the current situation is that work goes full steam ahead with GSP and I catch a bus to and from work which takes me an hour each way.
Can’t remember how long ago, public transport and I last met up!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Happy Birthday
14 October 2010
Today is my 30th birthday. A lot of people ask me if I feel older. Apparently the ‘big 3 oh’ is what changes things. Still trying to figure out what these “things” are.
I feel exactly the same as I felt yesterday with just a lot more attention. I hope that whatever changes this is supposed to bring in my life, happens, and are good changes.
Was at work today doing what I do best, putting out fires. We went out for lunch to Grasshopper today. Grasshopper is a Thai restaurant on Albert Street (near the Stamford Plaza) and the maitre d' is a wonderful lady who knows me quite well by now since I frequent her restaurant.
She found out that it was my birthday today and at the end of the meal she brought in a very special surprise and even sung me a happy birthday song. This is what she brought out for me. A wonderful surprise!
I will also catch up with family over dinner tonight.
The plan is to have a big night tomorrow which is also the weekend.
Peace out
Monday, October 11, 2010
Where do you think you are going!
11 Oct 2010
It has been an interesting weekend.
Spoke to Tracy on Friday arvo and was told that the project in Brisbane didn’t make it through the final budget proposal and was cut at the end. What that meant was that I no longer had a project to work to from the 18th of October.
I hate to admit it but I was disappointed. I was mentally prepared to say goodbye to NZ Mags and Auckland this weekend and had readied myself for the new challenges ahead and this was a sucker punch that I had not even though of.
Tracy was nice to have told me this on the Friday rather than today and she even managed to get hold of Sarah to inform her of the same.
Sarah was very kind and sent me a lovely text on Friday night saying that she was jubilant that I was going to be here longer and not to be too crestfallen. The weekend gave me time to re-evaluate and get my thoughts sorted to the coming weeks here with all the uncertainty.
No one said this was going to be easy and I am very determined to take on anything that is chucked at me.
Caught up with Sarah in the morning and she has asked me to assist Jo Elwin (Custom Publishing Manager) with a new project. That will be me for the next 2-3 weeks depending on when I get word on what happens with me next.
It has been an interesting weekend.
Spoke to Tracy on Friday arvo and was told that the project in Brisbane didn’t make it through the final budget proposal and was cut at the end. What that meant was that I no longer had a project to work to from the 18th of October.
I hate to admit it but I was disappointed. I was mentally prepared to say goodbye to NZ Mags and Auckland this weekend and had readied myself for the new challenges ahead and this was a sucker punch that I had not even though of.
Tracy was nice to have told me this on the Friday rather than today and she even managed to get hold of Sarah to inform her of the same.
Sarah was very kind and sent me a lovely text on Friday night saying that she was jubilant that I was going to be here longer and not to be too crestfallen. The weekend gave me time to re-evaluate and get my thoughts sorted to the coming weeks here with all the uncertainty.
No one said this was going to be easy and I am very determined to take on anything that is chucked at me.
Caught up with Sarah in the morning and she has asked me to assist Jo Elwin (Custom Publishing Manager) with a new project. That will be me for the next 2-3 weeks depending on when I get word on what happens with me next.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Its the final countdown...
8 October 2010
One week to go.
Time is fast approaching as I get ready to leave NZ Magazines for my new destination.
We had lunch today with the transition project team as a way to say thank you for everyone who had put in a lot of work (some even working right through the weekend) to make this transition as smooth as possible. It was a great opportunity for everyone to sit around some yummy Thai food (Thanks Sam and Sarah!) and not talk about work or the challenges with the project.
Andrew at lunch asked me a question; What would I miss most about NZ Magazines? This is actually a very tough question and as I pondered over the answer, I realise that its impossible to put down the one thing that I would miss most about this place. This experience has been amazing to say the least; challenging, rewarding and a big learning opportunity.
Time to start looking for accommodation. Sydney gets the usual bad rep for being expensive but Brisbane is at par, if not worse!
One week to go.
Time is fast approaching as I get ready to leave NZ Magazines for my new destination.
We had lunch today with the transition project team as a way to say thank you for everyone who had put in a lot of work (some even working right through the weekend) to make this transition as smooth as possible. It was a great opportunity for everyone to sit around some yummy Thai food (Thanks Sam and Sarah!) and not talk about work or the challenges with the project.
Andrew at lunch asked me a question; What would I miss most about NZ Magazines? This is actually a very tough question and as I pondered over the answer, I realise that its impossible to put down the one thing that I would miss most about this place. This experience has been amazing to say the least; challenging, rewarding and a big learning opportunity.
Time to start looking for accommodation. Sydney gets the usual bad rep for being expensive but Brisbane is at par, if not worse!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Day 3 after Go live day
06 October 2010
This past weekend has been hectic. Everyone pitched in and it was fantastic to see the team working as one…. facilities with IT; IT with production. Excellent!
We shut down Pacific Magazines on Friday morning and started the move process. The movers were in there early and things started getting underway. In the mean time, the IT boys were working hard to make sure that they were ready when the equipment was shifted over to APN premises.
A lot of people worked right through the weekend to ensure that come Monday, things would be ready to go.
I walked in on Monday with an expectation that a lot of things would go wrong. Probably sounds pessimistic but just the scale of the move and the time that we had to get it done wasn’t filling me with a lot of confidence. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that as of home time on Monday, we had a few teething issues but nothing major.
The new staff were in, looking around at the new environment. The NZM staff were probably as curious as them and it was surreal watching the interaction.
Having said that, Things overall were running smoothly! It was an amazing feeling.
There are still a few things here and there that need to be tidied up but I am happy with how this has come about.
Now that this project comes to an end, I can start looking at the next one that is coming up in Brisbane. More on that in the coming days
This past weekend has been hectic. Everyone pitched in and it was fantastic to see the team working as one…. facilities with IT; IT with production. Excellent!
We shut down Pacific Magazines on Friday morning and started the move process. The movers were in there early and things started getting underway. In the mean time, the IT boys were working hard to make sure that they were ready when the equipment was shifted over to APN premises.
A lot of people worked right through the weekend to ensure that come Monday, things would be ready to go.
I walked in on Monday with an expectation that a lot of things would go wrong. Probably sounds pessimistic but just the scale of the move and the time that we had to get it done wasn’t filling me with a lot of confidence. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that as of home time on Monday, we had a few teething issues but nothing major.
The new staff were in, looking around at the new environment. The NZM staff were probably as curious as them and it was surreal watching the interaction.
Having said that, Things overall were running smoothly! It was an amazing feeling.
There are still a few things here and there that need to be tidied up but I am happy with how this has come about.
Now that this project comes to an end, I can start looking at the next one that is coming up in Brisbane. More on that in the coming days
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Something off topic
30 September 2010
Recently, a really good friend at work showed me a clip of Eddie Izzard's Death Star Canteen skit that someone had set up using Lego.
I havent seen anything that funny in a long time and before long after innumerable repeats, I pretty much know the whole skit verbatim. This has led to a lot of inside jokes between us and we now look for random moments to insert a line here and there and break out in laughter, whereas the rest of the people in the scenario kinda look at us and probably think, "whats wrong with you two!"
You can view the video for yourself here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw
What do you think? :)
Recently, a really good friend at work showed me a clip of Eddie Izzard's Death Star Canteen skit that someone had set up using Lego.
I havent seen anything that funny in a long time and before long after innumerable repeats, I pretty much know the whole skit verbatim. This has led to a lot of inside jokes between us and we now look for random moments to insert a line here and there and break out in laughter, whereas the rest of the people in the scenario kinda look at us and probably think, "whats wrong with you two!"
You can view the video for yourself here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw
What do you think? :)
Monday, September 27, 2010
The final stretch beckons...
27 September 2010
The last fortnight has been spent trying to knock off the little, usually forgotten, things done. These have ranged from business cards to car parks, to credit cards and system log-ins. The reason why these get forgotten is not because they are not important but because there is an assumption that 'someone' would do it and that 'someone' is usually someone else.
Friday arvo showed a whole flurry of activity as discussions were being raised around specific software and who did what. This was thankfully resolved within the hour with some timely placed phone calls to some key people. I love technology!
The big picture items have been ticked off and as we come onto the final stretch this week, its all about getting those aforementioned details ticked off so that nothing is left to chance.
The team move over this weekend and they came over to have a look today to the new site. Come Monday the 4th of October, it is going to get a whole lot noisier!!
Back to work then.. time's a running!
The last fortnight has been spent trying to knock off the little, usually forgotten, things done. These have ranged from business cards to car parks, to credit cards and system log-ins. The reason why these get forgotten is not because they are not important but because there is an assumption that 'someone' would do it and that 'someone' is usually someone else.
Friday arvo showed a whole flurry of activity as discussions were being raised around specific software and who did what. This was thankfully resolved within the hour with some timely placed phone calls to some key people. I love technology!
The big picture items have been ticked off and as we come onto the final stretch this week, its all about getting those aforementioned details ticked off so that nothing is left to chance.
The team move over this weekend and they came over to have a look today to the new site. Come Monday the 4th of October, it is going to get a whole lot noisier!!
Back to work then.. time's a running!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Project Rook continues…
14 Sep 2010
The last fortnight has been a bit of a blur. Once the announcement took place, there has been discussion all around with almost everyone taking their own view of what lies ahead. We had gone through and created a FAQ document before the announcement to anticipate questions that people might have from all departments and try and answer those. This was a great help and definitely assisted all of the management team to give correct answers when asked.
I asked Andrew if I could sit in when the announcement was made to his team and was glad that he agreed. It gave me an opportunity to see first hand, the reaction of the team and the kind of questions that people asked and whether our FAQ was adequate or not. It felt great to see that almost all the questions that were asked were ones that we had covered! The team were quite positive and looking forward to having Pac Mags on board.
So what has been happening in the last fortnight? We have had our weekly project meeting which I chair and involves all stakeholders right across the project (from facilities through to IT; advertising through to finance and everything in between). The main thought process behind this was to make sure that people understand the impact their task has on the next area and the flow on effect it creates if not done.
Happy to say that everyone has been quite positive although I can imagine it would be a bit ‘boring’ for people who have nothing to do with another area to sit and listen. I am hoping that this will create a better understanding of what each department does and also how to work better in a collaborative way to be successful. It amazes me to think that these meetings might be the first time that these key people in the business had a chance to get together in a room!
The NZ Mags move has also happened with the new floor layout and desks and people being shifted. As is to be expected, some people are openly unhappy with their new surroundings, the way their desk is facing and I even got one complaint about the colour of the desk not being right!
Things coming up next….
My next project block seems to be pointing to Brisbane but will require a few more finishing touches before its ready to go. Once I get that sorted, I am planning to make a trip to Tauranga and Whangarei to get an understanding of the operations there and build some relationships with some key people there too.
I have just received a meeting invite along with Sarah to give an update on the project to Martin Simons (Group Publishing Chief Executive) and Phil Eustace (Finance Director - NZ) on Monday 20 Sep. Looking forward to it!
The last fortnight has been a bit of a blur. Once the announcement took place, there has been discussion all around with almost everyone taking their own view of what lies ahead. We had gone through and created a FAQ document before the announcement to anticipate questions that people might have from all departments and try and answer those. This was a great help and definitely assisted all of the management team to give correct answers when asked.
I asked Andrew if I could sit in when the announcement was made to his team and was glad that he agreed. It gave me an opportunity to see first hand, the reaction of the team and the kind of questions that people asked and whether our FAQ was adequate or not. It felt great to see that almost all the questions that were asked were ones that we had covered! The team were quite positive and looking forward to having Pac Mags on board.
So what has been happening in the last fortnight? We have had our weekly project meeting which I chair and involves all stakeholders right across the project (from facilities through to IT; advertising through to finance and everything in between). The main thought process behind this was to make sure that people understand the impact their task has on the next area and the flow on effect it creates if not done.
Happy to say that everyone has been quite positive although I can imagine it would be a bit ‘boring’ for people who have nothing to do with another area to sit and listen. I am hoping that this will create a better understanding of what each department does and also how to work better in a collaborative way to be successful. It amazes me to think that these meetings might be the first time that these key people in the business had a chance to get together in a room!
The NZ Mags move has also happened with the new floor layout and desks and people being shifted. As is to be expected, some people are openly unhappy with their new surroundings, the way their desk is facing and I even got one complaint about the colour of the desk not being right!
Things coming up next….
My next project block seems to be pointing to Brisbane but will require a few more finishing touches before its ready to go. Once I get that sorted, I am planning to make a trip to Tauranga and Whangarei to get an understanding of the operations there and build some relationships with some key people there too.
I have just received a meeting invite along with Sarah to give an update on the project to Martin Simons (Group Publishing Chief Executive) and Phil Eustace (Finance Director - NZ) on Monday 20 Sep. Looking forward to it!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Project Rook unveiled
01 Sep 2010
Finally!
The announcement has been made.
Months of working behind the scenes has finally paid off as we managed to get this licensing deal between two organisation without any security leaks.
You can read more about the market announcement here
After creating a meticulous project plan involving various stakeholders and a very detailed communication plan, it does give me immense satisfaction when I saw the pieces falling through as planned. There were some changes as you can expect but overall, we moved well with the information that we had.
This has taken a whole lot of thinking, consulting and being detailed oriented about anticipating what would be required at the task level for every area.
Now that the announcement has been made, the next part of the project begins and the ‘real’ hard work starts. So far it was mostly about planning. Soon we will be moving into the action phase of getting these products up and running seamlessly in the APN environment.
Sarah has been an immense help in this whole process, right from the beginning where she wanted me to not only be part of this project but take lead as project manager. I have learnt a lot so far and as we keep going through the transition phase, the learning and the lessons will no doubt continue to grow.
The last few weeks have been spent working for Project Rook in somewhat obscurity so as not to divulge any information about the project. Add to that, the trip to Sydney and subsequent presentation and it quickly becomes apparent that the last few weeks have been quite busy.
Finally!
The announcement has been made.
Months of working behind the scenes has finally paid off as we managed to get this licensing deal between two organisation without any security leaks.
You can read more about the market announcement here
After creating a meticulous project plan involving various stakeholders and a very detailed communication plan, it does give me immense satisfaction when I saw the pieces falling through as planned. There were some changes as you can expect but overall, we moved well with the information that we had.
This has taken a whole lot of thinking, consulting and being detailed oriented about anticipating what would be required at the task level for every area.
Now that the announcement has been made, the next part of the project begins and the ‘real’ hard work starts. So far it was mostly about planning. Soon we will be moving into the action phase of getting these products up and running seamlessly in the APN environment.
Sarah has been an immense help in this whole process, right from the beginning where she wanted me to not only be part of this project but take lead as project manager. I have learnt a lot so far and as we keep going through the transition phase, the learning and the lessons will no doubt continue to grow.
The last few weeks have been spent working for Project Rook in somewhat obscurity so as not to divulge any information about the project. Add to that, the trip to Sydney and subsequent presentation and it quickly becomes apparent that the last few weeks have been quite busy.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Quick update
03/08/2010
The last fortnight has zipped by very quickly as I get more and more involved in Project Rook.
Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to divulge details about this project yet but safe to say, this is the biggest thing I have ever been involved in and every day I am learning many new things. Thank you Sarah!
My thoughts do go out to where my next placement will be and what I will be doing next.... will it be as challenging as this current project?
In the capacity of Project Manager I have had to interact with many different parts of the business, dealing with some very high level execs along the way.
The next couple of weeks are looking to be crucial with a lot going to happen at the same time. I envisage quite a few late days at the office making sure everything goes through smoothly.
I have a catch up with Tim Catley (CIO & Head of Group Services) today and it would be good to meet with him and introduce myself.
Time for a coffee... Flat white.. no sugar. thanks!
The last fortnight has zipped by very quickly as I get more and more involved in Project Rook.
Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to divulge details about this project yet but safe to say, this is the biggest thing I have ever been involved in and every day I am learning many new things. Thank you Sarah!
My thoughts do go out to where my next placement will be and what I will be doing next.... will it be as challenging as this current project?
In the capacity of Project Manager I have had to interact with many different parts of the business, dealing with some very high level execs along the way.
The next couple of weeks are looking to be crucial with a lot going to happen at the same time. I envisage quite a few late days at the office making sure everything goes through smoothly.
I have a catch up with Tim Catley (CIO & Head of Group Services) today and it would be good to meet with him and introduce myself.
Time for a coffee... Flat white.. no sugar. thanks!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Bye bye outsource
21 July 2010
A week has passed since the last update and a lot has happened since then.
Firstly, a quick update on the Outbound project. I received an email from the outsourcing company who were not very happy with the responses that they were getting from their team and now that the change of remuneration had gone through (refer to previous post) they felt that maybe this wasn’t worth their while as they weren’t making enough sales.
I had a chat to Chris who agreed that it is probably best to cancel the agreement straight away if that company didn’t have their heart in it anymore. So I made the call and called off their involvement.
And all this, after I had gone down there last week and took their sales team and their team manager through a sales coaching workshop spending half a day. Oh well..
This was a learning experience as I had never been involved in negotiating rates and setting service level agreements at this level, and had definitely never cancelled contracts before.
NSM are still going ahead and we will continue to work with them on the remaining leads on this project.
Now if you thought that my workload would come down, oh boy, were you mistaken!
Earlier, Sarah pulled me aside and said that she had discussed my term at NZ Mags and was happy to inform me that I would be there until (possibly) the end of September. This meant that I was able to take back the project lead for Project Rook, which is going full steam ahead.
I found myself in two to three meetings every day, all of last week ranging from topics of HR to Properties; Technology to Sales, and this trend will probably be continuing for the next month, it seems.
There is a lot on the plate which means that my musings online will be reduced.
I got an email today from Bosco with the link to his blog (http://mbaoflife.blogspot.com/), his style of writing and the purpose of his blog is very different and should make for an interesting read. So if you haven’t already checked it out, do so. I am sure he would value your feedback as would I.
Peace out!
A week has passed since the last update and a lot has happened since then.
Firstly, a quick update on the Outbound project. I received an email from the outsourcing company who were not very happy with the responses that they were getting from their team and now that the change of remuneration had gone through (refer to previous post) they felt that maybe this wasn’t worth their while as they weren’t making enough sales.
I had a chat to Chris who agreed that it is probably best to cancel the agreement straight away if that company didn’t have their heart in it anymore. So I made the call and called off their involvement.
And all this, after I had gone down there last week and took their sales team and their team manager through a sales coaching workshop spending half a day. Oh well..
This was a learning experience as I had never been involved in negotiating rates and setting service level agreements at this level, and had definitely never cancelled contracts before.
NSM are still going ahead and we will continue to work with them on the remaining leads on this project.
Now if you thought that my workload would come down, oh boy, were you mistaken!
Earlier, Sarah pulled me aside and said that she had discussed my term at NZ Mags and was happy to inform me that I would be there until (possibly) the end of September. This meant that I was able to take back the project lead for Project Rook, which is going full steam ahead.
I found myself in two to three meetings every day, all of last week ranging from topics of HR to Properties; Technology to Sales, and this trend will probably be continuing for the next month, it seems.
There is a lot on the plate which means that my musings online will be reduced.
I got an email today from Bosco with the link to his blog (http://mbaoflife.blogspot.com/), his style of writing and the purpose of his blog is very different and should make for an interesting read. So if you haven’t already checked it out, do so. I am sure he would value your feedback as would I.
Peace out!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Life goes on..
13 July 2010
There has been development in the Outbound campaign.
We were reviewing the incentive payouts and realised that total sales being paid out for were not matching the verified sales that we were getting in the system. I spoke to both NSM and the Wellington provider about this issue and they were both very helpful in understanding the predicament of paying out for sales which do not materialise. We have since then changed our policy and will only pay out on verified sales from now on.
As part of this exercise I will need to pop down to Wellington to catch up with the troops and hopefully push them to generate some more sales than current. Our overall conversion rate is about 1.5% which is industry standard but very far off the 5% which we had originally aimed for.
On a different note, I got an email last night mentioning that Brendan Hopkins (APN Group CEO) has now resigned and will be leaving at the end of the year. He was a big supporter of this program and with his departure, one questions what the future for this program will hold.
I guess time alone will tell whether the incoming CEO will continue to see value in this exercise, in us….
There has been development in the Outbound campaign.
We were reviewing the incentive payouts and realised that total sales being paid out for were not matching the verified sales that we were getting in the system. I spoke to both NSM and the Wellington provider about this issue and they were both very helpful in understanding the predicament of paying out for sales which do not materialise. We have since then changed our policy and will only pay out on verified sales from now on.
As part of this exercise I will need to pop down to Wellington to catch up with the troops and hopefully push them to generate some more sales than current. Our overall conversion rate is about 1.5% which is industry standard but very far off the 5% which we had originally aimed for.
On a different note, I got an email last night mentioning that Brendan Hopkins (APN Group CEO) has now resigned and will be leaving at the end of the year. He was a big supporter of this program and with his departure, one questions what the future for this program will hold.
I guess time alone will tell whether the incoming CEO will continue to see value in this exercise, in us….
Thursday, July 8, 2010
It's getting harder and harder to breathe..
08 July 2010
Things have been going full tilt since ive been back.
A variant of the originial project has started in which I am working with Arthur Lennsen from Manukau Print to document all of NZ Mags schedules and pre-press set up with an aim to create efficiencies.
This is a big learning curve as I have had only limited exposure to production in my previous role but I am getting to learn new things and that is what this role and project is all about.
As Maroon 5 once said, "its getting harder and harder to breathe!"
Things have been going full tilt since ive been back.
A variant of the originial project has started in which I am working with Arthur Lennsen from Manukau Print to document all of NZ Mags schedules and pre-press set up with an aim to create efficiencies.
This is a big learning curve as I have had only limited exposure to production in my previous role but I am getting to learn new things and that is what this role and project is all about.
As Maroon 5 once said, "its getting harder and harder to breathe!"
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
i'm back !
29/06/2010
After an eventful but fun holiday I am now back in Auckland and its time to get back into work again.
The holiday itself started off with Qantas losing my baggage and I had to spend 3 days in Toronto with no luggage!
If that wasn’t bad enough, the trip to NY from Toronto started off with the security guards singling me out for some "random" checks.
What was even crazier was that the amount of security to get in to see the Statue of Liberty was greater than when I entered the country.
Las Vegas and LA was nice and hot and great fun.
Coming back to Auckland in this cold is a huge turnaround from the weather across the pacific I am now checking up on the outbound campaigns and seeing if there is any tweaking required to the original offer.
Its mom's bday today so here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday Mom!
After an eventful but fun holiday I am now back in Auckland and its time to get back into work again.
The holiday itself started off with Qantas losing my baggage and I had to spend 3 days in Toronto with no luggage!
If that wasn’t bad enough, the trip to NY from Toronto started off with the security guards singling me out for some "random" checks.
What was even crazier was that the amount of security to get in to see the Statue of Liberty was greater than when I entered the country.
Las Vegas and LA was nice and hot and great fun.
Coming back to Auckland in this cold is a huge turnaround from the weather across the pacific I am now checking up on the outbound campaigns and seeing if there is any tweaking required to the original offer.
Its mom's bday today so here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday Mom!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
First Sale
2/06/2010
Spent most of the second half of yesterday finalising the NSM side of the deal so that they would be ready to start making calls from the evening. Everything seemed on track and about 80 calls were made last night with one sale. The first sale!
Now I know what you’re probably thinking…. the conversion does not look all that impressive but look at it this way. This was a monumental sale as this is the first time that NZM have actively solicited to grow subscription.
Lawrence assures me that it would only get better as time went on and I agree. I asked Chris if he would be up for giving some added incentive to the NSM teams with a movie money book and he agreed so I have passed that on to Lawrence today.
I started yesterday meeting up with Tracy for breakfast. She is here to meet with some people within the organisation and also working with the feedback of the employee survey results. It was a good catch up and I gave her an insight of things that have been working well so far me on this block and how this experience could be enhanced. The weather has been dreadful so hopefully it will get better for her as she moves on to Whangarei to meet with the team there.
I also got an email from Rob Lourey asking if I was free to catch up for a coffee today.
Rob and I met in the foyer and then headed off to get a cuppa. It was great seeing Rob and getting some insight from him about what people in my place in the past have experienced.
He did ask me if there was something that he could do to add to this experience for me and I cheekily asked if he could get me a ticket to the Exec meeting to which he replied, possibly not haha.
Hey, nothing ventured nothing gained so I’m going to try my luck again at some point and hopefully get a yes out of him ;-)
In the meantime, I am quite excited about my upcoming leave.. here’s wishing that the kiwi dollar picks up against the greenback so I can get some decent foreign exchange for my savings!
Spent most of the second half of yesterday finalising the NSM side of the deal so that they would be ready to start making calls from the evening. Everything seemed on track and about 80 calls were made last night with one sale. The first sale!
Now I know what you’re probably thinking…. the conversion does not look all that impressive but look at it this way. This was a monumental sale as this is the first time that NZM have actively solicited to grow subscription.
Lawrence assures me that it would only get better as time went on and I agree. I asked Chris if he would be up for giving some added incentive to the NSM teams with a movie money book and he agreed so I have passed that on to Lawrence today.
I started yesterday meeting up with Tracy for breakfast. She is here to meet with some people within the organisation and also working with the feedback of the employee survey results. It was a good catch up and I gave her an insight of things that have been working well so far me on this block and how this experience could be enhanced. The weather has been dreadful so hopefully it will get better for her as she moves on to Whangarei to meet with the team there.
I also got an email from Rob Lourey asking if I was free to catch up for a coffee today.
Rob and I met in the foyer and then headed off to get a cuppa. It was great seeing Rob and getting some insight from him about what people in my place in the past have experienced.
He did ask me if there was something that he could do to add to this experience for me and I cheekily asked if he could get me a ticket to the Exec meeting to which he replied, possibly not haha.
Hey, nothing ventured nothing gained so I’m going to try my luck again at some point and hopefully get a yes out of him ;-)
In the meantime, I am quite excited about my upcoming leave.. here’s wishing that the kiwi dollar picks up against the greenback so I can get some decent foreign exchange for my savings!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Final touches
31/05/2010
Wellington was cold and windy. As expected.
The outsourcing company was warm and friendly and being a small operator it meant that there weren’t layer after layer to go through for me to get the right message across.
After spending some time sitting down and working through the requirements and stressing upon the importance of maintaining customer relationships, I felt quite comfortable with what they had to offer NZM.
The Wellington trip was quite exciting as I realised while in Wellington that I had lost my cardholder and all my cards with it. A frantic search of my jacket and trousers confirmed this and when the people at the airport said that nothing had been returned back to them, I feared that all was lost.
So on the way back, I was very pleasantly surprised when the stewardess came over and informed me that they had indeed found my cardholder and it was ready to be picked up at Auckland airport.
I rushed straight to the counter upon my arrival and identified myself to the attendant.
She confirmed that such a card holder had indeed been found but she needed my ID to confirm that this was indeed mine; The fact that my driver's license was IN the cardholder wasn't good enough.
After a lot of convincing she agreed to (do me a "favour" and) open the cardholder and lo and behold there i was smiling back at her on the plastic driver's license!
Back to work: Things are looking good as they have sent through the contract which I have forwarded on to Chris to check and sign off so we can get this project underway.
NSM on the other hand is ready to kick this off from Tuesday.
We are all waiting very excited to see the results that come from this exercise.
Wellington was cold and windy. As expected.
The outsourcing company was warm and friendly and being a small operator it meant that there weren’t layer after layer to go through for me to get the right message across.
After spending some time sitting down and working through the requirements and stressing upon the importance of maintaining customer relationships, I felt quite comfortable with what they had to offer NZM.
The Wellington trip was quite exciting as I realised while in Wellington that I had lost my cardholder and all my cards with it. A frantic search of my jacket and trousers confirmed this and when the people at the airport said that nothing had been returned back to them, I feared that all was lost.
So on the way back, I was very pleasantly surprised when the stewardess came over and informed me that they had indeed found my cardholder and it was ready to be picked up at Auckland airport.
I rushed straight to the counter upon my arrival and identified myself to the attendant.
She confirmed that such a card holder had indeed been found but she needed my ID to confirm that this was indeed mine; The fact that my driver's license was IN the cardholder wasn't good enough.
After a lot of convincing she agreed to (do me a "favour" and) open the cardholder and lo and behold there i was smiling back at her on the plastic driver's license!
Back to work: Things are looking good as they have sent through the contract which I have forwarded on to Chris to check and sign off so we can get this project underway.
NSM on the other hand is ready to kick this off from Tuesday.
We are all waiting very excited to see the results that come from this exercise.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The negotiator
27/05/2010
Yesterday was all a bit of a blur as a lot of things happened at the same time.
Chris and I both agreed that the pricing quoted by the outsourcing company was a bit steep for us as it brought our cost per sale quite to more than what we were prepared to invest in at this time.
I then took it upon myself to call the director of the outsourcing company and explained the situation to her. She understood our position and resent the proposal with a much better pricing option which we were happy with.
While this was happening on one end, I was busy working with NSM putting the finishing touches on that front so we can get this underway next week. I sat down with Sati (NSM Trainer) and gathered the requirements from him and liaised with Nicki Steers to get updated collateral for NSM. Sonali is comfortable with the cost structure and we are all set to go!
I also got tickets booked to go down to Wellington today to meet with the outsourcing company and finalise the deal.
All in all, it was a bit of a lesson in juggling for me and I felt quite happy with the way that I had handled the situation, especially proud of how I negotiated the price to an acceptable level.
Time to head off to Wellington now. Ciao!
Yesterday was all a bit of a blur as a lot of things happened at the same time.
Chris and I both agreed that the pricing quoted by the outsourcing company was a bit steep for us as it brought our cost per sale quite to more than what we were prepared to invest in at this time.
I then took it upon myself to call the director of the outsourcing company and explained the situation to her. She understood our position and resent the proposal with a much better pricing option which we were happy with.
While this was happening on one end, I was busy working with NSM putting the finishing touches on that front so we can get this underway next week. I sat down with Sati (NSM Trainer) and gathered the requirements from him and liaised with Nicki Steers to get updated collateral for NSM. Sonali is comfortable with the cost structure and we are all set to go!
I also got tickets booked to go down to Wellington today to meet with the outsourcing company and finalise the deal.
All in all, it was a bit of a lesson in juggling for me and I felt quite happy with the way that I had handled the situation, especially proud of how I negotiated the price to an acceptable level.
Time to head off to Wellington now. Ciao!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Change of scenery
25/05/2010
Acting upon a suggestion by Alice, I relocated myself to the Crème magazine area earlier today.
First day here and I have increased the male population in my area by 100%!
So what have I learnt in my 5 hours of being here? So far I have found out who Emily Blunt is and how she is the ‘bestest’ and why Michael Bublè is not hot!
And oh, one of the girls agrees with me that Robert Pattison (the Zoolanderesque vampire off Twilight) cannot act to save his life. Unfortunately, she is the only one in this area so far that agrees with me.
What is amazing is how these talented girls can have all this fun while still working incredibly hard!
I have a feeling it will be fun getting to know this side of the business :)
And now, back to the NZM project…. Tristan, Lawrence and I sat down to discuss the reporting requirements for the project. This was to ensure that we would be in a position to replicate the same requirements from the outsourced agents if we were to go down that path. This would ensure parity when it came to analysing the results at our end.
We decided upon the requirements and now I will need to get that across to the Global Connect if we were to go down that path.
Acting upon a suggestion by Alice, I relocated myself to the Crème magazine area earlier today.
First day here and I have increased the male population in my area by 100%!
So what have I learnt in my 5 hours of being here? So far I have found out who Emily Blunt is and how she is the ‘bestest’ and why Michael Bublè is not hot!
And oh, one of the girls agrees with me that Robert Pattison (the Zoolanderesque vampire off Twilight) cannot act to save his life. Unfortunately, she is the only one in this area so far that agrees with me.
What is amazing is how these talented girls can have all this fun while still working incredibly hard!
I have a feeling it will be fun getting to know this side of the business :)
And now, back to the NZM project…. Tristan, Lawrence and I sat down to discuss the reporting requirements for the project. This was to ensure that we would be in a position to replicate the same requirements from the outsourced agents if we were to go down that path. This would ensure parity when it came to analysing the results at our end.
We decided upon the requirements and now I will need to get that across to the Global Connect if we were to go down that path.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Decision times a coming
24/05/2010
The catchup with Listener did not take place due to all the reporters being in Wellington for the govt’s budget announcement. I will go to the one that will take place this week.
I did go to the Crème WIP catchup and got a feel of how the editorial team work with advertising. It was quite different to most meetings I've been to, not only because I was the only guy at that meeting but also just watching the way they work through things. Alice (crème editor) is one cool chick and has even offered me use of one of the empty desk in their area if I wanted. I might just take up that offer!
The proposal from the outsourced company in wellington has come through and I will need to discuss that with Chris to see if it is a viable option for NZM. Also caught up with Sonali, Lawrence and Sati (NSM Trainer) to discuss the NSM side of the project so we can get things underway by the 31st of May.
The catchup with Listener did not take place due to all the reporters being in Wellington for the govt’s budget announcement. I will go to the one that will take place this week.
I did go to the Crème WIP catchup and got a feel of how the editorial team work with advertising. It was quite different to most meetings I've been to, not only because I was the only guy at that meeting but also just watching the way they work through things. Alice (crème editor) is one cool chick and has even offered me use of one of the empty desk in their area if I wanted. I might just take up that offer!
The proposal from the outsourced company in wellington has come through and I will need to discuss that with Chris to see if it is a viable option for NZM. Also caught up with Sonali, Lawrence and Sati (NSM Trainer) to discuss the NSM side of the project so we can get things underway by the 31st of May.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Custom Publishing
19/05/2010
Had my catch up with Sarah yesterday and it was quite good. She asked me not to be afraid to challenge her department’s way of working. The discussion then turned to styles of getting work done, basically influence v authority. And since I currently don’t have any authority to get my work done, I need to be using and building on my influence skills.
We discussed a few scenarios in which certain approaches would work better than others and Sarah also shared some examples where she used a certain method which worked for her.
The outbound project was also discussed and I bounced a few ideas off her around the customer offer and it was great to see her challenge my line of thought.
Today has been a very different day altogether. I got a chance to sit down with Jo Elwin, the Custom Publishing Manager, who gave me a very good insight on what she does and what her area works on. Jo has over 16 years in publishing and she is what is commonly called a ‘generalist’.
A generalist is one who has a rounded approach to publishing having usually had significant experience in all aspects (editorial, advertising, production etc) of publishing. As it sounds, there are very few generalists around so it was quite a treat to pick her brains on different things. She has also been as kind as to ask me to join her in some editorial meetings which should help give me a better understanding of how things work in her area.
Tomorrow I take on another step in my quest to learn more about editorial as I have been invited by Pamela Stirling, the Listener editor (kinda forced myself upon poor Pamela really!) to join her team at their team meeting.
Had my catch up with Sarah yesterday and it was quite good. She asked me not to be afraid to challenge her department’s way of working. The discussion then turned to styles of getting work done, basically influence v authority. And since I currently don’t have any authority to get my work done, I need to be using and building on my influence skills.
We discussed a few scenarios in which certain approaches would work better than others and Sarah also shared some examples where she used a certain method which worked for her.
The outbound project was also discussed and I bounced a few ideas off her around the customer offer and it was great to see her challenge my line of thought.
Today has been a very different day altogether. I got a chance to sit down with Jo Elwin, the Custom Publishing Manager, who gave me a very good insight on what she does and what her area works on. Jo has over 16 years in publishing and she is what is commonly called a ‘generalist’.
A generalist is one who has a rounded approach to publishing having usually had significant experience in all aspects (editorial, advertising, production etc) of publishing. As it sounds, there are very few generalists around so it was quite a treat to pick her brains on different things. She has also been as kind as to ask me to join her in some editorial meetings which should help give me a better understanding of how things work in her area.
Tomorrow I take on another step in my quest to learn more about editorial as I have been invited by Pamela Stirling, the Listener editor (kinda forced myself upon poor Pamela really!) to join her team at their team meeting.
Monday, May 17, 2010
New start to new week
17/05/2010
Its getting very close to D-day as Tristan is now working on using MaaX to generate the leads for the telemarketing campaign.
I am still in two minds about going in-house or external. Will probably sound this out with Chris or Sarah and see what their take on this is.
Today was spent chasing up the loose ends and pretty much everything is on hold until the leads are ready to go. The Women's Weekly side of this will not happen until c.o.b Wednesday and the Listener will probably take another day or two.
Based on this run rate, we are still more than a week away before the first call is made to a lead.
Over and out!
Its getting very close to D-day as Tristan is now working on using MaaX to generate the leads for the telemarketing campaign.
I am still in two minds about going in-house or external. Will probably sound this out with Chris or Sarah and see what their take on this is.
Today was spent chasing up the loose ends and pretty much everything is on hold until the leads are ready to go. The Women's Weekly side of this will not happen until c.o.b Wednesday and the Listener will probably take another day or two.
Based on this run rate, we are still more than a week away before the first call is made to a lead.
Over and out!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Gaining momentum
12/05/2010
Today just really flew by.
There was a lot of following up to do on the original scoping report and started getting information on getting a new one off the ground.
I also spent time with Angela Blair (Advertising Strategy Manager) who is currently working on a CRM project for APN. She was really helpful and gave me some good tips on project management and common pitfalls to avoid. She also offered to be available in case there was anything in the future that I might need her assistance for.
I also spent time with Sonali around working out what the best way going forward would be to get telemarketers in for the new project. There are a few options to consider (whether to go inhouse with temps or outsource) which I shall work on in the coming days.
I really want this new project to get enough data so that it can be used as a test case for future activities.
Tired now..and its raining again (lucky I got my umbrella!)
Today just really flew by.
There was a lot of following up to do on the original scoping report and started getting information on getting a new one off the ground.
I also spent time with Angela Blair (Advertising Strategy Manager) who is currently working on a CRM project for APN. She was really helpful and gave me some good tips on project management and common pitfalls to avoid. She also offered to be available in case there was anything in the future that I might need her assistance for.
I also spent time with Sonali around working out what the best way going forward would be to get telemarketers in for the new project. There are a few options to consider (whether to go inhouse with temps or outsource) which I shall work on in the coming days.
I really want this new project to get enough data so that it can be used as a test case for future activities.
Tired now..and its raining again (lucky I got my umbrella!)
Working on report
12/05/2010
Chris and I went through the project as it stands right now.
I was quite upfront with him about waiting on information from various sources and asked for his help to push that along since he knew how these people worked.
Chris has been very helpful about this and really wants this project to work.
I am finalising the report this week and should be able to hand it into him, information pending, by Friday at the latest.
Most of the day was spent yesterday reading and proof reading the report and I suspect today will be much the same.
Just found out that India have been knocked out of the T20 world cup which is a bummer :|
Chris and I went through the project as it stands right now.
I was quite upfront with him about waiting on information from various sources and asked for his help to push that along since he knew how these people worked.
Chris has been very helpful about this and really wants this project to work.
I am finalising the report this week and should be able to hand it into him, information pending, by Friday at the latest.
Most of the day was spent yesterday reading and proof reading the report and I suspect today will be much the same.
Just found out that India have been knocked out of the T20 world cup which is a bummer :|
Monday, May 10, 2010
End of the week...
7/05/2010
Friday was all go right from the beginning of the day.
It started off with meeting up Tim Mooney and Madelina about how MaaX assists them in the subscription marketing side of the business. One point that keeps coming through from everyone that I have spoken to is that MaaX has helped them get a better understanding of their business. It provides the transparency and information in an easy format.
The day ended with the monthly drinks here at NZ Magazines in which Sarah invites nominations from everyone in the department for a star of the month award. Then based on the various nominations, Sarah decides upon a winner who gets a little memento and $50 worth of gift vouchers of their choice.
It was a good way to end the week getting to know people away from their desks.
Friday was all go right from the beginning of the day.
It started off with meeting up Tim Mooney and Madelina about how MaaX assists them in the subscription marketing side of the business. One point that keeps coming through from everyone that I have spoken to is that MaaX has helped them get a better understanding of their business. It provides the transparency and information in an easy format.
The day ended with the monthly drinks here at NZ Magazines in which Sarah invites nominations from everyone in the department for a star of the month award. Then based on the various nominations, Sarah decides upon a winner who gets a little memento and $50 worth of gift vouchers of their choice.
It was a good way to end the week getting to know people away from their desks.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Subscription sales insight
7/05/2010
Sonali and I had a really good catch up yesterday around NSM and the way it operates it subscription sales. MaaX has delivered a lot for them both in not only ease of reporting but also helping generate warm leads which only upto a year ago was non existing.
I still need data from Sonali to confirm the positive impact MaaX has had on them and she has agreed to send that through to me soon.
Sonali also introduced me to Tim Mooney (Subscriber Manager) who deals with promotions and campaigns in the paper. I have set a meeting with Tim for today to discuss his role in further detail and get some insights on what MaaX has done for his team.
The timeline is getting very tight for handing in the report and I am yet to get information on quite a few things. Will keep Chris updated on that as I go along.
Had a brief catch up with Bosco yesterday after he was done with the meetings in Digital and had enough time to catch up for a coffee before his taxi was due to pick him up to take him to the airport. It was good seeing him and I look forward to catching up with the rest of the boys at some point.
Today is the monthly drinks here at NZ Magazines and it should be a good opportunity to meet some more people in a more social environment.
Sonali and I had a really good catch up yesterday around NSM and the way it operates it subscription sales. MaaX has delivered a lot for them both in not only ease of reporting but also helping generate warm leads which only upto a year ago was non existing.
I still need data from Sonali to confirm the positive impact MaaX has had on them and she has agreed to send that through to me soon.
Sonali also introduced me to Tim Mooney (Subscriber Manager) who deals with promotions and campaigns in the paper. I have set a meeting with Tim for today to discuss his role in further detail and get some insights on what MaaX has done for his team.
The timeline is getting very tight for handing in the report and I am yet to get information on quite a few things. Will keep Chris updated on that as I go along.
Had a brief catch up with Bosco yesterday after he was done with the meetings in Digital and had enough time to catch up for a coffee before his taxi was due to pick him up to take him to the airport. It was good seeing him and I look forward to catching up with the rest of the boys at some point.
Today is the monthly drinks here at NZ Magazines and it should be a good opportunity to meet some more people in a more social environment.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Checking in
5/05/2010
Today started with Chris and me catching up and updating the Outbound Project. I also checked to see if I was on the right track and got his input on how things could be tweaked a little better.
I am happy to find out that I am on the right path and can continue ahead with some minor adjustments.
As part of the next step, I have arranged a meeting with Sonali Banerjee (NSM Contact Centre Manager) tomorrow with a view to see NSM subscriptions in action and pick her brains on certain areas.
I have also been putting together a report with all my findings and recommendations on MaaX and will continue to work on it in the coming weeks. There are a lot of blank areas in it at the moment but if all goes to plan then it should all come together by the end of the project.
Earlier, Bosco had sent through a link to APN’s company records including the webcast of the 2010 AGM which took place not so long ago in Sydney. I took the time to listen to it and I must say it was very interesting to not only hear about the results being explained by Brendan Hopkins (Group CEO) but also the manner in which the directors and chairman answered the questions asked by the shareholders on the floor. It was definitely a learning experience
(Tip: keep a spare set of head/earphones in your laptop bag/desk as you never know when you might need it.)
Today started with Chris and me catching up and updating the Outbound Project. I also checked to see if I was on the right track and got his input on how things could be tweaked a little better.
I am happy to find out that I am on the right path and can continue ahead with some minor adjustments.
As part of the next step, I have arranged a meeting with Sonali Banerjee (NSM Contact Centre Manager) tomorrow with a view to see NSM subscriptions in action and pick her brains on certain areas.
I have also been putting together a report with all my findings and recommendations on MaaX and will continue to work on it in the coming weeks. There are a lot of blank areas in it at the moment but if all goes to plan then it should all come together by the end of the project.
Earlier, Bosco had sent through a link to APN’s company records including the webcast of the 2010 AGM which took place not so long ago in Sydney. I took the time to listen to it and I must say it was very interesting to not only hear about the results being explained by Brendan Hopkins (Group CEO) but also the manner in which the directors and chairman answered the questions asked by the shareholders on the floor. It was definitely a learning experience
(Tip: keep a spare set of head/earphones in your laptop bag/desk as you never know when you might need it.)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Outbound project continues....
04/05/2010
Went and met with Brad and Nicki Steers (Research Manager) and discussed with them my reasons for meeting with them, starting with the background of my role, the project that I am doing and how they fit into the scheme of things (Tip: Always try and give a big picture view to people so that they can come on the journey with you rather than just provide a task).
They will get back to me by the end of the week with the reader profile that I am after so I can use Tristan’s expertise in MaaX and hopefully come up with proper leads for Chris.
As of right now, the project is well on track (fingers crossed) but the hard part is yet to come when we start getting into the actual deployment of the project.
Also met up with Sarah today who briefed me on a new project that she would like me to manage. This is going to be a biggie and is very exciting as I have never done anything of this magnitude ever. It is an achievement of this program that Sarah is showing this level of faith in my abilities.
To get some tips, Sarah has put me in touch with Angela Blair (Advertising Strategy Manager with NZH) who will spend some time with me next week. I am looking forward to picking her brains on this upcoming project.
Got an email from Bosco Tan (my co intern) today saying that he will be in town for a day as part of his project with APN Digital. It would be great to catch up with him and hopefully, have some time to show him around too.
Went and met with Brad and Nicki Steers (Research Manager) and discussed with them my reasons for meeting with them, starting with the background of my role, the project that I am doing and how they fit into the scheme of things (Tip: Always try and give a big picture view to people so that they can come on the journey with you rather than just provide a task).
They will get back to me by the end of the week with the reader profile that I am after so I can use Tristan’s expertise in MaaX and hopefully come up with proper leads for Chris.
As of right now, the project is well on track (fingers crossed) but the hard part is yet to come when we start getting into the actual deployment of the project.
Also met up with Sarah today who briefed me on a new project that she would like me to manage. This is going to be a biggie and is very exciting as I have never done anything of this magnitude ever. It is an achievement of this program that Sarah is showing this level of faith in my abilities.
To get some tips, Sarah has put me in touch with Angela Blair (Advertising Strategy Manager with NZH) who will spend some time with me next week. I am looking forward to picking her brains on this upcoming project.
Got an email from Bosco Tan (my co intern) today saying that he will be in town for a day as part of his project with APN Digital. It would be great to catch up with him and hopefully, have some time to show him around too.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Second week
03/05/2010
Started the week today sitting down with Tristan.
He gave me a really good insight of how MaaX worked and what its capabilities were. Basically any information that was required was available as long as the right questions were asked.
Next step is to sit down with Brad Glading (Research Manager, NSM) to work out the profile of NZWW and NZL subscribers.
I will then bring that information to Tristan and overlay that against the current NZH subscribers and come up with a group of subscribers that can be targeted to increase subscriptions.
The more I understand about MaaX and its capabilities the more questions are coming to mind.
Sarah Sandley has come back from leave today and came over and asked me how I was settling in. We have a formal catch up tomorrow and she also has a project for me so that should be good.
Started the week today sitting down with Tristan.
He gave me a really good insight of how MaaX worked and what its capabilities were. Basically any information that was required was available as long as the right questions were asked.
Next step is to sit down with Brad Glading (Research Manager, NSM) to work out the profile of NZWW and NZL subscribers.
I will then bring that information to Tristan and overlay that against the current NZH subscribers and come up with a group of subscribers that can be targeted to increase subscriptions.
The more I understand about MaaX and its capabilities the more questions are coming to mind.
Sarah Sandley has come back from leave today and came over and asked me how I was settling in. We have a formal catch up tomorrow and she also has a project for me so that should be good.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Night at the sulky
30/04/2010
Sat down with Andrew today and sough understandings on how MaaX worked and how NSM were using it. Have to say that this is an amazing piece of software which can do remarkable things. The thing that impresses me most is the ability to really drill into detailed analysis about your query or get a more holistic approach of the same.
But, and this is true with any piece of technology, it is only as good as the person using it. Tristan is the super user when it comes to MaaX within NSM and he has been using the software for more than a year now and is really good at it. Will need to spend more time with him on Monday to see what quick wins we can get for NZ Magazines.
I also asked Chris to work through the project KPIs with me to ensure that I was going down the right path. He has kindly agreed to do that.
Sarah Sandley should be back next week so it would be great to spend some time with my mentor.
I am off to the sulky tonight and not as a spectator only but will also take part in one of the races. For those (like me) who didn’t know, a sulky is “a lightweight cart having two wheels and a seat for the driver only but usually without a body, generally pulled by horses or dogs, and is used for harness races”, (source: wikipedia).
Super cool way to end the week and catch up with some people from the Herald.
Have a great weekend… Catch you on Monday!
Sat down with Andrew today and sough understandings on how MaaX worked and how NSM were using it. Have to say that this is an amazing piece of software which can do remarkable things. The thing that impresses me most is the ability to really drill into detailed analysis about your query or get a more holistic approach of the same.
But, and this is true with any piece of technology, it is only as good as the person using it. Tristan is the super user when it comes to MaaX within NSM and he has been using the software for more than a year now and is really good at it. Will need to spend more time with him on Monday to see what quick wins we can get for NZ Magazines.
I also asked Chris to work through the project KPIs with me to ensure that I was going down the right path. He has kindly agreed to do that.
Sarah Sandley should be back next week so it would be great to spend some time with my mentor.
I am off to the sulky tonight and not as a spectator only but will also take part in one of the races. For those (like me) who didn’t know, a sulky is “a lightweight cart having two wheels and a seat for the driver only but usually without a body, generally pulled by horses or dogs, and is used for harness races”, (source: wikipedia).
Super cool way to end the week and catch up with some people from the Herald.
Have a great weekend… Catch you on Monday!
This is me on friday night at the Alexandra Park race course. We came fourth (Don't tell anyone that there were only four horses in that race)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Project Outbound
29 April 2010
Today Project Outbound officially begins. I started by formulating questions on what information I required for this project and also clarifying the outcomes that we required out of this project.
Chris put together a meeting with Matthew Wilson (GM Newspaper Sales and Marketing for the NZ Herald) to help us utilise existing technology within the business.
Matthew’s team have successfully utilised data mining software called MaaX to get a lot of wins for newspaper subscriptions ranging from targeted campaigns to automated welcome packs.
At the meeting, we had Matthew, Andrew Niven (Sales Operations Manager for Newspaper Sales and Marketing) and Tristran Calwell (Market Research Analyst) to outline the project and our objectives.
Step one is compiling how NSM (Newspaper Sales and Marketing) have used MaaX so far.
That starts tomorrow.
Today Project Outbound officially begins. I started by formulating questions on what information I required for this project and also clarifying the outcomes that we required out of this project.
Chris put together a meeting with Matthew Wilson (GM Newspaper Sales and Marketing for the NZ Herald) to help us utilise existing technology within the business.
Matthew’s team have successfully utilised data mining software called MaaX to get a lot of wins for newspaper subscriptions ranging from targeted campaigns to automated welcome packs.
At the meeting, we had Matthew, Andrew Niven (Sales Operations Manager for Newspaper Sales and Marketing) and Tristran Calwell (Market Research Analyst) to outline the project and our objectives.
Step one is compiling how NSM (Newspaper Sales and Marketing) have used MaaX so far.
That starts tomorrow.
Research continues....
28 April 2010
Sat down with Chris and gave him the learning’s I sought in this block. This was quite good as Chris now has a clear idea of what I was after and which projects may be best suited to be mutually beneficial. (Tip: Be as specific as possible when noting down the learning required)
Subsequently, after going through the learnings that i seek, Chris has handed me the NZ Woman's weekly surveys that have been completed to get feedback from the market.
Currently reading the 2007 and 2010 readership survey which will give me an insight on what the perception by the readers are and areas of improvement that is sought with the rebranding exercise.
(Tip: Get copies of both competitors, Woman's day and New Idea, in front of you when reading the survey so you can compare in real time what the readers are talking about)
The readership surveys are less presentations and more encyclopaedias! Just goes on to show the amount of research that has gone into this already and how imperative the change is for this publication. It definitely makes up for a good read into the psyche of the consumer. Really important for me as I never really read any of these publications usually!
That’s all for today folks. Have a good night.
*I have decided that I am going to try and update this blog every morning so that I can capture the previous day as a whole and dont have to sit here after work trying to fill this out*
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Second day
27 April 2010
Spent most of the time today reading up the remainder of the business cases. Definitely feel a lot more comfortable with the department's burning platform now and will find ways to see that relevance in my projects.
Key thing to note is the ID card situation.
I have been with APN for more than 3 years and am still finding it very difficult to get access to the NZ Mags department loaded on to my card.
The custodian is a fiery scotsman who guards the access with his life, it seems.
After a lot of debate, I have been given access to one of the elevators which "should do the job" but i wont be given access to the other door. Apparently, I do not have the required sign off. Mind boggling stuff but true! (Tip: Get this sorted first to avoid frustrations)
Back to the work stuff.... I have been highlighted 4 projects so far by Chris and have been told of one by Andrew (yet to come) and Sarah has one for me too.
For a block of 4-6 months, it may not be possible to give justice to all projects so will need to work out timelines and priorities before beginning any of these.
The buzz on the Creme magazine side is the arrival of Justin Bieber (who??!!) to the country and the subsequent interview that will be taking place.
Time to get going, its pouring outside and I didnt even bring my umbrella ugh! (Tip: Always carry your umbrella in Auckland)
Spent most of the time today reading up the remainder of the business cases. Definitely feel a lot more comfortable with the department's burning platform now and will find ways to see that relevance in my projects.
Key thing to note is the ID card situation.
I have been with APN for more than 3 years and am still finding it very difficult to get access to the NZ Mags department loaded on to my card.
The custodian is a fiery scotsman who guards the access with his life, it seems.
After a lot of debate, I have been given access to one of the elevators which "should do the job" but i wont be given access to the other door. Apparently, I do not have the required sign off. Mind boggling stuff but true! (Tip: Get this sorted first to avoid frustrations)
Back to the work stuff.... I have been highlighted 4 projects so far by Chris and have been told of one by Andrew (yet to come) and Sarah has one for me too.
For a block of 4-6 months, it may not be possible to give justice to all projects so will need to work out timelines and priorities before beginning any of these.
The buzz on the Creme magazine side is the arrival of Justin Bieber (who??!!) to the country and the subsequent interview that will be taking place.
Time to get going, its pouring outside and I didnt even bring my umbrella ugh! (Tip: Always carry your umbrella in Auckland)
New Zealand Mags - It begins......
26 April 2010 is the first day for me with NZ Mags and start of the APN Fasttrack Graduate Executive program.
Mixed feelings as I walk back into a building that I was fare welled from only a fortnight ago. Although, I will be on the fourth floor I sense a lot more expectations from me as I am from within the business.
Sarah Sandley, CEO NZ Mags had earlier sent through a most flattering email introducing me and giving an insight about this program to everyone in the department.
Met with Chris Gwin, head of subs and marketing within NZ Mags who is very switched on about the project and what he can use me for. Butterflies slowly disappearing.
Andrew Miller, advertising sales director, has asked me to join him for his weekly team meeting which gives me a chance to see how the team operate and also meet them in person.
The set up is quite unique with the sales managers responsible not only for their people and specific products that they champion but have sales targets on their own too. A most efficient system.
Initial feelings are that this is a fast paced and happy place where people seem to get along with one another.
Have been given business plans for NZ Mags and then each individual title and been asked to go through these as the starting point to get a better understanding of the business.
I have spent most of the day doing that today; Writing down questions for any and everything that doesn't make sense and have filled up about 3 pages of it. Some are jargon related, some strategies and some are just curiosity based (Tip: being ignorant is acceptable)
Also, another good thing that I have been told is that you make your own hours i.e. no one is going to sit and count the clock.
Time to go home...
Mixed feelings as I walk back into a building that I was fare welled from only a fortnight ago. Although, I will be on the fourth floor I sense a lot more expectations from me as I am from within the business.
Sarah Sandley, CEO NZ Mags had earlier sent through a most flattering email introducing me and giving an insight about this program to everyone in the department.
Met with Chris Gwin, head of subs and marketing within NZ Mags who is very switched on about the project and what he can use me for. Butterflies slowly disappearing.
Andrew Miller, advertising sales director, has asked me to join him for his weekly team meeting which gives me a chance to see how the team operate and also meet them in person.
The set up is quite unique with the sales managers responsible not only for their people and specific products that they champion but have sales targets on their own too. A most efficient system.
Initial feelings are that this is a fast paced and happy place where people seem to get along with one another.
Have been given business plans for NZ Mags and then each individual title and been asked to go through these as the starting point to get a better understanding of the business.
I have spent most of the day doing that today; Writing down questions for any and everything that doesn't make sense and have filled up about 3 pages of it. Some are jargon related, some strategies and some are just curiosity based (Tip: being ignorant is acceptable)
Also, another good thing that I have been told is that you make your own hours i.e. no one is going to sit and count the clock.
Time to go home...
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