One and done

7 November 2011

I was in Sydney over the last week finalsing the ending of my project with BDO and Robert Skeffington. It has been a truly learning opportunity and I thanked Robert for all the help and support her had given me over the last few months.

Unbeknown to me, it was also the time of the Melbourne Cup and it was great to see how the city comes to a standstill over a horse race. We had a few tables at the local pub booked out for the event and from around 1pm everyone ended up watching the pub. There were quite a few keen punters wondering if Americain (the favourite) could make it two in a row. While Americain didnt end up winning, one of the people from work did put in $10 for a trifecta and ended up getting a whopping $7995 for it! A very happy Melbourne Cup to him!!

It was an enjoyable afternoon and it was a great way to complete my project in Sydney.

With the APN crew watching the races, Sydney 2011

I will now be focussed solely on the APN Online part of the project and keep working on that till my leave at the end of November.

Back in Action

14 June 2011

I'm back after spending last week in Australia.

My first stop was in Brisbane where I got an opportunity to spend time with the Australian Regional Media Online team particularly with Heidi Costello (Online Day Editor) and Steve Zeppa (Group News Editor) and got a really good insight on how they operate and the way that content is loaded for the 27 websites that fall under their department.

I also got a chance to talk to Belinda Reilly (Managing Editor - APN Online Aus) and share some insights on the project that I am working on at the moment with regards to content loading and management. We also agreed to share information and I look forward to completing my report and send her a copy (with Jeremy's permission, of course!)

From there, I moved on to Sydney where I had booked a few meetings with people to introduce myself and get to know them a little bit better.
First on my agenda was David McGrath (Head of Content). I had done some work for David and we had exchanged emails and a few phone calls so i took this opportunity of meeting with him in person. It was a great meeting and hopefully, i will get a chance to work on a project with him in the near future.
Then I also got a chance to meet with Katrina Stone (in charge of Corporate affairs). We had a pretty candid chat about my experience thus far and shared my thoughts on what a person on the coal face probably thinks but doesn't have the avenue to tell the decision makers. She is a wonderful person and was very encouraging in the interaction. She has asked me to elaborate on some ideas and I will get back to her on those.

With these meetings done, it was time to get ready for the assessment centres for the Fast Track recruitment program.

There were 2 assessments in total in Sydney and included both internal and external candidates. They were all from a wide variety of backgrounds from practising lawyers to teachers to sub editors and ranging from Brisbane to Perth to Tasmania!

It was a very enjoyable experience albeit a difficult one as there was a lot of things that needed to be done precisely and each of us had to play a part in it.

In two days time, the third and final one will be held in Auckland and should give Rob and Tracey with enough firepower to get Fast Track 2 underway for this year.

To all the assessment centre participants thus far, best of luck. The hard part is now done.. time to sit back and wait for the results.

As I write this up, the country is reeling from another aftershcock in the Cantebury region and this was measured at 6 on the richter scale. More damages have followed and some people are looking at rebuilding their houses and property for the third time! Keep the faith Christchurch. Our thoughts and prayers go out to you.

Assessment draws near...

30 May 2011

This is true on two counts. Firstly, one of my project deliverables was to provide an assessement of the current state of APN Online's content loading procedure. This was to encompass all masteheads that fell under the APN Online banner including, nz herald, nz magazines and nz regional media websites.

As part of this, i have been spending a lot of time talking to the people who are involved in the states of both content creation and loading and gettting an understanding from them about what is working and what isnt.

While all this has been going on, the Fast Track recruitment has been going on as well.

So, I will be heading into Australia next week to tee up with the Australian Regional Group News Editor and if possible, drop over to Brisbane to see how they do things there before I head over to Sydney to prepare for the Fast Track Assessment centres which are scheduled for the week of the 6th (june).

To all participants, who have made it thus far... Congratulations and best of luck. The assessment centre will be one hell of a day..it will challenge you, it will push you and by the end of it you will be physically and mentally drained. It wont be easy.. but hey, if it was, it wouldn't be worth it :)

A new desk and a new audience.

5 May 2011
Before I give you all an update on my new project, I would like to touch briefly on my experience yesterday with The Radio Network where I go an opportunity to present to a group of people who were interested in the Fast Track Program. I gave a presentation that was structured by Sid Rallapalli and then added to by Tracy Martin. I modified the content to suit my style of presentation and then invited discussion from the group on what they could expect from the program while trying to be as clear as I could about their queries.
This went on for about an hour and 15 mins and the feedback that I got was that everyone in that room felt quite comfortable with the next steps in the process and what to expect from the program itself.

Mission Accomplished!


And now on to my new project. Something that I have now become very familiar with is introducing myself to people. For the next 3 – 6 months I will be based at APN Online (NZ) and working with Jeremy Rees on some content management recommendations. I cant disclose much more as I still need to get to the nitty-gritty of it myself.


The deadline for applying for the fast track intake is fast approaching for internal candidates. I am looking forward to seeing who makes it to the assessment centres in Auckland and Sydney!

One more over...

29 April 2011

Wrapped up the ARN  Project on the 21st of April and headed back to Auckland the morning after. The plan was to give my parents a surprise as they had no idea I was coming over. Worked out wonderfully in the end and was a good way to come back home.

There is still work to be done in ARN as my project wasnt completed but with the limitations that I had with time etc, we got it to the best shape that we could and I am quite confident that Chris (who will start his new role with ARN from monday 2nd May) will have no issues in completing this quickly after the meeting we had as part of the handover process.

So the question is what's next in line for me as part of this program.


The plan is to go see Jeremy Rees at APN Online and get myself a project in that area. More on that in the coming days.

There is also recruitment ongoing for the new batch of Fast Track peeps happening as we speak so definitely looking forward to seeing who will join us for 2011.

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!!