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.

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!

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.

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)