11 May 2011
My project revolves around reviewing current content management tools and processes and providing a fresh perspective on what is being done well and what could be done better.
So, before I can give any recommendations, I need to understand what the system currently is and how it works. And for this reason, i have spent all of this week, meeting with people who are part of the Online content management team in Auckland. These individuals are part of different teams where they are responsible for what goes up on the websites for the different mastheads for APN NZ (namely, nzherald.co.nz, all regional websites, NZ women's weekly and NZ listener).
It was a good learning process where i got the chance to sit down with both the online editors to see what they do on a day to day basis as well understand why a certain story which shows up on the front page is there. You would be surprised at the thought that goes into this instead of updating stories as they flow in.
The remainder of this week will also be quite similar where i will continue this journey to firstly understand why things are being done the way they are and then, how exactly do the people who do this, do it?
If that hasn't confused you enough, please feel free to come back in about a week's time where I should have some more clarity!
On a separate note, the Fast Track positions are now shut for 2011 intake and the recruiting company is now vetting these applications as they go through a series of steps before they are shortlisted down to the final assessment centre in June.
Best of luck to everyone who applied.
Sid is also now in Auckland and has started work with The Radio Network and will be here for the next three months. I look forward to showing him around my city and a healthy dose of kiwi hospitality :)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
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!
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!
Friday, April 29, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
10 working days left
7 April 2011
The countdown has begun with 10 working days left before I sign off from ARN in Sydney.
There are still a lot of things on my to-do list that needs to be completed before I can sign off though.
The marketing project is still ongoing and while i refer to it as the 'marketing project', it is in essence 4 different projects in one.
The main components are:
1. Stationery - Going through and changing everything that has an ARN or a MIX FM logo on it. Went through an entire network audit and it came back with 284 items that had logos on it!
There were 13 different kinds of letterheads alone!!
So the plan was to collate and combine wherever possible to achieve consistency, cost effectiveness and a strong brand presence.
End result:
284 logo/branded items down to 98
Envelopes : From 29, down to 3
Letterheads: From 13, down to 1
Complimentary slips: From 13, down to 1
Presentation folders: From 10, down to 5
Now that this was done, we searched for and found the best costs associated with printing the entire suite of stationery again. We have made some very considerable savings on that front.
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the designs to send to the printers to print.
2. Merchandising - In terms of merchandising, it is quite astounding to find out that there hasn't really ever been a formal spending process dedicated to Merchandising for the various stations. It has been quite adhoc and as and when required for a special promo. With me taking over, it gave the promotional managers across the various states to give us feedback about what they would want to give out and have in terms of merchandising.
What was amazing to see was how grateful were even with small things such as caps which were not available previously. Really gave me a personal high knowing that I had made a difference !!
So, we compiled a list of most common merchandising items and then got all the promo managers across the network to give us their feedback on what would be a 'must have' and what would be a 'nice to have'.
This we shortlisted to 10 items and worked out the quantities that would be required.,
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the total quantities per item and confirm designs for the merchandising
3. Outdoor Broadcasting Branding - From time to time, all radio stations go through and broadcast from an outdoor venue like the recent one that Mix 106.5 FM did for the house giveaway. Here, have a look here
For this purpose, there needs to be quite a few different things that are required to host a successful broadcast (and we are not talking about the electrical/music items). The items in question here are branding items. Common examples are Marquees, corflutes, outdoor banners, etc.
So, the question that we had was "what makes a successful outdoor branding?" I didn't know and neither did Jodie so we asked the people who made this possible. Once again we headed back to the Promo managers in the various states and asked them to give us lists of each item that would be a must-have if there was to be a successful outdoor broadcast in terms of brand presence.
The teams have been so co-operative and helpful which has been a bonus because without them I would be more lost than I currently am!
Once we had the list down pat, the hunt for the suppliers began and that included going through very many suppliers. I even tapped into my contacts at GSP from my previous project and they are going to create the corflutes for us at a very special rate!!
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the main supplier for the bulk of the items and drawing up an invoice for the same.
4. Signage - As with any new logos, there has to be changes on all items that have the old logos on them. This extends to buildings and structures as well and is probably the hardest of the lot to complete.
We have radio stations across Australia and each of these have ARN and MIX logos in varying ways. Unlike a letterhead or a business card this is not as straightforward as getting the printers to print a new batch.
As I found out the hard way, each of the items outside and inside the building have been commissioned individually!!
To change each of these would take atleast 3 weeks after the quote has come in.
Current stage: Finalising the quote on all the items that have logos on them that need to be changed.
End results required:
1. Stationery - New suite of stationery printed and handed to various admin managers across the network
2. Merchandising - All items delivered to various promo managers across the market.
3. Outdoor Broadcasting Branding - All items delivered to various promo managers across the market.
4. Signage - All new signage in all buildings and across the offices throughout the network.
As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done and its only 10 working days to go. No pressure, hey!
Pressure is one thing you expect constantly with this role and then you learn very quickly how to deal with it too.
The countdown has begun with 10 working days left before I sign off from ARN in Sydney.
There are still a lot of things on my to-do list that needs to be completed before I can sign off though.
The marketing project is still ongoing and while i refer to it as the 'marketing project', it is in essence 4 different projects in one.
The main components are:
1. Stationery - Going through and changing everything that has an ARN or a MIX FM logo on it. Went through an entire network audit and it came back with 284 items that had logos on it!
There were 13 different kinds of letterheads alone!!
So the plan was to collate and combine wherever possible to achieve consistency, cost effectiveness and a strong brand presence.
End result:
284 logo/branded items down to 98
Envelopes : From 29, down to 3
Letterheads: From 13, down to 1
Complimentary slips: From 13, down to 1
Presentation folders: From 10, down to 5
Now that this was done, we searched for and found the best costs associated with printing the entire suite of stationery again. We have made some very considerable savings on that front.
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the designs to send to the printers to print.
2. Merchandising - In terms of merchandising, it is quite astounding to find out that there hasn't really ever been a formal spending process dedicated to Merchandising for the various stations. It has been quite adhoc and as and when required for a special promo. With me taking over, it gave the promotional managers across the various states to give us feedback about what they would want to give out and have in terms of merchandising.
What was amazing to see was how grateful were even with small things such as caps which were not available previously. Really gave me a personal high knowing that I had made a difference !!
So, we compiled a list of most common merchandising items and then got all the promo managers across the network to give us their feedback on what would be a 'must have' and what would be a 'nice to have'.
This we shortlisted to 10 items and worked out the quantities that would be required.,
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the total quantities per item and confirm designs for the merchandising
3. Outdoor Broadcasting Branding - From time to time, all radio stations go through and broadcast from an outdoor venue like the recent one that Mix 106.5 FM did for the house giveaway. Here, have a look here
For this purpose, there needs to be quite a few different things that are required to host a successful broadcast (and we are not talking about the electrical/music items). The items in question here are branding items. Common examples are Marquees, corflutes, outdoor banners, etc.
So, the question that we had was "what makes a successful outdoor branding?" I didn't know and neither did Jodie so we asked the people who made this possible. Once again we headed back to the Promo managers in the various states and asked them to give us lists of each item that would be a must-have if there was to be a successful outdoor broadcast in terms of brand presence.
The teams have been so co-operative and helpful which has been a bonus because without them I would be more lost than I currently am!
Once we had the list down pat, the hunt for the suppliers began and that included going through very many suppliers. I even tapped into my contacts at GSP from my previous project and they are going to create the corflutes for us at a very special rate!!
Current stage: Waiting to confirm the main supplier for the bulk of the items and drawing up an invoice for the same.
4. Signage - As with any new logos, there has to be changes on all items that have the old logos on them. This extends to buildings and structures as well and is probably the hardest of the lot to complete.
We have radio stations across Australia and each of these have ARN and MIX logos in varying ways. Unlike a letterhead or a business card this is not as straightforward as getting the printers to print a new batch.
As I found out the hard way, each of the items outside and inside the building have been commissioned individually!!
To change each of these would take atleast 3 weeks after the quote has come in.
Current stage: Finalising the quote on all the items that have logos on them that need to be changed.
End results required:
1. Stationery - New suite of stationery printed and handed to various admin managers across the network
2. Merchandising - All items delivered to various promo managers across the market.
3. Outdoor Broadcasting Branding - All items delivered to various promo managers across the market.
4. Signage - All new signage in all buildings and across the offices throughout the network.
As you can see, there is still a lot of work to be done and its only 10 working days to go. No pressure, hey!
Pressure is one thing you expect constantly with this role and then you learn very quickly how to deal with it too.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Crunch time at ARN
31 March 2011
There have been two projects that I have been working on at ARN.
First one is the marketing one, that I have talked about earlier, in which I am assisting Jodie Koning (National Marketing Director) but more on that later.
The second one that I have been involved in was with providing a solution to aid Internal Communications, here at ARN.
As part of the communications projects which I christened , 'Project Listen' (as you do) I was asked to move away from the usual suspects when it comes to internal communications; namely the mass email, the newsletter, the webpage or the intranet and asked to come up with something new and with the times.
After speaking to Tracy Martin and doing some research, the only thing that fit the bill was social media. In layman's terms, imagine facebook for work.
Now just to make it clear, this is not THE facebook that we tend to check every day (some more so than others!) so this is not about creating a page on facebook but acquiring a software that helps create a facebook environment at work.
There are quite a few businesses operating in this area but two that fit what we were after were Yammer and Yackstar.
Yammer is the US big brother of all business social networking that is run at many Fortune 500 companies. I investigated this and when i was satisfied that this would be something that ARN would benefit from then I got a web-meet set up with members of the Leadership Team to have a look at the software.
After the meeting the common consensus was that this was a good software but there was a general hesitancy of getting this into the organisation due to various reasons depending on which area you headed.
Overall, most of the comments seem to be coming with people wearing their black hats.
I enquired the cost and it was quite expensive at $50 USD per user per month. So for a workforce of 500, one would be looking at spending $360,000 USD annually. I knew straight away this would not go through based on cost alone.
The second option was Yackstar. This is an australian clone of Yammer and for a fraction of the cost, does virtually the same thing. Yackstar quoted us at at $5 AUD per user per month. So for a workforce of 500, one would be looking at spending $30,000 AUD annually.
Cost would not be a problem.
While we were going through working out the details of Yackstar, the ARN intranet which was hosted on Sharepoint 2003 crashed and virtually all data on it was lost.
Now there was a project to install Sharepoint 2010 before this happened and this event kinda pushed it even further. Add building renovations on top of that and people across the business are already swamped with what things that needed to happen 'yesterday'.
The solution: I wrote down a project scoping plan which highlighted all the research that was done for this project and the steps involved in case this gets picked up by someone else in the future.
There have been two projects that I have been working on at ARN.
First one is the marketing one, that I have talked about earlier, in which I am assisting Jodie Koning (National Marketing Director) but more on that later.
The second one that I have been involved in was with providing a solution to aid Internal Communications, here at ARN.
As part of the communications projects which I christened , 'Project Listen' (as you do) I was asked to move away from the usual suspects when it comes to internal communications; namely the mass email, the newsletter, the webpage or the intranet and asked to come up with something new and with the times.
After speaking to Tracy Martin and doing some research, the only thing that fit the bill was social media. In layman's terms, imagine facebook for work.
Now just to make it clear, this is not THE facebook that we tend to check every day (some more so than others!) so this is not about creating a page on facebook but acquiring a software that helps create a facebook environment at work.
There are quite a few businesses operating in this area but two that fit what we were after were Yammer and Yackstar.
Yammer is the US big brother of all business social networking that is run at many Fortune 500 companies. I investigated this and when i was satisfied that this would be something that ARN would benefit from then I got a web-meet set up with members of the Leadership Team to have a look at the software.
After the meeting the common consensus was that this was a good software but there was a general hesitancy of getting this into the organisation due to various reasons depending on which area you headed.
Overall, most of the comments seem to be coming with people wearing their black hats.
I enquired the cost and it was quite expensive at $50 USD per user per month. So for a workforce of 500, one would be looking at spending $360,000 USD annually. I knew straight away this would not go through based on cost alone.
The second option was Yackstar. This is an australian clone of Yammer and for a fraction of the cost, does virtually the same thing. Yackstar quoted us at at $5 AUD per user per month. So for a workforce of 500, one would be looking at spending $30,000 AUD annually.
Cost would not be a problem.
While we were going through working out the details of Yackstar, the ARN intranet which was hosted on Sharepoint 2003 crashed and virtually all data on it was lost.
Now there was a project to install Sharepoint 2010 before this happened and this event kinda pushed it even further. Add building renovations on top of that and people across the business are already swamped with what things that needed to happen 'yesterday'.
The solution: I wrote down a project scoping plan which highlighted all the research that was done for this project and the steps involved in case this gets picked up by someone else in the future.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Logo launched
8 March 2011
The logo was launched on friday 4th march to all staff in a rather unique way.
Rather than the usual way of sending an email or a speech from the CEO, the logo was launched with a video. We got funny duo Ant & Becks from Sydney's Mix 106.5 to come up with a concept to unveil the logo to all staff and they did not disappoint.
I was watching staff reaction when they got the video and everyone thought it was funny and original.
A great result!
While I try and get permission to upload the video here, i will leave you with the new logo. I think its a great change from the 'old' ARN
The logo was launched on friday 4th march to all staff in a rather unique way.
Rather than the usual way of sending an email or a speech from the CEO, the logo was launched with a video. We got funny duo Ant & Becks from Sydney's Mix 106.5 to come up with a concept to unveil the logo to all staff and they did not disappoint.
I was watching staff reaction when they got the video and everyone thought it was funny and original.
A great result!
While I try and get permission to upload the video here, i will leave you with the new logo. I think its a great change from the 'old' ARN
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Into week 3,,,,
23 Feb 2011
I was going to write about what I am upto here at ARN and instead I cant help but think about watching the horror unfold in Christchurch.
When the NZ Herald website slowed down, I had to go to skynews website to get my news. The raw video they had on there was just unbelievable. Buildings smashed, cars crushed and with it the loss of life and limbs.
All I could do was stare at the computer screen in disbelief.
I have a couple of friends in Chch, i got hold of one of them and she said she was fine except for the fact that roads around them had literally opened up which meant they couldnt use their cars. Atleast she was safe.
Another mate of mine, is unaccounted for. I pray he is found alive :|
Anyone reading this blog... i see facebook and twitter filled with thoughts and prayers for Christchurch residents.
Thoughts and prayers are well and good.. but they do not put food on the table or mend broken houses. DONATE!
Lots of places available to do that. Every dollar helps.
I was going to write about what I am upto here at ARN and instead I cant help but think about watching the horror unfold in Christchurch.
When the NZ Herald website slowed down, I had to go to skynews website to get my news. The raw video they had on there was just unbelievable. Buildings smashed, cars crushed and with it the loss of life and limbs.
All I could do was stare at the computer screen in disbelief.
I have a couple of friends in Chch, i got hold of one of them and she said she was fine except for the fact that roads around them had literally opened up which meant they couldnt use their cars. Atleast she was safe.
Another mate of mine, is unaccounted for. I pray he is found alive :|
Anyone reading this blog... i see facebook and twitter filled with thoughts and prayers for Christchurch residents.
Thoughts and prayers are well and good.. but they do not put food on the table or mend broken houses. DONATE!
Lots of places available to do that. Every dollar helps.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Day 1 ... ARN
8 Feb 2011Yesterday was my first day at the Australian Radio Network (Sydney).
I arrived at ARN on Day 1 and met with Bluebell Rae (Executive Assistant to CEO and CFO) who had very efficiently planned out my day which was spent meeting with the National Leadership Team at ARN and getting an understanding of what their role was in the business.
Recently, ARN has gone through a restructure which has resulted in a national approach for the company as opposed to regionalised decision makers.
As big a step as that was, it was only step 1 of the changes that are about to happen here. Not only in the way business is handled but the physical premises itself is getting a facelift and renovations are happening everywhere in the building. This has resulted in a lot of people/teams having to move desks/offices and finding places to sit to continue work.
I walked into this environment yesterday and can feel the buzz on the floor… Very excited about being part of this change.
Working with NZ Mags was an opportunity to be a part of a different kind of change and this will help me not only learn more about Radio and marketing but also how change is applied to different parts of a business.
I will be involved in a series of mini projects starting with assisting Jodie Koning (National Marketing Director) with the branding application of all of ARN’s stations and the company itself. Geraint Davies (National Operations Director) has got each station on each site around the country to send through in soft and hard copy, anything and everything that has a logo on it.
This has now resulted in a big basket of samples from across the country and an itemised list of the same via soft copy.
My job in week 1 is to make some head and tail of all of this and provide recommendation on how we can be consistent and cost effective with our branding and print runs.
Time to start sorting!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Block 2 completed
28/01/2011
Last day today at GSP and today will be spent putting the finishing touches on everything and saying goodbyes.
I am quite happy with what we have achieved during the three months here but at the same time, I will miss the place and its people. They are a warm bunch of hardworking people who took me in as one of their own and I was made to feel comfortable from day one. Special thanks to Peter Piccione (for all the travel and general advice, a sound sounding board for all my wacky ideas!), Jennifer Jefferys (provider of solutions when i had any problem) and Stephen Rudgley (lunch buddy and going out of his way to drop me home, time and time again!)
Flying home today for a week of rest and then heading back to Sydney to start work with Australian Radio Network (ARN) after that.
I went to meet with Jodie Koning (National Marketing Director, Australian Radio Network) yesterday and she briefed me in on the specifics of my next block.
This has been an amazing learning experience. This block gave me an insight on the outdoor/pos print industry, marketing and organisational behaviour.
I look forward to see what ARN throws at me next!
Last day today at GSP and today will be spent putting the finishing touches on everything and saying goodbyes.
I am quite happy with what we have achieved during the three months here but at the same time, I will miss the place and its people. They are a warm bunch of hardworking people who took me in as one of their own and I was made to feel comfortable from day one. Special thanks to Peter Piccione (for all the travel and general advice, a sound sounding board for all my wacky ideas!), Jennifer Jefferys (provider of solutions when i had any problem) and Stephen Rudgley (lunch buddy and going out of his way to drop me home, time and time again!)
Flying home today for a week of rest and then heading back to Sydney to start work with Australian Radio Network (ARN) after that.
I went to meet with Jodie Koning (National Marketing Director, Australian Radio Network) yesterday and she briefed me in on the specifics of my next block.
This has been an amazing learning experience. This block gave me an insight on the outdoor/pos print industry, marketing and organisational behaviour.
I look forward to see what ARN throws at me next!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Frantic pace on its way
12/01/2011
First post for 2011. Writing err typing 2011 feels weird. But then i suppose every new year feels weird as time seems to be flying past. As a group we are almost at the 1 yr mark for this program and looking back it has been interesting. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in a huge project (in NZ Mags) and now with GSP, it is again a totally unique learning experience.
Over the Christmas break, Tracy had managed to get me in touch with Ciaran Davis (CEO, Australian Radio Network) and he was kind enough to offer me some challenging projects which will form my next block.
Before I start thinking about that, there is a lot of work at hand here at GSP.
There are still a lot of things that need to be ticked off and time is running out. One of the biggest major is finishing the website for GSP which I was putting together. Everything is running and completed except for the contact form on the website. This is the part where an interested customer fills in their details, presses submit and the information comes through to an email address here at GSP.
Tried to get some help from the IT team but have been told that there is a freeze and nothing will be done before 17th Jan. Guess, we will have to wait and see what happens after the 17th.
The weather is quite bad here in Sydney with constant rain and changing seasons but nothing as bad as what we are seeing in Queensland.
My thoughts and wishes are with those devastated by the raging floods in Queensland. Its hard to fathom that so much destruction can happen so quickly and without warning.
First post for 2011. Writing err typing 2011 feels weird. But then i suppose every new year feels weird as time seems to be flying past. As a group we are almost at the 1 yr mark for this program and looking back it has been interesting. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in a huge project (in NZ Mags) and now with GSP, it is again a totally unique learning experience.
Over the Christmas break, Tracy had managed to get me in touch with Ciaran Davis (CEO, Australian Radio Network) and he was kind enough to offer me some challenging projects which will form my next block.
Before I start thinking about that, there is a lot of work at hand here at GSP.
There are still a lot of things that need to be ticked off and time is running out. One of the biggest major is finishing the website for GSP which I was putting together. Everything is running and completed except for the contact form on the website. This is the part where an interested customer fills in their details, presses submit and the information comes through to an email address here at GSP.
Tried to get some help from the IT team but have been told that there is a freeze and nothing will be done before 17th Jan. Guess, we will have to wait and see what happens after the 17th.
The weather is quite bad here in Sydney with constant rain and changing seasons but nothing as bad as what we are seeing in Queensland.
My thoughts and wishes are with those devastated by the raging floods in Queensland. Its hard to fathom that so much destruction can happen so quickly and without warning.
Friday, December 10, 2010
End of year
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.
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.
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!
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