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!
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