The NZ Art Guild raised over $20,000 for the Leukaemia and Blood Foundation of NZ (LBF) at Tuesday nights “Shave an Artist” Charity Art Auction and “Life” Exhibition.
This event saw 18 people walk away bald with top NZ artist Sofia Minson being first to shave her locks. Artists Jennifer Christiansen, Marimba Powley, Helen Sherrock, Sharlene Shcmidt, Juliet Cryns, Victoria Anderson closely followed along with friends and members of the public. Not only were fantastic artworks up for sale but so was the opportunity to shave MP Rodney Hide’s head. North Shore City Mayor Andrew Williams, who officially opened the event, won this opportunity with a bid of $200.
The concept behind this awareness campaign was sparked by Sofia Minson who was always impressed by LBF’s “Shave for a Cure” campaign. Sofia didn’t want to do this alone so approached the NZ Art Guild to see whether we could get a group of artists together to do it. From there the idea grew into an event which included 35 artists from all around NZ.
The money raised will help support the six New Zealand children and adults who are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukaemia and lymphoma every day. LBF receives no government funding yet provides essential support not only for those patients, but for their families - support that can last months, and even years.
The Exhibition is a celebration and appreciation of all facets of life. This theme was open to interpretation and some of the artworks are very personal as they have been inspired by artists own lives that have been touched in some way by Leukaemia or Blood disorders.
The exhibition runs until Friday 27th Feb at the Bruce Mason Centre, Takapuna Beach, Auckland. 100% of the auctioned artworks price and 20% of the sale price of the exhibition artworks goes to LBF.
Without their generous sponsors this fantastic fundraising event wouldn’t have been possible so a huge bog thank yous to – Creative Communities, Media 41, Tineswari Maruthamuthu, Barfoot and Thompson, Crosscut hair design, Lee and Antonela, Corey Blackburn, Artistry Chamber Ensemble and Lion Nathan.
We just caught up with Todd Graydon, the second guy on board 42 Below along side Geoff Ross way back in the early days. We heard about everything from getting their first sales taking around their see through suitcase, to rocking around 92 countries to build over a $100 million business from New Zealand. Here’s 42Below in 90 seconds, Todd you’re an inspiration!
If you’ve signed up your business on Made From New Zealand already, this message is for you. If you haven’t: go do it now, and come straight on back….
The Made From New Zealand community is growing by more than 100 companies a week, and we’re really making an impact on Google. Today we want to tell you about that, and let you know how we can help you get even more profile and traffic.
Across all of the business profiles on the Made From New Zealand community, the average Google ranking is 9.5 (as at Feb 12), which means, on average, your profile page is appearing on the first page of Google. In many cases, your Made From New Zealand profile ranks number one: so when anyone in the world searches for your business name, your profile page is the first result that comes up. We love it when that happens. And it’s happening more and more…
Try it yourself: Google Epic Brewing Company. See? Number 6 on the page. Or Planhq. That’s number 4. How about Voom Studio. It’s number 1! See how it works?
The team here are 100% focused on getting the average ranking across all member profiles as high up that Google page as possible. Our mission is to dramatically increase New Zealand’s profile online, and we’re doing it one business at a time.
So how are we going to do it? Well, it’s all about you. Your stories, your product launches. Your successes. Your export plans. Whatever your business is up to, we want to know about it so we can add the story to your profile page, your industry page, and the home page. Think of us as your personal free PR and promotions machine: send us a hundred words or so, attach a pic if you have a good one (if not no problem, we’ll use your profile pic) and we’ll post your story on the site.
The more stories you tell, the more links we can create between your content and your profile. And that means more Google love for you and everyone else in the community. Pretty soon, New Zealand’s business community will be the best-promoted in the world: as individual business profiles get promoted, entire industry categories follow: so when someone in Brazil searches for furniture, New Zealand will come up first; when someone in Australia is searching for web designers, New Zealand will come up first, when someone in the UK is searching for baby clothes, New Zealand will… you get the picture.
As you send us more news, your profile’s ranking will increase, you’ll get more traffic, and then it’s up to you to turn that into a sale. You can check out exactly how much traffic you’re getting every day via your Made From New Zealand dashboard: but I’ll tell you more abut that in my next note.
In the meantime, send us your news, okay? That’s the story.
Video is the best way you can promote your business online: nothing beats the power of moving pictures to tell a story, and an online video that can be easily sent around the web, embedded on your profile, picked up by bloggers and posted onto Facebook and other social media sites can send your profile skyrocketing.
The problem has been getting the video content produced: until now the options were taking the DIY approach, which usually results in a poorly lit ramble that doesn’t do you any favours, or getting the pros in, which won’t leave you much change out of $5-10 grand.
So over the last couple of months we’ve been pretty busy here at Made From New Zealand HQ figuring out the solution, and we think we’ve cracked it.
What we’ve done is put together a mobile video production team, all graduates from Wellington Institute of Technology’s Department of Creative Technologies, and set up a post-production studio at our office in central Wellington. These guys are good, keen and hungry, and really know hwo to make content for the web.
Then we created an online video request form which allows Made From New Zealand members to enter all the details that you’d want covered in a 90 second video profile. The form helps you to focus on your story, make sure all relevant messages are covered, and gives our crew a heads up on what to expect when they turn up to interview you.
The interview takes no more than an hour (we’ve completed a couple in 40 minutes), and our two-camera plus director crew have all the skills to make you look like a star.
Then the footage is sent back to the studio in Wellington, edited down to 90 seconds, and can be live on youtube, on your Made From New Zealand profile, and anywhere else you want to see it on the web (or in your trade show presentation, powerpoint sales pitches, wherever) within a few days.
Here’s a great example of what we can do for you: it’s the Epic Brewing Company video profile, which we shot at the Epic brewery in Auckland.
And what does all of this cost? For an hour with the crew and and 3-4 hours in the edit suite, it’s only $499 plus gst! If you want more time, added effects or multiple cuts we charge a bit more: but it’s still usually no more than $1000 plus gst. We can do epic productions as well, free have a chat to us about that.
A quality video profile for less than a grand is exceptional value, and it’s a must-have if you’re serious about promoting your business online. Video profiles are the new ‘bold listing’ on the web, and will give your business a serious boost in traffic and enquiries.
Don’t put it off any longer: the crew is only a click away. If you’re a member of Made From New Zealand, just go to any video and click on the “request business video profile” button. Do it now. And if you’re not a member yet, then join up, or just send an email to moviemakers@madefromnewzealand.com and we’ll step you through the process. Action!
Australian? Check this out, come visit us in Welly and win! Not Australian? Check this out anyway, its brilliant. Our mate Brett Stewart voices heavily 42 Below-inspired ode to our capital town. Beaut. (Hat tip: kiwiblog)
The world’s greatest events company Inside Out Productions (they built our fern on Santa Monica beach) have pulled off another masterstroke with the deployment of the Tourism New Zealand giant rugby ball beside the Tower Bridge in London. The 25-metre-long ball, last seen at the foot of the Eiffel Tower during the last Rugby World Cup, has been set up to promote the 2011 tournament being held in New Zealand.
The ball is huge: it has a capacity of 220 people, and once inside visitors experience a stunning full-surround sight and sound spectacular. PM and Tourism Minister John Key officially kicked off proceedings overnight with London Mayor Boris Johnson, who then attended a Kapa Haka performance by local London schoolkids trained by London-based Maori performing arts company Manaia.
Then JK headed back to the ball to meet the Queen (mauve outfit, Silver Fern brooch) with the All Blacks on hand to round out what was a great day for NZ in London.
Hearty congratulations to Mike Mizrahi, Marie Adams, Warwick Bell and the Inside Out Crew for another display of 100% Pure genius.
ps: If you’re in London, stop by for a look and send us your impressions… the ball will be on Potters Fields Park by Tower Bridge and is open to the public Wednesday 26th - Friday 28th November 11am - 5pm, Sunday 30th November 11am - 5pm, and Tuesday 2nd December 11am - 3pm. Admission is free.
Going global from New Zealand is an ambition many New Zealanders hold in their hearts. Made From New Zealand uncovered someone who’s been doing it successfully for a while, and discovers the world’s richest photography prize originates from Aotearoa!
In 1998, New Zealander Geoff Blackwell launched an ambitious photographic competition with the unusual acronym M.I.L.K. – Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship, Fresh MILK Photography Competition. The competition received over 40,000 entries from all over the world, culminating in a collection of 300 winning entries – 100 in each category of Family, Friendship and Love, selected by Magnum photographer Elliot Erwitt.
The collection was published worldwide in a series of award-winning books, and received global recognition when an exhibition opened at Grand Central Station in New York City in July 2001, and toured the world. The M.I.L.K. books have subsequently been published in numerous languages and sold over three million copies.
Ten years later, M.I.L.K. Licensing, in association with Elliot Erwitt, is again offering the world’s most generous photography prize with Fresh M.I.L.K. – a USD$125,000 international photography competition. Entry is free and the 150 winning finalists will be chosen by Erwitt, with the overall winner pocketing USD$50,000.
The 150 winning images will be published in a new book in 2009, entitled: “Fresh M.I.L.K.: Friends, Families, Lovers & Laughter,” and on selected licensed products. Photographers will retain copyright of their images in exchange for granting M.I.L.K. a non-exclusive license.
So why is Blackwell doing this? “We wanted to commemorate the tenth anniversary of staging the M.I.L.K. competition. Given the popularity of the original collection, we felt the time was right to once again stage a photographic competition that celebrates humanity and, particularly, moments shared between families, friends and loved ones,” said Blackwell. “I’m really excited to see the diversity in the entries coming in, and can’t wait to begin the selection process.”
Blackwell is also excited to be working with Chief Judge Elliot Erwitt again: “Elliot is one of photography’s great masters. We’re so honoured to have his involvement again.”
When the inaugural competition launched, the internet was still in its infancy, and the task of spreading the word took a dedicated effort from the M.I.L.K. team, hitting websites and publishing adverts in prestigious photographic magazines. This time around, Blackwell is making good use of integrated web communities to spread the word around the globe.
“Using well-established online communities was the obvious way to promote our competition. People are so globally connected and networked these days, it really does make running this type of global competition much less complicated than it was ten years ago,” said Blackwell.
Because this is an online competition, only electronic images submitted online will be accepted – no physical prints or images on disc will be accepted. There are guidelines for submission requirements on the website. There is also a page with the judging criteria, which it would pay to read before you start submitting your favourite holiday snaps!
For a detailed overview of the M.I.L.K. project and full details of entry, visit www.milkphotos.com. The competition closes on the 31st of December 2008 – so get snapping, selecting and submitting!
Our mate Rob Warner was up in Singapore earlier this month DJing the first 42 Below Silent Disco to take place in Asia at the stylish Loof bar in Singapore. As you can see Rob was kind enough to rock the very stylish Made From New Zealand Tee, and check out the roof top location. See more at Robs blog
If you’re about to embark on major overseas business trip (maybe you’re attending a conference or speaking in front of a large group of people) and you’d like to represent Made From New Zealand like Rob, then drop us a line a support@madefromnewzealand.com and we’ll see if we can hook you up.
We dug this picture out of the archives from 2007. As well as being our new Prime Minister John Key obviously has an impeccable sense of style as he is seen here alongside young Aroha Ireland sporting none other than one of our Made From New Zealand T-shirts. At the time Mr Key was copping some pretty serious flack for labeling the street that Aroha lived on (McGehan Close in Auckland) a street of shame. After an uproar from the residents, he visited McGehan Close and later took 12-year-old resident Aroha Ireland to Waitangi Day celebrations.
It was also reassuring to hear in his first speech as Prime Minister that Mr Key would be speaking to the Maori Party as he pieces together New Zealands new Government. Good work Mr Prime Minister it’s great to know that the new leader of our nation is 100% Made From New Zealand.
Xero was designed from day one to be a global business made from New Zealand. Our development team in in Wellington New Zealand and we have staff in the UK and soon Australia.
Already we have customers in the United Kingdom and Australia. Watch out world, Xero goes global early in 2009. Xero is proudly listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.
Online Accounting Software
Xero is an online accounting system designed for small businesses.
Xero was founded in July 2006 by successful technology entrepreneur Rod Drury and specialist small business accountant Hamish Edwards. Xero is now listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and is a fast growing company with offices in Wellington and Auckland.
The Big Idea
The foundations for Xero were established back in 2003 when Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards worked together, building the award-winning software company AfterMail – Rod as chief executive and Hamish as the virtual CFO, running his own accounting practice.
But it wasn’t until 2006 with growing internet access and advanced web development techniques, along with increasing acceptance of the internet that the time was right to begin development.
Building Xero
Rod and Hamish set about hiring the best and brightest people and forming relationships with small businesses and their advisors, to get direction on the features and design of Xero. They fused this with their own extensive knowledge of small business – Rod having built numerous successful enterprises from scratch, while Hamish, a chartered accountant, had advised hundreds as a virtual CFO.
Growing Up
Listing on the NZX in June 2007 was an important milestone for Xero – growing from a small start-up software company to a listed company within a year – demonstrating how determined we are at Xero to set milestones and to achieve them.
Our goal remains to build a long-term global business from New Zealand, creating an environment that’s attractive to the country’s very best people. We’ve always said we wanted to revolutionise small business, and that’s what we’re here to do.
