We can be Xero
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas In this week’s issue: we can be Xero, new people = new ideas, gone Gucci, don’t mess with Brazil, more Idealogues, Indian adventures, francofilms and the quote of the week. We can be XeroWhen I interviewed serial entrepreneur Rod Drury last year he brought along his business partner, Hamish Edwards. It was the first time I heard about Xero, the company they’ve been quietly building for five years, but what I heard was intriguing. Now they’ve told us the full story behind their ambitious venture. Accounting software isn’t usually the most exciting subject, but nobody has done it like this before! Drury and Edwards have ambitious global plans but they’re starting off with some serious local aims. They reckon their software can help a lot of homegrown companies. Read more on our website. Check out also Peter Griffin’s story in the Herald this morning about Drury’s thoughts on a new national broadband network. As the guys from CityLink (who know a thing or two about building networks) like to say when asked how to get better broadband: get out and start digging. New people = new ideas “For most of the 20th century, the United States was rightly recognised as a nation where anyone could be anything,” writes Simon Young in the current issue of Idealog. The mighty US economy was built on the efforts of migrants who flocked Stateside for a shot at a better life. Migrants bring with them new ideas, new ways of thinking and a burning desire to make the most of their new lives. Who wouldn’t welcome that? We’ve let the migrant bashers hold the floor for too long. Simon’s passionate defence of migration gives voice to an argument that we don’t hear often enough. Read it online and, whether you agree or not, we’d love to hear your point of view. Add your comments at the end of the story. Gone Gucci Ever wanted a picture of yourself in the buff in a glossy magazine? Of course you have. Here’s how: make an ad of yourself, slap a Gucci logo on and send it to your victim publication just as their deadlines close. Of course, we wouldn’t fall for a stunt like that at Idealog … don’t even think about it … Don’t mess with Brazil An Argentinian condom company might be regretting its rather, er, macho poster predicting the result of a football match against Brazil. The Argentines were duly routed on the field but the thrashing was completed when the Brazilian football organisation ran its own version of the offending ad.  Gena (left) and Sarah More Idealogues The creative economy is growing, and so is the team at Idealog. Please meet our senior writer, Gena Tuffery. Gena arrived at Idealog from Next magazine, just in time to be despatched to Wellington to meet the team at Xero. She’s a former ad creative who claims to be the northern Dance-Off Champion (but we’re waiting for official proof). Meantime, Sarah Yetton has arrived to add some extra sass to the sales department. She’s worked as sales director at Pavement and Time magazines and is enjoying her introduction to the (relative) sanity at Idealog publisher HB Media. Indian adventures China gets all the press but India is booming too—last year it was the world’s second-fastest growing economy and it might yet outpace its northern neighbour. This month IP experts Baldwins are hosting Waypoint India in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland, discussing how to do business in India and even whether the subcontinent might be “an easier, more sustainable market to venture into than China”. Learn more and register at the Baldwins website. Francofilms Like your cinema with subtitles? The French Film Festival is on again at Rialto theatres; it started yesterday in Auckland and kicks off tomorrow in Wellington. Tomorrow night the Auckland Chinese Lantern Festival lights up Albert Park and then on Sunday a range of green gadgets and eco-friendly ideas take pride of place at EcoDay in Waitakere City. On Tuesday the Vodafone id Fashion Show will set Dunedin strutting. The main show launches the five-day event with a return to its original venue, the amazing Dunedin Railway Station, and appeances by top New Zealand designers. What else is on? Find out on our Agenda events pages. Quote of the week “”One of the things my ma and pa drummed into me was the need to make the most of being in New Zealand. People think immigrants come over here to soak up the dole or whatever. The immigrants I grew up with were never like that.” —Oscar Kightley More at Idealog online Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, Idealog IP, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. Matt Cooney
Editor
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