Amie Nilsson has built up Merino Kids from operating out of a spare bedroom business to hitting a projected turnover of $20 million over the next two years. How does she survive in the cut-throat world of design for under-fives? Find out on our website.
Thankfully, Trade Me keeps our watchlisted items online. Congratulations to Andrew of Auckland, who overcame keen interest to win this gorgeous Possum With Drink Glass yesterday. It would have looked great in the Idealog reception; guess we’ll keep an eye out for a ferret.
The ICEHOUSE invites budding entrepreneurs to the inaugural Demystifying Angel Investment event on 23 July at the Decima Glenn Room at the University of Auckland Business School.
This event has been created as an opportunity for entrepreneurs to meet potential investors and gain some insight about angel investing from some seasoned investors who are members of the ICE Angels network.
Blog till you drop
Shockwaves rippled through the New Zealand blogosphere when software-as-a-service pioneer Rod Drury of Xero fame announced that he would stop blogging.
Over the past five years, Drury has built up a loyal following on his blog, thanks to thoughtful and topical posts discussing not just technology matters but societal issues and his personal life as well. If you work in a tech-related field, Drury’s popular blog was a must-read.
The blog broke the mould that states corporate communications have to be strictly managed; here was a successful entrepreneur and CEO who spoke to the rest of the country without being filtered. Comments are continuing to roll in, on the post in which he announced that he would quit blogging.
Why quit then? Drury says there’s not enough time, especially with a young family to look after. That’s a reason any blogger who has been at it for a while and built up an audience can understand. Even if your blog is wildly popular, there comes a time when the pressure to post something fresh and interesting every day is just too much.
However, in public relations terms, Drury’s blog was a hugely effective tool not just for him personally, but for Xero too, so stopping the posts there must’ve been a difficult decision.
It remains to be seen if Xero’s group blog can pick up where Drury’s left off and begs the question: if you start to blog, how on earth do you stop? The Blog Monster is greedy and wants to be fed—all the time.
Youth art hits Ellerslie
Twelve-year-old artist Ted Dagatan’s choice of character, a soldier tax collector, is undoubtedly a sign of the times and possibly less mythical than it appears.
Dagatan’s work is featured in the upcoming ARTerslie School Art Exhibition with 300 pieces of art by students from six local primary, intermediate and secondary schools to be displayed on July 22 and 23.
The exhibition takes place at the Ellerslie War Memorial Hall, 138 Main Highway, Ellerslie, Auckland. The organisers say it’s the only dedicated Youth Art exhibition in Auckland.
More tix for King Kev’s speech plus new venue
Kevin Roberts, I mean Kevin bloody Roberts, has managed to sell out the venue for his AUT-Idealog Innovation Series talk next Monday. Not to worry though: we have moved it to the Auckland Room, Level 4 of Auckland’s SkyCity Convention Centre.
Better yet, there are now some last-minute tickets left, so visit our website to RSVP and book your place for Monday, July 21, for a bargain $49 per seat—drinks included. You can also call book on the blower: 09 373-3877.
Presenting: Kevin Roberts
“I have never believed that extraordinary results come from ordinary actions so I am attracted by extremes.”
Come hear the Saatchi & Saatchi CEO share his experience about business, sustainability, rugby, love and everything else on ‘The Edge’.
Monday, July 21 » 6–8pm » Auckland Room, Level 4, SkyCity Convention Centre, Auckland » $49 RSVP here or phone 09 373-3877.
7×7
Seven speakers have seven minutes each to present their seven ideas. This year’s 7×7 series talks about Foundations (on Monday, July 22), Trailblazers (August 4), Directions (August 12), Connections (August 18) and Imaginations (August 26), all seven-fold of course.
Rod Oram chairs the lot over at the Ilott Theatre at the Town Hall in Wellington, and the first session features the New Zealand Institute’s David Skilling, Dr Brian Easton, agri-scientist Jacqueline Rowarth, enviro-advocate Morgan Williams and 7×7 co-founder Brian Sweeney. Each session commences at 6pm and entry is $7.
DBA time
What do Formway Furniture, Glidepath, Funware and Obo have in common? They’re New Zealand companies that use design and innovation to give them a competitive edge. For their efforts, they’ve all recently won the Design in Business Award.
Held by the Designers’ Institute of New Zealand and Better by Design, entries for this year’s DBA open on Monday. Judges this year are Derek Lockwood, worldwide director of design at Saatchi & Saatchi; Nevil Gibson, editor-in-chief of the National Business Review; and David Walker, a former professor and member of University of Auckland’s INNOVATIONZ team as well as a leading design strategist. (While you prepare your entry, check out ‘Cooking, creativity and chaos’, David’s examination of our economic soup, on the Idealog website.)
Quote of the week
“We have patents, design registrations—anything we can use to protect our products We spend a lot on lawyers. I keep my eyes open and my ears to the ground. If we’re copied I get onto it straight away.”
Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at www.idealog.co.nz.
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Idealog is a magazine and media brand about ideas, innovative business and the ‘new’ New Zealand economy. Idealog is the voice of an emerging generation of business leaders—creative, driven by ideas, open-minded, tech- and media-savvy and not constrained by the old rules of business. Find out more.
