We recently held our annual staff conference in stunning Queenstown. The theme of this year’s conference was Next Level – challenging ourselves to lift our game as individuals and teams to benefit our clients and communities.
Conference is an important time for our team to get together, connect, reflect, learn and have lots of fun! We also celebrate the hotly-contested Acu-Awards.
We were privileged to hear from Dr Oliver Hartwich, Executive Director of the New Zealand Initiative who gave us a run-down on key societal issues in New Zealand – education, infrastructure and local government. He shared his experiences at the recent New Zealand Initiative trip to Switzerland which has a decentralised approach to governing and one of the highest levels of productivity and prosperity globally.
Duncan Greive, Founder and Editor of The Spinoff gave an honest and insightful account of his commitment to producing quality journalism in a challenging media environment – while also running a successful commercial operation.
We approached a not-for-profit organisation ahead of conference and offered to invest our time to help them. At conference, we broke into mini agencies and pitched our ideas. We have subsequently shared these ideas and our ‘client’ is delighted.
We absolutely made the most of what Queenstown has to offer – the fireworks of the Winter Festival, enjoying Gibbston Valley wines and Botswana Butchery cuisine, the adrenalin of the Shotover jet and a 4WD experience and, of course, the nightlife!
