Wednesday, June 29, 2011
New Zealand Mountain Film Festival
Ah, we are so proud of our clients Jo and Mark Sedon for absolutely acing this years Mountain Film Fest!
Wanaka will be hosting the 2011 New Zealand Mountain Film Festival from July 1st through 5th. There will be a varied schedule of events, including International and NZ made film competitions and excellent grand prizes.
Stop in for a viewing of the film finalist, awards night with films, winning film previews and live music, NZ & International Guest speakers, film workshops, an adventure gear trade show, art exhibition, heaps of giveaway and of course, lots of general socializing.
The main festival venue is the Lake Wanaka Centre at 89 Ardmore Street Tickets can be purchased from $79. Stop buy and check out some local work, support your fellow filmmakers out there.
It’s got your name on it…literally
We’ve got the Internet. We check our emails on our fly-phones and our crack-berries. We communicate in nano-seconds. We are living through technology of the future. With all this time spent looking forward, have we forgotten the little ghosts of business past that will stand as the immortal staples of networking?
I’m talking about a little piece of card stock with your name on it. That’s right. Business cards.
We’ve come a long way from the standard black and white rectangle with a name, office number and address. The business cards of today are incorporating modern creativity and technology into clever and memorable pieces of art.
Here, take a look at 100 fresh, innovative and brilliantly designed business cards that make a lasting impression. Who knows, in 20 years we may be exchanging info subconsciously through mindreading droids on the Deathstar…but until then, here is a little inspiration for yourself and your business.
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/100-really-creative-business-cards/
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Peace of mind: financial security for your children.
Submitted by Diana Clement on Friday, 1 April 2011 | Category: Managing your money
It’s every parent’s dream: Their child will be happy and healthy throughout their lives. That includes the offspring being financially secure.
But parents have very different ways of going about it – all of which can be valid if applied to the right children. Their strategies don’t always involve raining money done on the kids.
Some parents believe in giving every opportunity from day one. That includes everything from music lessons for pre-schoolers down to maths tuition at school. The idea is that they’ll find a talent to develop from which they’ll earn a good income.
Others believe that teaching resilience is more important than anything. A resilient child will grow into a well-rounded adult capable of standing on his or her own financial feet.
Then there’s the trust fund brigade who believe that providing the children with a trust fund to buy whatever they need when they need it is providing for the children’s financial security. I’m not convinced on this one because it makes some children feel entitled and unsatisfied with whatever they receive .
Leaving a bequest. Leaving money directly to the children in a Will or to a testamentary trust makes some sense. That way you leave something for the next generation. Yet because you might live to 100 or lose it all in rest home fees, the children still have to plan their own financial future.
Cutting the kids loose. There’s yet another belief that giving the kids a good education, then cutting the purse strings will make financially responsible adults of children. Like every approach this does work for some children. But both nature and nurture make children react differently to their financial circumstances and no one approach will work for all.
Teaching them the financial facts of life. A brand new book Gold Start. Teaching your children about money is well worth the $34.99 price tag. The book by Kiwi financial planner Andrew Lendnal has hundreds of ideas of how to teach your little ones about money with fun family activities. There’s even a quiz and some Monkey See Monkey Do mistakes that parents should avoid.
For children to be financially secure, it’s essential for parents to make sure that they’re setting a good example. That means spending within their means and also setting financial goals and achieving them. If little Johnny sees mum and dad buying everything they want on tic and not budgeting, he or she will follow suit.
If you want your family to be financially secure, it’s a very good idea to make sure you have adequate insurance cover. Most Kiwis are three months from bankruptcy. Anyone can lose his or her job or fall sick with a serious illness. It happens to people every day.
Most people need sufficient life insurance to ensure their spouses or partners can survive financially in their absence. It can also be a good idea to have critical illness cover and even redundancy cover for the mortgage at least.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Round Em Up!
The inaugural ministerial meeting to formally approve the Charter, or working methods of the Alliance, will be chaired by International Climate Change Negotiations Minister, Tim Groser. Agriculture Minister David Carter leads the New Zealand delegation.
Mr Groser said member countries have responded to the Alliance as an important approach to some pressing global challenges.
"Agriculture plays a vital role in food security, poverty reduction and sustainable development. But the sector is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as well as facing the challenge of increasing global food demand while reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.
"The reality is that globally, not enough research has been focused on reducing agricultural greenhouse gases, compared to other sectors such as energy and transport. The Alliance changes this.
"I am pleased that since New Zealand and 20 other countries launched the Alliance in Copenhagen 18 months ago, at least another dozen countries have joined our commitment to accelerate the international research effort," Mr Groser says.
Mr Carter said the initial work of the Alliance's Research Groups had already led to a better understanding of agricultural mitigation research efforts in member countries, and to an increase in international co-operation.
"We now have a good understanding of the emissions mitigation research priorities for livestock, cropping and paddy rice production systems - and clear work programmes to support these."
Mr Carter also emphasised New Zealand's significant investment in the Alliance, both through hosting of the Alliance secretariat and co-leadership of the Alliance's Livestock Research Group, and through funding of emissions-mitigation research, particularly for pastoral livestock production systems.
"It is exciting that New Zealand researchers are now connected to a network of scientists from over 30 countries, all focused on finding practical, on-farm solutions that will reduce agricultural emissions," Mr Carter says.
Originally published by the New Zealand Government, 24 June, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Something borrowed, something new
Some of the borrowing is being placed in an on-call account with the Reserve Bank to be used to pay off about $8 billion of bond debt which rolled over on November 15, he said.
Those bonds were issued in 1999 and came to maturity this year, 12 years later.
"We are borrowing ahead ready to fund that debt maturity," Mr Combes said.
"We have been issuing that particular debt for a long time. "At times, it was at higher interest rates than they are today." The Government has been under fire this week with claims from Labour deputy leader Annette King and the Council of Trade
Unions for borrowing more than it needs to service current liabilities. Finance Minister Bill English said the Government was borrowing an extra $5 billion this year to take advantage of good interest rates.
Mr Combes said the debt office was issuing bonds - government debt - for the next eight to 10 years that would fall due between 2019 and 2021.
Borrowing had increased in the past three or four months as interest rates had become favourable.
"We are locking in interest rates for those eight to 10 years, giving us a benefit for that period of time. That's the dominant thinking in my mind."Saving 1% in interest on a $7.6 billion debt over eight to 10 years is a significant saving. That's what people are overlooking," he said.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said the debt office was "topping up" while it could.
The interest rate environment was benign and there was unlikely to be much movement before the first quarter of next year.
The old adage was that when interest rates were low, you borrowed as much as you could for as long as you could. When rates were high, you borrowed as little as you could for as short as you could, Mr McIntyre said.
There was high demand in the world for New Zealand government debt and the debt management office was taking advantage of the country's strong fiscal position in a global market.
"This is something we should be pleased about as it lowers the cost of government debt servicing," he said.
Mr English said that throughout last year, the Government had borrowed around $300 million a week and was borrowing more now.
"We've been quite open about the fact that we have been borrowing more than we need, particularly over the last three or four months, when the conditions have been favourable."
From July onwards, new borrowing would drop down to $100 million a week on average over the next three years, he said.
Mr Combes said the debt management office had a mix of options available to it when it borrowed.
Apart from the on-call account with the Reserve Bank, the office had the ability to invest by drawing down cash and buying securities in other markets.
The office bought five-year bonds, for instance, in a lot of banks, including some super-national debt through the World Bank.
"We look for very high credit rating and don't go past AA. In the past we have bought other sovereign debt provided the credit rating is high enough.
"We need a very high credit rating and be confident we will get our money back," he said.
New Zealand had not bought any debt from the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), Mr Combes hastened to add.
Originally Published by The Otago Times, By Dene Mackenzie on 11 Jun 2011
Mountain Film Festival
Wanaka will be hosting the 2011 New Zealand Mountain Film Festival from July 1st through 5th. There will be a varied schedule of events, including International and NZ made film competitions and excellent grand prizes.
Stop in for a viewing of the film finalist, awards night with films, winning film previews and live music, NZ & International Guest speakers, film workshops, an adventure gear trade show, art exhibition, heaps of giveaway and of course, lots of general socializing.
The main festival venue is the Lake Wanaka Centre at 89 Ardmore Street Tickets can be purchased from $79. Stop buy and check out some local work, support your fellow filmmakers out there.
www.mountainfilm.net.nz
Air New Zealand gives a leg up
Air New Zealand wants to help cheer up those affected by the recent situation in Christchurch. Here are the deets: Air NZ offered a round-the-world ticket for two to the person who could stand on one leg the longest.
It sounded tough, but as bad weather threatened, organisers decided to make it a little bit tougher. After several rule changes and four hours, 10 minutes into the stand-off a young engineering student was the last man standing.
“I'm very glad they chose to do eyes closed otherwise I wouldn't have lasted,” says winner Claude Meffan.
The event could have gone all night otherwise. More than 100 people took part, but they all fell, perhaps put off by the world record time of four days.
Talk about a stand off. We commend Air New Zealand on their positivity and continued support of Christchurch.
Originally published by 3 News on S11 Jun 2011 6:29P.M., By Jeff Hampton
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Got a hammer handy?
Remember the piggy bank? Everyone has a piggy bank growing up. Everyone also remembers emptying it out one more than one glorious event. Did you ever stop to wonder what interesting man or woman took the time however many of centuries ago to sit around and make a jar shaped like a pig. And put a hole in it? Who was this wacko?
What has become the wildly accepted international symbol of money-saving has one more surprise for you. Here it goes: No one invented the piggy bank. That’s right. You may feel a wee bit let down. WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOBODY INVENTED THE PIGGY BANK?
The piggy banks' origin owes more to the history of language, than to an individual inventor. The Old English language, of around the 15th century, had a word "pygg" which referred to a type of orange clay. People made all kinds of useful objects out of clay, including dishes and jars to hold spare change.
Around the 18th century, the word "pygg" now sounded the same as the word for the animal "pig". An unknown person(s) thought to shape a "pygg" jar, to look just like a real "pig". Perhaps an order came in for a "pygg" jar and the potter misunderstood. Looks like we are all just going to have to settle for piggy-backs instead. Win.
PS this is our winning BNZ piggy....
Are you prepared…for the zombie invasion?
That’s right. The Zombie Invasion. Now we have no problem with planning. In fact we love planning, but leave it to the Brits to be concerned with plans for a zombie invasion.
A British Council gets serious about plans for a possible zombie invasion plans by a prpactive (?) resident. Here’s the story.
Leicester City Council was asked to explain its emergency plans to tackle a zombie invasion, in a bizarre Freedom of Information request.
A "concerned citizen", Robert Ainsley, lodged his query on Tuesday, asking: "Can you please let us know what provisions you have in place in the event of a zombie invasion?"
He added: "Having watched several films it is clear that preparation for such an event is poor and one that councils throughout the kingdom must prepare for."
The authority has yet to formally respond but has indicated that there are no specific references to zombies in its emergency plans.
Leicester City Council has 20 working days to answer but its head of information governance, Lynn Wyeth, took to local radio yesterday to address the issue.
She said: "We've had a few wacky ones but this one did make us laugh.
"It's one of those questions that you could do a one-liner saying there is nothing specifically in the emergency plan to state a response to a zombie invasion.
"But you could look at it in more depth and say, 'Which parts of the emergency plan could you apply to a zombie invasion?' - as it would have the same impact as perhaps some other disaster or attack."
She told the BBC: "If it's specifically about zombies then I would say, from my recollection of the plan... then unfortunately there's nothing in there... saying how we would respond to zombies."
Ms Wyeth said that the council was required by law to respond to all requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
She said: "To you it might seem frivolous and a waste of time... but to different people it actually means something."
Originally published by The Telegraph, Emily Gosden, 10 Jun 2011
Steady as she goes....
In his main statement today RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard said indicators of capacity usage and core inflation suggested underlying inflation remained constrained.
As growth in gross domestic product picked up, underlying inflation was expected to rise, with a gradual increase in the OCR over the next two years required to offset that, Dr Bollard said.
"The pace and timing of increases will be guided by the speed of recovery, but for now the OCR remains on hold." But the Reserve Bank's monetary policy statement (MPS) noted surveyed inflation expectations and indictors of firms' pricing intentions had picked up recently.
"It would be of concern if the recent pick up and relatively high level of surveyed inflation expectations persisted," the MPS said.
The RBNZ's central projection assumed the pick up reflected the current high level of headline consumers' price index (CPI) inflation, with surveyed expectations therefore likely to moderate over the coming year.
"However, the increase could also represent a more embedded increase. Heightened inflation expectations would limit the scope for monetary policy to absorb any upside inflation surprises," the MPS said.
Core inflation had risen in recent quarters, consistent with some rise in capacity pressures. One approach, adjusted to exclude the estimated effect of the rise in the rate of GST in the December quarter, pointed to core inflation above 2 percent for each of the previous two quarters.
Headline inflation was elevated, with the CPI rising 0.8 percent in the March quarter. A key factor was the October rise in GST, with other factors including increases in the tobacco excise and petrol prices.
The influence of rising food and petrol prices was expected to reduce by the end of the year, allowing for the rate of inflation to fall to well within the target band, the MPS said.
The RBNZ's target was to keep CPI inflation to between 1 percent and 3 percent on average over the medium term.
Dr Bollard said the economic outlook had improved in the past three months. It appeared the negative confidence effect of the Christchurch earthquake in February on economic activity throughout the rest of the country had been limited.
Commodity prices remained "very strong" and firms expected to increase their hiring and capital investment, Dr Bollard said.
Reconstruction in Canterbury was projected to add about 2 percentage points to GDP growth over 2012, and boost the level of activity for several years after that.
In March RBNZ cut the OCR by 50 basis points, to lessen the economic impact of Christchurch and "guard against the risk of this impact becoming especially severe".
Today's MPS said an improving profit outlook, particularly for export-oriented firms, was one factor that would likely see business investment rise from current low levels. Capital goods were also likely to be relatively cheap, given the above-average level of the exchange rate.
Households were not expected to increase spending quickly, having accumulated a significant amount of debt in past decades, the MPS said.
Consistent with subdued consumption, house prices were likely to increase at or below the rate of inflation in the next few years. Statistical models suggested house prices continued to be overvalued when compared to such measures as nominal GDP or rental yields.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Kea Kaha
Austrian scientists have discovered one of New Zealand's rarest native species is no bird brain. The kea is well known for its ability to dissect everything from rental cars to camera equipment at popular tourist spots, and now it's got another badge of honour.
They're cute and playful, but they also have a reputation as troublemakers. Keas can run rampant in the high country, attacking cars and generally making nuisances of themselves. But now the native alpine parrot's revealed another skill - they can use tools even though they've never had the need to use them in the wild.
“They live mostly in nests in the forest, nest on the ground, forage on the floor for tubers, roots and grubs,” says the Department of Conservation’s Josh Kemp.
The birds demonstrated their tool technique in an Austrian study, learning to use a length of wood to get to a peanut, hidden inside a cube. The birds were shown beforehand which cube contained food, so they were aiming with skill. But it's not easy. The kea's bent beak means it can't actually see what it's doing. Researchers say it's a surprise the birds were so quick to adapt.
“There are a few bird species which are genetical tool users, but the kea is not one of them,” says Vienna University’s Alice Auersperg.
In fact, there's evidence the kea may have already learned the skill in the wild. DOC workers report the birds have been jamming sticks into stoat traps to get to the food inside. But they could be outsmarting themselves. Population numbers of the threatened species are continuing to fall.
“We've got a real problem, only one to 5000 in the wild, that's no a large number,” says Tamsin Orr-Walker of the Kea Conservation Trust.
DOC workers are now trialling different ways to make the stoat traps kea-proof.
Originally published by Anna Burns-Francis, 3 News
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Get your stitch on.....
You heard right. Stitch n’ B***h is a somewhat endearing phrase that the crafty creatives of Wanaka have been calling their yarn focused meetings. This Wednesday the invitation is open so bring your hook (or hooks).
The weekly yarn orientated gathering calls out to anyone keen to knit or crochet. Join the crew at 7PM this Wednesday at Uno Bar on Ardmore.
Make some new knitting buddies, whine with some wine, state your claim for National Yarn Bombing Day (June 11)…You might even be able to unstitch mouths and find out who the Midnight Yarn Bomber is….
Monday, June 6, 2011
High Five Xero!
Xero, the cloud-based accounting platform provider, narrowed its loss in the year, as it trans-Tasman units underpinned a surge in sales.
The Wellington-based company reported a loss of $7.5 million, or 8 cents per share, in the 12 months ended March 31, compared to a loss of $8.5 million, or 10 cents, a year earlier.
Operating revenue almost tripled to $9.3 million in the period, with most of the growth coming from the New Zealand and Australian units.
"The company will continue to execute its sales and marketing strategies in regional markets, while positioning itself to take advantage of the massive opportunities in the US," Xero said in a statement.
"The company has taken a measured approach to the US market as it refines the U.S. version of the software."
This year, the company rolled out new payroll software and banking feeds as it strives to reach profitability. It had previously flagged calendar 2011 as its 'break-even' year.
Though Xero didn't provide any guidance in today's release, it flagged more analysis will be available in its annual report, which will be out next month.
Article continues below
Earnings growth was damped by increased spending on IT infrastructure of $1.5 million to $2 million, as the company introduced Akamai web application services and dealt with rising customer numbers.
It also added $1 million to its marketing expenses, spending $2.2 million in the year.
Xero's cash reserves fell $4.5 million to $16.9 million in the year, though that's up $300,000 since its half-year update in November.
The company's New Zealand unit narrowed its net loss to $7.6 million from $8.4 million a year ago, while its U.K. business made a profit of $23,000, compared to a profit of $8,000 in 2010, and the Australian business earned $19,000, up from $8,000 a year earlier.
The shares rose 0.4 per cent to $2.48 in trading yesterday, and have dropped 21 per cent from a peak in December.
Originally published in the New Zealand Herald, May 20
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
This news from Xero!
Today alongside our annual results we announced Xero has processed in excess of $35 billion of transactions – $36,742,064,684.47 to be exact!
Frankly the number amazed us when we saw it. We think it’s an important number as it shows that online business systems are well past the start up phase. SaaS is being adopted and has become an important part of the FinTech industry.
What could you do with that sort of money? To help put $36,742,064,684.47 into perspective it’s enough to buy LinkedIn several times over (a few less than yesterday), produce Avatar 96 times, or produce 100 solid gold elephants – the big kind.
Posted on the Xero Blog by Rod Drury May 20th