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HMC NEWS: PR agency warns Harvey Weinstein harassment fallout will impact on all businesses

Business leaders in the Waikato are being encouraged to learn how to prevent the Harvey Weinstein scandal impacting on their businesses. Hamilton PR agency HMC Communications is running a learning lunch session on Tuesday 20 February with speakers from the legal, human resources, public relations and governance realms. “Managing reputation in the post-Harvey Weinstein world”, is designed to help senior leaders consider how they might be able to act differently in the wake of the scandal. HM...

CLIENT NEWS: Private investor buys Waikato Innovation Park’s property assets

The property assets of Waikato Innovation Park, a unique business park that leverages collaboration around the agribusiness industry, have been bought by investor Neil Foster. The sale of the property assets of Waikato Innovation Park to Mr Foster was finalised on December 15. Mr Foster says he sees the purchase as an opportunity to continue supporting innovation and economic development. Hamilton City Council announced earlier in 2017 that it was seeking an investor who could progress the next ...

HMC NEWS: Words alone can’t save you

“You can’t communicate your way out of a situation you’ve managed yourself into.” This is a great quote uttered at PR Institute of NZ’s annual conference earlier this year by a senior PR colleague, Sarah Fraser who is the Communications Manager at NIWA.  When she said it, I quickly scribbled it down and I’ve been repeating it at every opportunity.  It’s brilliant. Basically, the premise is: if your company has made decisions that have put you into a situation where your ...

CLIENT NEWS: KGL Property set to refurbish Hamilton East site

KGL Property today revealed its plans for a $6 million refurbishment of the 1970s-built 1 Clyde St in Hamilton East to start in mid-2018. Renovations will create what is thought to be the largest modern, shared office space in Hamilton. The sale of the property to KGL Property was announced in May 2016 when former owner and tenant, Hill Laboratories, announced it would vacate the building and move to their new headquarters on Duke Street.  With all Hill Laboratories staff now out of the bui...

CLIENT NEWS: CRV Ambreed supports Ohaupo farmer to breed excellent heifers

Mathew Karl left his job as a bricklayer to become a dairy farmer seven years ago, and it was one of the best decisions he’s ever made. The 38-year-old currently milks 300 mixed-breed cows on 100 hectares at Ryburn Road, in the Ohaupo area, between Hamilton and Te Awamutu. “He’s had fantastic results,” says CRV Ambreed Field Consultant for Te Awamutu/Te Pahu Debbie Young, who has been working with Mr Karl. “A lot of it is done to the effort he’s put in, he’s grown his cows beautifu...

CLIENT NEWS: Waikato business thriving, says local expert

Business in the Waikato and Coromandel regions is thriving, according to a local business growth expert. “It’s an exciting time to be doing business in the Waikato and the region is buzzing,” says Waikato business growth manager Craig Purcell. In particular, there is strong growth in technology, food and tourism, says Purcell. “Food is really important to the region right now, and dairying as a subset of that,” says Purcell, who leads a team of six business growth advisors based at Wai...

HMC NEWS: Sticking to key messages

“If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra I once had a client who had a story to tell, but when it came time to tell it, he lost his way. We’d gone over everything in advance. Prepared some key statements. But the journalist grilled him, for more than an hour, and at some point he went off script. When the story came out the next day – front page news – he was mortified. He came across negatively, and a few comments had been taken out of cont...

CLIENT NEWS: Buyers and sellers get active in Hamilton housing market

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke says during November Hamilton’s residential property market became more active after a slower than normal spring. “The word to describe November is: lubrication. Some grease has been put on the wheels of the market which were a bit slow moving in the spring and both buyers and sellers in Hamilton are out in force,” says O’Rourke. The Real Estate Institute of NZ released its residential property data this morning [note: 13 December...

CLIENT NEWS: Charitable donation to enable community wildlife education in Waikato

Waikato wildlife reserve Sanctuary Mountain has been awarded $300,000 from Trust Waikato to enhance its popular community education programmes. Sanctuary Mountain is a pest-free plant and animal reserve on Maungatautari Mountain, near Cambridge in Waikato. It is the largest ecological restoration project in New Zealand, developed to remove all non-native pest mammals and predators and to restore endangered native flora and fauna to Maungatautari. It has 47km of fencing, making it the largest pes...

CLIENT NEWS: Refuge calling for children's gifts this Christmas

Waikato Women’s Refuge – Te Whakaruruhau is calling on the Waikato community for donations to help support families affected by domestic violence this Christmas. The refuge, which has helped more than 4000 Waikato women escape violent and abusive relationships during 2017, is asking for new, unwrapped toys and presents for children aged 0-16 to give to the children in their service. Waikato Women’s Refuge co-founder and CEO Ruahine Albert QSM says domestic violence rates increase signific...

CLIENT NEWS: Industry recognition and support shown at Ecotain event

Around 150 industry stakeholders, seed retailers and farmers attended an on-farm event to hear the latest research findings on Ecotain, a plantain cultivar that research has found acts environmentally to significantly reduce nitrogen leaching. Representatives from seed retailers Fonterra FarmSource, PGG Wrightson, Farmlands, dairy supplier Synlait, and other industry representatives gathered at Marshdale Farm in Oxford, Canterbury last week to hear about the science and practical application of ...

CLIENT NEWS: Huge boost to New Zealand jade artists seen from Auckland Airport store opening

A new store opening at Auckland Airport is expected to provide a boost for the jade carving industry in New Zealand. Mountain Jade, New Zealand’s largest jade retailer, will open a flagship store in Auckland Airport’s international departure area in early December. Mountain Jade Managing Director John Sheehan Jnr says the company is excited to be part of the impressive new development at Auckland Airport. The flagship Mountain Jade store will provide an opportunity to showcase jade and poun...

CLIENT NEWS: Significant land sale opens up south Hamilton for further development

The sale of a 7.6 hectare property in the Peacocke area of Hamilton will open up the south-east of the city for further residential development. The first of the two stage development at 71 Dixon Road reached settlement this month. Stage one of the development will see 49 new homes built, with earthworks already under way.   Sixty more sections will become available in stage two in April 2019. Hamilton City Council’s Parks and Reserves have put aside land within the subdivision for a publ...

HMC NEWS: Communications essential in cybersecurity crisis, says expert

Business leaders are not taking cyber security seriously enough, said internationally renowned cyber security expert Dr Ryan Ko, and that poses a significant risk to their companies’ reputations. “Communications is a much neglected aspect of responding to cyber security incidents,” said Dr Ko, speaking at business learning lunch event in Hamilton. “The spread of information is so fast, and reputations are very hard to get back when lost.” Dr Ko, director of the NZ Institute for Securi...

CLIENT NEWS: New research findings to feature at Ecotain industry event

Scientists and industry experts will hold an event in late November to discuss the latest research findings about Ecotain, a plantain cultivar that research has found acts environmentally to significantly reduce nitrogen leaching. The event takes place on 30 November at Marshdale Farm in Oxford, Canterbury and will see representatives from Agricom, Lincoln and Massey universities, and Plant & Food Research discussing new research findings and practical applications of Ecotain on farm. The event ...

HMC NEWS: Five business communications essentials

Let’s be realistic for a moment, can we?   As business leaders and managers, we are constantly bombarded with new ideas, plans and strategies we are told we should implement in our businesses and professional lives to improve. If you listen to all the buzz around us and you aren’t careful, you can soon feel inadequate and find yourself wishing for 20 more hours in the work week to get it all done. So, the last thing you need is a friendly PR consultant giving you lots of great, new...

CLIENT NEWS: Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari recognised as sustainability leader

Waikato’s Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is leading the way in sustainable tourism, with the news that it has recently achieved a Qualmark Silver Award under the new Sustainable Tourism Business criteria.  A Qualmark award provides evidence that a business has been independently validated as a quality tourism business, and is focused on sustainability. At the same time, the predator-free reserve near Cambridge has been named as a finalist in Department of Conservation-sponsored �...

CLIENT NEWS: White flowers to support White Ribbon Day

Waikato Women’s Refuge – Te Whakaruruhau is encouraging Hamiltonians to buy a bunch of white roses with a white ribbon from Florist Ilene in the week leading up to White Ribbon Day, Saturday 25 November. White Ribbon Day aims to end men’s violence towards women by encouraging men to lead by example and take a stand against domestic violence. From 20-25 November, you can buy 10 white roses for $20 from Florist Ilene on Commerce St in Frankton. For every bouquet sold, Florist Ilene will don...

CRUNCH: Crucial conversations over lunch

HMC Communications introduces: CRUNCH, crucial conversations over lunch. This 90-minute lunchtime learning series tackles topics, issues and concerns shared by most business leaders no matter what industry they operate within. HMC is excited to launch our CRUNCH series with guest speaker, Dr Ryan Ko, a world-leading expert on cybersecurity. During this workshop, Ryan will briefly set the scene to introduce the current state of cybercrime in New Zealand. He and the HMC team will th...

CLIENT NEWS: Hundreds of missing KCE shareholders sought; nearly $680,000 in dividends owed

King Country Energy is on the hunt for more than 700 missing shareholders who have moved on from their last known address and who are collectively owed nearly $680,000 in dividends. Existing customers and the wider King Country community are being encouraged to check a list of missing shareholder names to see if they might be located. When KCE was restructured in 1999, shares were issued to then-electricity consumers in the King Country. Over the years, some people have moved, passed away or ca...

CLIENT NEWS: CRV Ambreed AI technician marks 62 years working in dairy genetics

Don Shaw, 79, has been surrounded by dairy cows his entire life. And, in his role as an artificial insemination (AI) technician for CRV Ambreed, he’s been responsible for bringing a fair few calves into the world. Raised on an Ohaupo farm, Mr Shaw is a fourth generation New Zealand dairy farmer. For the past 62 years he’s also worked as an AI technician, inseminating an estimated 250,000 cows in that time. At 17, Mr Shaw started his artificial breeding (AB) training with South Auckland Herd ...

CLIENT NEWS: Musical parody of reality talent show debuts in Hamilton

Hamilton’s home-grown musical writer Chris Williams debuts his second locally-written show, The Quest, at The Meteor Theatre from 1-9 December. After experiencing the successful launch of his first musical State Highway 48 in 2014, which culminated in a national tour in 2016, he’s written a parody that’s bound to please all audiences. “This show is completely different to State Highway 48, which dealt with the themes of recession, depression, job loss, marriage break up and communication...

HMC NEWS: My first year in public relations

Around a year ago I was head-down studying for my final round of exams; pouring over PR textbooks, PR cases and wrapping up final campaign reports. Thinking back on it now, even though I was stuffing my brain with PR theory, if you asked me to define PR, I’d have to do a sneaky search on the PRINZ website. It wasn’t until I started working next to PR people in a PR agency that I actually understood what PR was. The theory and practice finally clicked. So here we are on my first anniversary o...

CLIENT NEWS: Conference will mark 20 years of Dairy Women's Network

With Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) poised to mark its 20th year in 2018, its upcoming conference will celebrate the primary reason the Network was established in 1998 – to bring women in the dairy industry together. Registrations are now open for DWN18 – Our Land, Our People which takes place 22 to 23 March at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua. DWN CEO Zelda de Villiers says the conference will focus on the two key elements at the heart of the dairy industry, land and people, and celebrat...

CLIENT NEWS: Second pregnancy compels Waikato mum to quit smoking, Once and For All

Hamilton-based pregnant mum Dayna Allen, 25, inhaled her first puff of smoke ten years ago as a curious 15-year-old, barely old enough to drive a car. As the addiction set in, Dayna worked her way through an average of 36,500 cigarettes over the next decade, about 10 per day. She ceased to slow down even when she found out she was expecting baby number one in 2012. Following alarming smoking-related health complications with her first pregnancy, Dayna knew it was time to kick the habit when she ...