Early last year I had three things on my mind. I was researching the possible use of Amazon AWS for a project we were working on; I was watching the events at the Auckland Startup Weekend wishing I was there; and finally I was preparing for a presentation I was due to give at the College of Business at Massey University. It was a holiday weekend, so much to Sonya's dismay, I wondered if I could run my own Start Weekend. The question I asked myself was "Could I launch an internet business in one weekend, in the process write all the code, learn AWS including EC2, Route53, To View More >>

Photographers, and my other blogger friends, I have decided to take the "31 Days to a Better Blog challenge" by Pro Blogger. I downloaded the book last week and, having read it, decided it it has a lot to offer, especially at a time I'm considering how to bring more focus and value to my blog. Please Join Me I'd love to find photographers, and any other bloggers, that would like to undertake the challenge with me. If you would like to join me on this exciting and rewarding adventure, you will need to buy the book here, and if you constructively, and honestly, give feedback on my progress To View More >>

I just had a wonderful evening with CEOs from some of New Zealand's best companies. The group was brought together by Better By Design to visit some of the USA's best Design-led and Innovative companies. It's going to be an amazing week, challenging I am sure, but an interesting thing happened tonight: if you like, a small distinction became clear to me. There I was talking to Diego Rodriguez a partner at Ideo, a brilliant design company, and Perry Klebahn a consulting associate professor at Stanford Design School, two great people who were truly gracious in the knowledge they shared. To be honest, To View More >>

People with dirty jobs are happier In this movie Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs does two things, first he talks about a day he worked on a farm and amongst other things docks lambs. I saw this show and couldn't believe he did what he did. I thought it was inhumane and as it turns out initially he did too, but in an entertaining fashion he talks through his learning and explains. The second thing he does is he makes the point that in his opinion people with Dirty Jobs are happier. He puts forward a strong case that following the advice "Follow Your Passion" might be bad advice. For some it To View More >>

Why oh why do people find providing good customer service so hard? I guess probably for the same reason so many people struggle with relationships, that is that they co-exist, rather than truly throw themselves into the situation in the effort to find a real connection. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that the customer is always right, they often aren't but in that moment they do deserve to feel significant and cared for... Often that just takes a little empathy and a smile. Why is it that when people talk about great business they can rattle of a list of companies specializing in various To View More >>