Wednesday 21st May

The battle for ratings.....

At the recent Bay of Plenty Regional Economic Development Forum, the focus was on long-term inter sub-region and inter-agency cooperation, engagement and love. Fast forward to Wednesday 21st May.

Inter-agency cooperation in action? I think not.

Lining up at 7.00am in the morning is the Export NZ Bay of Plenty and NZ Trade and Enterprise sponsored NZ New Thinking Export Breakfast at the Sebel Hotel in Tauranga. (Cost: NZ$25, to include breakfast) There is absolutely nothing wrong with the agenda. Jon Mayson – Chair of NZ Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) will be speaking about ‘Beyond Export Year – What do we have to DO to achieve export Growth?’ Jon will also provide a personal view on what we need to do here in the Bay of Plenty to build strong export growth.

The session is scheduled to close at 9.30am. This provides enough time for delegates to get to their offices, open the post and then prepare for the next 'Event of the Day'.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce have organised their 'Meet the New CEO' lunch at Mills Reef from 11.30am - 2.00pm. (Cost: NZ$45 members, $NZ65 non-members, to include lunch). Greg Bold, the new CEO will talk of his journey to becoming CEO and where he sees the Chamber both now and into the future. Greg will also talk about his role of tutoring and some helpful hints on Problem Solving and Decision Making.

Tummies full, it is now time for delegates to return to the office to ensure staff are still working and time to sign off the day's inventory before setting off to the next 'Event of the Day'.

Priority One and the WBOP ICT Cluster have organised the well advertised “Technology for Smart Business” Expo at Baycourt (Cost: Free, with complimentary canopes after 5.30pm). This runs from 12.30pm - 6.30pm at Baycourt. The tradeshow is being held to provide an opportunity for local ICT companies to showcase their products and services to businesses in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty.

So there we have it. Three significant business events on one day. Inter-agency cooperation in action.

For the record, I will be at the Sebel for the breakfast session and then its off to Baycourt to set up the Pingar stand for the “Technology for Smart Business” Expo. Sorry Greg, but I reckon 2 out of 3 is as much as I can manage in one day.