Back to Blog

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 ...

CLIENT NEWS: CRV Ambreed boosting skills for AI technicians ahead of busy season

CRV Ambreed has been meeting with its technicians responsible for Artificial Insemination (AI) ahead of a busy season. Technicians met recently in Te Awamutu to ensure a smooth-running season for farmers using the CRV Ambreed AI technician service. CRV Ambreed has a team of about 200 AI technicians who service farms across New Zealand. In an average season, they’ll inseminate about 500,000 straws. The company’s AI Services Manager Cara O’Connor says new staff have been brought on board for...

Take the communications health test

Use the rating scale and table below to rate your organisation's communication health.At the end, you'll be able to see whether you are fighting fit or in need of some serious communications help....

HMC NEWS: Social media influencers: What are they and should you be using them?

It’s a tale as old as time in the PR world. Find a famous person, send them your product, pay them some money, and watch as they tell all the people they know how great your product is. It’s a promotional practice called influencer PR and its sole purpose is to use the clout of popular people to sell products. Remember at school when the cool girl got a new pair of embroidered bootleg jeans (I’m a child of the 90s) and you wanted to get them too after you saw how great she looked in them?...

CLIENT NEWS: Smart transit set to get a whole lot smarter thanks to real time display technology

Bus commuters in Hamilton may have noticed something a bit different at a few bus stops lately with the installation of graphic display signs at five bus stops around town. These are real time information display units, also known as eStops, and they update bus information in real time so passengers know exactly how far away their bus is. Currently they are at bus stops on Grey Street, Anzac Parade, Lynden Court, Whatawhata Road and The Base. Hamilton is the first city in New Zealand to trial th...

CLIENT NEWS: Dairy Women's Network brings the art of conversation to the farm

Dairy Women’s Network is running a series of free learning modules aimed at helping those in the dairy industry coach and empower the people they interact with on a daily basis. The modules have been developed as a result of a recent DWN survey that identified people management as one of the biggest farm challenges facing its members. Coaching Conversations, which is being sponsored by DairyNZ, will provide people in the dairy industry with the tools to enable those around them to gain the ski...

HMC NEWS: Style vs Substance: great leaders get the balance right

With the election results now confirmed and party negotiations with Winston soon to commence, I’ve been reflecting on the race we experienced over the past two months Whether you are a National, Labour or other supporter there is one thing that’s hard to deny: we have experienced the power a charismatic leader can wield as Jacinda-mania took hold. She put the brakes on the nosedive of Labour support, turned on a dime and took off fighting neck-and-neck with National.  Labour rose dramat...

CLIENT NEWS: Scientist and businesswoman takes on engagement role for CRV Ambreed’s LowN Sires

An educator and businesswoman with a strong background in animal science has joined CRV Ambreed, taking on a newly created stakeholder engagement role to promote LowN Sires. Lynda Clark taught animal science at Lincoln University for 16 years and was the founding general manager of Dairy Women’s Network. She also holds governance roles and works as a coach and facilitator. “We are really pleased to have Lynda join our team at CRV Ambreed,” says CRV Ambreed’s Managing Director Angus Hasle...

CLIENT NEWS: Hamilton drug testing company says meth is “growing concern” for property owners

Since adding methamphetamine testing of properties to its services last year, Hamilton-based alcohol and drug testing company, Resultz Group, has been busier than ever.   “The problem with meth (P) contamination is a lot wider than the general public think,” says Resultz Group managing director Kyly Coombes. “It is a real concern for property owners, and our testing services are increasingly in demand in this area.” Resultz Group has been providing drug testing services since 2...

CLIENT NEWS: Research shows Ecotain plantain can significantly reduce nitrogen leaching

A plantain that started life as a common weed has now been shown to have the ability to significantly reduce nitrogen leaching from the urine patch. Proprietary seed company Agricom has bred the specific plantain genotype and says with New Zealand’s national herd number of 6.5 million dairy cattle, the breakthrough could have a significant impact on reducing nitrogen leaching from dairy farms. The urine patch is an area that holds a concentrated amount of nitrogen from animal urine. Most nitro...

CLIENT NEWS: Collaboration the key to growth for Hamilton agri-tech business

Hamilton agricultural software development company Rezare Systems has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2004. Rezare has its origins in the Crown Research Institute at AgResearch in Ruakura, where five colleagues got together 13 years ago to launch a commercial company. “Essentially, it started out as a decision-support group,” says Rezare co-founder and CEO Andrew Cooke.  Now based at Waikato Innovation Park, the company provides ideas, guidance, software and product d...