In the second week of November, I attended two functions for Global Entrepreneurship Week. The first was Wellington to the World 2009, where numerous local businesses, who had made it big worldwide, got a chance to talk about how they leveraged the internet. Solutions such as social media, virtual working and licensing were among the topics raised.
   This year, Richard McManus of ReadWriteWeb was the keynote speaker. I had heard of ReadWriteWeb before but—and this is terrible for someone who went through the same thing with Lucire—thought it was foreign. Admittedly, I tune in to ReadWriteWeb when there’s a news headline that intrigues me, and sometimes, those are from one of its overseas bureaux.
   It was a great wake-up call—that there are many world-class businesses right here in Wellington—and I enjoyed listening to Richard, who is going through many of the same phases as we had in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I remember the days when I had not met some of my team members in person, judging them by the quality of their work. It works quite well in the dot-com sphere. And for most of my 22 years in business, many people did not make the connection between our properties and New Zealand—including New Zealanders. (I still hear people think that my businesses have some foreign ownership or overseas partners, which is untrue.)
   We need to change the mindset of New Zealanders, myself included, toward thinking the best comes from this country. And if you look around the country, Wellington is the most creative city. We have as much capability of creating world-class businesses as anyone else. In fact, the Kiwi can-do mentality suggests we have a greater capability of doing this.
   This is one of the reasons behind the free wifi that I would like to see implemented if I am elected as mayor in October 2010. It is about job creation, and it is about civic pride. Weta, Sidhe and ReadWriteWeb have already shown that it is possible—and I would love to see more entrepreneurs get the right breaks to make Wellington even more vibrant.

Photographed by Jo Mangee, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mangee//CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Aotearoa · creative sector · creativity · entrepreneurship · free wifi · Global Entrepreneurship Week · growth · ICT · Jack Yan · Lucire · New Zealand · opinion · ReadWriteWeb · Richard McManus · tech sector · technology · Unlimited Potential · W2W · Wellington · Wellington to the World · Whanganui-a-Tara · wifi

It has totally surprised me, when chatting to former mayor James Belich, that Wellington is not sister cities with San Francisco. In fact, we lost this connection in the 1980s. The benefits are obvious: not only are the two cities similar in terms of culture, politics and topography (let’s count the fault lines going through the city!), but the technological and special effects’ sectors are strong in both San Francisco and Wellington.
   This means we can each benefit from the other: Wellingtonians from access to the market, San Franciscans from access to the independent, innovative thinking than goes on down here. I accept there is a population difference, but I cannot see down sides with connecting the two cities with more exchanges, and letting companies reap the rewards. San Franciscans and Wellingtonians think alike in many ways, too, which says to me that there is room for alliances, JVs and remote working. We grow the sectors in both cities, and we cement Wellington’s reputation as the leading creative city in the nation.
   To this end, late last month I wrote to Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco to see if he would put this matter before his council. Some of you who have followed my writings and work over the years know that I have known the Mayoress, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, for some time, and I think it is worth using our connection to reach her husband. It is worth re-establishing this connection with a city that most Kiwis regard as the “most Wellington” in North America; equally, more than a few Americans regard Wellington as “the San Francisco of the south”. At the very, very least, we should establish a dialogue with the City.
   I am also surprised this very logical step has not been taken over the years by our Council. I realize there have been other priorities in line with the thinking of an older generation, and there have been other sister-city relationships that Wellington has, rightly, pursued. However, San Francisco is such a no-brainer, and the potential connections and benefits so obvious, that it should be done.

alliances · Aotearoa · Business · business exchanges · California · Gavin Newsom · high-tech · Jack Yan · Jennifer Siebel · joint ventures · New Zealand · Politics · San Francisco · sister cities · special effects · tech sector · technology · USA · Wellington · Wellington City Council · Whanganui-a-Tara

Older Wellingtonians will remember when there were many head offices in the capital. Now many are in Auckland. However, filling the void are high-tech businesses, spurred in part by the growth of the film industry, and by the internet.
   It’s a good thing to have this growth sector in the capital, but can we do more to help them, especially entrepreneurs who want to set up business here? Is this something the city should be involved in actively assisting, especially as it’s ultimately beneficial to have a vibrant business community—real and virtual?

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