CoLab: Creating Connections
Creative technology might not seem the most likely fit with the sweat and grunt of an All Black scrum at Rugby World Cup 2011. But the connection comes during and after the tournament, as New Zealand businesses develop networks they forge through their registration with an innovative business-matching programme.
The NZ 2011 Business Club is an official Rugby World Cup 2011 initiative that matches local businesses planning to expand through capital investment, exports or innovation with international visitors arriving in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup who hold key roles in similar industries or who have common interests. Membership is free and businesses can register at www.nz2011.govt.nz or www.auckland2011.com
NZ 2011 Business Club is working for AUT University’s CoLab, which is a creative technology centre focused on innovation through new technologies. CoLab provides expertise and development facilities, an innovative approach, as well as the link to students and research teams at AUT’s Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies.
CoLab’s web site, www.colab.org.nz , spells out its business model, built on a network of relationships and initiatives between industry, educational and arts organisations, practitioners, developers, industry bodies and communities. Partnerships in creative and technical research and development are key to creating imaginative innovation and strong networks in the creative technology sector.
Executive Director Elisabeth Vaneveld says CoLab is also partnering with The Big Idea in an innovative online residency programme that links artists working in creative technologies and creating digital art around the world.
“CoLab’s partnership with The Big Idea is one example of how we have successfully facilitated collaboration with like-minded industry bodies to forge mutually beneficial relationships. I would definitely recommend the partnership approach. In a small economy like New Zealand’s I think it’s the only way projects that are particularly innovative are able to be undertaken.”
Thousands join the club
New Zealand businesses have a unique opportunity to build networks and relationships with offshore companies during Rugby World Cup 2011.
Auckland companies have responded quickly: when Mayor Len Brown issued a personal invitation to the region’s businesses to register and host visitors through Business Club, more than 1,000 responded in a space of a matter of weeks.
Businesses can develop their own hosted events or connect with some of the major showcase events being held in Auckland during Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC2011). Hosting opportunities are being developed in many parts of the country.
“I think the Auckland business community has grasped the concept with both hands and I know the businesses that have registered will now be working hard on their hosting ideas,” the Mayor says.
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), a Council Controlled Organisation, has been working hard to secure registrations from the region’s businesses and to encourage businesses to develop their hosting opportunities. Matching of registered businesses with overseas visitors is now under way.
“This is about seizing the opportunity to show the rest of the world what New Zealand is made of. In other words, highlighting all the things Kiwis love about this country and making sure these higher-level business visitors have a heck of a time,” Len Brown says.
The Mayor says registrations for Business Club are still being accepted. The best way for Auckland-based businesses to access Business Club is through the www.auckland2011.com website, which carries a registration button linking to the club’s own web page, profiles Auckland businesses developing event and hosting concepts and offers a wide range of helpful information about RWC 2011 along with tips on how to how to make the most of the Auckland events.
