Off Road New Zealand’s Guy Irwin is making progress following a tragic accident in Australia earlier in the year. Mr Irwin, who is well-known in the Rotorua and New Zealand conference and incentive industry, was paralysed in a surfing accident in Queensland. However his positive attitude and commitment to rehabilitation had in March already resulted in some movement in his arms and hand. Mr Irwin, who is totally focused on his recovery, is now back in New Zealand and at the time of going to press was based at the spinal unit in South Auckland. miceNZ.net sends Mr Irwin and his family our best wishes.

Millennium Hotels and Resorts New Zealand has launched a new website designed specifically for the meetings, incentives, convention and exhibitions industry: www. meetingsnz.co.nz. This new website is focused on the conferences and meetings market, with user-friendly search options for all Millennium’s 31 New Zealand properties, all at the click of a mouse.

The Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium and concerts at the Westpac Centre have catapulted the city’s entertainment venues into the top 100-league internationally. Entertainment industry magazine Pollstar has just published its 2005 Year End Special Edition. It ranks venues from around the globe by a range of criteria. Christchurch venues appear two times: The Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium is ranked 90 in the 2005 “Top 100 Worldwide Theatre Venue Ticket Sales” with 46,409 ticket sales while the Rod Stewart concerts at Westpac Centre last February also made it into the Top 100 International Box Office rankings, with 14,190 tickets sold to gross $1,425,770.

Queenstown will host the 13th Golden Oldies World Cricket Festival in 2008. More than 1200 cricketers from 10 countries are expected to head to the Central Otago and the Southern Lakes region for the week-long festival to be held from March 9 to 16 in 2008. Golden Oldies Cricket is one of a family of five sports involving participants over the age of 40 years who meet every two years around the world to play against like-minded sportsmen and sportswomen. It is the fourth time that the festival has been held in New Zealand after staging it in Auckland, Christchurch and Rotorua. The Festival is expected to inject more than $2 million into the local economy.

The new CEO for Vbase Venue Management Group is a Christchurch businessman who took up the position on March 1. Bryan Pearson claimed the role in February and will now head the company in charge of four of Christchurch’s premier meeting and sporting venues, the Christchurch Convention Centre, Christchurch Town Hall, Westpac Centre and Jade Stadium. Vbase group board Chairman Bruce Irvine said the new position poses the immediate challenge of integrating the management and operations of the four venues.

Navigate Venues, New Zealand’s leading, luxury, small meetings and venues specialist (www.navigatevenues.co.nz), proved to be a big hit at this year’s inaugural Meet Auckland Expo held at the Auckland Convention Centre at THE EDGE®, on March 15. With more than 300 visitors coming through the doors, the majority spent time on the Navigate Venues stand, interested to learn more about the portfolio of properties – a selection of the country’s most stimulating and motivating small meeting, product launch and cocktail venues. Sue Denton, of the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand said although INFINZ’s headquarters are in Wellington, the company holds meetings in various locations around New Zealand. “The Navigate Venues stand at Meet Auckland showcased a good selection of properties which will prove useful for future planning,” she said.

As reported earlier this year, Telecom banned internal travel in February apparently due to cost containment measures. Telecom was apparently attempting to have its 8500 staff use technology like video-conferencing and instant messaging to communicate. It is unlikely how long the ban will continue.

Air New Zealand planned a synchronised global changeover for its 5000 uniformed staff in 49 airports and offices worldwide. From 12.01 (NZT) Monday, March 27 Air New Zealand staff were asked to hang up their distinctive but dated Barbara Lee uniform and step into new sleek, stylish Zambesi threads. A logistical challenge, the precision of the changeover time meant crew on around 13 flights, including three trans-Tasman sectors, changed uniform mid-flight.