Back to work

I started my new job as Sales Developement Manager for Advintage wines 2 weeks ago and so far it's all going very well although after 3 months off it's been a bit of a struggle persuading the ol' hamster to get back on the wheel.
The people seem really cool and nice- it's such a different environment then Averys that's for sure- the wine market is so different here. Hard to explain but because wine is a pretty new product here (beer is still far more popular) then there really aren't many companies just selling wine and those that do tend to be 'fine wine specialists'. Advintage's take on the market is to have really good non-supermarket wines, including fine wine but to sell them in a very down to earth way that appeals to the average kiwi who loves wine but doesn't want the snobbery factor. Sign up for the emails at www.advintage.co.nz and you'll see what I mean!

It's very fast paced and Mac the owner is certanly a character. He gets so excited about getting the deals- and he knows literally everyone whos anyone in NZ it seems. My first task (talk about straight in at the deep end) is to organise the launch of a new wine brand that Mac is one of 4 shareholders in and Advintage will be sole distributor off. It's called Frizzell - and it's the brain child of Dick Frizzell who is a really popular NZ artist who lives in hawkes bay. See http://www.gowlangsfordgallery.co.nz/editions/dickfrizzell.asp . He is a good friend of Mac. Anyway, Dick does sort of comic book style tongue in cheek paintings - very irreverent and modern so he has designed all the lables and packaging, the 'juice' is from Sacred Hills vineyards in HB and he's got Rod Mcdonald (winemaker at Matariki and NZ winemaker of 2008) to make the wine. There is a chardonnay, a sauv blanc and a merlot/malbec and they are all really good. So all in all, we are pretty excited about it. We are going to have launch parties in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch and Hawkes bay and I've spent the last few days compiling a list of the great and the good of the nz wine and art scene to invite (with Mac and Dicks help!) I've just got to organise venues,invites, press releases, food, transport, hotels, staff and how we are going to sell all the cases we are taking to each venue. And this is all happening in 2weeks time.

In the long term my role will be to improve the website create some customer database segmention to enable us to do more targetted offers and to work on getting some corporate deals with magazines etc. Having spent most of last week sending out launch party invites, at the moment i'm just a very expensive stamp licker!

AJ has also picked up some work with a guy he met at the Cricket club who owns a specialist ornate concrete cutting and core drilling business (don't worry, I'm not sure what that means either). AJ has used the machines before in England so he is working on a casual basis, 3 or 4 days a week as needed and it could turn in to something more permanent.

Other news - our shipping arrived safe and sound and it's nice to have a few of our own things from home around ( not to mention a few more clothes!). Rusty has started puppy pre-school classes and is already top of the naugthy chart. It's still very very hot here - infact today was the hottest ever recorded in Napier at 37 degrees. It was made worse by the wind which was so warm it was like having a hairdryer blowing in your face all day. We have decamped from the house to the pool. My feet are in it as I write this- God bless WiFi.

We are soooo excited that some of our very good friends have booked to come and see us in March this year. Alan and Laura will be here in March/April ( only 8 weeks to go!) and Kerry is also coming in May/june which will be also be amazing. Can't wait to see you guys.

That's all for now folks, being back in the workforce means I may not be updating this blog as often, but I will try my best to keep in touch.