???? The land of the long white cloud
This week we're headed to the Southern Hemisphere, to an island nation in the Pacific that has, in my opinion, really embraced LinkedIn as a platform in an amazing way. Breathtakingly beautiful, innovative, and dynamic, it's time for a trip to New Zealand (Aotearoa)!
There is so much I want to explore, in so many different industries, that I will likely pack in more this week than normal. In fact, I might need to revisit soon, because I feel like I can barely scratch the surface of what I want to explore.
Auckland, North Island
We're touching down in Auckland, having flown in on Air New Zealand . The flight was lovely, and the in-flight safety video was great, as always:
Here on LinkedIn, Air New Zealand has a great company page, with over 210,000 followers, 6,200 employees, and a handful of jobs (including a Head of Sustainability at time of writing!). The personality of the brand comes through in every post.
Each year we make sure our passengers who fly to, from and within New Zealand enjoy our uniquely Kiwi way of doing things.
I remember Air New Zealand fondly as we flew with them on our honeymoon to New Zealand, and the crew offered us (broke newlyweds) complimentary champagne on our inbound flight. It absolutely made our day and set the tone for the wonderful vacation that followed.
The "Beehive", Wellington, North Island
Now that we're here, we're heading to Wellington's national government center, the Parliament buildings and grounds , standing near the distinctive Executive Wing structure, called the Beehive, to take a look at a list of government and government-adjacent institutions.
One thing I noted, as a designer, is how consistent (with some interesting exceptions) the use of black, white, and silver, the fern, and the kiwi motifs are through a large number of logos. To the best of my understanding, this direction was originally inspired by the All Blacks (New Zealand Rugby) , New Zealand's world-famous and respected national rugby team.
?The New Zealand Parliament (Pāremata Aotearoa) itself doesn't use this motif, instead using a distinctive crowned seal with a colorful rainbow of pastel-like colors behind. On LinkedIn, they regularly post what is coming up in Parliament business for that week:
This list is far from exhaustive, but it can provide a great place to start following the work of government and government-adjacent industry groups in New Zealand. They are vibrant and active, sharing their work and mission (and posting job openings) here on LinkedIn:
Lastly, while we're here, it's worth taking a look at this video from Tourism New Zealand welcoming the return of overseas tourism on April 13, 2022!
Next, feeling thirsty, we're headed south across the Cook Strait to the South Island to a beautiful region near the northernmost tip.
Marlborough Region, South Island
Stepping off the ferry in Blenheim, we're in the Marlborough region of the South Island of New Zealand, and we're starting with a quick look at New Zealand Winegrowers , the "national organisation for the country's grape and wine sector, with around 850 grower members and 700 winery members." As with many other government and industry association groups in New Zealand, they have a great company page, and post frequently with highly relevant industry updates (often featuring beautiful photography).
Marlborough is one of New Zealands most prominent wine regions with the greatest total vineyard area.
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There are many companies that could be an incredible stop in Marlborough , but we only have time to visit one: Yealands Wine Group . I mean, how could you not visit one of their wineries with views like this one:
Yealands has a nice company page, posts frequently, and is currently hiring a brand manager . Maybe you could be working in this beautiful spot in the world soon! I think in the future, we might need to dedicate an entire newsletter to the wine industry around the world on LinkedIn. What do you think?
Time to hustle to the ferry, because we have plans back in Wellington.
Wellington, North Island
Wellington is second-largest city on the North Island, and among its many charms is that it's a major coffee city! With more cafés per capita than New York City, it has some major claims to fame in creating or perfecting now-globally-common coffee drinks (like Flat White).
So let's grab a delicious drink at Coffee Supreme (beautifully strong branding and website!) before we continue on to world-famous Weta Digital in the Miramar area. Founded in 1993 by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk to produce the effects for the film Heavenly Creatures, Weta has grown to become an a global visual effects powerhouse, developing groundbreaking tech and pioneering incredible movie magic.
One of the most notable breakthroughs, of course, was the performance of Gollum in Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Arguably still the standard-bearer for a compelling and engaging digital creature performance, it led they way for so many digital characters and creatures that have followed.
Here on LinkedIn, Weta Digital is a must-visit and follow for anyone interested in where the industry is headed, as is the new Wētā FX page . Keep an eye out for jobs there – this beautiful city could be your next stop on your career journey.
For our final stop this week, we're driving north, headed to a beautiful beachside city.
Mount Maunganui, North Island
We've crossed the island from Wellington on the the south side to the outskirts of beautiful Tauranga on the north, and we're making a stop at Zespri International in Mount Maunganui, because we just can't leave New Zealand without visiting a producer of my absolute favorite fruit: the kiwi!
Shout out to LinkedIn's very own Ethan Dow for this gorgeous shot of Tauranga from Mt. Maunganui,
Zespri is THE major player in kiwifruit, and "NZ’s largest horticultural exporter, exporting more than 167 million trays of kiwifruit to more than 50 countries around the world, managing 30 percent of the global volume." That's huge! They are "100 percent owned by current or past kiwifruit growers, and employ approximately 550 people globally."
Here on LinkedIn they have a great company page, over 55,000 followers, and as of writing 29 open jobs !
Back to Auckland, headed out
Sadly, this wraps up our tour of Aotearoa for now, and we barely scratched the surface. As we take off, headed back home on Air New Zealand, let's close things (for now) with a great video sharing a tongikura (Māori proverbial saying) with the world:
Thanks for joining me on this tour. We'll be back soon!