PeopleMax® Planet’s reputation as the diva of all company newsletters continues to grow, as it continues to make sporadic appearances and make supercilious demands. The Planet’s well-documented rapid rise to the top and the perk-laden lifestyle that came with it has clearly gone to its head.

Meanwhile the rest of us have toiled away doing what PeopleMax does best, co-ordinating communication projects. This month we feature the new Bike Barn store opening in Wellington, and a ‘Thank you for your patience. Enjoy a donut and coffee on us’ for the Western Liners MAXX Project at Britomart.

I am sure you will find this month’s newsletter informative in finding some of the ways PeopleMax® can help you in your HR and communication needs.

Cheers,

Mike Williams
Manager, PeopleMax®

Thank you for your patience. Enjoy a donut and coffee on us.

MAXX is celebrating the completion of double tracking works on the Western line between New Lynn and Henderson. The development of the new stations at Henderson, Fruitvale Road, Sunnyvale and Glen Eden, all with improved shelter, lighting, CCTV security monitoring and public address systems has also been completed. This represents a significant advance in the development of a modern rail network for Auckland

The work on the Western line has caused disruptions to commuters and MAXX wanted to take the opportunity to thank them for their patience.

PeopleMax® provided four MAXX Ambassadors to hand out of donuts and coffee vouchers to Britomart commuters on the western line. The busy commuters hungrily enjoyed the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast: Donuts!

Bike Barn Opening – Wellington

PeopleMax® helped celebrate Bike Barn’s new store opening in Wellington. Along with organising the equipment, two PeopleMax® Promo staff kept the customers sustained with American Hotdogs.

Bike Barn has stores throughout Auckland, in Hamilton, and now in Tauranga and Wellington. Whether you ride a mountain bike, a road bike or a touring bike, bike to work or just for fun, Bike Barn will make sure you get the right bike for you, at a price that suits your budget.

Check out their website here – www.bikebarn.co.nz.

Ever thought about guaranteeing your business some word of mouth advertising? With PeopleMax, promotional activity can not only be cheaper than mass communication methods, but also more effective.

A promotion doesn’t have to be big – it might be as simple as two staff for a few hours. However, with the right message those staff might be able to have thousands of invaluable interactions.

PeopleMax® uses its evolved contract, recruiting, and briefing systems to make the process as easy and cost effective for you as possible.

If you think your business could benefit from a promotion then please don’t hesitate to contact us. We can discuss some strategies, and organise an obligation free quote.

MAXX Tertiary Promo

PeopleMax promoted the new FREE permanent MAXX Public Transport Information units for the Auckland Regional Transport Authority at five tertiary locations around Auckland. We encouraged students to grab a bus, train or ferry timetable and also get the chance to go in the draw to win a monthly Discovery Pass worth $210.

Over the last two weeks our MAXX Ambassadors have spent time at The University of Auckland, The Auckland University of Technology, The Manukau Institute of Technology, Unitec, and Massey University (Albany Campus).

PeopleMax® Profile: Initiating Ian

You may have noticed pictures of Ian throughout this month’s PeopleMax® Planet. That’s because he has thrown himself into every project available since joining us a month ago. Since then Ian has promoted property investment over the telephone, encouraged public transport with students at various tertiary institutes, celebrated The Birkenstock Shop at Newmarket and Takapuna, and even assisted with communicating a bus stop change in the city.

Ian is studying for his commercial pilot’s license, and is hoping to complete that in the next few months. From there he hopes to instruct for a few years, before moving on to flying commercial airliners.

In his spare time Ian enjoys, sailing, studying history, and is in the Coastguard Air Patrol.

Congratulations to PeopleMax alumni Herbert Feng for being offered a position as a Trainee Pilot for EVA Airways in Taiwan.

While studying Aviation at Massey University Herbert worked a variety of promotional and public transport projects, and was an efficient and reliable team leader. Herbert’s new position starts in August and we wish him the best of luck. Thanks for your help Herbert.

Manukau residents have been benefiting from a new public transport interchange with bus and rail links at Manurewa. PeopleMax were an integral part of the communications: delivering new timetable stands to participating outlets, communicating to passengers before and after the transport changes, and assisting at the Manurewa Interchange Grand Opening.

The new train station is located behind Southmall shopping centre with buses stopping nearby . There are more than 200 park n’ ride spaces and drop off zones, along with security surveillance, improved lighting and all weather shelter.

Find out about the changes – click here.

No expense was spared in PeopleMax®’s quest to find the perfect phone number.

No expense was spared in PeopleMax®’s quest to find the perfect phone number. We hired the consultancy group ‘Numbering Off’, the ‘memorable phone number’ specialists. They conducted focus group after focus group, while PeopleMax® used its data gathering experience to conduct surveys on the street and by telephone.

A phone number is vital to any business. Firstly, it needs to be easy to remember, and secondly it needs to make you stand out from the rest. Therefore, after exhaustive research and analysis, and a veritable bidding war, I am proud to announce the new PeopleMax® number:

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) decision in Prague to strip Pluto of its official planet status has caused a furor amongst the astronomical community.

School teachers, space enthusiasts, science fiction writers, and the public in general felt they could cope with Pluto’s new ‘dwarf planet’ status. However, toys and models, text books, and astrology charts would become instantly obsolete had The PeopleMax® Planet been similarly demoted.

Dozens protested the change by picketing planetariums while PeopleMax® Promotional Workers distributed fliers in their spare time.

Our source within International Astronomical Union (IAU) called such paranoia ridiculous, claiming that The PeopleMax® Planet’s status could never be called into question. “The PeopleMax® Planet’s importance to this association and its place within the hearts of all Earthlings will ensure its status for many years to come”. Our source, who wishes to remain anonymous, also added that the potential impact on Earth’s economy alone will ensure The PeopleMax® Planet remains free of scrutiny.

Mission Accomplished: ARTA Data Collection

Fears surrounding The PeopleMax® Planet didn’t stop PeopleMax® undertaking two large data collection exercises for the Auckland Regional Transport Authority last month.

PeopleMax crammed 56 bus trips, over 170 hours, and 34 shifts into only two days! Passengers on selected buses between Pakuranga and the Airport were counted, and also asked a short survey. This was a challenging logistical operation, and PeopleMax returned a 100% success rate of workers on buses.

Earlier in August we also recorded specific passenger journeys on buses between Glen Innes and Otahuhu. Over two days our PeopleMax® data collection team took 96 bus trips!

The PeopleMax® Profile: Catching up with Carolin

Carolin flew into NZ from Germany last month to do an internship with PeopleMax® and its sister companies Brand Agency and Radio Agency. PeopleMax® quickly snapped her up, and already she’s played an integral role in our two large data collections last month. Carolin was even singled out by ARTA for the exceptional role she played.

Carolin is doing her internship as part of her Masters in Business Admin with a focus on advertising. This is her third year of study, and when she finishes in another two years Carolin wants to work in an advertising agency. In her spare time Carolin likes to go swimming, play the guitar and travel. Her favorite parts about working for PeopleMax has been meeting people, and getting a crash course in our public transport system!

I’ll see you next month!
Mike

Newmarket Train Station

For a whole week PeopleMax® communicated the closure of the pedestrian access from Broadway to the Newmarket Train Station. The closure is for safety reasons while construction work is underway on a neighbouring development. Our ambassadors were clad in their traditional orange high-visibility vests and were at the station from 7:30am to 6:30pm. Ambassadors were able to help customers, including several blind passengers to locate the alternative access to the train station.

The Newmarket Train Station project was a great opportunity for PeopleMax® to again prove how it could effectively supply important information directly to the public

McDonald’s Cirque Rocks!

McDonald’s Cirque Rocks! is an entertainment overload featuring some of the world’s best performers- cirque acts, dancing, x games, and music.

Last month we supplied Dean Lonergan Events with Information Gatherers who approached businesses for their social club details. Dean Lonergan Events could then contact these businesses to see if they were interested in getting tickets for the exciting August Show. For a job like this presentation and communication skills are of the utmost importance, and we were able to supply Dean Lonergan Events with many valuable contacts. This project was another great example of the diverse ways PeopleMax® can help with your HR and communication needs. McDonald’s Cirque Rocks! begins on August the 26th.

PeopleMax® Profile: Nic News

PeopleMax®’s ‘can do’ guy, Nic Singh, joined in September 2005 when he was a team leader at the Constellation Station opening. Since then Nic has been an integral member of the PeopleMax® team, from playing a major role at the Trade & Exchange Beach Dig, to communicating public transport information to passengers.

Nic studied at the University of Auckland for his Bachelor of Science degree, graduating with a rare triple major. Along with having extensive marketing and event management experience, Nic is also a part-time professional wedding MC.

MAXX 7 Day Pass

Our second project of the year was to promote the Maxx 7 Day Pass, educating current ferry passengers how the pass works, and where they can buy the pass. MAXX Ambassadors were stationed at Devonport, Bayswater, Downtown, and Britomart during peak travelling times. The project went well, and hopefully we will see a lot more people taking advantage of the MAXX 7 Day Pass over the coming months.

To learn more about the MAXX 7 Day Pass click here.

PeopleMax Profile: Meeting Mong

Mong began working for PeopleMax® in May 2005 while he finished his Bachelor of Science majoring in Computer Science. Now he is looking for a job as a software developer. Since starting with PeopleMax Mong has worked on a wide variety of public transport projects, starting with the Rideline transition to MAXX. Mong’s reliability enabled Brand Agency, Radio Agency, and PeopleMax to employ him over the Christmas and New Year break. Over this time Mong was solely in charge of handling any issues that arose, along with other tasks like fixing computers and general maintenance. Mong did an excellent job, and the offices have never looked better.

Mong enjoys working for PeopleMax® because he gets to meet lots of people, and enjoys getting marketing experience. In his spare time Mong is interested in computer games, fishing, and martial arts. He even won first place in his weight category at the Whangarei Tae Kwon Do Open in 2005.

Only a week after playing an integral role in the Newmarket Access Closure communications, Balan was setting his usual high standards by distributing almost 2500 fliers in one day!

Balan has been working incredibly hard during his university ‘holidays’. He was the team leader during the Newmarket closure, and is now taking a lead role in the Queen Street upgrade communications.

Yesterday was the first day of this project, and Balan was communicating up a storm – our evidence being his request for more pamphlets only a day into the project (he had already been given 2500 fliers!) Along with distributing the fliers our ambassadors on Queen Street need to communicate the change of certain bus stops due to the Queen Street upgrade, and also answer the many other public transport questions that come with being a MAXX Ambassador.

Balan is being assisted during the peak periods by fellow Ambassador Jack. Keep up the great work Balan and Jack.