Posts from — June 2013

Auckland, June 20 (JY&A Media) Miss Universe has just announced that the world final will be held in Moscow, Russia in November. The winner form New Zealand will be representing the country at that competition and so the organizers behind Miss Universe New Zealand are reminding any girls who would still like to enter that the cut-off date of July 1 is fast approaching.
   A record number of young women have already entered the competition this year, say the organizers. It will also return to television for the first time in 21 years, with a broadcast on Juice TV later this year.
   Entrants can head to the official website at www.nextmissnz.com.
   ‘We’ve really proud that we’ve been able to bring a new energy to Miss Universe New Zealand, and we know from all the feedback that the public is excited about what we have in store,’ says executive producer Nigel Godfrey, who is currently working on the Miss Universe Red Carpet Gala which will comprise both a Variety Spectacular and the Live Final of the competition.
   The crown, designed by Anita du Plessis-Dutton of Aqua Jewels Ltd., will adorn the winner of the 2013 competition, which will be held in Auckland later this year.
   ‘We have noticed first-hand how people are responding to the new team behind Miss Universe New Zealand, and our social media engagement, on Facebook and Instagram, has been the best in the competition’s history,’ notes national director Evana Patterson.
   ‘It’s only the tip of the iceberg,’ says Jack Yan, general counsel for Miss Universe New Zealand. ‘Not only are we seeing the brand revitalized this year, returning to TV after 21 years’ absence, it is 30 years since Lorraine Downes became New Zealand’s only winner at Miss Universe. It’s an auspicious year, and there’s even more to come.’
   The organizers say that they will make announcements over major sponsors in the upcoming weeks, as well as details of the semifinalists from around the country.
Images
Images for this release can be downloaded from http://jyanet.com/press/photo.htm.
Note to editors
The Miss Universe name, the ‘woman with the stars’ symbol, and Miss Universe New Zealand are registered trade marks of Miss Universe LP, LLLP, and used by the Miss New Zealand Consortium under licence.
About Nigel Godfrey
In 1990 TVNZ made Nigel an offer he couldn’t refuse and he moved to New Zealand. After a few years with TVNZ and a stint in Christchurch with New Zealand’s first regional broadcaster CTV, he returned to Auckland and in 1995 he founded Eureka Productions.
   The last 18 years has seen Nigel and Eureka produce hundreds of hours of broadcast television programming on both sides of the Tasman. Some of the highlights: the children’s show Y for Channel 9 in Australia, Sky’s coverage of the international première of The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King, interviewing Stephen Fry, ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin, Lee Tamahori, Robson Green and many others, whilst producing 120 episodes of Sky Scene for Sky TV.
   In 2009, Nigel produced the first Telethon that New Zealand had seen in 20 years, raising $2 million dollars for underprivileged children. In 2010 Nigel staged and produced for television The New Zealand Variety Show, a star-studded Kiwi version of the UK’s Royal Variety Show. Nigel has worked with TVNZ and TV3 on Masterchef, Idol, Stars in Their Eyes, So You Think You Can Dance?, Deal or No Deal and countless other prime-time franchises. He has also produced and directed a wide range of TV commercials with, amongst others, Trinny and Susannah, Gorden Kaye and Sir Michael Caine.
   Nigel is also well known as an actor both on stage and in front of the camera. He has starred in The Phantom of the Opera and in 2011 he returned to the stage as Moonface Martin in the multi-million dollar Auckland revival of Anything Goes. He has appeared in five feature films, sharing the screen with Jon Voight, John Hurt, David Strathairn and, most recently, a rather large ape. He has also guest-starred in around 15 TV series including Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Legend of the Seeker and Power Rangers. He has also taken the “hero” role in around 35 commercials including a wildly successful US campaign entitled We Are the Champions for a certain little blue pill. He also produces a number of large-scale events including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
About Evana Patterson
Evana Patterson has been involved in the world of modelling in New Zealand for well over a decade. She has worked as a model, worked inside a model agency and has directed numerous fashion shoots. Evana has been a well respected professional make-up artist for nearly 13 years, graduating from the Cut Above Academy in 2000. She is currently the make-up artist for Max Factor having won their nationwide search for Make-up Artist of the Year. Evana also works as the show choreographer with World TV for the annual Miss Chinese Cosmos and Miss Chinese New Zealand competitions. When she can she also enjoys giving her time as a make-up artist for the Look Good, Feel Better Charity.
   As if all of the above isn’t enough to keep her busy, she is also a respected fitness instructor, personal trainer, sports nutrition consultant, and Mum to 18-month-old Mila.
About Jack Yan
Jack Yan founded Jack Yan & Associates (http://jya.net), one of the world’s first virtual firms, in 1987, operating internationally. Among his company’s interests are business consulting, imaging, software and media, including the fashion magazine brand Lucire, which is published internationally in print and online formats. He writes on topics, ranging from branding and business responsibility to fashion and typography, in numerous publications and journals worldwide and is a regular international speaker. He serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Brand Management. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Beyond Branding, Typography and Branding and, most recently, Nation Branding: Country Concepts and Cases. His personal site is at jackyan.com. He is a director of the Medinge Group (http://medinge.org), a think-tank in Sweden devoted to cutting-edge branding. He was one of the parties behind the successful bid for Miss Sweden in 2003 for Panos Emporio. In 2010, he ran a strong but unsuccessful campaign for Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand, netting 12 per cent of the vote on his first attempt.
Contacts
Nigel Godfrey
Executive Producer Miss Universe New Zealand
+64 21 630-443
nigel@nextmissnz.com
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Wellington, June 19 (JY&A Media) Wellington City mayoral candidate Jack Yan last night heard the concerns of Wellingtonians around the city’s draft alcohol policy by working behind the bar at Dragonfly.
   ‘Like all Wellingtonians, I’ve witnessed what the city can be like on a busy Friday or Saturday night, but engaging with citizens gives you an even clearer picture,’ he says.
   ‘The Wellingtonians I spoke to last night believe that early closings were tantamount to punishing the majority for the misdeeds of a small minority.’
   Mr Yan served drinks at Dragonfly on Courtenay Place alongside co-owner Brent Wong and bar staff, talking to locals through the evening.
   Fresh from the launch of Martin Crowe’s autobiography Raw were Mr Crowe himself and his wife, image consultant and former Miss Universe Lorraine Downes, who came to support Mr Yan.
   He says that when attending a WCC meeting last week, where many interested parties gave presentations, there was a sense of strongly opposing views. He was more interested, however, at getting to the core of the problem.
   ‘At the meeting, we hadn’t heard presentations from everyday punters, nor did we hear from the Health Promotion Agency, and these were seemingly obvious gaps that I felt had to be addressed,’ he says.
   Mr Yan says that he accepts a lot of the views of those who presented, from the need for better public transportation after hours and a greater police presence, and keeping the centre of Wellington vibrant. He says he has also read the City Council’s own residents’ survey on the role of alcohol.
   The balance must come, he says, from the city working with central government agencies on programmes to discourage “pre-loading”, and using the council’s discretion on punishing only irresponsible bar owners.
   ‘We seem to want to punish all bar owners because that discretion has not been exercised,’ he says. ‘We are a small enough city to be able to target individuals rather than entire precincts.’
   He adds, ‘The presentation from Dr Stephen Palmer at Regional Public Health indicates a causal link between pre-loading and the alcohol-related incidents recorded by the hospital.
   ‘What each side seemed to disagree on was the percentage of “pre-loaders”, though they all agreed it was happening and that it was undesirable. It’s a good place to start.
   ‘I realize the police are concerned that the bars are a magnet for young people but that is more a consequence of successful marketing by the venues, something that we should not discourage if we are to maintain the hospitality sector in our city.’
   Mr Yan says that the marketing efforts of bars tended to target all audiences, including visitors to the city.
   Closing them early would shift drinking to different areas in Wellington where police could find it harder to patrol and identify criminals.
   He says he would, if elected later this year, encourage partnering with police on crime prevention as a way of reducing the rate of offences after 3 a.m. and to ensure residents in the inner city have a safer and cleaner environment.
   For events where a higher number of hospital admissions are recorded, such as the Sevens, Mr Yan believes that partnering with programmes such as the HPA’s present ‘Yeah nah’ campaign in the lead-up as well as attracting better entertainment acts would reduce crime, emergencies, and associated social costs.
   However, Mr Yan maintains, as he did in 2010, that the antisocial elements of the drinking culture stems in part from citizens feeling concerned for their futures, and especially about the economy.
   ‘We don’t engage elements of our population on the direction this city should move in. We aren’t having a conversation with, say, younger people, or with our Māori and Pacific populations. I don’t see it as any surprise that we can so readily identify at-risk groups.
   ‘Much of this has come from treating people differently and even excluding their voices altogether,’ he says. ‘Certain elements in the establishment are not setting an example and we are approaching drunkenness both with acceptability and as bravado.
   ‘It’s why I felt it was important to be the only candidate to publish a comprehensive manifesto and a 10-point plan on getting our economy moving, as part of generating dialogue.’
   He believes the compromise position that was presented by the Hospitality Association of a shift in licensing hours, coupled with greater cooperation between the police, the Association and WCC officers on identifying trouble spots, would help, but warns that it must come with real change in this year’s local body elections.
   The Wellington City Council will begin consultation on its alcohol management strategy and draft local alcohol policy on July 2.
Note to editors
This release may be viewed online at http://jyanet.com/info/2013/06/jack-yan-hears-wellingtonians-alcohol-policy-concerns-first-hand/.
Images

Jack Yan, Miss Universe 1983 Lorraine Downes, and cricket legend Martin Crowe, at Dragonfly after the launch of Raw and on Jack’s campaign trail (2013)
http://jackyan.com
JPEG, 284 kbyte
Photographed by Hamish McConnochie

Publicity shot for Jack Yan’s mayoral campaign (2013)
http://jackyan.com
JPEG, 2·83 Mbyte
Photographed by Mikhail Ruzhanskiy
Additional images may be downloaded from http://jyanet.com/press/photo.htm.
Videos
A short video from the evening, directed by Isaac Cleland and edited by Lawrance Simpson, can be found at https://vimeo.com/68679891.
About Jack Yan
Jack Yan founded Jack Yan & Associates (http://jya.net), one of the world’s first virtual firms, in 1987, operating internationally. Among his company’s interests are business consulting, imaging, software and media, including the fashion magazine brand Lucire. He writes on topics, ranging from branding and business responsibility to fashion and typography, in numerous publications and journals worldwide and is a regular international speaker. He serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Brand Management. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Beyond Branding, Typography and Branding and, most recently, Nation Branding: Country Concepts and Cases. His personal site is at jackyan.com. He is a director of the Medinge Group (http://medinge.org), a think-tank in Sweden devoted to cutting-edge branding. He was one of the parties behind the successful bid for Miss Sweden in 2003 for Panos Emporio, and is general counsel of the Miss New Zealand Consortium, the New Zealand licensee for Miss Universe. Since 2006, he has been a mentor with Business Mentors New Zealand. In 2013, he announced his second bid for the mayoralty in Wellington, New Zealand, after netting 12 per cent of the vote on his first attempt.
Contacts
Jack Yan
T 64 4 387-3213
E jack.yan@jyanet.com
Hamish McConnochie
Campaign Media Manager
C 64 27 772-4391
E hamish@jackyanformayor.org
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Wellington, June 12 (JY&A Media) Wellington City mayoral candidate Jack Yan has released his ten-point plan to get Wellington’s economy moving in the right direction. Mr Yan says he’s adopted the ten-point plan to clearly communicate his intentions if elected.
   Mr Yan argues that Wellington should be the home of intellectual capital in New Zealand, and the source of world-class thinking, products and services.
   The points are as follows.
Wellington as a global hub for innovation
Based on his experience in his own career in international business, innovation can help diversify the city’s economy and, in some cases, create frictionless exports and high-value jobs. Mr Yan says he does not want to see the capital part of a “race to the bottom” with low-wage jobs where Wellingtonians could see their roles easily taken over by cheap, third-world nations.
Identifying our next export champions and high-growth firms, and supporting them
Mr Yan says it is possible to use rigorous criteria to identify the next high-growth firms and promote them at an international level. He is prepared to work with Grow Wellington and Tourism Wellington on a concerted campaign. He also notes that his global connections and his multilingualism as being up to the task of promoting Wellington internationally.
International links to Wellington
‘Wellington can put forward a very compelling case as a hub for the country, and we can work with existing airlines to ensure that it’s going to be a win for them, too,’ says Mr Yan. Coupled with his second point above, he believes he can open doors for airlines in new markets, and can call on his experience in Asia and Europe.
   ‘I am heartened to note that this policy has been taken up by the city officially, but it’s going to take the right person to drive it, preferably someone who has the right experience in building bridges between cultures,’ he says.
Connecting our business leaders internationally
Mr Yan’s belief that cities are the drivers of globalization as much as nations means that he is prepared to network Wellington businesses with others abroad, either to help them expand, or to see them create new innovations through collaboration. He has worked in that very space himself, and has mentored local businesses since 2006.
A tech precinct
Not everything can be done in a virtual vacuum. As in 2010, Mr Yan believes in creative clusters, and says that a technological precinct from upper Cuba Street down to Cambridge Terrace would be an ideal spot. It would also help focus research and development for Wellington to create more intellectual capital along with world-class products and services. His earlier proposal for an inner-city park ties in with the precinct as place-branding experts that he has worked with believe that there must be a proper work–life balance in modern cities.
Critical mass for research and development
Mr Yan believes Wellington needs to promote stronger links with Victoria University for a start, and ensure there is a critical mass for research and development in the city. He already has fostered connections with Massey University and Whitireia Polytechnic, and is prepared to build on them further to ensure economic diversity and world-class thinking.
Collaboration
Wellington’s culture already invites collaboration. When introducing Promoki at Lightning Lab’s Demo Day in May, Mr Yan noted that there was an international mixture of entrepreneurs in the city. Promoting a sense of a global community through programmes that encourage collaboration among businesses will ensure that Wellingtonians create globally minded, properly differentiated and competitive products and services.
Improving our technological infrastructure
If Wellington is to invest in infrastructure, there must be a proper return on investment. While Mr Yan does not believe the city should be focused on a single sector, he says that the technological infrastructure—he campaigned successfully for free wifi in 2010—can be enhanced.
   ‘Extending the free wifi service, opening up public data, and making greater investment in the tech infrastructure would signal to international firms that Wellington is open for business and attract inward investment. It would further allow local firms to innovate and potentially create technologically savvy new products,’ he says.
   Mr Yan says the earlier kickstart on the tech sector in the 1990s under Mayor Mark Blumsky already netted innovators such as Xero and Silverstripe. The Rosebuddy recommendation engine is a newer Wellington innovation which has a huge potential to grow in the 2010s.
A regional view of Wellington
Mr Yan is in favour of regional reform but while Wellington remains separate, he says he already has a good relationship with Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace and looks forward to connecting to the region’s other mayors if elected. His history of collaboration and an ability to work toward a long-term vision equips him to work with others on creating a vibrant, strong region. He regrets that the Wairarapa has decided to go it alone, but believes that there is potential to work closely with the district when it comes to primary products.
Getting investment for Wellington
Mr Yan says the right investment needs to come in to the city for sustainable, long-term jobs, and that the city ‘cannot be reliant on a cap-in-hand attitude with central government.’ He believes central government will only be attracted to Wellington if the earlier points can be achieved compellingly, and that he has the experience to secure further investment at an international level.
   With more contenders in the mayoral race, Jack Yan remains the only candidate who has published a manifesto. The 10 points were first detailed in his manifesto in April, when Mr Yan declared his intention to challenge incumbent Celia Wade-Brown for the mayoralty. Since then, he has noticed one idea already taken up in part—his plan to extend Wellington Airport’s runway and to ensure an airline comes to the region to use it as a hub—while the remaining nine continue his themes of innovation and economic development.
Note to editors
This release may be viewed online at http://jyanet.com/info/2013/06/ten-points-to-get-wellingtons-economy-going-jack-yans-manifesto-is-in-line-with-the-demands-of-the-citys-business-sector/.
Images

Publicity shot for Jack Yan’s mayoral campaign (2013)
http://jackyan.com
JPEG, 2·83 Mbyte
Photographed by Mikhail Ruzhanskiy
Additional images may be downloaded from http://jyanet.com/press/photo.htm.
About Jack Yan
Jack Yan founded Jack Yan & Associates (http://jya.net), one of the world’s first virtual firms, in 1987, operating internationally. Among his company’s interests are business consulting, imaging, software and media, including the fashion magazine brand Lucire. He writes on topics, ranging from branding and business responsibility to fashion and typography, in numerous publications and journals worldwide and is a regular international speaker. He serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Brand Management. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Beyond Branding, Typography and Branding and, most recently, Nation Branding: Country Concepts and Cases. His personal site is at jackyan.com. He is a director of the Medinge Group (http://medinge.org), a think-tank in Sweden devoted to cutting-edge branding. He was one of the parties behind the successful bid for Miss Sweden in 2003 for Panos Emporio, and is general counsel of the Miss New Zealand Consortium, the New Zealand licensee for Miss Universe. Since 2006, he has been a mentor with Business Mentors New Zealand. In 2013, he announced his second bid for the mayoralty in Wellington, New Zealand, after netting 12 per cent of the vote on his first attempt.
Contacts
Jack Yan
T 64 4 387-3213
E jack.yan@jyanet.com
Hamish McConnochie
Campaign Media Manager
C 64 27 772-4391
E hamish@jackyanformayor.org
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