Connecting entrepreneurs
By
September 10, 2018
Being an entrepreneur isn’t for the faint hearted, you need unwavering focus on your idea and the road to success can sometimes be a lonely one. So when you live in a small South Island community situated more than three hours’ drive away from the nearest city centre, having a reliable and consistent broadband connection really matters. Fibre broadband installed in Wanaka’s central business district after 2014’s Gigatown competition is helping Wanaka businesses make an impact on both a local and global scale.
Alongside good broadband connectivity, meeting and sharing experiences face-to-face is also important to the town’s growing population of entrepreneurs, many of whom are making the geographically blessed region home. Jason Watkins, business development manager of the CUBE, an economic development entity for the town’s entrepreneurs, innovators and business community, has launched an Entrepreneur Speaker Series with Wanaka Ignite where local and out of town entrepreneurs meet to share their business successes and learnings.
Mr Watkins says, “The impetus for the series came from our belief that people can gain education, information and aspiration from a range of sources, but engaging with others directly can be really meaningful and rewarding. We thought it would be great for the business community of the Upper Clutha and Wanaka to hear the stories of others, and also share their own.”
There have been two sessions of the speaker series so far with topics including diversity, information and sustainability. The second event was held on Thursday 10 August, with the panel discussion exploring how people can capture and use the data that comes into their business for marketing purposes, to the changes in how people access news and information today. The high cost of using sustainable materials in business was also discussed with the hope that in time, innovation and technology will provide more affordable solutions.
For more information about Wanaka’s Entrepreneur Speaker series, visit www.cubewanaka.co.nz.
Keep in touch
Twitter: @ChorusNZ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chorusnz/
Photo Credit: credit Pedro Pimentel