In the latest Idealog (lucky number 13), I got the chance to explore how to create a company that attracts and retains great staff. I got the chance to interview Larry Summerville, one of the original pioneers behind More FM, and Brent Impey, the current boss of More FM’s parent company MediaWorks. It’s amazing how the culture of More FM has stayed positive, even when the upstart pioneer became part of a large corporate. Brent has a few secrets to that culture in the interview. Well worth reading.

I also got to interview one of the founders of Squiz, an entrant in the EEO Trust Work and Life Awards. This small software development firm has nurtured a culture that’s not just about the latest release. They admit they haven’t done everything right, but the great thing is, they get to learn with their team.

I also got to edit the Creative Showcase section on sustainability, featuring exciting case studies from Matisse Furniture, Warren & Mahoney Architects and a fascinating development in Auckland’s CBD called Rhubarb Lane. Lucky for you, it’s available as a PDF download.

The other articles will eventually be up on the Idealog site, but in the meantime, treat yourself to the real thing – certified sustainable paper and ink, available in a bookstore near you.

Immigration Nation – Simon’s latest Idealog article

Re: Immigration Nation – Simon’s latest Idealog article posted by Eric 3:55 PM, 11 April 2007 NZST Hi,read your article today in a taxicab. Great magazine. Good article.I arrived in NZ two years ago exactly- as a skilled migrant. We (my wife and I) have lived in quite a few countries, the U.S, Sweden, France, Holland and the UK. In addition we have both travelled extensively in business as well as privately. I am sorry to say this about my new country, but the truth is that I have never anywhere experienced the level of exclusion and hostility that I have in New Zealand. It comes through in every aspect of daily life. It is always patiently explained to me that I do not understand this market, and that I have no local knowledge, etc. I am also constantly reminded that I am “foreigner”- as thought I wasn’t already aware. I have been a “foreigner” in all the other countries I have lived and never before been accused of not being capable of understanding the market or the local donsitions. I am often told how “unique and special” NZ is. It is utter bollocks. it is not unique and special in my field at all, and not hard to get ones head around. It is just about 10 years behind most comparable markets, but that doesn’t make it hard to understand. The sad thing about all this is that like most migrants I do love this country. Why migrate to New Zealand ? Well it certainly isn’t for the career prospects. It is not to make money (my salary ehre is about 20% of what I earned in Europe). So, for most skilled migrants we actually come here because we love the country and we really care quite deeply about it. This makes being treated like some piece of shit the cat dragged in even more hurtful and annoying. So much for professional life here. In my private life, I happen to be married to someone of a different ethnicity than mine (I am white European). This has never really been an issue anywhere else in the world were we have lived- it is here though. Here’s some quick stats for you. We lived in Sweden for over ten years and in that time encountered one racial incident. During 11 years in London there was one racial incident. Over seven years in Paris, 2-3. In the first year in New Zealand 5 incidents, two of them directed towards my toddler son, including being called a “halfcast” to his face, and a car attempting to run over my wife and two kids when in their pram with while the passengers shouted racial abuse. Daily at work I hear racist abuse and views being aired openly which any educated person in any other country I have lived in would know would be completely unacceptable, as well as factually incorrect. It is absolutely true, but also scary, that I met more Maori people at my work in London than I do here. I don’t know what the answer is here. I don’t really know why Kiwi’s are like they are when it comes to foreigners- they certainly don’t act this way when abroad. All I know is that I would really like to stay and I would love to keep contributing to the future of this country (I am currently working on a project which is critical to the nation), but I feel that having this constant career disadvantage as being labelled as a “foreigner” is depressing and may make us leave in the end. Maybe the answer is what a friend of mine, a migrant from the UK , proposed yesterday “us foreigners have got to stick together” , he said, “and do business with each other, because the Kiwis will never trust us”. The painful truth about migration, which politicians in almost all countries hesitate to air because they know it would not go down well is: - There is a net profit from migration as the tax revenues from migration in any given country outweigh the cost of migration over time. - All areas of the world currently primarily occupied by people of white European descent need rapid mass migration to pay for the care of its ageing white population. - There are only a couple of areas from which this migration can come if the objective is for migrants to be well educated; North Africa (yes Muslims, shock horror), Southeast Asia, India.

It’s so cool to be associated with a winner! Consider this bragging by default.

Idealog hits the big time—from day one

“Official figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulation today show Idealog’s total New Zealand net circulation is 12,221. This is a great result. It puts Idealog almost on equal footing with the weekly newspaper National Business Review in circulation, and significantly ahead of all our major competitors,” says co-publisher Martin Bell.”

I’m glad that I ignored the little voice in my head that said there wasn’t room for another Fast Company-style magazine in New Zealand. Sometimes the little voice is helpful; other times it’s a damned pain.