Wow. Just WOW. We’ve experienced some big frights this October. In the same week the hopes of the All Blacks were dashed in Japan, we witnessed decades of planning, pitching, designing and constructing the much anticipated Sky City convention centre go up in flames.

Wow. Just WOW. We’ve experienced some big frights this October. In the same week the hopes of the All Blacks were dashed in Japan, we witnessed decades of planning, pitching, designing and constructing the much anticipated Sky City convention centre go up in flames.

September kicked off the Rugby World Cup with a great result for the All Blacks and not so much for Spark. We watched the game live in the Energi Boardroom with family as part of the celebrations for Lew’s birthday. We were fortunate not to have experienced many of the live streaming issue others experienced. It was a real reminder of social media and the power of the vent, the fact is that most New Zealanders are so genuinely passionate about their Rugby. We plan on watching the All Blacks vs Canada as an Energi team on Wednesday evening.

It’s raining, it’s pouring the old man is snoring, or, is it the old lady’s snoring…. statistically yes, she is! This came to mind in August on two fronts. One, the weather front giving us more than our fair share of rain and the Patney Pillow promising to change THAT childlike jingle for evermore.

Bitter Sweet. As the nation woke at 6:00am on July 14 and tuned in to watch the last 10 minutes of the World Cup Cricket final, we watched the New Zealand Black Caps grab defeat from the jaws of victory. The nation reeled.

June marks the rising of Matariki. Matariki is the Māori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with six daughters, and it is often referred to as the Seven Sisters.

Queen Elizabeth II had her 93rd birthday on April 21, but in New Zealand we celebrate it this long weekend. So get ready for the social media posts tumbling temptations through your Facebook and Instagram feeds with offers Fit for a Queen, as marketers leverage the break with a shopper hook.

In this issue we cover Nostalgia, The Retail Apocalypse (or is that a rebirth), Retrofuturism (who knew there was such a thing), Key Influencers from the Marlboro Man to Kim Kardashian, and how we can take hope from not having to hit the changing room every time we wish to try and see a new look on.

Every New Zealander will remember exactly where they were when the news feeds started reporting the horrific Muslim Massacre. Friday 15th March the day New Zealanders lost their innocence for-ever.

With the hottest February on record we have certainly enjoyed the benefits of an ice cold 4zzzz Summer Ale or two. M+Ad editor David Gapes pronounced our first Energi brewed beer a very nice drop!

Kicking off 2019 we installed our new WilliamsWarn Brewery and commenced our inaugural brew of a Summer Ale. To celebrate, we served the inaugural brew up to Fred Soar and his team of Soar Printing technical specialists on Thursday 31 January at 4:00pm.