Thousands of Wellingtonians use Meetup.com to make new friends, explore hobbies, and even build new communities. So what’s the deal with the site – and is it for you? When Scott Heiferman built a website to help his New York neighbours come together in the wake of 9/11, he expected a number of things...
Read more →What would marriage ceremonies look like if men had their way? Most weddings, when it comes down to it, are pretty much the same. The bride wears white, or maybe cream. The groom wears a suit, uncomfortably, and gives the impression that it’s the first time in his life he’s met this novel form...
Read more →Wellingtonians love their weekend food markets – but do they realise that much of their fruit and veg comes not from the stallholders’ own soil but from a warehouse in Johnsonville? It’s a clear, sharp-edged morning at Harbourside Market, where, in the shadow of Te Papa, the fruit and veg stallholders are doing a...
Read more →Walking unseen among us are thousands of homeless, mentally ill and otherwise vulnerable people – many of whom will never get the help they need. (First published in FishHead magazine, August 2012) On a cold, flat winter’s day, just before dawn, the doors of the night shelter on Taranaki Street spring open, propelling their...
Read more →Wellington is under increasing pressure to import Auckland’s supercity model. So is amalgamation really the answer to all our problems? (First published in FishHead magazine, April 2012) The area’s local councils say there’s no need for such sweeping changes: a gradual process of sharing more services will do the trick, they say. But others...
Read more →This is an article I wrote for the National Business Review, describing how a government regulator who clashed with NZX, the body that runs the stockmarket, was ushered out of his job – despite his complaint’s being upheld. A PDF copy of the article is available here: NBR – Whistleblower out after NZX clash...
Read more →