eKourier Oct 2011

2011 Achievement Dinner Highlights Firstly I would like to say...

There was no time to change our format so Wayne made the comment to Andrew “that it was nice knowing you” and walked up on stage. Darren’s opening ‘welcome’ speech had an allocated time of 15 minutes and lasted 5 – a first for Darren not to talk!

Our first opening lines generated a few laughs.

It was a nervous wait to gauge the audiences reactions, but we thought we had the audience hooked. The first cultural experiences of round the table discussions was also well received. Phil Howe took the ‘mike’ & O.M.G. we were never going to prise that microphone from his vice-like grasp. Bev Brooking told us a story about a ‘shitty’ experience with a customer making a deposit on-site in a bucket (could only happen in NZ), and Claire Kennard conveyed what we already suspected about a man that eats, drinks and sleeps self storage about their holiday life experiences. It was great to see the amount of team members presented with Service & Adding Value Certificates and Awards, and in particular the number of 5 years length of Service Achievement Awards distributed on the night. It certainly shows the company is growing with it’s people. A personal congratulations to both Patrick Norrish & Ron Walker on their fantastic milestones achieved with Kennards. We were also impressed with the number of Centre’s achieving a GOLD SCOTY Award, 18 Centre’s in total, a record first! At the end of the night, Wayne was surprisingly presented with a 2011 NZ World Cup jumper by Andrew & proudly wears it today (behind closed doors). Andrew for his efforts was presented from Wayne with $20 Australian Dollars - a gift he spent on his fellow team members (a first). Andrew Kirkham & Wayne Birch

T he 2011 Achievement Awards Night was filled with firsts. Having two Masters Of Ceremony on the night was a first. The Australian/ New Zealand cultural experience was going to be on show.

Our first thoughts as MC’s were based on the content on the night:

- Were people going to be entertained?

- Were people going to enjoy the evening with two inexperienced campaigners at the helm? - Were we going to be funny? We constantly practised hard our delivery and speeches during the day, even receiving a few laughs, positive comments & words of encouragement from the Hotel staff setting up the room for the night. Convinced that the ‘Kirky & Wayno’ show was going to be a hit and that we’d got the format just right, we were then ‘hit with a bombshell’ 30 seconds before commencing proceedings. Our new General Manager, Darren Marshall made a frightening comment “I don’t think it would be a wise decision (and future career move) to make fun of Sam tonight.” We both froze solid, well Wayne did because he was going to deliver the ultimate lines about Sam’s (lack of) ability as a Rugby Union player & make reference to his (lack of) height.

Kennards Kourier Oct 2011

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