With hundreds of business awards celebrating every chief-titled leader from most of New Zealand's major companies, it was refreshing last week to celebrate a less well-known sector at the Procurement Awards. Despite the less than exciting name the inaugural event was a success, with MC Suzy Clarkson noting about 100 people had been invited, 120 had RSVP'd and almost 200 had turned up. Consultancy firm EY's Auckland office was packed with guests from across the industry as well as former Xero general manager and mayoral candidate Victoria Crone and minister Steven Joyce. The minister took a minute to tweet a selfie with the crowd, tagline "procurement is the new black" before presenting one of the awards. The Young Procurement Professional of the Year went to Emma Hillman and was presented by Auckland University vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon, who said he was very proud of her even though the last time he had seen Hillman she had been protesting his lifting student fees. After the presentation of the awards (including the Supreme Award, won by the Collaborative Procurement Banking Team at NZ Government Procurement) most guests kicked on into the evening - the sign of a good event., and hopefully the first of many for the industry.
Charged up
Comedian Jeremy Corbett was MC at EECA's big night when clever firms and people were rewarded for their efforts in energy saving. The subject gave Corbet the chance to have fun - mainly around how much energy was saved in the initially muted applause for him. EECA's popular boss, Mike Underhill, an engineer who does a nice line in humour himself, quipped that if there was a turbine in front of Corbett's mouth a kilowatt of electricity would probably be generated. The community-based Project Litefoot Trust - which has helped sports clubs save $3.9 million in energy bills - took the top award. More than 360 people attended the event at Shed 10 on the Auckland waterfront, a record turnout.
