Snapshots: A brush with Branson

Conservation Minister Nick Smith is greeted by Sir Richard Branson in Chile.

Housing and Environment Minister Nick Smith has been rubbing shoulders with some of the business elite in Valparaiso, Chile, for the annual Our Oceans conference.

Smith was seen chatting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and investor and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson.

Branson reportedly congratulated Smith on the newly established Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, after the Government announced last month that 620,000sq km of the area would be protected by a marine reserve.

Oh, the irony

Air New Zealand's latest AGM was an upbeat one last week, with the company posting a record full-year profit in August of $327 million, new flight destinations and an expected positive year ahead.

The company's latest Men in Black safety video was played during the morning's event, featuring All Black Israel Dagg rapping.

Perhaps this was tempting fate as, ironically, Dagg was ruled out of the World Cup after an injury, leaving investors at the AGM joking that the video had jinxed the All Black star - here's hoping none of the other video stars end up on the injury list with him.

Devo

Advertising guru David "Devo" Walden was farewelled last week at a colourful ceremony in Parnell's Holy Trinity Cathedral. Tributes and anecdotes flowed for the 66-year-old, one of the more interesting being how he got his nickname.

David Walden.

During his career, Walden moved to Melbourne to work at an advertising agency called The Campaign Palace. At the time, the company already had three other Davids working there so to differentiate them, each got a different nickname - David, Dave, Davo and for Walden Devo.

During this period, the US band Devo was very popular worldwide and the nickname stuck. As a tribute, Whip It by Devo was played at the end of the service - fitting for a man who lived life to the full.

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