Spark's annual shareholders' meeting held at "Spark City" last week resembled more of a press conference than a meeting, with the company streaming the conference online for shareholders - thought to be a first for a listed company in Australasia. As well as some serious camera equipment, around 15 technical support crew lined the back of the room to ensure the streaming went smoothly. The 180 or so shareholders in attendance were treated to animations of the company's latest offering Morepork home security - set to music from computer game The Sims. Chief executive Simon Moutter said he was pleased with the roll out of the product and hinted at further developments in the health, education and precision agriculture space as the company moves from a telco only business to a what he described as a digital first business.
Heckler central
It seems shareholders are increasingly using annual general meetings to air personal issues with companies. In the past month both Air New Zealand and Spark have reminded shareholders several times before opening the floor to questions, that personal grievances can be discussed after the meeting - and don't need to be shared with the other shareholders or media. Global AGM's have seen far worse over the years, with protesters at various meetings overseas barricading shareholders in buildings, heckling boards and throwing everything from shoes to eggs when things did not go well. Lucky for Spark and Air New Zealand, shareholders heeded the advice.
Where to for Wherescape
Big data company Wherescape has left its home in Wherescape Tower on Wyndham St, celebrating the opening of its new offices in Quay Park on Thursday. The move was not the only thing being celebrated with the company announcing a revenue increase on its last year posting of $29 million and an 82 per cent jump in export earnings in the first six months of the year. Chief executive Michael Whitehead said the company's exports were now significantly larger than its local business, through its operations in the US, UK, Singapore and India. In the past six months Wherescape has added some big names to its customer list including the Royal Bank of Scotland, Canadian Western Bank, Optus and Nissan in Australia, Vodafone in the Netherlands, Costco, Nike Europe (and the US) and the entire Volkswagen Group. The company has also launched a Women in Tech initiative to encourage women to see technology as a good career.
