Who got that job?

Paul Gregory is the new Manager, media relations, SkyCity Entertainment Group.

What were you doing before accepting your new position?

I was the manager of media relations for Westpac in New Zealand.

Why did you apply for this job?

I saw the opportunity to lead staff and take on a group-level, transtasman media relations role for a successful New Zealand corporate with a range of businesses as a fantastic opportunity to use my existing skills and develop professionally.

What does your new job entail

With my team and colleagues in communications, I help SkyCity to proactively keep its various stakeholders informed about new developments in the business on both sides of the Tasman, manage issues, and facilitate the company's responses to queries from the media about the business.

What are the major challenges ahead of you?

Learning about the wide range of businesses that come under the SkyCity Entertainment Group umbrella - hotels, restaurants and out-catering, cinemas, gaming and conferences. It's a lot to develop an understanding about, and a lot of new people to meet.

You have to develop that understanding to secure credibility within the organisation, and to discuss it intelligently with media and other external audiences.

Will it be a difficult transition, moving from a banking environment into an entertainment environment?

They are very different businesses, but ultimately the transition is about how prepared the people who run those businesses are to engage with a new guy in a communications role.

In both cases, the level of sophistication throughout the various levels of management with respect to the role and value of the communications function is very high.

It's not a question of obstacles, rather it is one of how quickly I can establish credibility and institutional knowledge - and that's up to me.

What else might you have done?

This is a small market and challenging communications roles of the variety that I have come to enjoy are not thick on the ground - certainly within institutions of material scale.

The job I've had and the one I have now are two of the best media relations roles in the country if you want, as I do, an issues-rich environment and a successful organisation.

What do you do in your spare time?

I read, play golf badly and enjoy the odd glass of wine at home on Waiheke.

* POCKET CV

Name: Paul Gregory
2003-2005 Manager, media relations, Westpac New Zealand
1999-2002, Features editor, CAR Magazine, London
1998-1999, Deputy editor, EM Magazine, London