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Welcome to the May newsletter. There's going to be one or three moooving puns because of Moooving Day.
Also, lots of tech news. Because we love brains!
Not in a zombie kind of way ...
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Love Local, love the dosh
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From now till June 11, if you pay your Primo account with a TSB Debit Mastercard, the bank will put $5 back onto the card.
It is part of the TSB Love Local Campaign which is using the money the bank didn’t spend on events such as WOMAD and the TSB Festival of Lights to put back into the community.
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Primo is one of the many local firms taking part with other companies listed at the TSB page here.
The campaign works by crediting each use of your debit card with $5 with any purchase of $10 or more. The maximum return that can be earned is $50 overall. By May 9 more than $30,000 had been credited to TSB account holders from 6000 transactions. It may not make you rich, but as the prophet once said, it's better than a poke in the eye with a pointed stick!
Just look for the stickers on participating firms.
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New office stars start at Primo
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Anthony Finnerty has joined our help desk and will be helping out with any issues you have with your account.
Anthony is a Taranaki Base Hospital baby, class of 1994, and went to school at Francis Douglas. He then did a stint at Massey University in Palmerston North studying geography and history but came back to help raise his siblings after a slight family matter had to be attended to. (He has seven younger siblings and he looked after his five brothers for a while.)
Anthony switched to studying IT at WITT, doing a diploma in Information Technology. After graduating he spent some time doing forensic-level car grooming till he landed the job at Primo. So not only can he reconfigure your router, he can give you some good tips on getting some of the weirder stains out of carpets.
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Marian is the smiling face beind Primo's front counter, and she'll also be taking calls and making sure everyone is looked after.
Previously the venue manager at Three Sisters Brewery, Marian has managed hospitality venues in both Auckland and New Plymouth. She is also excellent at training and development, having taught barista and customer service to the younger generation in New Plymouth.
Originally from the Philippines, Marian grew up in Taranaki along with her family where she attended Sacred Heart Girls' College before disappearing off to Wellington to further her education, studying film and television before moving into venue management as she felt that was more suited to her and her lifestyle.
So that's turned out great for us and she is one fab customer service star!
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Book now for a smooth mooove
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June is always a busy time around the place as herds, farmers and staff all get a mooove on for the start of the dairy season.
To make sure your new place is all broadband-ready, please book your installation in now.
Just go to our online form and we'll get your sorted.
The earlier the date, the earlier the data!
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Techweek Taranaki is on
May 16-22.
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Go here for all the events, which range from making electronic music, to the Internet of Things Taranaki.
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A couple of overseas firms have been using Primo as a guinea pig for their new products to see how they go in wild New Zealand conditions.
One piece that is very useful for Primo's more remote sites is the Hyland 920 wind turbine from Australia's Diffuse Energy.
It's smaller than most wind generators, being only 90 cm wide, but its clever design creates twice as much power. It's going through its paces in Rawhitiroa inland from Eltham, with the Aussies monitoring it from their end.
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The other new bit of kit is a form of wireless broadband called LTE (for Long-Term Evolution.)
Cambium, the US-based company that developed it, did a case study on Primo's use of the LTE system which is better at getting through trees, over hills, and into the nooks and crannies that Taranaki has in abundance.
The full case study is here
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Speaking of brain-boosting tech ...
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The August event is all about getting young people involved in science and tech, with Year 7-13 students from more than 60 Taranaki schools showing off their clever ideas.
We've signed on to be a Gold Sponsor for the event, providing much-needed funding to go towards running the Fair at New Plymouth Boys’ High School from August 8-10.
Our Top Dog Matt Harrison says Primo is also creating an annual scholarship of up to $3000 for a student or student(s) to develop their skills around ICT (Information and Communications Technology).
“We want as many young people learning all they can about communications and technology. It’s what we do, and we want to help tap into all that future genius for our region’s benefit.”
We're also thinking how we can offer internships or possible summer placements if students’ projects are related to its work with networks and communications.
“Primo’s a big fan of developing people and making sure they reach their full potential.
“Plus, most of us love a good bit of nerd knowledge. Working with Primo is a great way to get your geek on!”
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Top-up for hospice fundraiser
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An extra $600 payment has pushed the total raised at January’s Mini Golf fundraiser for Hospice Taranaki to $3660.
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The fundraiser, known as Putts for Bucks for Hospice Taranaki, was organised by Primo and IT firm OurCloud in late January after hearing about the hospice’s funding shortfall.
Jasmine Harrison, Primo’s “Fairy Godmother” said Primo contacted OurCloud about the fundraiser and its people were keen to help.
The two firms ran the Inglewood Mini Golf site while also doing some catering on the side. Online Trade Me auctions organised by Jasmine with goods donated from around the region boosted the total to $3060.
The Inglewood Community Mini Putt Charitable Trust, which operates the course, recently made a final $600 donation to the total to round it up to $3660.
Jasmine says the fundraiser was busy, but fun. One of the biggest money-spinners of the weekend was the ice cream machine sponsored by Abrahams Funeral Home.
“Due to Covid restrictions there hadn’t been anyone doing soft serve ice creams for the last two years. It was a huge hit with everyone!”
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