Wanaka wins Gigatown Instagram Home Office Competition
Wanaka has won the first Gigatown promotional competition, scoring itself an additional 10,000 points in the race to
become Gigatown.
Masterton has come in second place earning an additional 7,000 points and Oamaru has come in third place earning a bonus
5,000.
Chorus General Manger Marketing and Sales, Vic Crone says the Instagram Home Office competition – the first of a series
of promotions scheduled throughout the duration of the campaign - has generated some great online community engagement
around the potential of ultra-fast broadband (UFB) to change the way New Zealanders work.
“The competition showed there is real demand for more flexibility to work from home, which is interesting as research
shows employees who work at home one to three days a week are more productive than those that do little or no
teleworking,” says Vic Crone.
“We are delighted that hundreds of New Zealanders took to Instagram over the weekend to discuss the benefits of
connected teleworking, and to share pictures of their home offices.”
Since launching on Labour Day this year, Chorus’s Gigatown competition has attracted a remarkable level of engagement
from a range of New Zealand communities determined to win a subsidised 1gbps internet connection - the fastest in the
southern hemisphere.
To date the Gigatown website has attracted more than 60,000 unique visitors, and the campaign’s email supporters club
has gained more than 10,000 members.
Currently there are 19 official community Facebook pages dedicated to local campaigns, collectively they have attracted
more than 20,000 Facebook likes.
Vic Crone says this level of engagement is showing no signs of slowing down, with approximately 60% of New Zealanders
saying that they will either get involved or are already involved in their community’s Gigatown campaign.
“We are blown away by the levels of engagement we’ve seen so far and put this down to the amazing dedication of local
councils and community volunteers who are driving superb community engagement at a local level,” says Vic Crone.
“What has been most rewarding has been the feedback we’ve received from Gigatown community leaders who have said this
competition has brought together businesses, councils, entrepreneurs and communities using new technologies in ways
they’ve never experienced before.”
“This spirit of collaboration and innovation is what lies at the heart of the Gigatown competition.”
www.gigatown.co.nz
ENDS