Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Our Global Communications Executive Leah Evans from our Icebreaker Head Office in Wellington has just won the ‘Young Practitioner of the Year’ award at the 36^th Annual Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards.  Congratulations Leah, we’re so proud of you and your achievement!

The PRINZ Awards were an opportunity for the New Zealand industry to recognise and reward the stellar contribution of consultants and in-house practitioners in all facets of their communications. Categories ranged from corporate and marketing communications to pro bono and not-for-profit PR campaigns.

The award-winners reflect sound public relations and communication objectives, demonstrate high standards of performance, production and presentation and represent the pinnacle of PR practice in New Zealand.

That’s our Leah for you!

When I found out I was going to Portland for meetings in April/May, I emailed my fellow ex-Wellington Icebreaker HQ mates (who now work in our Portland, US office) to see if they were free & keen for a weekend mission to somewhere new & interesting.  After a bit of back & forth, we had settled on a camping trip to Utah.

There were a few hairy moments when a certain Volcano interrupted my travel plans but thankfully everything worked out, and before we knew it we were touching down in Salt Lake City.

The crew:
Halina – Graphic Developer (Portland).
Emma – Product Developer (Portland).
Amanda – Graphic Designer (Portland).
Me, Becs – Operations Analyst (Switzerland/France).

All of us have been working at Icebreaker for between 4 & 5 years; that might not sound like much, but that’s a lot of service in the Icebreaker world!  So we spent the 5 hour drive to Moab catching up on old times and sharing the new.

On day 2 we explored Arches National Park.  Crazy-spectacular windows & arches, rocks balancing on other rocks, rocks that resembled people (and body parts) or animals.

On the morning of day 3 we got our IcebreakerGT on and we all went for a run along the banks of the Colorado River (Hal & Emma are both in marathon training – go you good things!).  After that we ventured further afield to Canyonlands; research told us that some of the best views in Utah were found here, and we were not disappointed – Green River & The Colorado weaving through the vast landscape & massive canyons blew us away.  Luckily the winds weren’t too strong so we weren’t too uncomfortable mucking around the cliff-edges to get some cool photos.

On day 4, our final day, we checked out the south end of Canyonlands before driving back to Salt Lake City. The south is a visual contrast to the north, its like you are within the canyons, where as the north (which we did the day before) is more like you are on top looking down & in.

In terms of clothing, well, we work for Icebreaker, so we were well equipped to handle the changeable weather.  It was snowing in the outskirts of Salt Lake City! (Which made us question our tent accommodation..!).  And when we got to Moab it was a real mix; sunny & warm one moment, raining/hailing the next, and like any desert, it was cold at night – perfect for our natural merino clothing.  The non-stink trait of Icebreaker was a plus too, especially for me as I had been living out of a suitcase for 2 weeks already.

We’ve had this saying at Icebreaker since the very beginning – “It’s about our relationship to nature & to each other”. And that pretty much sums up the trip!

GOOD ROADY GIRLS!! Looking forward to the next adventure.

- Becky Ryan, Operations Analyst- Icebreaker Switzerland & France

Some people find traveling for work a bit of a chore.  Airports, customs and delays are all part and parcel of a long day at work.  But I feel a little bit different in that respect.  It’s exciting, motivating, challenging and full of so many memorable times.

Here at Icebreaker, a few of the team get to travel for their jobs, and I’ve been lucky enough to head to Portland in the US for 2 weeks.  Sure we work hard when we get here, why wouldn’t you make the most of the opportunity when you’ve got access to your global team members face-to-face?  But our culture is pretty special and the payoff is so uniquely unreal.

There always seems to be another Icebreaker-ite on the road at the same time and it’s like a family reunion when we all get together.  Sometimes we meet up on flights or at tradeshows, other times in various Icebreaker offices around the world.  Meals are often spent crowed around a table sharing food and stories and having a good old laugh about past Icebreaker events.  Catching up on the latest news and what we’ve all been up to since we last met is essential, and sometimes that means a late night out, accompanied by the obligatory bottle of tequila.

Just in the last week I was able to fly to Portland with my old boss Michelle.  It was like traveling with one of your buddies, but even more inspiring as you get valuable mentorship along the way.  When I arrived in the US I found not only the US team on arrival, but many of the Europe, Canadian and Australian team members too!  It was pretty cool, and as I said, you get that family reunion type of excitement in the pit of your stomach, it almost feels like Christmas.

We partied at one of my favorite ex-NZ team member’s Lisa’s house on Tuesday.  ‘Lis’ has just become our US Market Manager so an Icebreaker party to welcome her and her family to this side of the globe was a must.  My old NZ buddy Becky happened to be part of the Europe troupe (she works for our Swiss office now), and on Thursday her, Ibi (our Swiss account Manager) and I grabbed tickets to an NBA playoff and had a magic night watching the Basketball at the Rose Garden (lets’ go Blazers, let’s go!).  Friday my boss Steve and I had a brainstorm at one of our creative agencies, who then decided to take us out for a Portland night on the town.  We had a blast, I made many new friends and even took off on Saturday on a road trip to Seattle with four of them to watch the Mariners play baseball!  Can’t wait to repay the favour when they come to visit in New Zealand.

This morning leads into my last few days of this trip and the excitement doesn’t stop. I met up with Viv (our TQE Manager) for breakfast as she’d just flown in overnight, and we arrived at the office to squeals of laughter and excitement as Kerryn and Kurt from our product team had just gotten engaged over the weekend!  They met at Icebreaker, so an Icebreaker marriage is now on the cards!  Wonder if they’ll be wearing merino as their wedding outfits….?  Kent from Canada has just arrived, and we’re all awaiting Nick from NZ.  He’s the latest employee to be given a wonderful job opportunity through Icebreaker – he’s moving with his wife to New York to look after our accounts over there.  Lucky thing.

It’ll be sad to go on Thursday, but hopefully I’ll be back again soon and I can’t wait to see my New Zealand Icebreaker family when I get home.

Brooke Riley, Global Web Project Manager