Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Congratulations to our Graphic Design team in our Wellington Head Office.  It was announced today that 3 of our designs are finalists in the Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards 2010.

Nice work guys!

Check out their stunning work here:
Icebreaker GT Technical Baselayer Packaging
Icebreaker Merino Socks Packaging
Icebreaker Office Interior Art

Team Icebreaker arrived home last week after completing the epic non-stop bike race - Race Across America.

Here’s a quick thank you from the Team Icebreaker Crew Chief, Makuini Warbrick:

To our followers and supporters - Thank you all so much for your words of encouragement.  Your praise and belief in us kept us pumped for the entire journey, we couldn’t have done it without you!

To our riders - Hamish, Jason, Rob and Mike - you guys are AWESOME!  Your ability to keep going,  at all hours, loving it, hating it, feeling unwell, hurting and yet still putting out fast speeds makes you SUPER STAR’S in our books.  Thanks for keeping calm when we directed you the wrong way, for pitching in when the crew needed a hand - you were easy to crew for and we want to thank you for letting us be part of the team.

To our support crew - Kurt, Katie, Kim, Alex, Liz, & Darren - THANK YOU!!  What a huge effort put in by everyone.  There was nothing romantic about how we lived the 7 days.  Kurt’s quote ‘RAAM isn’t just a race, it’s a lifestyle’ was so true, one that can only be fully appreciated when you are sleep deprived, jittery on energy drinks, worried about causing a time penalty, cruising in an RV that stinks to high heaven, and focused on the riders every moment of the day.  Thank you for self-sacrificing and putting the team first at all times!

To our media team - Fred and Amanda - We couldn’t have done this without you. Thank you both for your commitment to stepping in to help the team out when we realised we needed more hands on deck.  Your ability to drive and navigate yet still capture the journey helped us look up and see the beauty all around.

To our Sponsors:
Honey Stinger - A natural alternative to synthetic energy bars.  We can’t rave about you guys enough!  Your products were still good for our riders right up till the end - nearly 7 days later!!  Their stomachs thank you for finding a natural product that’s easy to digest yet delivers on performance.  www.honeystinger.com

KINeSYS Performance Sunscreen - Your product is so easy to apply and wear.  We forgot how good a job it does because the effect of not using it - sunburn was never an issue for us.  Thanks for keeping us sun safe!
www.kinesys.com in the US and www.highbeam.co.nz in NZ.

Horleys - Replace Hydration kept the electrolytes up and still tasted good after 7 days in extreme heat and humidity.  Thanks for hooking us up!  www.horleys.com

Penny Farthing Cycles in Wellington NZ & Giant Bicycles - thank you for supplying Jases’ bike and all the guidance and support leading up to the race.  www.pennyfarthings.co.nz and www.giant-bicycles.com

What an amazing experience for us all!

L-R (Back Row): Rob, Jason, Darren, Kurt, Kim, Makuini, Fred, Amanda & Alex. L-R (Front Row): Liz, Hamish, Katie & Mike.

At our head office in Wellington today we had the 5^th annual Great Icebreaker Cake Bake Off.  We had a whopping 14 entries into the competition, comprising of carrot cakes, raspberry drenched chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, Hummingbird cakes, even a Parsnip cake.  It was spectacular.

Congratulations to the following HO staff members (as judged by the famous NZ chef Martin Bosley):

1^st - Jo Lewis and her Ginger Pocket Cake
2^nd - Tracey Davies and her Dark Chocolate and Caramel Cupcakes
3^rd - Katrina Smith and her Carrot Cake
People’s Choice Winner (as voted by HO Staff) - Jo Lewis and her Ginger Pocket Cake.
Best Presentation - Allison Jochim and her Hummingbird cake.  What an effort!

Congrats to all who entered, we can’t wait for next years comp!

It’s all go here.  No time to do much outside riding, preparing to ride and squeezing in a limited amount of sleep.

We came together as a group on Friday, having not met everybody or done an event like this before.  by day two into the Race Across America we are a family of 12, sleeping next to each other, supporting each other and feeding each other.

We’ve had some minor teething issues with the complex navigation and the strict 50 page rule book.  A few hand slaps to date, but no time penalties so far.

The 12 of us are living out of a RV that comfortably sleeps 6.  Since we’re wearing Icebreaker and don’t stink the shower is used as a cupboard most of the time.  While the rear bedroom looks great, it turns into a mini trampoline while the RV is moving.  Some of the roads are that rough you actually get air if you are lying on it.

Life fort he support crew is just as tough as it is for us riders.  They are only getting 3 hours sleep on average too.  They are fantastic and we couldn’t do it without them.  The opportunity to do this and the jourey so far has been amazing.  Without Makuini (our Support Crew Chief) we would not have made the start, without the entire crew we would not have made the end, and without the Icebreaker gear the girls would not be smelling sweet and the blokes would not be looking like machines.

We have just pulled into time station #23 in Ulysses, KS and found the biggest Icebreaker logo in the world hanging from a crane - 8m x 6m, 10mm steel!  A big thanks to our Mac Operator from Wellington HO Jiana Benham and her family - Dad Jim, Mum Shirley and brother Kelly Wilson.  The sign was a sight for sore eyes, a really amazing welcome for the team on this long, tough journey.  They’re wonderful hosts and have welcomed us into their home for an amazing feast - they’ve recharged out batteries that’s for sure!

We will hit halfway tonight!  Bring on Annapolis.

- Jason Brown, New Zealand GM and Team Icebreaker RAAM cyclist

Follow Team Icebreaker on their Race Across America, send messages of support and WIN IcebreakerGT gear:  http://raam.icebreaker.com/

Four of our staff members - Rob Achten, Hamish Allan, Jason Brown and Mike Stepanek are currently competing in the Race Across America - one of the world’s toughest endurance races, an epic non-stop bike race across the US from June 12-20.

You can follow their progress on our specially designed RAAM website here:  http://raam.icebreaker.com/

Please send in messages of support via Twitter and Facebook.  We’re also giving away daily prizes of Icebreaker gear and four Speight’s Coast 2 Coast entry tickets on the RAAM Competition page.

Thanks to the tremendous support crew made up of Icebreaker staff - they’re doing a great job ensuring the team in well looked after on the race!

Go hard guys!

Our CEO Jeremy Moon is profiled as an “evangelist in sheep’s clothing” in the latest Financial Times article on Icebreaker’s search for its first Touch_Lab_ (retail store) in New York City.

We plan to expand our retail presence internationally in the next five years, starting with New York later this year; and the Financial Times article dives deep into Icebreaker’s core principles to understand how we will make this happen.

Click here to read the latest article about Icebreaker in the Financial Times.  Simply sign up for the free service to access the article.

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!

In the last few weeks the Icebreaker Head Office has undergone a transformation by our talented Graphic Designer Stu Forsyth.

The walls came alive with artwork Stu painted to create an awesome working environment for our staff.

Thanks Stu!

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

What a month!  I started with Icebreaker only a few weeks ago… but somehow it feels as though all of my retail experience has led me to take on this new role.  The Newmarket (in Auckland, New Zealand) store opening has been fantastic with such an amazing positive response from everyone that walks in the door.  It is not uncommon to have someone enter the shop who just wants to share their Icebreaker story, or to say “Yay! What a presence, the store looks amazing!!!”

The media launch last week was no exception.  The room was filled with local business people, personalities and media representatives, ready to be wooed by Jeremy Moon.  And they were not disappointed.  Jeremy set the scene with the story of Icebreaker before giving way to the live fashion show. The plush woollen carpet down the middle of the store became the catwalk for the models antics, dive rolls and exuberant high fives. A real Icebreaker way to show off this seasons new styles.

The highlight of the night… hmmm a real toss-up between the cute smiles of the Kid’s range models, and the Ramotaur parading in the Beast underwear collection!!  Sorry kids… but I have to go for the Ramotaur.

That’s it from me… I will finish with an invitation for all to come in and see the latest Fall/Winter 10 Icebreaker merino range and fantastic layout of the newest addition to the Icebreaker family - the Touch_Lab_ Newmarket.

See you soon!

- Jenny Ryan, Store Manager Icebreaker Touch_Lab_ Newmarket

Icebreaker Touch_Lab_
262 Broadway, Newmarket, Auckland
Phone: 09 529 7552
Store hours: Open 7 days: Mon-Fri 9.00am - 5.30pm, Sat 10.00am - 5.00pm, Sun 10.00am - 4.00pm