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Movings/Shakings: 11 July

Bidding farewell

Trade Me’s chief operating officer Mike O’Donnell (image credit: Stuff.co.nz) has resigned from Trade Me, and will be stepping down from his position at the end of next month.

This move brings an end to O’Donnell’s 10-year tenure, a period during which he has become renowned for his technicolour T-shirts and laid-back managerial style.    

According to a report in the Herald, O’Donnell will now shift across and become the executive director of a start-up venture co-owned by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and NZ Trade and Enterprise, which will focus on marketing public sector intellectual property to other governments.  

Trade Me is yet to announce a replacement for O’Donnell. 

A scramble for 100,000

The NZ Herald’s social media editor Paul Harper has announced his resignation, with today, 11 July, being his final day at the publication.

This move will see him swap news for banking, as he joins ASB in the role of social media manager.

As a final hurrah in his position at the Herald, Harper took to his Twitter page in an attempt to get the NZ Herald Twitter handle to 100,000 followers. 

At the time of writing, @NZHerald had 99,800 followers. 

At this stage, the Herald has not yet found a replacement for Harper, and StopPress understands that existing editorial staff will cover his responsibilities until someone is appointed.

Live from Glasgow

3 News is gearing up to provide comprehensive coverage of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games across its portfolio of news and current affairs programmes.

Reporter Michelle Pickles will lead a seven-strong team based in Glasgow, supported by an around-the-clock operation in the Auckland newsroom, providing Kiwis the most up-to-date information.

Director of news and current affairs Mark Jennings says TV3’s team has the experience and passion to provide unmatched news coverage of the Commonwealth Games.

“Michelle Pickles has unrivalled experience at covering major sporting events, including the Beijing and London Olympics, the World rowing championships and the last Commonwealth Games in India,” he says. “Michelle’s contacts in the sports teams competing at this year’s games will mean viewers get to know what is going on not just on the track, field or water but behind the scenes as well.”

During the event, New Zealanders will wake up to the results and reaction as each day of the Games wraps up, with Sacha McNeil and Michael Wilson joined each morning by 3 News’ European Correspondent  Melissa Davies reporting live from Glasgow.

At 6pm, Michelle Pickles will report live from key Commonwealth Games sites during the bulletin, recapping the previous day’s events and looking ahead to the new day of competition.

Alongside Jeff Hampton, David Di Somma and Melissa Davies, Pickles will follow our athletes through their final preparations, catching up with them once they’ve performed, and sharing the stories of their fans and families.

Content for rugby

After spending three years as the general manager of public affairs at New Zealand Rugby, Nick Brown was been appointed the general manager of content, commercial and public earlier this year.

Interestingly, the addition of content-based responsibilities is something new at New Zealand Rugby, and StopPress understands that this element has been introduced in an effort by the organisation to better capitalise on its huge audience.   

The All Blacks brand with the highest number of Facebook fans in New Zealand, with over 500,000 Kiwis liking the official page. This popularity also extends to Twitter, where the All Blacks are ranked the ninth most-followed brand in New Zealand with over 300,000 followers. 

Add to this the pull of individual players—such as Dan Carter with 336,000 Twitter followers—and it comes as little surprise that the organisation is interested in providing content-based solutions to tap into the huge fan base in the country.    

A fresh start

Dane Tatana has joined BKA interactive as an account director. 

This move sees him leaving RogenSi for the first time in about 10 years. During that decade-long stint he worked in London as an account manager and then an account director, before shifting across to the Auckland offices to take up a role as an account director.

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