A farewell from Christine Johnston, General Manager
When I joined Grey Lynn Business Association as General Manager I had no idea I would be signing off 3 months later. But as I head off to a role in Wellington I am confident I leave the BID with a strong foundation and ready for the new incumbent to ‘hit the ground running’.
As a new bid, the organisation had operated with a mainly voluntary workforce. Lacking systems, documentation, a clear strategy and direction and strong representation. There is a fair list here, but I wanted to assure you that the ground-work has been done and the new GM will join to sound practices. As I gathered the below list I can be pleased this was achieved in such a short space of time. We have:
- Reviewed the strategy for GLBA with the view to focus on 5 pillars; Placemaking, Events/Networking, our Identity, Marketing/Comms, Advocacy/Relationships
- We have clear budgets and accountability
- Governance includes our statutory requirements, auditor and Policies
- HR, Compliance & Business Documents developed
- Migrated to a new B2B website and platform
- A B2C website and for a thriving Grey Lynn Business Community to be up and running in June
- As you will read in the newsletter our Identity Programme is now underway
- Our GLBA Logo/ Brand has had an interim refresh
- Communications have been revised, our newsletter reviewed
- New platforms include Mailchimp and WordPress
- Our ability to manage membership information and relationships is key, a CRM is in development with completion in May
- And of course we cant forget, Robin McDonnell stepped up at short notice to chair Grey Lynn Business Association, he has added dynamism and direction that the association needed at this time
I didn’t do this on my own, it was with the support and insight of a great team and our Committee. Thank you to everyone to everyone for your support and passion. Grey Lynn is an awesome suburb and I am so confident of the opportunity the investment of the Businesses through the BID will bring.