Looking back on another stellar SeePort! 😄

It's hard to believe our SeePort Festival was just over two months ago! If you came down to visit us, you would have been one of 50,000 who did so over the two day event. Great weather and buzzing activity allowed for a stellar festival over the Auckland Anniversary weekend.

Our second SeePort Sunset Symphony and Fireworks was a magical evening, with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, the Stellar Singers and emerging talent from Play it Strange playing to a full crowd across Captain Cook and Marsden wharves.

We were really pleased over the weekend to present our friends at the William C Daldy Preservation Society with a cheque for $12,000 that we raised during the last Auckland Heritage Festival. The society are a volunteer group who do

a great job at maintaining one of the oldest steam tugboats in the world. We also support them with an annual grant for the purchase of coal.

During SeePort we raised $1,500 for Auckland Land Search & Rescue through sales of our crane experiences. This has allowed them to buy new wet weather gear for all their volunteers (modeled on the right by our Operational Performance Coach and Land SAR volunteer, Dan Pehi).

Let us know how you enjoyed SeePort - drop us a line at feedback@poal.co.nz and tell us about your experience. We would love to hear from you!

MyPort
Mark - IT Specialist

Q: How would you describe your role at the port?
A: I work in the IT team with specialist experience in the terminal operating system; the core system in the container terminal for planning, executing, controlling and servicing all the container movements at the port. My day-to-day role is a mixture of supporting current systems operations and working with other business teams on any new requirements.

Q: How does your application of experience of IT at the port differ compared to other industries?
A: The key difference for me is the sheer breadth of responsibilities across the many aspects of port business. In all my roles prior to the port, the focus of IT was much narrower. The IT team here covers a diverse range of operational needs involving people, machinery, pilots, tugs, containers, cars, breakbulk cargo, finance, reporting, control systems and much more - all of which involves an array of networks, information and control systems!

Q: What do you like to do when you're not working?
A: I love spending time with my wife and two kids, whether it's just relaxing or being active outdoors. After that, my passion is music and in the past few years I've evolved from a 'would-be' singer-songwriter to an actual published artist with an upcoming release of my debut album.

Q: How do you balance your musical career with you day job?
A: Balancing is always a challenge because the port, my family and my music all want me full time! However, joining the port was an amazing opportunity for me to change from working a full-time frole to a part-time role, allowing me to spend the remainder of the work week focusing on my music - in particular, recording an album over the past three years.

There's a launch party for Mark's debut album Going Nowhere (Faster than you) coming up soon. Find more details on Facebook here.