The IN-Business team battled rush hour traffic and ominous weather to attend the official opening of Ricoh’s new ‘Technology Centre’. Held in the distinctive building on Taranaki Street, editor Nadine Isler and videographer Steve Leon weren’t sure what to expect, beyond the ‘refreshments and canapes’ promised on the invitation.

We started by finding out the difference between the new centre, and a really flash showroom. Branch Manager Chris Thornton describes the technology Centre as a “working demonstrations of world leading, data capture and sharing technology, for Ricoh’s Wellington and national customers”.
Adding a sprinkling of plain (non tech) English, Managing Director Michael Pollok warned guests not to be fooled into thinking that the Wellington Technology Centre is just a room full of photocopiers and flat screen TVs! “The biggest advances lie in the software that Ricoh and our partners developed to process, communicate and store information around networks and around the world.”
John Key attended the event. After a tour of the centre, he mingled with the large crowd and agreed to an impromptu ‘IN-Business’ on-camera interview. The Prime Minister then addressed the crowd (speaking without notes) and quoted a number of examples where modern technology was making business and government more cost-effective, “if you can get to a point where you can easily process data, store it, send it where you want, file it, then you get to a world where you’re a hell of a lot more efficient, and that’s really the future of NZ”.
It was also encouraging to hear him acknowledge the significant links between efficiency and sustainability through advances in technology, a sentiment the business community hope to see echoed in the buying decisions of government agencies.
Whilst he touched on some serious points, Mr Key’s speech was relaxed and entertaining, he also mused on whether the biggest waste of paper occurs not in businesses around the country but with the massive amount of documents he gets handed to read. Still in humorous mood he commented that the colour scheme of the centre may be a little too red for his liking.
Other invited guests included Mayor Kerry Prendergast, business leaders, long time Ricoh clients and staff, and former and current All Blacks who were also celebrating the 10-year association between Ricoh and Wellington rugby. Mayor Prendergast echoed the positive themes evident despite the challenging times for business, “what’s really impressing me about New Zealand businesses at the moment is the level of confidence, and I think that’s really important, there’s nothing worse than people talking down both themselves and their country during the recession”
Entertainment was provided by Elena, who can only be described as a rockstar violinist with a mohawk, ducking and diving energetically between classical and modern pieces.
The presentation by MD Ricoh Asia Pacific Nobuaki Majima was, fittingly, delivered by video link from his office in Japan. Kept short, it was clear how enthusiastic the Ricoh crew are about the opening and what it means for their company and clients. Communications Manager Rick Petford summed it up saying “the things we’re really proud of are the things which aren’t so easy to see where we work with customers, understand their document workflows, take a broad view of whats going on in their business and bring them much greater efficiencies “.
The IN-Business team left encouraged to see such positive support for investment and with the Prime Minister’s willingness to ‘muck-in’ for local business initiatives.