Last week, the entire Sidekick Group traveled from all corners of the South Island and met up in Hanmer Springs for our annual conference!
Day 1 kicked off with the directors arriving early for their directors’ conference before the team arrived in the afternoon. After some downtime and exploring Hanmer, everyone met for a team dinner at Fire & Ice, sponsored by Smartly New Zealand.
Day 2 kicked off bright and early with a team breakfast before a group update presented by the Sidekick Group operations manager, Julie Copland. This was followed by a presentation from our guest speaker, Kendall Flutey, CEO of Banqer. Kendall shared with the team the story behind Banqer and announced Sidekick’s community partnership with Banqer moving forward! After some much-needed morning tea, the Xero Team presented to the team on the “Future of Accounting,” and, in particular, the role AI may have. This was followed by Mark Jenkins from the Gap speaking to the team about how little things every day have taken them “From Good to Great.” The afternoon activities began with the team splitting into groups and heading to pre-chosen activities. With Jet Boating, Quad Biking, Rafting, Mountain Biking, and Massages on offer, there was no shortage of options. A massive thank you to Figured for sponsoring these activities! We then ramped up into the Sidekick Awards evening, Sponsored by The Back Room Outsourced Professionals (which we’ll share the pics of in a separate post), where we celebrated the internal success of individuals and offices within the Sidekick Group.
Day 3 wrapped up with a sales training masterclass presented by Richard Wheeler before the team split off for either a walk up Conical Hill or a relaxing swim in the Hanmer hot pools before heading home. Coming together once a year like this is so important in building connections across the group and continuing to develop the fantastic team culture we’ve already built here at Sidekick. Thank you to everyone in the Sidekick Group for coming along and, in particular, to our conference sponsors Xero, Smartly New Zealand, Figured, and The Back Room Outsourced Professionals.
Craig from Tasman took some amazing photos over the course of the conference – check out a few of the highlights below!