We’re still three months out from Christmas, but that yuletide buzz has already started happening. Christmas shops are in full flock, twinkle lights blazing, and every local restaurant is advertising to obtain your business’ custom for your 2008 Xmas work do. Is it too early to be thinking about Santa, weekday barbecues and cold beer on the beach?

For the team at NZS.com, we can’t quite comprehend that summer break just yet - it’s a little to far away to get excited about. However, with long weekends such as Labour Day coming up, and a few annual leave days stacked up, we’ve all been thinking it’s a great time to plan a mini-break with some travel holiday deals somewhere around the country, and kickstart the summer holidays 2008 a little early.

Luckily, last minute accommodation and the internet go hand in hand, as there are several sites out there offering some of the best NZ hotel rooms at bargain prices - often just a fraction of the rack rates. Last minute New Zealand accommodation and hotel deals are easily found online these days, and are great for sporatic trips (this weekend, perhaps?) as they often just list the following four weeks of availability at thousands of accommodation providers NZ-wide on their sites. Booking with such short notice means you get the best possible accommodation deals, as hotels would rather have all of their rooms occupied, even at significantly reduced rates, than have them completely empty.

Fancy a couple of nights away over the next month to scratch that pre-Christmas itch? Find last minute accommodation deals within both New Zealand and worldwide anytime - that’s the beauty of being online!

Image from Flickr.

Begin??? The spring time change is near, and it has probably popped into your mind over the last few weeks.. when does daylight savings start?

The answer to your question is next Sunday, September 28, when 2am becomes 3am.

We first experienced the much appreciated extended daylight savings (an extra three weeks!) last September, amidst a little confusion from many of our computers. While we’re all hoping these issues have been fixed this time around, make sure you read up on the background of how your computer and daylight savings interact, and what you may still need to do manually.

Bring on the 27 coming weeks of extended daylight! For more info on stat holidays in New Zealand and when they begin (daylight savings signifies the beginning of the public holiday season!), check out the article on NZS.com.

You have probably heard about the world’s financial crisis which has unveiled over the last 24 hours - but investment news can be confusing to understand at the best of times. Do you know what is going on?

The Situation

The New York Stock Market saw the worst sell-off day in years yesterday, as Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest Wall Street investment bank, went under - filing for bankruptcy. Another financial management company, Merrill Lynch, then agreed to a takeover by the Bank of America, which sparked a global sell-off the stock market.

The firms plunged because of their enormous exposure to the US subprime mortgage market. This collapse is the cause for the global credit crunch, which will have worldwide effects. Economists are predicting more firms to fall into the same situation (insurance giant AIG has just been rescued by the US Government with an $85 billion emergency loan), particularly for companies with debt linked to mortgages.

How does this affect you?

While The Reserve Bank says NZ does not have much direct exposure to Lehman Brothers, AIG has 45,000 NZ customers, including some of our biggest companies. New Zealand banks are also largely owned by Australian parents, many of whom have reported direct exposure to the affected US firms.

The impact of the world financial crisis may mean New Zealand’s expected economy recovery may slow down or even not happen at all over the next year. The fall of the US firms will flow through to NZ shares and the NZ dollar, and may have significant effects on New Zealand savings schemes such as pensions, Kiwisaver and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Savings rates may also plunge, and mortgage rates could stay higher for longer.

Keep up to date with the financial crisis by keeping tabs on the business news headlines on NZS.com.

The next twelve months of NZ Design will be showcased for the next four days in New Zealand’s premiere fashion event, Air NZ Fashion Week.

The extravaganza kicked off with the launch party last night (amongst copious bottles of Moet champagne) as all of the usual Kiwi celebrities and fashion-philes came out in anticipation of the most exciting week in Auckland’s social calendar.

World kicked off at the tents at 11am this morning with the first show, which as promised was extravagantly theatrical with faux-fur mini skirts, sequined shirts and even male models carrying pink handbags! Dunedin designers Nom*D are getting ready as we speak for the headline show tonight, and the much talked about Trelise Cooper will take their place tomorrow as the one to watch for the day.

If you can’t get to Fashion Week, and are looking for a little designer something, check out endemicworld.com. Stocking not just designer fashion but giftware, homeware and a range of other pieces of NZ Design, they are your online source of fashion accessories and streetwear today - a great fix when you can’t be front row at a New Zealand designer show!

Image from Flickr.

The Silver Ferns are back! After last year’s defeat against the Aussies, our Silver Ladies are back on their game and ready to take on Australia and England in the 2008 New World Netball Championships.

NZS.com will have the netball results regularly updated for you after each match, the first one will be held this Wednesday in Christchurch.

Tickets are now available for the first two matches, against Australia:

Christchurch: New Zealand versus Australia - Westpac Trust Arena - Wednesday September 17 at 7.30pm. Adult tickets $62.50, Child tickets $32.50. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Auckland: New Zealand versus Australia - Vector Arena -Saturday September 20 at 7.30pm. Adult tickets $52.50-$57.50, Child tickets $27.50-32.50. Tickets available from Ticketmaster.

The Election Date for New Zealand was set just minutes ago, as Saturday November 8, 2008. Kiwis countrywide have been waiting for the announcement of this date for some time, so it’s a relief to all to finally put a day to the event.

And so the Election 08 race begins! Expect to see the Clark versus Key showdown come into full force in the coming eight weeks…

Ever thought the scientific methods and reasoning behind the Big Bang theory should be something we know more about?

Today is being toted as a milestone for mankind and science as the first collision test, a successful run of a massive particle collider, took place just outside of Geneva.

Scientists first utilised the LHC - Large Hadron Collider, a 26 kilometre underground loop, and shot a particle beam around it - which for the first time completed the entire loop. Why is this significant in the Big Bang theory? It means the scientific world is verging on the chance to shoot two accelerated beam particles towards each other at 99.9% of the speed of light.

The smashing of the two particles will create hundred and thousands of new particles - and effectively replicate the effects of the Big Bang by recreating the much-theorised conditions of the universe after its formation.

Scientists believe that the Big Bang took place some 13 billion years ago, and happened with a dense object which could be as small as a coin, which created the planets and stars (and life as we commonly accept it).

The real estate sales game, alongside property management in New Zealand, often gets a bad wrap from tabloid-style news shows in New Zealand. We’re constantly hearing about families who have been ripped off or mislead by those within the real estate industry, and the media create a flurry in reporting these cases because until now, there has been nothing those families could do.

This is all set to change next year when anyone who has had a grievance with somebody within the property industry can go to a crown agency with their complaint, and will be able to receive up to $100,000 in compensation if a complaint is upheld.

Currently, there are no provisions for compensation, and real estate professionals are only liable for a maximum fine of $750 for individuals, and $5000 for companies. Offences that will draw these fines include: practicing without a license, giving false or misleading information, failing to disclose conflicts of interest and rendering false accounts, among other breaches.

Due to be implemented in late 2009 or early 2010, this approach aims to reinstall faith in the real estate industry. The system will ideally make sure that reliable property management and property sales companies get the credit and respect they loose by the few cases of sour experiences with others from their profession.

When was the last time you had a look at your strategic marketing plan? It’s commonly known that during periods of economic slowdown, marketing expenses are some of the first to drop off the necessity list.

But with tax cuts on their way next month and petrol prices lowering, New Zealand’s economic situation is perking up and looking brighter, so why not re-invent your marketing strategy ahead of your competition, and nab the rewards first?

E-mail marketing is set to increase by 24% this year, according to the UK-based Email Marketing Platforms Buyer’s Guide. More companies are using e-mail marketing solutions as customer retention tools. This is particularly important in an economy which is renewing its strength - many of your customers and clients may have been reluctant to use your services or buy your product this year, owing to belt-tightening. Now things are looking more relaxed, it’s time to recapture any lost business by reconnecting with them, and reminding them what you can do for them.

Get a little spring cleaning of your marketing strategy by contacting a consultancy who are marketing plan and branding experts, and will inspire breakthrough growth in your business.

Image from Flickr.

Being in Christchurch, I was lucky enough to attend some of the Writers Festival events that we held here over the last three days. The festival was a truly massive gathering of literary folk young and old, all keen to listen to some of their favourite authors speak. I witnessed international-scale book signings, and even a few celebrity sightings.

The most interesting for me and relevant to NZS.com was, of course, the panel discussion about blogging.The session featured legendary Los Angelino lit-blogger Mark Sarvas, whose blog The Elegant Variation has been named one of the best on the Web by publications Forbes and Entertainment Weekly.

Sarvas had a very interesting take on the importance of blogging for self-promotion, as he blogged of the process of his last novel whist writing it. Upon the book’s completion, he contacted several publishing agents (some of whom had been keeping up with his blog) and just minutes after first contact, he had sold his novel. The agent who acquired the novel’s rights had been regularly visiting Sarvas’ blog and knew he was about to contact potential publishers, so was eager to jump on the rights as soon as Sarvas let the world know he had finished it.

Blogging for business isn’t just restricted for self-promotion, so make sure your company regularly contributes to the blogosphere - you might find your next client is a regular visitor!