Rob scored a trip to Paradise at the invitation of his wife Rose!

Now Samoa is all about who you know, not what you know and Rob’s definitely in the know! Welcome aboard Rob. We can’t wait.

Rob’s an IT whiz – you name it . . . the web . . . data systems . . . Sage- ACT! . . . a CRM consultant and more. After a week in Samoa, Rob will have a good understanding how things work in Samoa, with his photo in the paper and on TV, treated like royalty by people in a third world who have nothing, let alone a computer or the Internet.

Get ready for a culture shock Rob, but at SWAP we’re all ready to engage with IT systems and to really get stuck in to put Samoa on the map Internet!

A bundle of energy and team leader at Infosystems, Rose and her husband Rob will be joining us along with Marie Young to help plan and develop the Go! Go! Go! SAMOA and SAMOA DAY promotion in September 2011.

Apart from her IT husband, Rose has a great team behind her with:

• Pete Burdon – PR consultant – journalist- online content management “word-smith” – Pete really knows how to get the media to report on things!
• David- a video man and YouTube geek– biz strategist sporting an MBA – and of course a guy who reminds us daily of the process involved
• Kim- the resident mobile genius – mobile client relationships are his forte which includes mobile  business integration of systems
• Michelle , a Social Media consultant extraordinaire (with 50,000 genuine  and loyal followers across 10 -12 FB pages) – ummmm, wow! Say that again, Michelle? Thassalotafriends!

We can’t wait to see what magic her team can weave when we give her a challenge like . . . let’s help put post-Tsunami Samoa on the map Internet . . . eh?

Marie is a people-person with "a wicked laugh and reads minds" – so she says! She has a passion for treating people well, preferring to be nice to people and make people feel special. If that sounds like she’ll fit into Samoa, you’re right – she is a Samoan, born in Christchurch, raised in Samoa and Australia and now living and working in Auckland. In her professional life she is an online and social media commentator for TVNZ’s Breakfast show, and founder of Marie Workshops, a popular social media workshop series. Along with web geeks Rob and Rose, Marie will be checking out the launch of the SWAP Limousine in Apia, and helping to plan the online aspects of the Go! Go! Go! SAMOA and SAMOA DAY promotions for September 2011. We look forward to that Samoan smile gracing the shores of Paradise shortly.