In 1982, while working as manager at Camera House in Rotorua, I first saw the potential for computers in the business arena. A new computerised till had been installed in the shop with a second computer being placed “out back”. At the end of the first day of use, while I was cashing up, the “out back” computer produced reports that normally would have taken several hours. It showed: which stock items had been sold and by whom, which stock items had fallen below their re-order point and the quantity to re-order, and which commissionable items had been sold and by whom. All this while I was cashing up! This allowed me to have more time back in the shop, where I needed to be rather than spending several hours a day in the office doing stuff.
This had to be the way of the future and I needed to find out more about these new machines.
After 2 years at Camera House I left and worked at two computing shops in Rotorua gaining more knowledge about computers. In 1986 I was invited to teach a few computing evening classes at Waiariki. That was the start of a whole new chapter in life. In March 1987 I accepted a full-time tutoring position and remained there till August 2009.
The last 23 years have been spent writing student manuals and delivering class sessions. Combined with my past and current Web Design studies, I feel I am fairly well prepared for new challenges in the computing area.
Working as a tutor, I have had to source data then be able to compile and deliver content at a high standard and often in quite short time frames. Time management is of prime importance to achieve this. Prior to the Camera House period, my training was as a mechanic and nearly 10 years of that time involved with race cars here in New Zealand and in Canada. This has followed me into the computing area and has led me to seek efficiency in the tasks I take on.
