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End of the Wellywood saga
21 November 2011
End of the Wellywood saga
Wellington - blown away is Wellington's favourite idea.
After almost two years of debate on the hot topic "Wellywood," the winner has blown away its rivals. The public have discussed, debated, protested, submitted ideas, voted, pranked, celebrated and out of these emotions came "Wellington - blown away".
"Wellington - blown away" is a concept put together by a group of creatives from advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
The vote has become the talk of the town with 'what did you vote for' becoming a popular question to ask friends, family and even politicians.
350 ideas were put forward for the installation on the Miramar Peninsula. Over 18500 people voted in the first round to determine the two ideas to be voted on against Wellywood.
The final three ideas, Wellywood, Eye of the Taniwha and Wellington - blown away, battled it out for a week with 33,027 people voting on their favourite idea. The final vote was an overwhelming endorsement of the winner. "Wellington" with its windblown letters at the end of the name, received 18,862 votes, followed by 11,061 for Eye of the Taniwha and 3,104 for Wellywood.
Panel member comments:
Richard Stone, Grow Wellington: "This was a process that was designed to meet the needs of Wellingtonians' to both have creative input into alternate signs and to have a say in the final choice. I think the panel diligently followed through on this obligation and we were delighted at the level of interest from the public at all stages. I think both the Dominion Post and Wellington International Airport have both played a very constructive and supportive role in allowing this to happen and I think the sign will truly represent what the community wanted."
Liz Mellish, Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust: "The process for finding an appropriate sign for Wellington Airport has invoked lively debate and that has been positive. We need to consider our place in the world and ways of expressing it. This should not be considered the end but the beginning and that the sign can change as we continue to question our identity as we grow."
John Milford, Positively Wellington Tourism: "I'm delighted that so many Wellingtonians have responded positively and picked an outright winner. The Wellington 'Windy Sign' works really well with all the other wind inspired features on the way to the airport. I can assure everyone that the process was transparent and robust."
Allan Probert, Miramar Enterprise: "I am very satisfied that Wellingtonians have got in behind the process and congratulations to the airport on a magnificent gesture to the city."
Dave Gibson, Gibson Group, said "the competition has been a lot of fun all the way through and it is great to see a local Wellington company, Saatchi & Saatchi, get behind the project."
Andy Boreham, who was invited to be a panel member following his role in opposing the original Wellywood proposal: "It's great that the public have been given a genuine chance to have their say on what goes up on the hill near the Airport. It would have been great if we could have taken more notice of the people who wanted 'no sign', which would have been a truly gracious move on the part of the Airport. But they budged, probably as far as they could, and allowed a binding process to determine a 'winner', albeit a process that was a little bit off-balance with 'Wellywood' getting a guaranteed place in the top three".
Fran Wilde, Wellington Regional Council chair, who acted as spokesperson for the panel: "This competition has been a great opportunity for the Wellington region to focus on our identity and I particularly want to thank all those who entered the first stage and sent us their ideas. Let's keep the creative momentum rolling and continue to produce ideas that we can celebrate."
Matt Clarke, Wellington Airport's Chief Commercial Officer also welcomed the end of the selection process "The panel has done an outstanding job. The level of interest in the sign has been phenomenal and we are pleased that Wellingtonians have had their say," he said.
ENDS
Wellington Airport
Wild at Heart
Wellington Airport provides a world class airport for visitors, the Wellington region and New Zealand. It's international terminal, The Rock, is ranked 4th best in the World. Being very close to the CBD saves 5.4 million travellers plenty of time and makes Wellington a more attractive place to visit. The Airport won the Wellington Gold Awards for Safety and is a major supporter of local events, attractions and community groups.
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