Business North Harbour members enjoyed an afternoon of networking, good food and unique technology insights at the latest Networking and Nibbles event, hosted by Voyager at its Albany headquarters.
While a light sprinkling of rain threatened proceedings early on, the weather thankfully held, allowing guests to make the most of the outdoor activities and relaxed atmosphere. Attendees mingled over a barbecue featuring sizzling sausages, cheese boards, wine and beer, while some embraced their competitive side with ring toss and beanbag toss games set up outside. Inside, the pool table proved equally popular, creating plenty of opportunities for conversation and connection.
Welcoming guests, Voyager’s Angela Hunter expressed the company’s appreciation for its longstanding relationship with Business North Harbour and the opportunities the organisation creates for local businesses to connect.
“Voyager is extremely proud to be associated with Business North Harbour,” she said. “Your team is incredible, and creating opportunities like this for us to network and meet fabulous people is outstanding.”
Hunter also took the opportunity to explain Voyager’s role in New Zealand’s technology landscape. While many attendees recognised the company’s name, several were curious about exactly what Voyager does.
“We’re a leading telco,” she explained. “We support both businesses and consumers with internet services, business phone systems and our AI agent.”
A highlight of the afternoon was the opportunity to step behind the scenes of Voyager’s operations with guided tours led by company founder Seeby Woodhouse, a well-known figure in New Zealand’s internet industry.
Woodhouse took small groups through the company’s data centre, giving attendees a rare glimpse into the infrastructure that keeps thousands of New Zealand businesses and households connected.
He explained that the facility is responsible for handling email services for around 35,000 customers and also supports First Domains, New Zealand’s largest locally owned domain name registrar.
Guests learned that while many people imagine “the cloud” as something existing somewhere in the sky, the reality is far more tangible.
“A lot of the internet is fibre in the ground and computers sitting in warehouses,” Woodhouse explained. “They’re serving websites, emails and domain names. That’s what you’re going to get to see a little bit of today.”
Seeby Woodhouse also highlighted the layers of redundancy and backup systems that help keep digital services running even when unexpected events occur. Visitors viewed the data centre itself, packed with servers and power protection systems, before taking a look at Voyager’s Network Operations Centre, where specialist teams monitor the company’s network around the clock.
Through large monitoring screens and real-time alerts, staff can quickly respond to outages, cyberattacks, service disruptions and other incidents affecting customers.
As cyber threats continue to increase and digital connectivity becomes ever more critical to business operations, the tour offered valuable insight into the often unseen infrastructure that supports modern commerce.
Three members took to the floor for a series of 60-second quick-fire introductions, with Chris Watershed of Brand Lab, Katie Christoffersen of Big Little Gift Box and Brett Stansfield of EIA Ltd sharing insights into their businesses, while congratulations went to Voyager spot prize winners Stefen, Rinette and Cristina, who each took home a Rabbit Ranch wine and a Voyager-branded Frank Green reusable water bottle.
Thank you to everyone in attendance. The event successfully combined business networking with an educational experience, giving members the chance to build new relationships, enjoy friendly competition, and better understand the technology that powers New Zealand’s digital economy.
For many attendees, it was a reminder that while cloud services may feel invisible, there is a dedicated team, sophisticated technology and significant infrastructure working behind the scenes to keep businesses connected every day.
