Tropical fusion cuisine just in time for summer! - Papawai Press Ltd

The Latest Tool in the Fight Against Childhood Obesity - Papawai Press Ltd

Fantastic Line-up of Speakers For NZ's 1st Breast Cancer Conference for Women - Breast Cancer Network

Breast Cancer Patients Still Being Dropped from Waiting Lists - Breast Cancer Network

Netpointers' Results are Impressive - Netpointers New Zealand

Are you Waving in the Dark? - Netpointers New Zealand

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Tropical fusion cuisine just in time for summer!

Papawai Press Ltd - October 2011

 

We all know that diet is one of the most important issues to address for sustained health and wellness. Simply put, eating more fruit and vegetables is one of the best things you and your family can do.

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When the majority of calories in the western diet come from processed cereals, refined sugars, vegetable oil and alcohol, leading to a high incidence of diabetes, cancers and other life threatening diseases, it is important that we return to a diet based on unprocessed whole foods, prepared and cooked fresh in our own kitchens. 

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But it can be difficult to be inspired to add more fruit and vegetables to the diet. This is why new recipe book, Sonja's Kitchen, is such a valuable resource for the everyday family. 

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Beautifully presented with photographs from the Pacific Island of Aitutaki, the tasty recipes in Sonja's Kitchen are based on ingredients available in your garden or most supermarkets and fresh food stalls. These delectable dishes can be made in your own kitchen with very little effort and great nutritional rewards for everyone.

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Most of the recipes use food with minimal processing. They fuse tropical flavours with culinary ideas from around the world - for example, a Pasifika take on the traditional Italian Lasagne, cooked with breadfruit and fresh tomatoes and herbs. The tasty recipes include an array of herbs and vegetables that can be grown in an organic backyard garden, together with readily available tropical fruits and vegetables such as bananas, coconuts, mangoes, papaya, taro, breadfruit and cassava. 

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Sonja's Kitchen is a book for the whole family. Accurate and easy to follow recipes will ensure that this book is not just another recipe book for the kitchen shelf, it can be used every day to ensure variety and well balanced food choices for all.

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It is also a book that takes the reader on a walk through the lush vegetation of the Cook Islands, while explaining the importance of each plant to the survival of the islands and the role that they play in island culture. 

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Foodie or Greenie, Sonja's Kitchen will take you on an adventure to explore the delicious food of Aitutaki and the Cook Islands.

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The Latest Tool in the Fight Against Childhood Obesity

Papawai Press Ltd - May 2007

Feed Me Right, written by Dee and Tamarin Pignéguy, and published by boutique publishers, Papawai Press, makes avoiding childhood obesity simple. The book was introduced to Wellingtonians last night (7 May) by Green MP, Sue Kedgley, at a book launch held at Dymocks bookshop, and provides all the nutritional know-how and body science needed to help children avoid the obesity epidemic. 

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Although it was written with teenagers in mind it is a book for the whole family. Accurate and fully researched nutritional and body science is presented in an easy-to-read format, supported by brilliant, colourful and quirky illustrations. Feed Me Right is not preachy or prescriptive but empowers children (and their parents) to make better food choices which will lead them down a path of lifelong wellness.

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Ms Kedgley declared her whole-hearted support for the book, advocating that "every school and every family should have a copy."

 

"I believe this is the most comprehensive book on health and wellness for adolescents that we have seen," Ms Kedgley said.

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Two weeks ago at a gala launch event in Auckland, 102 year old Zella Roberts, told 120 guests that she "got to 102 by eating real food." Looking not a day over 75, and in a strong voice that didn't require a microphone, the very sprightly centenarian described how a return to good, wholesome fresh foods cured her arthritis several decades earlier.

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Managing Director of Devonport-based Papawai Press, Sue Claridge, said that over 400 copies of Feed Me Right have been sold in the first four weeks since it became available. Prior to its official launches in Auckland and Wellington, there had been strong interest from schools from around the country.

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"Many schools have commented on how timely the release of Feed Me Right is and what a fantastic resource it is for the health and food technology parts of the curriculum," she said.

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With increasing concern over burgeoning rates of diabetes, the announcement that food advertising during children's television programmes will be controlled, and almost daily media reports on the obesity problem among New Zealand youth, the publication of this book could not have been more appropriate or more timely. Feed Me Right provides parents, teachers and our young people with a practical, simple and safe way of attaining and maintaining a healthy and happy body. 

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Fantastic Line-up of Speakers For NZ's 1st Breast Cancer
Conference for Women

Breast Cancer Network (NZ) Inc. - July 2007

Breast Cancer Network (NZ) have confirmed a fantastic line-up of speakers for New Zealand's first national conference for women with breast cancer to be held Rotorua in October this year. 

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BCN announced in April that the three day conference would open with internationally acclaimed breast surgeon, breast cancer researcher and women's health advocate, Dr Susan Love, as its keynote speaker.

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A stella "cast" of national and international speakers will also present at the conference, ensuring that the event will be one of stunning relevance and importance to New Zealander's affected by breast cancer.

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International speakers, headed by Dr Susan Love who will speak both on Friday and Sunday, include Professor Ingrid Winship, Professor of Clinical Genetics at Melbourne University, who will speak about familial breast cancer, and Dr Maricel Maffini, Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University in Boston, who will speak about environmental influences on breast cancer.

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Among the national speakers are some of this country's top experts in breast cancer, ranging from Dr Madeleine Wall, Clinical Director of BreastScreen Aotearoa, who will provide an update of national screening, to Mr Ian Campbell, Clinical Director at Waikato Hospital, who will give a presentation on sentinel node biopsy and SNAC trial results, and Professor Vernon Harvey, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Auckland Hospital who will talk on clinical trials and access to drugs.

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On the afternoon of the first day of the Conference (Friday) BCN are thrilled to announce Professor Bruce Baguley, Co-Director of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre will speak about New Zealand's contribution to worldwide to cancer research. Professor Baguley is the recipient of the 2006 Sir Charles Hercus Medal in molecular and cellular sciences and technologies, for his contribution to the development of new cancer therapeutics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to cancer research. 

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On Saturday morning New Zealand cancer survivor, author and Life Coach, Phil Kerslake, will give a talk entitled 'How to laugh and dance your way to recovery'. The Good Morning Show presenter recently returned from a trip to Vienna, Austria, where he awarded one of three international Rebuilding Lives awards for 2007. Phil, who has beaten six bouts of lymphoma over the last 28 years, won for his outstanding efforts in helping thousands of other cancer sufferers and survivors around New Zealand rebuild their lives following a cancer diagnosis, and is very well qualified to speak about psychosocial support for cancer patients.

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Other confirmed speakers for sessions and workshops include: Dr Stephen Mills, one of New Zealand's top plastic surgeons; Dr Ruth Spearing who will speak about the setting up of a National Cancer Database; Dr Stella Milsom, an endocrinogist who will speak about menopause; and Dr Barbara Hochstein, a Consultant Radiologist and breast imaging specialist.

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Breast Cancer Patients Still Being Dropped from Waiting Lists

Breast Cancer Network (NZ) Inc. - June 2006

Women with breast cancer who, at the time of their mastectomy, are promised subsequent breast reconstruction are now being ignored by a health system that can't deliver on that promise. 

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Breast Cancer patients from around the country who are waiting for breast reconstructions are being dropped from surgery waiting lists, and left in limbo with their treatment uncompleted. This problem was first brought to BCN's attention in December 2005 and the problem has clearly gotten worse since then. 

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BCN investigated this issue over a period of several months, and followed one patient in particular, Maggie Pimm, who has been waiting for a breast reconstruction since August 2005 when she was told she would get her surgery in September of that year. 

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Not all women can have immediate reconstructions because of the follow-up treatment they must have, and these women are being denied the opportunity to put their breast cancer in the past by virtue of the treatment regimen recommended at diagnosis.

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Although the Ministry of Health advised BCN that the prioritising of surgery and the allocation of resources is not a national policy issue but is delegated to the individual district health boards to manage, it is simply not good enough for the MoH to blame the DHBs for the waiting lists when the funding comes ultimately from the government. And while the "buck" is passed back and forth, women awaiting breast reconstruction fall to the bottom of the priority list.

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"That women are not getting their surgery is an appalling situation; there is ample research that for many women having reconstructive surgery is part of the healing process and will enhance her return to a productive and fulfilling life and restore her self esteem," says Barbara Mason, BCN's Chairperson.

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"Reconstruction, for women who want it, is a vital, integral part of both their physical and mental recovery," Dr John McEwan, a health psychology specialist who has worked with over one thousand breast cancer patients, told BCN last year. 

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In addition, Dr McEwan says that the impact of stress on the immune system is well-documented and this has implications for women's recovery from breast cancer. Thus reconstruction is not merely cosmetic but therapeutic.

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The women waiting for breast reconstructions are justifiably angry and believe that the Government is disingenuous in their claims that the surgery waiting lists are shorter when in fact, like many other patients, these women are not receiving surgery but are instead being dropped off the waiting list.

"The Ministry of Health must ensure surgery for delayed breast reconstruction is available in the public health system," says BCN.

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And the latest for Maggie Pimm is that she now has a July appointment with the Manukau Super Clinic, but still no date and no guarantee of surgery.

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Netpointers' Results are Impressive

Netpointers New Zealand - June 2005 

All of Kerry Woods' customers have computers. After all, he is the CEO of Quicken and Quicken sells software. It makes perfect sense for Quicken to market their products on the internet, and it makes as much sense that they wanted to maximise their web presence. So Kerry turned to Netpointers to do just that.

 

Quicken is an increasingly online-driven company with online functionality, downloads and online back-ups; their greatest trial demand and greatest information demand comes through their website. "It seemed logical to me to optimise the website and improve the traffic," says Kerry.

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Kerry considered two or three companies offering search engine optimisation before deciding on Netpointers. Without a doubt it was Netpointers' success with other companies that appealed to him. "They can prove through their other clients that they are successful beyond what any other provider can claim. All companies claim that they can do wondrous things, but you only have to do a search on Google to see that Netpointers really do what they claim," Kerry explains.

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And speaking of Google, the results that Netpointers have achieved for Quicken on that search engine are pretty impressive. Sixty-seven of their seventy-five keywords rank in the top ten on Google.

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Kerry says that prior to search engine optimisation "we would have been lucky to be in the top forty or fifty for most of our key search words - page four or page five." With rankings like that your website juts doesn't get a "look in" with people searching for your products on the web.

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Yet, two months after Netpointers implemented their internet marketing solution Webpromotion Pro, all 75 of Quicken's key words have top rankings. The number of keywords getting a top five ranking has improved 360% and visibility has improved by 316%.

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A stunning improvement in rankings is all very well, but it is only worthwhile if it actually translates into increased web traffic, and ultimately to sales. In Quicken's case the translation has been just as stunning as the improvement in rankings. "There has been a tripling in requests for trials and requests for information," says Kerry. He went on to say that there has definitely been an increase in click-through traffic to the website and product inquiries have gone up by in excess of 200 percent.

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"The good thing is that the quality of inquiries has changed as well. We are getting a higher quality of inquiry, people wanting specific information." Clearly Netpointers have successfully aimed the keywords and optimisation at the sector most interested in the business software that Quicken markets. Asked if it has it resulted in more business, Kerry answers emphatically, "Yes, it has. It undoubtedly has!" In fact, there has been a 2.7 times dollar increase in sales attributable to the website over only three months.

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Kerry says working with Netpointers was easy, the Netpointers Account Manager that they dealt with was outstanding, and their documentation is good. Like other Netpointers clients, he points out that it is a significant investment, but it has great returns. He compares the cost to print advertising in specific media - for example, four full pages in the magazine PC World - but unlike print media the results are very easy to see and measure. Kerry also points out that there are limits on how much you can say in print advertisements and radio commercials, but once you get people to your website the sky's the limit.

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Although the improvement in sales is impressive, Kerry isn't all that surprised. He says his products sell themselves and his brief to Netpointers was 'get the people to the website'. Which they have done. Very, very well.

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Are You Waving in the Dark?

Netpointers New Zealand - May 2004 

Are you waving in the dark? Can Google find you? Greentree International used Netpointers to turn the light on for their website.

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Many companies rely on their website to inform people of their services and the internet is an increasingly important business tool. But it doesn't matter how good your product or service is, or how amazing or innovative your website, if you can't be found - if you are waving your wares around in the dark! 

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It is crucial to the success of many businesses that their websites appear high up in the list of results on Google and other top search engines. Let's face it, there is so much competition out there that some people searching the net don't go past the first page of results. For many websites and businesses, being on that first page is the difference between profit and obscurity. So how do you ensure that your website hits that crucial first page?

Netpointers, with it's powerful range of search engine optimisation technology, was the answer for Greentree International.

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Greentree International is an Australasian business software company that recently contracted Netpointers to optimise their website. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is about making your website visible to search engines. This means that if a net user is looking for your type of business and plugs relevant search terms into a search engine like Google, your company will come out with a top ranking - ideally at the number one spot in the results. For a technology based company like Greentree it is very important to have top rankings in Google and other major search engines. 

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Greentree's search engine visibility has improved dramatically since Netpointers optimised their website. A huge 97% of Greentree's keywords get them a top ten ranking on Google and in just four months Greentree's newly optimised website has gone from zero to 519 in the top thirty placements across 16 search engines. 

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Importantly, Greentree's Marketing Co-ordinator Donna Anderson-Jones, says the improvement in keyword rankings has translated into a 20% increase in email inquiries over a four month period that took in Christmas and New Year period, traditionally a time when things are a bit quiet. Ms Anderson-Jones said that "very, very quickly after starting with Netpointers there was a difference in our rankings. Almost straight away, much sooner than even Netpointers had expected." 

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Ms Anderson-Jones loves the Netpointers SEO service because everything is done for her. She can maintain and update the website without interfering with the SEO, which is a huge advantage over many SEO systems. In addition, it is easy to analyse the effectiveness of individual keywords or phrases. 

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In fact, Greentree are so pleased with the results so far that they are about to extend the Netpointers service to include tracking the number of the click throughs from search results to the Greentree website. However, the increase in email traffic clearly demonstrates that Netpointers' optimisation solutions have led to increased visibility and more visitors to the Greentree website.

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