The Whakatāne District Council’s Visitor Information Centre has won the 2014 Yammer award.

Yammer is a social networking forum for iSite staff, and the award is given annually to the iSite that contributes most to the community network and that has been the best team player over the course of the year. Whakatāne VIC staff were judged to be the “Most Engaged” with this form of social media at the iSite National Conference in Dunedin recently.

VIC Team Leader Bruce Erasmus says the award is a reflection of the positive attitude of the centre’s staff and that they are knowledgeable not only about the District, but also about tourism in New Zealand in general.

“Essentially, it means that our staff are sharing and engaging with the wider iSite community in a positive manner,” Mr Erasmus says. “In doing this, they have contributed to the knowledge and service levels of visitor centre staff nationally, and because they are 'engaged' with the wider iSite Community, their own knowledge and expertise continues to grow, thereby allowing them to give better service to visitors to our town.”

Mr Erasmus said the award was particularly gratifying given that Whakatāne was competing against iSites in the main centres with far greater staff numbers.