On the case - Jackson Thomas
NRAIT welcomed new part-timer Jackson Thomas to the team this month to take up the challenge of tracking down the contact details of over 700 ‘missing’ NRAIT owners.
Jackson’s pathway into the NRAIT office started with a certificate in IT service and support which he did with the help of an NRAIT tertiary education grant. Jackson now has a Diploma in Information Systems, completed last year at the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, and is glad to have the chance to test his skills on the NRAIT database project.
“Longer term, I’d like to work on creating computer applications and eventually I want to design and build computer games, but in the short term this role is great practical experience, and hopefully I’ll be helping bring a lot of NRAIT owners back in touch with the whanau.”
Jackson’s job involves tracking down working phone numbers, emails and addresses for NRAIT owners who are ‘gone, no address’ or GNA.
“We usually classify an owner as GNA when their mail is returned or an email bounces back. That information is then removed from the database and, until we get the correct information – which can often be very difficult – we can’t contact them.”
“In many cases owners don’t even realise they’ve fallen out of touch. Often the best way to track them down is for me to phone or email other whanau who might be in touch with them and have their new address or phone number.”
Can you help?
The most important contact information we need is an email address – to help us reduce the cost of printing and postage and to move more of our communications to email and social media.
To update your information or help provide details of other family members or likely ‘missing’ owners, email Jackson at temp@nrait.co.nz.
Jackson aims to reduce the GNA list by 50% by the time he’s done. It’s a big job, but he hopes owners will all get on board and help, as several have already done on our Facebook page. Kia ora to everyone who has made a contribution so far.