Gigatown campaign on cafe menu

Ten O'Clock Cookie staff Julianna Hema, Charlotte Stuart, Kathryn Bidlake, Megan Hannah, Monique Kloeg and Gigatown Masterton project leader John Hart.

Local cafe Ten O'Clock Cookie - otherwise known as 10CC - is on board to win Gigatown status for Masterton and hopes other businesses will join the campaign.

The cafe-bakery has set up a laptop for customers to sign up to support Masterton's bid in a national competition for ultra fast 1GB per second broadband internet.

"The idea is while people are waiting for a coffee, they can sign up," said manager Monique Kloeg.

She said the cafe wanted to create awareness of the competition and "get behind something a little bit different".

"Being a large part of Masterton for the past 25 years, we want to do our bit."

Lucy Cruickshank, the cafe's marketing consultant, said that with more than "1300" likes on Facebook it was important for the cafe to be connected online.

"10CC do a lot on social media, so they really see the benefits for the Wairarapa economy and encourage other retailers to get on board."

Staff will be on hand to help those less technically savvy sign up.

They have been working closely with John Hart, project manager for the region.

"It's fantastic to see another local business getting behind Gigatown Masterton," said Mr Hart.

"We'd love to get every shop in town doing something."

He said a similar promotion would be held at Masterton District Library soon, to get more people signing up.

There was also a plan to hold classes for older people to learn about social media and the internet, said Mr Hart.

"One of the benefits of the competition could be that people get more engaged in social media and online, and that can't be a bad thing."

Every person who signs up to the promotion contributes 50 points to Masterton's score.

In September, the five towns with the most points will go into the finals.

Masterton is currently in second place.

For more information and to sign up, go to the website www.gigatown.co.nz.