The All Time Top 10

1. Moin Ali – 14s

2. Will Hardin – 20.75s

3. Lauri Siltanen – 26.84s

4. Owen Anderson – 31.03s

5. Enrico Savorelli – 32.50s

6. David Rae – 32.87s

7. Sarah Joliffe 34.90s

8. Chris Gamble – 35.04s

9. Stuart Bruce – 35.05

10. Oskars Olbiks – 35.47s

Gertie Winners

Moin Ali – Pulse Business Energy – EMEX 2017 – 14s

When Moin took his first attempt at the buzzwire we immediately knew that he was going to win Gertie. What we didn’t know was that after returning to show his manager that he did in fact beat the buzzwire he managed to do it again, only this time in a time so fast it smashed every record in existence, by doing it in a unparalleled 14 seconds.

David Rae – Scott & Scott – ADBA 2017 – 32.87s

As an owner of a large Anaerobic Digestion facility, David had recently opened a new plant that was to be run by his daughter, and he realised that Gertie would be the perfect supervisor to ensure everything was operating well at the plant.

Will Hardin – EOS – CIRED 2017 – 20.75s

Blowing everyone out of the water with a time that has yet to be bested, Will’s quest to win Gertie was motivated by knowing that back home in Nantwich his 7 year old daughter would be delighted to receive a massive plush giraffe. It’s fair to say that Will had “a few goes” before mastering the wire, but his fast and loose technique meant that he never set the bell off.

Sarah Joliffe – BAM Nuttal – EMEX 2016 – 34.90s

Sarah manage to win Gertie on our trip to London in 2016 after mastering the buzzwire game at a time that was nearly 5 seconds quicker than any previous contestant. Gertie’s journey back with Sarah was quite the expedition, with the necessity to crane her neck as she travelled on the London Underground to her new home.

Want to follow Gertie at our conferences? Check out our hashtag #gertiethegiraffe

The Re-homing of Gertie the Giraffe

As it happens, there were a couple of Gertie the Giraffes left over in the herd. Rather than relaunching the ‘beat the buzzer’ competition, we decided to say farewell to Gertie by choosing him the perfect home through our re-homing appeal. It was Christmas time, after all.

We were overwhelmed with the responses we received. There were some genuine, heartfelt pleads to temp Gertie to all corners of the country. There were also some very creative and humorous entries, but there were two which stood out. Firstly, this entry stood out thanks to elements of nostalgia, logicality and a prime location.

Bruce Flaws of FES, entered the competition on behalf of his wife, Angela. He scribed the following appeal:

“My wife works at Camphill Blair Drummond, her office window view of the Giraffe & Elephant enclosure at Blair Drummond Safari park. Gertie would get a great view of all her friends and relations and would be well looked after.”

Finally, the other winning appeal came from Jason Reece of Liverpool, in support of ‘Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice’ who declared:

“We would love the children to benefit from seeing Gertie and put a smile on their faces while they go through care and treatment.”

It was a straightforward appeal to the heart and it made perfect sense to send Gertie to help the children in the North West through challenging times. After some research, we soon realised that Zoe’s Place is an exceptional organisation. Moreover, the charity has been recognised for their excellent work by engineering firm Boulting, who have adopted them as their chosen charity for 2018.