What's your job about?
Go with Tourism aims to grow NZ’s Tourism and Hospitality workforce. We encourage people to understand this exciting industry better and seek a career from the huge range of opportunities available. My role involves planning and delivering our nationwide Expos and other events. I get to travel and work with all members of our team, including the Marcomms Manager, to promote Expos and our Regional Coordinators, who attend Expos in their region. I work closely with the Event Coordinator, who is like my ‘right hand wo/man’.
To successfully plan any of our events, the Event Coordinator and I have a project plan, which includes all the important tasks we need to do and their deadlines. We work with many different stakeholders from sponsors, partners and exhibitors to volunteers, attendees and interns. Because our target audience for Expos is students, when we’re planning, we try to think of activities or experiences that they will relate to or engage with; so we find activations that are fun, memorable and hands-on, like mocktail making or inflatable horizontal bungys!
We also have to think about how we layout the floor plan to make all these cool things fit.
What's your background?
I was born and raised in South Auckland and am a hafakasi but proud Niuean. I attended local schools where the majority of my peers were Pasifika and many of us went through Primary and High School together. In High School, I was elected Head Girl and from that, have built my leadership skills. During Intermediate, I started my first job which required a 4k walk after school. Since then, I have worked in many different roles, even while studying. After High School, I attended University after winning a scholarship through my business class.
I found my love for events while planning family functions (partly because I might be a bit of a control freak but I also like having plans and love being creative!) For me, putting something together behind the scenes, seeing people react and making experiential memories is worth all the hurdles I jump over. During the Work Integrated Learning final part of my BIHM, I got a 3-month placement with Auckland Events and Economic Development (now known as Auckland Unlimited) in the Major Events Production team, helping plan and deliver the first-ever Tāmaki Herenga Waka Festival. 3 months later I got offered a fixed-term contract as an Event Coordinator in that team, which lead to a permanent position. After 4 years in that role, Go with Tourism advertised the Event Producer role and I’ve been in this role for 2 expo seasons.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes! Although you have to be a bit crazy to want to do this kind of job! I learnt a lot by doing the on-the-job.
This role is ideal for someone who has good people skills, a get-things-done attitude and an eye for detail. Other characteristics required include being organised, juggling multiple tasks and being able to troubleshoot on the spot; so someone who is good under pressure would suit it well. If you can understand your target audience and be creative in how you engage them, it can be a fun and rewarding job.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
Seeing people enjoy an event that was once an idea and seeing something through from start to finish.
Although trying at times, when I walk through the event and see the smiles and engagement is my reward. Positive feedback and exhibitors returning assures me that I am on the right track. I never wanted to be stuck in an office and with this role, I get out to do site visits, pack-ins/outs and attend the events, while building networks and relationships. For me, it’s all about people.
What are the limitations of your job?
In the events industry, losing weekends can be common and having to change plans to suit the weather is also frustrating. It’s not always possible to postpone or have a rain date and for the likes of the outdoor cultural festivals I’ve worked on, the show must go on rain or shine. With that, the couple of weeks leading up to the event tend to be quite hectic and can require long hours. If you have a good boss, you could get those hours and weekend workdays back in TOIL.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student