It was a nervous time for Becks and Amy from The Makers in early February 2020 when the Government started to close its borders to certain countries in response to COVID-19.  

They had been planning the Gincredible (Bay of Plenty’s Gin Festival) in mid-February. This event involved hundreds of hours of planning, upfront financial costs for the event managers, and local food and beverage suppliers who were also facing financial risks as they prepared their supplies for the event.

The Gincredible event carried on, but not without a lot of stress and some hesitant suppliers and customers.

The events industry has been knocked around as public gatherings are the first to stop. Events are risky business as the costs quickly accumulate months prior to the event, and the revenue generally comes after the event.

The Tauranga Chamber runs lots of events each month, so COVID-19 knocked us around too. Preparations for our large events start six months out. We had to innovate to de-risk our flagship events, while also creating an intimate experience after lockdowns.

Our 2020 Business Awards trailed a cocktail-style event instead of a big banquet dinner. Our Business Women’s Network Conference evolved into a mini-series of wonderful speakers in case numbers were limited to 100 people under a level 2 alert.

Becks and Amy also commented how well Tauranga City Council’s events team support externally run events to gain all the approvals from different departments within the Council. I have heard similar appreciation from other event managers, too.

This made us suggest to the Council in our submission on the draft Long-term Plan, whether the Council can extend the event team’s approach to their other departments.

What if Council had facilitators who have a can-do attitude that can support new building developments through the complex building process?

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