Tauranga City Council has appointed Pip Loader as its new strategic events manager.
The position is one of two events support roles confirmed through the annual plan process, the other being a city events co-ordinator role.
Ms Loader was formerly the manager of the Baycourt Community and Arts Centre.
Originally from Tauranga, she has extensive experience in the events industry, having worked in event related roles here and in Auckland.
During her time at Baycourt Ms Loader led the transformation of the Exhibition Space into a more versatile 'Black Box' theatre space. This new look performance space is now attracting smaller dramatic and fringe theatre works to Tauranga and has seen a significant increase in events. Ms Loader has also worked collaboratively with the University of Waikato to bring the 'Kiss my Arts' series to Baycourt, resulting in increased awareness of arts genres and audience understanding of the arts.
Ms Loader said she had enjoyed her role as manager of Baycourt and was looking forward to the new position which would allow her to lead the city's new approach to events.
"The great thing is that I will continue to work in partnership with Baycourt, Bay Venues and all the other providers and funders of events in the city to progress the work that council wants to achieve in this area."
Ms Loader said Tauranga currently had a vibrant events scene but huge scope for improvement.
"There are opportunities for us to show that Tauranga is capable of being a player in the major events sector. Just like Jetsprints and Bay Venues have been able to do, we need to be open to exploring new and exciting opportunities, determine our key point of difference and grow our local home-grown events."
Council has increased support for events in the city through the Annual Plan. This is in line with its vision to create a city with heart and soul and an acknowledgement that major events can be a big contributor to the economy. It has also adopted a new structure for delivering events and updated the existing events policy.
"The new direction in the events space should make it easier for talented event owners to implement their ideas and feel supported by the city in the process. I want to make sure we punch above our weight in this important sector."
Ms Loader said the first set of tasks to achieve as strategic events manager broadly fell under the following headings:
- Carry out a stocktake of Tauranga's current place in the events sector and consider future opportunities and how events can deliver to the new city vision
- Work with key stakeholders to seek their insights into the Events Brand for the city and key outcomes required from the Major Investment Fund
- Set the strategic framework for City Events, identifying assessment criteria for funding applications and key deliverables
- Develop a toolkit for assessing and measuring the economic impact of events and post event success for the city.