Let's get excited - Penny's Cup call

The woman tasked with promoting the Rugby World Cup in Tauranga has a surprising confession.

I don't like rugby, so I'm thinking this interview could be awkward.
Penny Mitropoulos goes out with a rugby player and she's paid to promote the Rugby World Cup in the Bay of Plenty.
I'm determined to keep my own dislike for the game a secret until I'm blindsided.
I say she must be a big fan to be doing this job.
She says: "Um, I wouldn't say I'm a fan."
Ah, come again?
"But I'm into sport," she quickly continues. "And into creating a buzz around an event."
But let me get this right. Mitropoulos isn't rugby mad?
"I don't go out of my way to watch it, no," she laughs. "But I go out with one, so maybe that's why I'm not a fan?"
She's joking.
Mitropoulos' boyfriend is a premier for the Bay of Plenty NPC Development Squad. We're not allowed to know his name, she might get in trouble, she says.
She spends a lot of time on the side of rugby fields and understands the rules of our national game but, she says: "I'm Greek."
"So I have kind of fights with my dad because we're into football aren't we?"
The 36-year-old is a former netball player and has taught yoga for 12 years.
Might explain why she looks so youthful.
She says: "I don't feel young; it's deceiving. I tell everyone 'do yoga, go upside down, you know? Gravity'."
She hoots with laughter.
Mitropoulos' large sunglasses are framed by long, wavy hair. She wears heels and chunky silver jewellery.
Her father is Greek and her mother American Indian and Kiwi.
"That's a bit of a mix. That's why I've got the pointy nose," she says.
She doesn't really.
She has a 12-year-old son called Sam, who speaks fluent Greek.
Mitropoulos, born in New Zealand, lived in Greece before moving to Tauranga.
She and her former partner ran a nightclub and restaurant on the beach in Corfu. Sounds like bliss.
"It was seven days a week for six months, then we'd go away for six months. It was nice because we had a great lifestyle, summer to summer. But it was hard work," says Mitropoulos.
And hot work.
"When I was in the restaurant, I used to walk out the back, grab the hose and hose myself off because it was cooler than the sea."
Since September she's held the role of events delivery manager at Tauranga City Council.
As well as running events such as Mount Maunganui's New year's Eve party, Anzac Day and Children's' Day, part of her portfolio this year is acting as regional co-ordinator for the Rugby World Cup, working with Rotorua and Whakatane.
It's just one event of many she is tasked with co-ordinating.
The idea is to create a festival-like atmosphere so even those dispassionate about rugby - yes, like me - get excited.
"The one thing people don't like doing is missing out," Mitropoulos, who formerly worked at Sport Bay of Plenty, says.
"Even wives who don't really want to go to the rugby and always say to their husbands: 'Oh, you go, honey'. They'll be coming and they'll be making a night of it, as well."
Mitropoulos makes her partner go to yoga - "he hates it" - so she'll be going to the games.
He must be excited?
"Oh, they [the development squad] all are, honestly. They're just keen as mustard and can't wait for it."
Mitropoulos herself is primed for other reasons. She wants to promote Tauranga.
"You don't know how big a world event is until you start looking at it in different sections.
"I think it's about rugby but it's also about hospitality; the Kiwi way. I don't know how many times I've come across travellers saying, 'I've never been to such a country so welcoming' and we just want to keep that flavour and keep that flavour here in Tauranga."
Mitropoulos has done a lot of travelling herself. She lived in India for a year when she was "20 or something ridiculous" and travelled around the country.
She even met the Dalai Lama.
In the Himalayas, ordered to wear no jewellery and only maroon-coloured clothes, she stood in a long line trying to think of something profound to say.
"I got up there and didn't say much at all. I didn't have anything. I had nothing. I went blank. That was the end of it."
She can laugh about it now.
"I like the Dalai Lama's philosophy. I always take one of his sayings 'everything in moderation'. Don't be such a hard-core fitness junkie or a lazy slob."
Mitropoulos isn't lazy. She often works six days a week and in her spare time attends festivals other people have organised. "How sad is that?" she says.
She hopes to see the same commitment from Rugby World Cup volunteers who will be helping to promote Tauranga.
It's anticipated that rugby fans will stay in Tauranga because the accommodation here is cheaper.
"I don't think it's a loss we don't have any games here," she says.
"We're actually able to showcase the Western Bay a lot more because we'll have a lot of travellers coming through to get to Rotorua."
But surely it's a loss to rugby fans?
"You know the games are just down the road. Rotorua is just a skip away and most of the rugby fans will probably follow one of the teams, so they'll be going up to Auckland and Wellington. I think it's who you're loyal to.
"We're going to show the games and semifinals down on The Strand so it's not like no one is going to be able to see them, especially if people can't afford Sky."
Mitropoulos says there will also be a festival atmosphere around the city, with Tauranga hosting Tarnished Frocks and Divas and the Tauranga REAL Festival at the same time.
"People say 'Tauranga's got no culture'. Well, I don't think that's true. I think we've got a lot of culture, it's just up to the people to go and get involved in it.
"I think even people that aren't into rugby, they'll still go watch the games because I'm going to. We're showcasing music, arts and culture around rugby. So, for once, we're putting everything together and running a festival on what we all love. I think it's going to be good and I hope this festival will continue as a legacy."
The Bay of Plenty will host three teams (Samoa, Russia and Fiji); dress up Tauranga with flags; host a planting ceremony called Living Legends; and towns such as Te Puke, are looking to "adopt a team", which will see everyone from schools to restaurants take on the flavour of their chosen country.
In nearby Rotorua, the public can take workshops to learn how to be a street performer.
What about the volunteers? I wonder. Do they need to be passionate about rugby?
"Um, that's not the most important thing," Mitropoulos says.
Volunteers will have to wear Rugby World Cup uniforms and guide people to their destination, as well as promote it.
"The most important thing is you're able to answer the questions people ask, which are probably going to be more to do with 'where are the games?' 'When are they held?' 'How do we get there?"'
It seems you don't have to love rugby to get involved in the Rugby World Cup. That's good to know.
Mitropoulos, despite not being the game's biggest fan, seems the right person for the job. She's passionate.
"Yeah," Mitropoulos agrees with a laugh. "But that can be a detriment too. If we're in an argument, it's hard to get a word in."
Tauranga City Council manager of venues and events Dale Henderson isn't much into rugby either. "I'm more of a hockey man," he confesses.
Mitropoulos was hired to deliver the "largest event in Tauranga" New Year's Eve, he says. The Cup is a tack-on to her portfolio, which includes facilitating about six major events a year.
She "goes at 110 per cent all the time. She's a little energiser bunny", he says.