The Brief

Festival for the Future 2023 was the first official commercial event to be held at Wellington’s newest event space, Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event is Aotearoa’s biggest leadership and innovation summit. Opened this year by Mayor Tory Whanau and attended by entrepreneurs, leaders and young people leading change.

Inspiring Stories engaged NW Group to help deliver the event by supporting the in-house Tākina Events AV team. NW Group has partnered with Inspiring Stories over the past five years to deliver Festival for the Future, so they were pleased to collaborate again by bringing their own tech partner to the new venue.

Solution

NW Group delivered the event in total alongside the in-house Tākina Events AV team. Working closely in the pre-production phase, attending regular meetings and site inspections. We operated the main plenary with the use of Tākina Events newly installed quality equipment and NW Group’s premium equipment additions. Tākina Events also managed the breakout sessions, while NW Group serviced the trade component and chill out area, which featured live performances from new and upcoming acts.

Given such a new venue, floor plans and load ratings were still being finalised up to the event so NW Group came up with a variety of solutions for the client, remaining fluid with the design.

NW Group’s team rigged three brand new 4K HD camera’s, supplying various camera shots both live to screen and for the home livestream audience. NW Group supplied a custom Vimeo solution linking with Inspiring Stories Technology team to stream Main Plenary sessions to the wider audience.

The lighting rig was fully LED, complying with venue technology regulations and sustainability. Smoke and haze are currently prohibited at Tākina which proves challenging when designing an impacting room look. However, NW Group were able to dress the stage with a beautiful creative lighting design, playing off the architecture and various textures throughout the events spaces – everyone was thrilled with the end result. Tākina’s impressive new screens and projectors were also utilised, which came complimentary with the venue hire offering.

Audio was provided by NW Group, supporting the existing in-house PA. This guaranteed the whole room was covered with seamless coverage, ensuring every guest received the same listening experience, no matter where they were in the room.

Like all new buildings, integrating into the house technology posed some challenges but NW Group and Tākina Events and Technology Team worked together to find suitable solutions.

Outcome

Despite some restrictive access times, due to the generosity of Tākina Events and the ease of the load in and out of the venue, all technical set up was seamless and delivered on time. Both teams worked seamlessly together managing different spaces and helping each other out.

Overall, the event was a huge success! NW Group were able to help Tākina Events showcase the new venue to over 1,500 people from New Zealand and around the world. Inspiring Stories have also asked us to come on board again next year. We’re looking forward to delivering the event under the new CEO, Devon Murphy-Davids.

“While there were plenty of quirks to navigate with the new venue, from my perspective, the team at NW Group did an incredible job. We love working with you, and as a small charity we simply wouldn’t be able to make the festival happen without your generosity and support. Thank you!!” – Guy Ryan, Founder, Inspiring Stories.

“What a thrilling experience to have delivered one Wellington’s most accomplished events at the new Convention Centre, Tākina! We’re grateful for our clients trust and partnership and thoroughly enjoyed working with Tākina Events Audio-Visual Team. Well done to all involved, an amazing way to launch an incredible space!” – Lizzi Lovegrove, General Manager Wellington, NW Group