Being a production company in the Aotearoa events industry is a curious thing. Throughout the year we get to intersect with many of our country’s leading businesses and organisations, hearing where they have come from and where they are going—getting a taste of their vision for the road ahead. It is one of the biggest honours we as an events business get to experience.
But this means that we continually have our proverbial ear to the ground. We get to feel the heartbeat of our nation, seeing some sectors struggling under the weight of the current climate, and others thriving in it.
We see some releasing visionary innovations, some fighting for social change, some bringing New Zealand on the global stage, some championing Te Tiriti and te ao Māori, and many playing their part in the move towards environmental sustainability.
So, we want to say thank you. But we also wanted to conclude this year with a reflection and a story.
A Breath of Fresh Air
2023 has been the first year unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic. After spending three years moving in and out of lockdowns, cancelling months' worth of events, and navigating the challenges of online living, this year has, in many ways, felt like a breath of fresh air. It allowed us to finally fall back into our normal rhythm.
We’re sure you can relate.
Now, the pandemic period saw the birth of ‘hybrid events’—events that incorporate both in-person and online audiences and speakers. Even with lockdowns and gathering restrictions ending, hybrid events have continued. It is now relatively normal to see companies bringing in international speakers over video calls, or hosting multi-city events simultaneously, linking them together through our technology.
There was a novelty about this at first. It was new. It was exciting. We were living in the future.
But as big as the growth in hybrid events was during the pandemic, there has been a larger resurgence of in-person events after the fact.
And this makes sense. People just want to be with people. Organisations just want to be able to gather together without the added friction of online communication.
There is something tangible about in-person gatherings. Something, real.
This month of December has been no exception, with many companies celebrating their year in style.
HP Partner Awards 2023
Working with Type 40, the 2023 HP Partners Awards took place at Shed 10 in Auckland. After doing curtain drops (or more accurately, Kabuki drops) for a couple of years at this event, we thought we’d have a bit of fun with the audience.
As the Rock N’ Roll themed awards came to an end, rock icon John Toogood hit the button and dropped the Kabuki. But instead of revealing the after-party, the crowd was met with an empty room—a few road cases scattered throughout, and a cleaner sweeping with a broom.
“There’s no backstage party this year, sorry,” they said, feigning surprise.
“But, there is a party downstairs!”
Rather than splitting the room in half, we split the building in half.
As people moved downstairs, they spilled out into an underground, old-school-style rock concert, complete with gigantic speaker stacks, mild hearing loss (we are mostly joking) and the best rock classics from the past few decades. We even brought our old par-cans out of retirement for it!
Begin the New Year Right
As you look back on December, maybe you are feeling regret that your year hasn’t ended with the same bang. Maybe those events didn’t quite hit the mark for you. Well, that’s okay. Start the new year with a clean slate.
Get in touch with us and we will bring our decades of experience, to help make sure that does not happen again.
Closing for the Summer
As we wrote yesterday, today is our final day officially open for the year. It’s been full of highs and lows; quiet and busy; complex and simple.
We have enjoyed this year. But we look forward to 2024, to see what ideas you have been tinkering with and what events you have been planning.
We will be back on the 15th of January. Hopefully a touch tanner. Probably a touch too sunburnt. But ready to help your vision in any way we can.
So from the team at AV Events, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!