Discover The Difference That Only International Experience Can Deliver!
360 Degree Events Managing Director, Karen Hamilton has over 14-years management experience, gained in Australia, Canada, Caribbean, United Kingdom and New Zealand. This experience encompasses event management, sponsorship and exhibition management, sales and marketing, B2B relationship building, business development and venue management. |
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The New Zealand Chapter
Karen moved to New Zealand from Canada in March 2007 and took up a position with Christchurch's event management giant Vbase. The first event she was given to manage was the Guns 'n' Roses concert at the then, Westpac Arena - enabling her to gain a full understanding of the logistics involved with staging a large scale rock concert and it also ticked off the teenage wish of going backstage to meet a music icon! Numerous concerts and public events followed providing Karen with awesome opportunities to work on a variety of events but by the end of 2007 Karen's desire to stamp her own brand and personaility on the New Zealand events industry lead to her resignation from Vbase and to the creation of 360 Degree Events.
360 Degree Events was an instant success; securing several large public event projects and some key corporate accounts. Within 6 months of operation Karen won a national award for her event management expertise and leadership.
Over the last three years Karen has also taken the company from a home-based operation with one employee to a CBD based office with up to four staff working on projects during busy periods. Following the September 2010 earthquake the 360 Degree Events office relocated to Merivale.
The Canadian Chapter
Prior to moving to New Zealand, Karen was based in Toronto, Canada where she worked for the World Trade Group, organising business summits for Fortune 500 companies and then later with National Event Management producing large scale consumer exhibitions with up to 32,000 attendees per show.
The Caribbean Chapter
Before the Canadian chapter Karen enjoyed a glimpse of the life of the rich and famous as the Chief Hostess on a Palmer Johnson Super Yacht based in the Caribbean - where everyday needed to be an event! Karen was responsible for organising on-board cocktail parties and gala dinners, shore-based excursions and photo shoots.
The Australian Chapter
Previous to this, Karen held Senior Management positions with Australia’s largest event & congress management company - ICMS Australasia (which later merged to become Event Planners Australia), for a period of three years. During this time she fulfilled the roles of Business Development Manager, Event Manager and Sponsorship & Exhibition Manager. Events under Karen’s management varied in size from 50 to 5,000 attendees. Karen was awarded the prestigious Meetings & Events Australia award for Event of the Year while with ICMS Australasia.
The United Kingdom Chapter
Karen has also held a Senior Management role in the United Kingdom as the Deputy Manager and Acting Licensee of a 1,000 person capacity entertainment venue. This position incorporated the full array of managerial procedures including managing a staff in excess of forty individuals plus security teams to deliver an enjoyable and safe experience to patrons.
Industry Expert
Karen has been an invited speaker at numerous Meetings & Events Australia (formerly MIAA) conferences and professional development days; most noteable was her presentation "Best In Business" at the MEA National Conference in Perth, Western Australia in 2005.
Karen was also the Event Manager responsible for winning the prestigious Meetings Industry Association of Australia ‘Event of the Year’ award in 2003 for the NSW Premier's Forum on Spinal Cord Injury & Conditions.
Since the formation of 360 Degree Events, Karen has lead the team responsible for winning the New Zealand Association of Event Professionals award for 'Best Emerging Event 2008' for the planning and delivery of Step Up Canterbury.
Qualifications
Karen’s industry experience is supported by a BA Business in Tourism attained at Southern Cross University in Australia. As part of this degree Karen undertook an international exchange program to the University of Lincolnshire & Humberside in the United Kingdom; where she studied a BA of International Tourism.
Karen also holds an Advanced Certificate in Travel & Tourism from the Riverina Institute of TAFE in Australia and a Standards for Training, Certification and Watch-Keeping (STCW) from Blue Water Yachting in France.
