NZ's Best Emerging Event 2008

PRESS RELEASE - TUESDAY 12 AUGUST 2008

EMERGING EVENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY; 360 DEGREE EVENTS STEPS UP TO DELIVER NEW ZEALAND’S BEST EMERGING EVENT!

The announcement was made at the NZAEP Event Industry Awards Dinner held in Dunedin on Thursday 7 August 2008. The awards recognise excellent business practice and encourage industry professionals to raise the overall standards of event management in New Zealand. 

To be recognised as the Best Emerging Event for 2008, Step Up Canterbury needed to demonstrate innovation towards new practice and satisfy economic, environmental, social and cultural sustainability criteria.

Step Up Canterbury was held on 5 June 2008 to commemorate the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative – World Environment Day. Each year a different country is selected to host the international celebration and an environmental topic is chosen to stimulate global awareness; New Zealand was the host country for World Environment Day 2008 and the focus was ‘Kick the Habit: CO₂! Towards a Low Carbon Economy’.

The event format consisted of two projects; an Expo and ‘funny money’ Auction held at the Christchurch Convention Centre plus a Sustainable Transport Promotion hosted at various locations throughout Canterbury. Both events were innovative and designed to be fun and interactive while rewarding Canterbury residents for taking steps to be more sustainable.

360 Degree Events Ltd, Managing Director - Karen Hamilton said “Thanks must go to the local businesses who embraced the event concept by donating collectively over $45,000 worth of Sustainable Solutions for use as auction prizes”. Items donated included heat pumps, ventilation systems, wool insulation, solar heating, reusable nappies, recycling systems and more.

Prime Minister Helen Clark was the celebrity auctioneer for the Step Up Canterbury Expo and Auction; auctioning a family set of bicycles. She also spent time speaking with exhibitors and watching product demonstrations.

In addition to the Expo and Auction element of the event, over $37,000 worth of bus travel, lunch vouchers and native tree seedlings were distributed as part of a Sustainable Transport Promotion.

Step Up Canterbury achieved carboNZero™ accreditation from Landcare Research for measuring, managing and mitigating CO₂ emissions.

Step Up Canterbury was a unique event, breaking the mould of traditional seminars to achieve education in an entertaining and participative manner. Hamilton said “A key challenge in event management is finding creative ways to realise event objectives and keep the audience engaged. It is therefore a huge honour to be recognised by the NZAEP for implementing new practice.”

“It was also rewarding to work alongside the team at Environment Canterbury; all of whom were enthusiastic about the event and passionate about making fun a priority for participants.