CHAD HOOKER- BAY VENUES

2024 - present 

Chad Hooker is currently the CEO at Bay Venues in Tauranga. In this role for 3 years, Chad is responsible for the management of Mercury Baypark

Prior to this Chad was the Director of Operations and Major Events for H3 at Hamiton City Council for 11 years. While there he was involved in leading the acquisition and delivery of major events and overseeing operations across Claudelands Events Centre, FMG Stadium Waikato, Seddon Park and theatres. Prior to these roles he had twelve years working in the property sector managing shopping centres in the Waikato.

MARK MEKALICK AVM - NELSON COMMUNITY VENUES

2020 - Present (Chairman)

Mark has been working in the venue management industry for ten years. He started his career in 2010 as an Operations Assistant at TSB Hub in Hawera after graduating from Massey University. After a number of years working at that facility he was offered the opportunity to become the Facility Manager. Mark worked at the TSB Hub for seven years before accepting the role of Venue Manager of Trafalgar Centre and Trafalgar Park in Nelson where he has been for the last three years. Management of Saxton Oval  was added to the portfolio in 2024. At the 2024 EVANZ Awards, mark himself was awarded Team Leader of the Year and the Trafalgar Centre won Medium Venue of the Year. In 2024 Mark was also recognised as an Accredited Venue Manager by the VMA.

ALICE LARMER - SPARK ARENA

2024 - present

Alice is the Head of Bookings and Content at Live Nation New Zealand Venues, which includes Spark Arena, Tuning Fork, and San Fran. For the past eight years, she has been a driving force behind the success and reputation of these venues. Her role encompasses overseeing intricate event scheduling and content management, ensuring that every event is flawlessly executed.

Alice is deeply passionate about stakeholder management and sustainability. She has successfully integrated sustainability as a focus at Spark Arena, including becoming Toitu accredited, demonstrating her commitment to minimizing environmental impact and enhancing the overall event experience.

Prior to returning to New Zealand Alice has honed her skills globally, working on numerous Olympic Games and within the events industry in London, South Africa, Italy, and Australia.

Last year, Alice completed the Leadership Institute at VMS, further enhancing her leadership skills and expanding her industry knowledge. She is also an active member of EVANZ, where she regularly attends conferences and facilitates sessions, sharing her insights and contributing to the broader industry.

JAMES PARKINSON - AUCKLAND STADIUMS

2020 - Present

As Director of Auckland Stadiums James leads a dedicated team of venue professionals that run Mt Smart Stadium, Western Springs Stadium, and North Harbour Stadium.  Hosting over 640,000 visitors a year (in normal times!) he has embedded a strong culture of placing the customer at the centre of everything they do in order to deliver as much value as possible back to industry partners. 

With a 22-year involvement in the event venue industry the last eight years has been very much focused on the stadia sector. His previous consulting career saw him involved in a wide range of event venues throughout the country including theatres, convention centres, indoor arenas, and exhibition facilities.

GLEN PICKERING - TOITOI HAWKE'S BAY ARTS AND EVENTS CENTRE

2023 - present

Glen is the Presenter Services Manager at Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Art and Event Centre. Glen manages the arts, culture and entertainment programming and teams, with a focus on developing commercial partnerships; strengthening national and regional venues and touring; and the development of community programmes that uplift, create belonging and encourage discovery.

Prior to this Glen held leadership roles within the events and performing arts industry. He was Festival Director for Napier Art Deco Festival for 3 years, with the 2018 Festival winning ‘Best Regional Event’ at the national event awards and was Festival Director for the World Buskers Festival in Christchurch for 3 years. Glen was also an Associate Creative Director for the Cricket World Cup Opening Ceremony in 2015.

He has held management positions at New Zealand Opera & Hawke’s Bay Opera House; was Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre and started his career as actor and director working with many of New Zealand's leading theatre companies including Auckland Theatre Company, Silo, Centrepoint Theatre and The Large Group. 

Glen has served on boards for Ngā Toi Hawke’s Bay and National Youth Drama School (Chair 2016/2017); and as a committee representative for New Zealand Actors Equity. 

CAROLINE HARVIE-TEARE -Venues Ōtautahi

2023 - present (Vice Chair)

Prior to being appointed Chief Executive of VŌ in March 2020, Caroline held several key senior executive leadership positions across the private and public sector including both as General Manager of People, Culture, and Safety and General Manager for Performance Transformation and Strategy at Christchurch International Airport and  five years at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, as the General Manager of the Change Management Office, General Manager for People, Capability, Performance, Safety and the Environment, Acting Deputy Chief Executive for Corporate Services, and General Manager for Human Resources.

With a long history in the events and venues industry, Caroline was also on the executive leadership team at VŌ (Vbase at the time) between 2007 and 2011 where she was the General Manager of People, Safety and the Environment and Environment and in the latter year, Acting General Manager for Business Development.

Caroline has also had a range of governance roles during her career and continues to build on this. She is currently the Advisor to the Te Kaha Project Delivery Board, responsible for governing the design and construction of Te Kaha, Christchurch’s new 36,000 capacity Stadium.

SARAH COWLEY - Chief Commercial Officer, iTicket

2023 – present (Associate Members Representative)

Sarah’s experience in the events industry began in 2010 with Ticketek NZ. During her 10+ years with this global ticketing company, she has managed key relationships with most major Venues and Promoters across New Zealand and worked across most international sporting events and tournaments held here. This has enhanced her proficiency in commercial contracts and partnership models, marketing and data analytics, and driving revenue growth for all parties (Venues and Promoters).

Her expertise lies in commercial and partnership structures, contractual negotiations and fulfilment, with a core focus on mutually beneficial partnerships. Her relationships have spanned Community Groups, Regional Councils, Venue Partners, National Sports and Arts entities, SME Enterprises, Board and C-Suite level stakeholders.

Currently, she is the Chief Commercial Officer for iTICKET - one of NZ's leading and preferred event ticketing companies - where she oversees the commercial streams and strategy, marketing solutions, and broader data analytical and technical capabilities. Dealing with a variety of events including some of NZ’s leading expos, festivals, theatres, and performing arts venues she has a strong focus on supporting arts entities and strategic partners to enhance their event experience.

Her well-rounded knowledge and experience in the industry, unwavering enthusiasm, and genuine passion for the NZ events sector and its people make her a great representative of our Associate Members on the EVANZ Board. She has long been a keen advocate for the implementation of a Ticketing Code of Conduct in New Zealand, centering on the rights and protection of our audience (ticket buyers), and will continue to focus on best-practice ticketing.

SALLY-ANNE COATES - GENERAL MANAGER

2019 - present

Sally-Anne started her career as  Press Officer at The Hexagon Theatre in the UK and has worked in a variety of roles in venues of all shapes and sizes including Wembley Stadium. Switching to the commercial sector, she worked in marketing and retail for household names including Royal Doulton and T-Mobile before moving to New Zealand  in 2003.

Sally-Anne was Business Development Officer at New Plymouth EventVenues with responsibility for securing and promoting events at the TSB Showplace, TSB Stadium, Yarrow Stadium and the TSB Bowl of Brooklands. She also managed New Zealand Chamber Soloists, a piano trio who perform nationally and internationally.

Whist in New Plymouth, Sally-Anne also worked with Taranaki Arts Festival Trust and was Site Operations Manager for WOMAD Aotearoa.

Now based in Wellington, she works part-time as a Venue Manager with Venues Wellington - with responsibility for delivering events at the Michael Fowler Centre, Opera House, St James Theatre, TSB Arena and Shed 6.

She looks forward to growing EVANZ and to continually improving the networking and professional development opportunities on offer to venues and associate members.