Alice Larmer - Spark Arena

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.

Rachel O'Gorman - Northland Events Centre

After obtaining a Tourism degree in Sports & Events Management at Victoria University, my career in the venues and events industry began in 2003 at Ericsson Stadium (Go Media Stadium) as the Management Support Officer, where I handled accounts, bookings, and assisted the groundsmen for two days a week. Working alongside them for 18 months, preparing the venue for events - whether mowing and marking the field for a Warriors game, distributing wheelie bins, or conducting seat checks - instilled in me a deep, hands-on appreciation for the effort required to execute large-scale events. I then worked as Operations Manager for six years helping to deliver events like the Big Day Out, Warriors games, Kiwis tests and concerts. I took learning opportunities to work at other venues including the 2007 World Netball Championships at Trusts Stadium, a cricket match at Seddon Park and rugby match at Eden Park.

In 2010, I moved to Whangārei to help open the redeveloped Northland Events Centre (Semenoff Stadium) in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. As Operations Manager, I helped establish the venue as a multipurpose facility hosting different sporting codes, music events, and internal bookings.

I spent the next decade working for Whangarei District Council as Marketing & Events Team Leader leading initiatives like rebranding Forum North Entertainment Centre, developing event management resources for the community and implementing bilingual signage at both Forum North and Semenoff Stadium. I helped develop the Northland Fritter Festival and Matariki Festival and helped deliver major events including Rugby World Cup 2011, FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015, and the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup, for which our team proudly won the NZEA Award for Best Venue 2023.

Currently, as Events & Marketing Manager for Northland Events Centre (2021) Trust, I focus on attracting new events to Semenoff Stadium, promoting the venue and its events, overseeing commercial properties, and managing a small events team.

I have had the privilege of serving as Acting General Manager at both Mt Smart Stadium and Semenoff Stadium. During an 8-month period as Acting GM for Semenoff Stadium and Forum North, I attended monthly board meetings, prepared and presented board papers, and reported on finance, stadium operations and Health and Safety. During this time, I was also Project Manager for our British & Irish Lions match, managed 13 staff and event managed a Warriors Pre-Season and the Fritter Festival. In a separate 7-week period of being Acting GM, I contracted the current stadium naming rights sponsorship involving communications with the sponsor, the board, council and our lawyer and then rebranded the stadium. I continue to attend board meetings in my current role to further develop my governance experience while learning from a brilliant group of people.

I’ve been a member of EVANZ and VMA for 20 years and completed PVMS in 2005. I have a huge appreciation for all venue types, I love the experience of attending events and I’m passionate about accessibility, sustainability, Te Reo Māori, and our beautiful Northland region. I would love to serve on the EVANZ Board contributing to documentation and resources for our industry, as well as assisting with the delivery of conferences, promotion and advocacy for EVANZ and our industry.

After dedicating my career to venues and events, I’m energised to give back to the industry I love. Working alongside the current board and GM would be an honour, and I look forward to contributing to EVANZ’s future successes.

Chad Hooker - Bay Venues

My name is Chad Hooker and currently I am the CEO at Bay Venues in Tauranga. We own and manage Mercury Baypark as the key event venue for the western Bay of Plenty hosting a wide range of events from exhibitions and professional and community sports to business events, performance events and festivals. I have been in this role for nearly three years and with a strong executive team in place it’s a good time for me to give back to the industry.

Prior to this I was the Director of Operations and Major Events for H3 at Hamiton City Council for 11 years. While there I 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 I had twelve years working in the property sector managing shopping centres in the Waikato. I have also had experience on the boards of several schools and sporting organisations.

Throughout my time in the industry I have always been involved with EVANZ having attended the year end conference most years since 2012 and was awarded an EVANZ scholarship early on in my time in the industry. A key achievement on my CV is having had three of my team win Operations Manager of the Year at the EVANZ Awards in consecutive years.

One of the standout things I love about our industry is the open and collaborative approach of everyone you meet. I am an advocate of ensuring that we continue to provide a strong industry network and collaborate for positive outcomes for our venues and the communities we serve. Event venues deliver significant social, cultural and economic benefits to our communities that are often undervalued, and we need to keep telling our stories.

I am excited about the chance to contribute more actively to EVANZ and the industry that has given me so much.