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    <title>Entertainment Technology New Zealand Inc News</title>
    <link>https://www.etnz.org/</link>
    <description>Entertainment Technology New Zealand Inc blog posts</description>
    <dc:creator>Entertainment Technology New Zealand Inc</dc:creator>
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    <pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2026 08:24:06 GMT</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2026 08:24:06 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2026 02:57:27 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Final Bow - Paul Minifie</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Paul will be remembered for his inspiring leadership of Centrepoint Theatre, Palmerston North, Theatre Corporate, Auckland and the Maidment Arts Centre at Auckland University.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Beginning his professional theatre career touring schools with Children’s Art Theatre and the New Zealand Players Drama Quartet, Paul later acted in productions in professional companies such as Downstage Theatre in Wellington, Gateway Players in Tauranga and Four Seasons in Whanganui. In 1974 he took up the direction of Centrepoint Theatre after the sudden resignation of the inaugural Artistic Director.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul, who was in the production onstage at the time, was asked if he would take the reins. Paul agreed and at age 27 he was thrust into developing a stable and ongoing theatre company. This he did with magnificent rigour, developing an excellent culture in the building and leading the move to find a new venue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul stood down from the Artistic Director role in 1978 after the theatre was established on the current site and moved to Theatre Corporate in Auckland, leaving a thriving company and staff behind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul later joined Mercury Theatre performing and directing under Raymond Hawthorne who had been his predecessor at Theatre Corporate. Paul became artistic director of the Maidment Arts Centre, transforming the culture there. In the years to follow, Paul acted and directed for many theatres including Auckland Theatre Company and appeared in a small number of screen works.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Those of us who worked closely with him honour his leadership, inspiring us with his impeccable work ethic and his wicked sense of humour.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Murray Lynch&lt;/strong&gt; (Centrepoint Theatre 1974 – 1981)&lt;br&gt;
______________________________________________________________________&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;To mark the passing of Paul Minifie, who played a significant part in Auckland Theatre Company’s history, we asked ATC founder Simon Prast to reflect on the life and contribution of his dear friend. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul Minifie – actor, director, tutor, mentor, voice-over artist, venue manager, New Zealand theatre legend and the most loyal and loving friend you could ever hope to meet in a lifetime – passed last Friday 30 October 2026. He was 79.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After the success of ATC’s recent production of &lt;em&gt;Cabaret&lt;/em&gt;, in the strange circularity of events, I am reminded of another production of this landmark musical. Theatre Corporate. 1984. Sarah Peirse was Sally Bowles, Michael Hurst was the Emcee. Maya Dalziel was Frau Schnieder and, as Herr Schultz, Paul Minifie. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;That year, 1984, was my first year at Theatre Corporate’s Drama School, Paul was one of my tutors and &lt;em&gt;Cabaret&lt;/em&gt; the first production I saw there as a student. I had caught him the year before at Corporate as Gloucester to Raymond Hawthorne’s &lt;em&gt;King Lear&lt;/em&gt;. He was sublime in both roles – he could sing, he could dance, he could stagger, eyeballs out, on a blasted heath – displaying a range and sensitivity that would distinguish his work (and that we lowly students could only hope to one day emulate). As a fellow student posted on hearing the news, Paul was a kind man in a theatre not always full of them and the friendship we made that year would, as it turned out, last a lifetime.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After Theatre Corporate, Paul became Raymond’s number two at the Mercury Theatre where I was privileged to be directed by him in &lt;em&gt;Shadowlands&lt;/em&gt;, a gorgeously moving play about CS Lewis and Joy Gresham, the American poet he had dared to love. Maybe you saw it. Audiences were shattered by the true story and performances of the leads, Ross Duncan and Helen Medlyn. One of Paul’s greatest gifts was his ability to bring out the best in actors during the rehearsal process. He didn’t scream at you. He had patience. Kindness. He understood your processes as an actor creating a role and helped you through it. Not all well-known directors subscribed to this method but that was one of Paul’s hallmarks.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At the Merc, in C&lt;em&gt;at on a Hot Tin Roof&lt;/em&gt;, I got to play Brick alongside Paul as Big Daddy. Lee Grant played Big Momma, Elizabeth Hawthorne was Maggie the Cat. On stage, Paul was a force to reckon with, imposing and brutal. It was a career highlight for me and an honour to share the stage with him.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Then, on 19 March 1992, the Mercury closed its doors and Paul and I stood among its entire company, crew and administration in France Steet – evicted and homeless. So much for twenty years of theatre in this town.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And there our story might have ended.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;However.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul went on to accept a new role – Director and Manager of the Maidment Theatre at the University of Auckland. And I got involved with a group hoping to start a new theatre&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Time passed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul worked tirelessly on transforming the Maidment from a student revue venue to a ‘proper theatre’ as ATC slowly grew until, in 1996, our paths merged once more – we transferred Roger Hall’s &lt;em&gt;Market Forces&lt;/em&gt;, a sellout success at the Herald Theatre, to the Maidment.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In the history of ATC, this moment, this quantum leap from 180 seats to 440 seats, was transformative, sealing our fortune and securing our future. It forever changed the scale and scope of our programming and productions, created opportunities for the Company to score meaningful box office success and prepared the way for all that would follow. Paul&amp;nbsp;paved the way. He gave us a home when we had none and because he had run most of the theatres in this country at some time, helped guide me through my own steep learning curve.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As an audience member, I’m sure you will have your own special memories of the ATC’s many years at the Maidment. For me, the first play I ever directed, &lt;em&gt;Twelve Angry Men&lt;/em&gt;, opened there before transferring to Sky City. It was Paul who made this possible. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Because of his workload, he was always reticent to accept many acting jobs but I was able to entice him back on stage a few times. He was delicious as Badger in &lt;em&gt;The Wind in the Willows&lt;/em&gt;, devastating as Joe Keller in &lt;em&gt;All My Sons&lt;/em&gt; and charged with a complex humanity as the chief oncologist Dr Harvey Kelekian alongside Ilona Rodgers and Beryl Te Wiata in &lt;em&gt;Wit&lt;/em&gt;. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In 2013, for the Company’s 21st birthday, Colin McColl cast us alongside each other again as Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell in &lt;em&gt;Anne Boleyn&lt;/em&gt;. Though the play was hugely entertaining, more so was sharing a dressing room with Paul, Raymond, Ken Blackburn, George Henare, Jordan Mooney and Peter Daube. We laughed, sang, gossiped and shared theatre stories. One night, cocky as ever, Raymond came strolling in demanding to know if anyone had anything to read. Noting Raymond’s still cursory acquaintance with the words, Paul said dryly and quick as flash: “You could try the script!”&amp;nbsp; Even Raymond laughed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He had an excellent sense of humour and so many of his “Paulisms” have become my own. When an audience enjoyed a show, they were “throwing their wives in the air.” If something was outdated, it “went out with Binnie Hale and green eyeshadow.”&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;He had one other life maxim that has stayed with me: “Work pays off.”&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Paul struggled with his health in recent years. In 2019, things were not looking good but he rallied and, in an extraordinary comeback, flew to Indonesia for a last holiday. He made it back to Auckland for the launch of ATC’s 30th Anniversary book. For many, it was a chance to tell him how much he changed their lives. He wasn’t really one for accolades but he was chuffed to see so many friends and colleagues, gathered to celebrate three decades of a theatre company he had so foundationally helped to shape.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Put another way, we couldn’t have done it without him.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And so, back to &lt;em&gt;Cabaret&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;As Herr Schultz sings: “How the world can change, it can change like that.” Last Friday 30 October, the world of New Zealand theatre changed like that as Paul Minifie left the stage for the last time. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In our industry, he was a giant.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;All who follow stand on his shoulders as their own dreams take form and they reach for the stars.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Simon Prast&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13773632</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13773632</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2026 02:53:59 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Final Bow - Nic Balkum</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Our beloved Nicholas (Nic) Balkum was born in Denver, Colorado on the 5th of March in 1987, and passed away in Wellington, New Zealand on the 25th of September, 2026. He was 39 years young.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nic had a very close relationship with his parents, Earl Thomas (Tom) Balkum and Carol Ellen Scott Balkum. They supported him through a Waldorf education and accompanied him to High Mowing School in New Hampshire, where they both worked and inspired the lives of those present throughout Nic’s high school education. Before he ever worked professionally on circus performance, Nic was juggling and unicycling with friends at school.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;For university, Nic attended Johnson State College in Vermont, earning a degree in Technical Theatre in 2009. He specialised in lighting design, and worked in live entertainment in the Burlington region through those years. After graduating, Nic was employed full time as the Master Electrician (the US theatre equivalent of Head of Lighting) at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, New Hampshire. While there, he developed his passion for rigging. From 2012 to 2014, Nic traveled the US on and off with close friends Genevieve Poppe and George Lutz, adventuring, working on festivals and events, climbing the high steel, and becoming a stage pirate.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;In 2014, Nic and Gen took the adventure overseas to New Zealand, where they’d expected to spend one year. Instead, they swiftly fell in love with the most beautiful place on earth, filled with the most beautiful people. Despite sometimes being unable to decipher a rapid-fire NZ accent (especially in the early days), Nic decided to stay and make Wellington his home, becoming a New Zealand citizen (though never adopting the Kiwi accent).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;After arriving in Wellington, he quickly made his mark on the live entertainment sector before spending time overseas as a rigger with Cirque du Soleil. On his return to NZ, Nic co-founded production rigging company, YOOCrew, with his best friend, Sam Johnston, in 2019. Nic’s influence spread around the country as he nurtured newcomers to the industry and developed innumerable friendships through a shared love of rigging, many of which remain his closest circle of friends. Nic’s ethos was always to put people first, making everyone feel comfortable and safe. This attitude is visible in all those he worked shoulder-to-shoulder with and endures as part of his legacy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nic met the love of his life, Laura Oakley, in 2019 and began the greatest adventure of his life with her. Nic and Laura shared a great passion for circus, him as a rigger and her as a performer. Whatever Laura was thinking, Nic was behind her 100%. He was a huge support behind the scenes at REVEL, RAW, and Circus in the Gardens, among many more local circus shows. They worked on WOW together in 2019 and 2025. Nic and Laura worked hard to advocate, promote, and make the local circus scene in Pōneke safe and accessible. Through great adventures, challenges and losses, Nic was the most kind and loving partner. “We always kept each other laughing and smiling. He was the greatest gift of my life, I am beyond lucky to have been loved by him”. In the words of the Grateful Dead, “Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell”.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nic is survived by a wide network of loving family across the US, and chosen family in New Zealand. In addition to his parents, Carol and Tom, Nic is predeceased by his brother, James Thomas Balkum, and sister, Catherine Taylor Balkum.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13773617</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13773617</guid>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2026 09:55:16 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ AGM 2026</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Notice is given that the ETNZ AGM will be held at 11.00am on &lt;strong&gt;Sunday 7th&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;June&lt;/strong&gt; at the Court Theatre, Christchurch.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Nomination for the Executive position are now open and nomination forms can be found on the resources page of the website.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;At the conclusion of the meeting, there will be a venue tour.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13631682</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13631682</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sun, 15 Mar 2026 05:21:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Special Meeting</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Notice is given of a ETNZ Special Meeting to be held &lt;strong&gt;Monday 30th March&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;2026 at 5.30pm online&lt;/strong&gt; to approve ETNZ remaining an incorporated society and to adopt the 2026 Constitution.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Full details have been emailed to all member.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13609721</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13609721</guid>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:23:01 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ 2024 AGM</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 18px;"&gt;Notice is given that the Annual General Meeting for Entertainment Technology New Zealand Inc will be held on Saturday 27th July 10.00am in Auckland.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Closer to the meeting time, the Agenda including the Auckland location and a zoom link will be published to allow members to attend the AGM online.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Nominations for all positions on the ETNZ Executive, being President, Vice President, Secretary / Treasurer &amp;amp; Committee members are being requested.&amp;nbsp; Nominations to be submitted on the downloadable form that can be found on the resources page on the website. Both the nominee and nominator need to be current members of ETNZ.&amp;nbsp; Nominations close on Saturday 6th July 2024 &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Members who have any items or motions for discussion under General Business need to submit the item or motion to&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="mailto:etnz.admin@gmail.com"&gt;etnz.admin@gmail.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;by&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saturday 6th July 2024&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;with enough information that when included in the agenda, the membership can be informed.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The constitution states that 5% of the membership is required to make a quorum for this meeting.&amp;nbsp; Therefore we require at least 12 members to attend this meeting. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The AGM is when Life Membership, the Industry Achievement Award and Production pins are awarded&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;If you wish to nominate a person (or organisation) for a Life Membership or Industry Achievement Award, or apply for a Production Pin, please see the resources page on the&amp;nbsp; ETNZ website for application details.&amp;nbsp; Nominations for these are required to be submitted by&lt;span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Saturday 13th July 2024&lt;/strong&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Life Membership&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Life members are defined in our constitution as persons who have rendered outstanding service to Entertainment Technology New Zealand as an association.&lt;br&gt;
A life member must be a financial member of ETNZ.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The nomination for this award should be based on one or more of the following criteria:&lt;br&gt;
• Serving on the Executive Committee over three or more terms&lt;br&gt;
• Serving on sub-committees to advance the published ETNZ goals&lt;br&gt;
• Supporting and advancing the interests of ETNZ over an extended period of time&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Industry Achievement Awards&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;
ETNZ Executive may select members persons, organisations or companies, who have provided a valuable and significant contribution to the NZ Entertainment Industry to receive an Industry Achievement Award.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Nominations for the Industry Achievement Award will be assessed on the following criteria:&lt;br&gt;
• the person or organisation is, or has been, an outstanding leader in the field of entertainment technology&lt;br&gt;
• the person or organisation has developed a product or procedure that has become nationally or internationally recognised&lt;br&gt;
• the person or organisation has provided outstanding service to the Entertainment Industry (generally greater than fifteen years)&lt;br&gt;
• the person or organisation has provided outstanding support in educating and training new industry technicians&lt;br&gt;
• the person is not a current sitting member of the executive committee&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Production and Event pins&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000"&gt;Introduced in 2015 as a way of recognising the commitment of our members to the industry.&amp;nbsp;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;It is a recognition of participation in production and events, open to all ETNZ financial members who have been involved in the designing, constructing, pulling together, crewing, or management of a production or event .Applicants are eligible to apply for a 25, 50, 75, or 100+ production/event pin.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The criteria for the pins&lt;br&gt;
• The applicant must be a current financial member of ETNZ (Bronze, Silver, Gold, &amp;amp; Platinum tiers).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;• An application must demonstrate that the required number of productions and/or events have been achieved.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Definitions&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;• A professional production is defined as a season, event, or tour and is required to have a technical or dress rehearsal, and a performance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;• A complete tour is counted as one production, but multiple tours of the same production can be counted as a separate production.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;• A major event is a nationally significant event or ceremony (i.e. World Cup, Tradeshow/Conference that has an international reach).&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;• Recreational, community theatre and concerts are included, if you received remuneration and they fulfill the criteria of having a technical or dress rehearsal and a performance.&lt;br&gt;
• A virtual production or event can be counted as long as it has at least 3 of the following elements: set, lighting, sound, costumes.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13381388</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13381388</guid>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Mar 2023 06:46:19 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Platinum member Jands 2023 is coming to New Zealand</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;Please join us to focus on building connections and conversations centered around trends we’re seeing in the local and international commercial AV and lighting industries. Jands want to support New Zealand partners and customers across 2023. Your input will be most welcome at this Q&amp;amp;A format event.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;Key Topics&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;Current trends for products and solutions in 2023.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;What’s next for Jands in New Zealand.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;How Jands can support your projects.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font color="#000000"&gt;&lt;span style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif"&gt;Jands business services&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;RSVP to the event &lt;a href="https://jands.co.nz/jands-nz-2023?utm_source=sfmc&amp;amp;utm_medium=email&amp;amp;utm_campaign=NZ%2BAuckland%2B-%2BBiamp%2BTraining%2BInvite&amp;amp;utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fjands.co.nz%2Fjands-nz-2023&amp;amp;utm_id=444908&amp;amp;sfmc_id=432048658" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#000000" face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12px;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:&amp;quot;Calibri&amp;quot;,sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family:&amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;mso-ansi-language:EN-NZ;mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"&gt;&lt;img width="500" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Pictures/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-19%20at%203.15.11%20PM.png" style="outline: none; border-width: 0in; display: block; font-size: 16px; width: 100%;" name="_x0000_i1025"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13119212</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13119212</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Mar 2023 06:42:53 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Join our gold member's ULA at their upcoming roadshow</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Documents/NZ%20Roadshow%20Mailout%202023_Invite.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;NZ Roadshow Mailout 2023_Invite.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13119210</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13119210</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sun, 19 Feb 2023 04:15:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Discount partner Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries welcomes the Connemara into it's fleet</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 14px;" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;B&lt;font&gt;luebridge Cook Strait Ferries are&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=""&gt;super excited to announce their newest and largest ship – the Connemara – has arrived!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;Connemara provides all the best bits you have come to know and love from Bluebridge, including our great Kiwi service, freshly prepared food, free Wi-Fi, a dedicated kids’ area, and move private cabins with ensuite for that extra personal space.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;You can book now to sail on the Connemara from 16 February. The Connemara will be replacing the Strait Feronia’s schedule so those who have a booking with us on the Feronia after this date will be sailing on our new ship.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505" face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;The Connemara also has dedicated dog-friendly cabins. &amp;nbsp;That’s right; dogs&amp;nbsp;can travel onboard Connemara with their owner! . A Cook Strait first, we hope this news is as exciting for you as it is for us!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#8F8F8F" face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505"&gt;Book one of the two or four-bed dog-friendly cabins– maximum 2 dogs per cabin. Plus, travellers will also have access to the communal outside dog exercise area which is perfect for them to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. &amp;nbsp;Please note that for the safety and comfort of all passengers, dogs are not allowed in the main passenger areas of the ship (except certified assistance dogs) and all dogs must be kept on a lead when outside of the cabin.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#8F8F8F" face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505"&gt;For more information&amp;nbsp;about Connemara and the dog-friendly cabins, please go to the Connemara page on our website&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href="https://bluebridgecookstraitferries.cmail19.com/t/i-l-qhyhulk-tjhdijhjuj-t/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bluebridgecookstraitferries.cmail19.com/t/i-l-qhyhulk-tjhdijhjuj-t/&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1676845546206000&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw3Tik5dPPG7l2Rz9y1FxAt_"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505"&gt;https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/connemara/&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505" face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;Some more fast facts on the Connemara are detailed below;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#050505" face="Open Sans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;-&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;187 metres long&lt;br&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Gross Tonnage 27414&lt;br&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Up to 500 passengers&lt;br&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; 120 Cabins (including a few dog friendly ones)&lt;br&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Escalator access from main vehicle deck&lt;br&gt;
-&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Most recently operated by Brittany Ferries&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="line-height: 21px;"&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Pictures/Connemara.jpg" alt="" title="" border="0"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13103164</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13103164</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sun, 12 Feb 2023 07:31:49 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Past President and Life Member Grant Gilbert</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 15px;" color="#050505" face="Segoe UI Historic, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"&gt;It is with great sadness that ETNZ is announcing that Grant Gilbert completed his final pack out on Saturday night. Grant, a life member of ETNZ, has been a long-standing entertainment industry professional and in this time has given a lot back to the industry including serving as president of ETNZ. Our thoughts go out to his partner, Tracey, and their family.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Pictures/GG.jpg" alt="" title="" border="0" width="151" height="201" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; display: block;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13094172</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13094172</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Jan 2023 21:46:23 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ Renewals</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;ETNZ will start testing the membership renewals&amp;nbsp; side of the new website from today.&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13047596</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13047596</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:12:34 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>AGM Held today</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;AGM Held today at Te Pae in Christchurch&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;#News&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/12843515</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/12843515</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2022 03:45:21 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Omicron Survey Results &amp; Letter to the Prime Minister dated 1 Feb 2022</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Thank you to all who contributed to our survey last week. Your responses were extremely helpful and have been used in our advocacy to the government via the letter and summary below.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Our findings show the estimated loss of revenue resultant from postponements or cancellations due to the move to RED for the period 24 January - 1 May 2022 is estimated at &lt;strong&gt;85%&lt;/strong&gt; of the revenue for our respondents over this period. For our respondents, this equates to an estimated &lt;strong&gt;$40 million&lt;/strong&gt; loss.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Documents/ETNZ-COVID-19-Omicron-Summary-PUBLISHED-2022-01-31.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron Summary PUBLISHED 2022-01-31&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Documents/2022-02-01-Letter-ETNZ-COVID-19-Omicron-RED-Survey.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;2022-02-01 Letter ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron RED Survey&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055419</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055419</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2022 03:49:52 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ Letter to the Prime Minister - 27 January 2022</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;In response to the change to Red setting, ETNZ has sent the following letter to bring to the attention of Ministers the impact this has on our membership and the wider event and entertainment sector. Our aim is to discuss and develop strategies with Government to ensure our sector is supported through this stage of the pandemic.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Documents/2022-01-27-Letter-ETNZ-COVID-19-Omicron-RED.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;2022-01-27 Letter ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron RED&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Please take the time to support our advocacy by providing data in &lt;a href="https://etnz.org/support-our-advocacy-at-red-setting/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;this short survey&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to use in our next communications with Government. &lt;strong&gt;The survey will close on the 28th of January&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055420</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055420</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2020 02:57:20 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>New Facility Operations Apprenticeship (L4) with Skills Active</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;The Facility Operations Apprenticeship is for people who are building their career to take the lead in a facility operations role within an indoor or outdoor sport, arts, entertainment or recreation venue or facility.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;To successfully achieve this apprenticeship you will need to be employed in a sport, art, entertainment or recreation workplace for at least a 12 month period. You may already be in a facility supervision role or your workplace has identified this as part of your development pathway.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;This programme will take up to 2 years to complete 120 credits, and has a mixture of written and practical tasks (projects). These are completed and assessed online in Skills Activator – Skills Active’s learning management system. Most people will receive their training through their workplace. There will be some webinars, reference links, and learning support information online within Skills Activator that can help you.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;To read more on this new qualification, visit&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.temahiako.org.nz/sectors/sport-and-community-recreation/new-zealand-apprenticeship-in-facility-operations-level-4/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#485D7D"&gt;the Skills Active web page&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, and remember:&amp;nbsp;Skills Active apprenticeships are&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.skillsactive.org.nz/our-qualifications/financial-help-for-trainees-and-workplaces/" data-cke-saved-href="https://www.skillsactive.org.nz/our-qualifications/financial-help-for-trainees-and-workplaces/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;font color="#485D7D"&gt;zero-fees until the end of 2022&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, under the government’s Targeted Training Fund.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13040945</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13040945</guid>
      <dc:creator />
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2020 03:16:24 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ Scholarships &amp; Workshops for the Level 3 NZC in Entertainment and Event Operations</title>
      <description>&lt;p style="" align="center"&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Pictures/Workshop%20Collage.jpg" alt="" title="" border="0"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;The journey we began in March of this year has now come to an end, and we would like to thank all those who volunteered their time and energy to make this possible. In addition to 101 scholarships awarded, this initiative included 12 two-day workshops over the course of 3 months throughout the country to support those undertaking to complete the Level 3 qualification. This would not have been possible without assessors and facilitators donating their time and knowledge, venues donating their spaces, and the goodwill of one extremely generous donor.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Here are a few quick numbers to illustrate the success of the workshops:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul style=""&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;152 participants attended the workshops&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;70 of those participants were scholarship recipients&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;19 industry practitioners acted as workshop facilitators&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12 venues generously donated space and support&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with calls for additional workshops in the future:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul style=""&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Being in a room with other like-minded people talking and learning about the things we are passionate about.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;I enjoyed the way the facilitators were able to draw information out of people in a very encouraging way.&amp;nbsp;I learnt so much especially gaining an appreciation for other areas involved.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Really enjoyed learning about H&amp;amp;S in a way that broke it down simply and made it easy to understand.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Friendly and engaging tutors, all very helpful and passionate about assisting the attendees to the end goal.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;The facilitators are clearly very passionate about our industry which made the sessions fun and engaging.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;This workshop has given me the chance to expand my career in the event industry.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;I would like to show my personal appreciation to those facilitating the workshop, great people with the future of the industry at heart.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Thank you can’t wait for the next course.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;We fully appreciate that most of us are struggling through the effects of this pandemic and it is truly heartwarming to see how everyone has chipped in to donate time, venues, and knowledge despite the situation. Over the coming months, keep an eye on our social media for stories on the experiences of our scholarship recipients.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="background-color: transparent;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055402</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055402</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2020 04:20:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>UPDATE: 100x ETNZ COVID-19 Scholarships have been Awarded</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;ETNZ has now awarded all 100 COVID-19 Scholarships for the New Zealand Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;The scholarship, combined with additional enrolments, means we will have around 130 people participating in this qualification and the associated workshops.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;A small team from ETNZ is now working through a series of regional workshops to provide training for the Level 3 Qualification. These workshops are designed to work through the material required to attain Level 3. Whilst attending this workshop is not a requirement of attaining the Level 3 Qualification, we invited scholarship recipients and others enrolled in the Level 3 Qualification to attend.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;ETNZ would like to thank the generosity of the venues, industry practitioners, companies, and assessors that have come on board to assist us in providing these workshops to support these scholarship recipients and other trainees on their qualification journey.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;We have now held the first two workshops in Christchurch at the Isaac Theatre Royal and in Auckland at Q Theatre and ASB Waterfront Theatre. The highly positive feedback from all involved clearly demonstrated the value of partaking in this group session to work through the assessment workbook. There will be a further 9 workshop sessions covering Wellington, Tauranga, Gisborne, Napier, Hastings, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Southland, and Dunedin over the next two months. There are still places available at the workshops for those enrolled in the Level 3 qualification.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;Contact Vicki Cooksley, ETNZ President (&lt;a href="mailto:president@etnz.org" data-cke-saved-href="mailto:president@etnz.org"&gt;&lt;font color="#485D7D"&gt;president@etnz.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;), or Rob Peters (&lt;a href="mailto:rob@theatresystems.co.nz" data-cke-saved-href="mailto:rob@theatresystems.co.nz"&gt;&lt;font color="#485D7D"&gt;rob@theatresystems.co.nz&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;) for further information.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font style="font-size: 16px;" face="Roboto"&gt;ETNZ Level 3 Workshop Dates:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;table width="0"&gt;
  &lt;tbody&gt;
    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Dates&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;City&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 4&amp;amp;5 July&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Wellington&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 18&amp;amp;19 July&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Tauranga&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 25&amp;amp;26 July&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Gisborne&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Wed/Thu 29&amp;amp;30 July&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Napier&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 1&amp;amp;2 Aug&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Hastings&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 8&amp;amp;9 Aug&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;New Plymouth&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 15&amp;amp;16 Aug&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Palmerston Nth&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 22&amp;amp;23 Aug&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Southland&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;

    &lt;tr&gt;
      &lt;td width="195"&gt;Sat/Sun 29&amp;amp;30 Aug&lt;/td&gt;

      &lt;td width="319"&gt;Dunedin&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;/tr&gt;
  &lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055403</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055403</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2020 04:21:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ 2019 Conference Session – Celebrating the Industry with Special Guest, our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;At our 2019 conference ETNZ had the pleasure of welcoming the Minister for Arts, Culture, and Heritage, and our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern, to speak to our membership on her appreciation for our industry.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;You can&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://youtu.be/8kB1_FDCI68" style=""&gt;&lt;font&gt;watch a video of the session here&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, or read over the transcript below.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="background-color: transparent;" align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.etnz.org/resources/Documents/ETNZ%202019%20Conference%20Session%20Transcript%20Celebrating%20the%20Industry%2026%20June%202019.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;ETNZ 2019 Conference Session Transcript Celebrating the Industry 26 June 2019.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055404</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055404</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
    <item>
      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2020 04:13:57 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>ETNZ Announces 100x COVID-19 Scholarships for the New Zealand Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3.</title>
      <description>&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;In these unprecedented times ETNZ has been looking at ways to help the industry.&amp;nbsp;ETNZ recognises the need to retain and keep engaged the Entertainment and Event Technology workforce.&amp;nbsp;One way we have committed to doing this is by offering Scholarships in the NZ Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3.&amp;nbsp;This Scholarship will cover the cost of the qualification and the assessment.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;ETNZ would like to thank those assessors that have waived the assessment fee in exchange for a donation per assessment carried out to enable us to offer these one hundred Scholarships.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;ETNZ would also like to thank an anonymous donor and the former association NZATT, who gifted us these funds. They have been held in a trust for training, which we have released to make the offer of these Scholarships possible.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;In addition to the Scholarships, ETNZ will offer a series of regional workshops delivered through venues to provide training for the Level 3 Qualification. These workshops are designed to work through all the material required to attain Level 3. Whilst attending this workshop is not a requirement, neither of receiving the Scholarship nor attaining the Level 3 Qualification, we invite candidates to indicate in their application whether they would like to attend a workshop.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;“In response to your survey feedback, and acknowledging we are in unprecedented and uncertain times, we recognised a need to support the industry. One of the ways we can do this is by offering these opportunities to upskill while we all wait for the industry to restart. This is just one small way in which we can offer support to the industry. We are listening and trying to find ways within our means to support you.”&lt;br&gt;
Vicki Cooksley, ETNZ President&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;The ETNZ executive continue to explore further ways to support the industry through this time.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;How do I apply?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Follow this link to a simple&amp;nbsp;form:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;a href="https://etnz.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7c8dbc4b854999cc10bd06a8f&amp;amp;id=70bd237b0b&amp;amp;e=acf62eea96" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://etnz.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D7c8dbc4b854999cc10bd06a8f%26id%3D70bd237b0b%26e%3Dacf62eea96&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1586913754938000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGauif2EWcA-kYi89klM9y8XERGoA"&gt;&lt;font&gt;Application Form&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br&gt;
ETNZ will be holding two rounds of applications initially. These close on the 17&lt;font&gt;th&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;of April, and the 24&lt;font&gt;th&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;of April. This is to enable trainees to get up and running as soon as possible. A third round will be closing the 1st of May.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Will I be required to give anything back?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br&gt;
Yes; we would request that at the completion of your qualification you provide a short summary of your experience, and how you will use this qualification, that can be published in our newsletter and on our Facebook page.&amp;nbsp;This will be due once the qualification is completed.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Terms and Conditions&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul style=""&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;You agree once successful with your Scholarship application to commit to this qualification and to complete it.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;You agree to provide a summary of your experience to ETNZ at the completion of the qualification.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;You agree to ETNZ using your name and image as a successful scholarship recipient within its media channels.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;You will need to meet Skills Active training agreement requirements.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;If you have any questions, please email&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="mailto:president@etnz.org"&gt;&lt;font&gt;president@etnz.org&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=""&gt;&lt;font face="Ubuntu" style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Sincerest thanks for your continued support,&lt;br&gt;
Entertainment Technology New Zealand&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055400</link>
      <guid>https://www.etnz.org/news/13055400</guid>
      <dc:creator>(Past member)</dc:creator>
    </item>
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