Entertainment Technology New Zealand Inc News

Special Meeting

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 05:21:00 GMT

Notice is given of a ETNZ Special Meeting to be held Monday 30th March 2026 at 5.30pm online to approve ETNZ remaining an incorporated society and to adopt the 2026 Constitution.

Full details have been emailed to all member.

ETNZ 2024 AGM

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 22:23:01 GMT

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.

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.

Nominations for all positions on the ETNZ Executive, being President, Vice President, Secretary / Treasurer & Committee members are being requested. 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. Nominations close on Saturday 6th July 2024

Members who have any items or motions for discussion under General Business need to submit the item or motion to etnz.admin@gmail.com by Saturday 6th July 2024 with enough information that when included in the agenda, the membership can be informed.

The constitution states that 5% of the membership is required to make a quorum for this meeting. Therefore we require at least 12 members to attend this meeting.

The AGM is when Life Membership, the Industry Achievement Award and Production pins are awarded

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 ETNZ website for application details. Nominations for these are required to be submitted by Saturday 13th July 2024.

Life Membership
Life members are defined in our constitution as persons who have rendered outstanding service to Entertainment Technology New Zealand as an association.
A life member must be a financial member of ETNZ.

The nomination for this award should be based on one or more of the following criteria:
• Serving on the Executive Committee over three or more terms
• Serving on sub-committees to advance the published ETNZ goals
• Supporting and advancing the interests of ETNZ over an extended period of time

Industry Achievement Awards
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.

Nominations for the Industry Achievement Award will be assessed on the following criteria:
• the person or organisation is, or has been, an outstanding leader in the field of entertainment technology
• the person or organisation has developed a product or procedure that has become nationally or internationally recognised
• the person or organisation has provided outstanding service to the Entertainment Industry (generally greater than fifteen years)
• the person or organisation has provided outstanding support in educating and training new industry technicians
• the person is not a current sitting member of the executive committee

Production and Event pins

Introduced in 2015 as a way of recognising the commitment of our members to the industry. 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.

The criteria for the pins
• The applicant must be a current financial member of ETNZ (Bronze, Silver, Gold, & Platinum tiers).

• An application must demonstrate that the required number of productions and/or events have been achieved.

Definitions

• A professional production is defined as a season, event, or tour and is required to have a technical or dress rehearsal, and a performance.

• A complete tour is counted as one production, but multiple tours of the same production can be counted as a separate production.

• A major event is a nationally significant event or ceremony (i.e. World Cup, Tradeshow/Conference that has an international reach).

• 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.
• A virtual production or event can be counted as long as it has at least 3 of the following elements: set, lighting, sound, costumes.

Platinum member Jands 2023 is coming to New Zealand

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 06:46:19 GMT

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&A format event.

Key Topics

Current trends for products and solutions in 2023.
What’s next for Jands in New Zealand.
How Jands can support your projects.
Jands business services.

RSVP to the event here

Join our gold member's ULA at their upcoming roadshow

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 06:42:53 GMT

NZ Roadshow Mailout 2023_Invite.pdf

Discount partner Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries welcomes the Connemara into it's fleet

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 04:15:35 GMT

Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries are super excited to announce their newest and largest ship – the Connemara – has arrived!

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.

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.

The Connemara also has dedicated dog-friendly cabins. That’s right; dogs 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!

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. 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.

For more information about Connemara and the dog-friendly cabins, please go to the Connemara page on our website https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/connemara/

Some more fast facts on the Connemara are detailed below;

- 187 metres long
-             Gross Tonnage 27414
-             Up to 500 passengers
-             120 Cabins (including a few dog friendly ones)
-             Escalator access from main vehicle deck
-             Most recently operated by Brittany Ferries

Past President and Life Member Grant Gilbert

Sun, 12 Feb 2023 07:31:49 GMT

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.

ETNZ Renewals

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 21:46:23 GMT

ETNZ will start testing the membership renewals side of the new website from today.

AGM Held today

Sun, 10 Jul 2022 06:12:34 GMT

AGM Held today at Te Pae in Christchurch

#News

Omicron Survey Results & Letter to the Prime Minister dated 1 Feb 2022

(Past member) — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 03:45:21 GMT

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.

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 85% of the revenue for our respondents over this period. For our respondents, this equates to an estimated $40 million loss.

ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron Summary PUBLISHED 2022-01-31

2022-02-01 Letter ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron RED Survey

ETNZ Letter to the Prime Minister - 27 January 2022

(Past member) — Thu, 27 Jan 2022 03:49:52 GMT

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.

2022-01-27 Letter ETNZ COVID 19 Omicron RED

Please take the time to support our advocacy by providing data in this short survey to use in our next communications with Government. The survey will close on the 28th of January.

New Facility Operations Apprenticeship (L4) with Skills Active

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 02:57:20 GMT

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.

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.

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.

To read more on this new qualification, visit the Skills Active web page, and remember: Skills Active apprenticeships are zero-fees until the end of 2022, under the government’s Targeted Training Fund.

ETNZ Scholarships & Workshops for the Level 3 NZC in Entertainment and Event Operations

(Past member) — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 03:16:24 GMT

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.

Here are a few quick numbers to illustrate the success of the workshops:

152 participants attended the workshops
70 of those participants were scholarship recipients
19 industry practitioners acted as workshop facilitators
12 venues generously donated space and support

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with calls for additional workshops in the future:

Being in a room with other like-minded people talking and learning about the things we are passionate about.
I enjoyed the way the facilitators were able to draw information out of people in a very encouraging way. I learnt so much especially gaining an appreciation for other areas involved.
Really enjoyed learning about H&S in a way that broke it down simply and made it easy to understand.
Friendly and engaging tutors, all very helpful and passionate about assisting the attendees to the end goal.
The facilitators are clearly very passionate about our industry which made the sessions fun and engaging.
This workshop has given me the chance to expand my career in the event industry.
I would like to show my personal appreciation to those facilitating the workshop, great people with the future of the industry at heart.
Thank you can’t wait for the next course.

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.

UPDATE: 100x ETNZ COVID-19 Scholarships have been Awarded

(Past member) — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 04:20:18 GMT

ETNZ has now awarded all 100 COVID-19 Scholarships for the New Zealand Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3.

The scholarship, combined with additional enrolments, means we will have around 130 people participating in this qualification and the associated workshops.

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.

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.

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.

Contact Vicki Cooksley, ETNZ President (president@etnz.org), or Rob Peters (rob@theatresystems.co.nz) for further information.

ETNZ Level 3 Workshop Dates:

Dates	City
Sat/Sun 4&5 July	Wellington
Sat/Sun 18&19 July	Tauranga
Sat/Sun 25&26 July	Gisborne
Wed/Thu 29&30 July	Napier
Sat/Sun 1&2 Aug	Hastings
Sat/Sun 8&9 Aug	New Plymouth
Sat/Sun 15&16 Aug	Palmerston Nth
Sat/Sun 22&23 Aug	Southland
Sat/Sun 29&30 Aug	Dunedin

ETNZ 2019 Conference Session – Celebrating the Industry with Special Guest, our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jacinda Ardern

(Past member) — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 04:21:08 GMT

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.

You can watch a video of the session here, or read over the transcript below.

ETNZ 2019 Conference Session Transcript Celebrating the Industry 26 June 2019.pdf

ETNZ Announces 100x COVID-19 Scholarships for the New Zealand Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3.

(Past member) — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 04:13:57 GMT

In these unprecedented times ETNZ has been looking at ways to help the industry. ETNZ recognises the need to retain and keep engaged the Entertainment and Event Technology workforce. One way we have committed to doing this is by offering Scholarships in the NZ Certificate in Entertainment and Event Operations, Level 3. This Scholarship will cover the cost of the qualification and the assessment.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”
Vicki Cooksley, ETNZ President

The ETNZ executive continue to explore further ways to support the industry through this time.

How do I apply?
Follow this link to a simple form:
Application Form
ETNZ will be holding two rounds of applications initially. These close on the 17th of April, and the 24th 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.

Will I be required to give anything back?
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. This will be due once the qualification is completed.

Terms and Conditions

You agree once successful with your Scholarship application to commit to this qualification and to complete it.
You agree to provide a summary of your experience to ETNZ at the completion of the qualification.
You agree to ETNZ using your name and image as a successful scholarship recipient within its media channels.
You will need to meet Skills Active training agreement requirements.

If you have any questions, please email president@etnz.org.

Sincerest thanks for your continued support,
Entertainment Technology New Zealand