Ministry for Primary Industries Food and Fiber Innovation Conference
2017 - TSB Arena and Shed 6, Wellington
2016 - TSB Arena and Shed 6, Wellington
This conference has grown over the years and tenders were sourced to manage the conference. We were the only tender outside of Wellington and were delighted to win the tender. Our contacts at MPI were based in Wellington, while we were based in Christchurch, and this never posed any issues, with clear communication set up from the beginning of the project.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) hosted this one day conference, and it was the second time we had the opportunity to manage it on their behalf. The event had grown over the years and tenders were sourced to manage the logistics of the event. The conference encompassed an Annual Meeting, Exhibition and Networking Expo and Conference.
Innovation was the key to the conference. No matter their size, companies big and small are turning to innovation to grow their businesses by taking their products and services to the next level. To innovate effectively, access to good information and insights is essential.
The conference focused on how a business engages in innovation across its supply chain, from using inputs through to how products are processed, packaged, distributed and consumed.
We had an intense programme, to ensure delegates got the most out of the day and had the opportunity to network with exhibitors in the catering breaks. With each of the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) exhibiting, it was important for them to showcase the results of there investment and they all had individual requirements, such as indoor BBQ, displaying large farming equipment and live animals.
One of the challenges was coordinating all the various requests and ensuring everything was within the Health and Safety Guidelines from the venue and our procedures. Delegates safety was paramount and included measuring floor layouts and space between cooking displays / equipment and public, food preparation safety and temperature control, fire procedures (including smoke alarm isolation) and having fire wardens onsite during cooking demonstrations etc.
One of our international keynote speakers, was unable to attend and we set up a live steam for a facilitated discussion with him in San Francisco. Our other keynote speaker, received a lot of positive media attention, while he was here in New Zealand.
We live-tweeted from the conference, and along with some of the other delegates, managed to get #foodandfibre17 trending on New Zealand twitter that day.