2014. Well, actually, 2013 this proposal went to Council. 10 years ago!
A very excited Council… then the wheels fell off when the administration couldn’t see the “value” in the event.
Creative Director on this was Philip McDougall. At the time Philip was EVP Creative in New York for the prestigious Global Experiential Marketing Agency Jack Morton Worldwide & was rebranding San Francisco Bay Area in preparation for Super Bowl. He had been Creative on some of the largest broadcast events of the new century including Melbourne Commonwealth Games & Beijing Olympics as the head Creative of JMW Australia… he was home on a rest while waiting on his new position with another global giant & we decided to put our heads together to make something to celebrate our home town…
We aimed to show Wellington as vibrant & exciting to the world. Not celebrating ourselves to ourselves. Allowing others to celebrate us, our city & our place in the World - if only for the fact we are the first capital city to see the New Year!
We did this to instil some pride in our children for our home town & partly because we could. I mean, he was very capable & Wellington couldn’t afford him (something I said as we parted Council). There was no personal gain for us. Sure we each have a son at Victoria & I even have a son who works at premium digital agency Paperkite as a Product Owner & Designer, but he lives in Christchurch. All our other kids live overseas or Auckland or Christchurch & don’t see Wellington as “home” like we do.
Philip is now Creative Director at Google in San Francisco. He’s accomplished lots! He makes events & brand engagements that the World notices. So much it’s crazy! Phil was once in a pipe band with Mu from Fat Freddy’s Drop & Ashley Bloomfield from… well I’m going to say daily lockdown updates. Those guys are big news to us. Phil is next level. Phil does this stuff on a large scale… & we can’t afford him.
My business has evolved. Our production company has been providing the same production every year to Waitangi Day at Waitangi Park with every opportunity to improve but despite our efforts its been allowed to get stale. We didn’t tender this year & no one asked why not. The now Auckland based business has morphed in to a nice operation that tours constantly & looks after Parris Goebel & Palace Dance Company including international tours even Dubai EXPO2020 last year. We did a couple of stages at Homegrown this year - 21 years of that Waterfront event. Last year we reformatted Waitangi Day for a red light hybrid streamed event that just demonstrated our ability to effect change. The production company has out grown me but is still part of our bigger operation that as mentioned is based in Auckland now & we are about to share an office.
I’m shifting our digital immersive media business out of Wellington this month moving HQ to Auckland & operations overseas. Our digital business has been developing products for augmented reality & immersive media & is enjoying some great success. Our clients are all outside Wellington - North America, Australia & Auckland. Nothing keeps us here & not that we haven’t tried. Wellington doesn’t have the innovation or forward thinking.
I’m still questioning why Wellington does not have anything to offer us. But I keep thinking it’s more that Wellington wants nothing that we have to offer…
Wellington creatives don’t make it in Wellington. They make it elsewhere & live in Wellington until it becomes easier to live somewhere else or they are prepared to adjust their work & lifestyle to suit - I live in Wellington but we’re moving core business to Auckland. When I first worked with Phil in 2000 I commuted to Melbourne but worked in a satellite office (old style remote) back here in Wellington or my studio in Melbourne… we worked on installations in Sydney & I worked on events in Auckland too.
But as Wellington gets more & more isolated the remote working style gets more difficult to justify. The issue for our home town is that it keeps telling us it has great food & theatre & entertainment & all these things it has to offer… however the culinary & entertainment & lifestyle experiences are not as good as Melbourne or Auckland or Christchurch right now - ask all those new students who went to Canterbury this year.
Wellington could start offering a place that new people feel they are making a contribution… that’s what we wanted from LA DE DA 2014. A new culture that offered a place to belong & then celebrate that. And then show off about it to the World! A place where our hometown heros could come home to & invite the World to join in. That’s what culture is about. It’s about belonging & being able to contribute.
Wellington is still our home town. It would be nice to be able to make a contribution some day…
note: 2014 the main question was “who is Kendrick Lamar?”
