Grew customer attendance 67% in a year.

In 2024, Spark brought New Zealand’s senior government and enterprise leaders together for its first Spark Accelerate: a 1.5 day tech summit with international keynote speakers, local expert panels, in-depth breakouts and an immersive technology showcase. The aim was to connect the country’s biggest organisations with the tech and digital solutions they need to succeed.

As event director and executive producer, I led a team of internal and agency staff across both years. Year one brought 600 senior leaders together, 390 of them customers. It also gave us something we didn’t have before: proof.

For 2025, we took the lessons from year one and applied them. We used year one’s content to run a far more targeted comms campaign, so we were showing results rather than making promises. We tightened registration so it was simpler for guests and gave us live numbers, which meant we could keep pushing invites until people committed. And we made the digital showcases bigger and more engaging.

We also changed how partners worked with us. In year one, a few partners came on through informal agreements, which delivered some benefit. For 2025, I led the development of a full, integrated partner programme with contracted sponsorship packages. Partners became part of the programme and the event experience, not just names on a banner.

The result: 900 attendees, customer attendance up 67% to 650, and partnership income up from NZ$45,000 to NZ$380,000, 27% over target.

Results

• Customer attendance up 67% in a year (390 in 2024, 650 in 2025)

• Total attendance up from 600 to 900

• In 2025, brought together customers representing NZ$54M in annual business

• Partnership income grew from NZ$45,000 to NZ$380,000, 27% over the NZ$300,000 target

• 98% of attendees would recommend it, and content was rated 4.8 out of 5