Daz Martin is an engagement strategist, event director and producer, MC, presenter and facilitator based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He helps B2B organisations build trust, credibility and strategic relationships with their customers and stakeholders. He's spent 15+ years producing events and engagement programmes across New Zealand, Australia and the UK (with two years in a TV newsroom along the way). Most recently he was Enterprise & Business Engagement Manager at One New Zealand, and before that he led Spark Accelerate, Spark New Zealand's flagship customer conference.

Daz works three ways, often on the same project: engagement strategist, director and executive producer, and broadcast-trained host and facilitator. He plans who an organisation needs to reach and why, designs and produces the events and content that do it - and on the day, he's often the one holding the mic. He's hands-on, from idea to execution. Because he's planned and produced the event, by the time he's on stage he already knows every speaker, every name and every cue.

Daz is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, New Zealand. He's happy to travel anywhere for the right event, and he hosts online and hybrid events too. He's worked on events across New Zealand, Australia and the UK, from the Melbourne Fashion Festival to the Freshers Fair at Imperial College London, the UK's largest student fair.

Daz works with B2B organisations, including large corporates, membership organisations and the agencies that support them. Past clients include Spark, One New Zealand, Kea New Zealand, WorkSafe, Design Assembly and the National Library of New Zealand. The work spans enterprise customer conferences, brand and product launches, member and community events, gala and awards dinners, luxury hospitality, live TV interviews, podcasts and thought-leadership content.

Daz builds strategic engagement programmes: a year-round calendar of events, content and communications aimed at the customers an organisation most wants to grow. He works out who to reach, what to say to them and which mix of events, invitations, content and follow-up will do it - then plans the calendar so each piece builds on the last. For example, at One New Zealand he established the business engagement strategy, a programme of around 30 events a year alongside sponsorships, trade stands and customer workshops.

Daz calls himself a structured creative: he designs the whole experience, then delivers it. He starts with the strategy and the big idea - what the event is for, who it's for and what they should feel and do afterwards - then shapes the format, content and creative to match. From there he runs the plan through to delivery: suppliers, run sheet, crew and calling the show on the day. He works directly with organisations or alongside agencies, on events including Spark Accelerate, Spark New Zealand's flagship customer conference, and a national dealer meeting for Honda Australia.

Daz is an MC, panel moderator and facilitator for conferences, customer events, awards dinners and workshops. He spent two years producing and reporting for AM, Newshub's live morning show, with up to five live interviews a day. That taught him to stay calm when the plan changes, keep to time and draw real insight from the people he's interviewing. On the day, his job is to look after the speakers and guests so they can shine, and to keep the audience with them from the welcome to the wrap.

Like a producer. Daz pre-interviews every guest, builds the question arc, checks every name and has a plan for running long, short or wrong (that last one is the newsroom talking). Organisers get a briefing doc before the day, so everyone is working from the same plan. With 15+ years on the production side, he also knows what the AV crew and stage manager need from a host, and works with them before, during and after the show.

Yes. Daz moderates panels, fireside chats and live interviews, drawing on his two years in live television. He talks to each panellist beforehand, so the conversation builds and the audience gets real answers. Recent work includes writing the panel brief for One New Zealand’s Tent Talks at Fieldays 2026, hosting AUNZ MICE Club events in Auckland and interviewing Olympic gold medallist Manaia Nuku at a leadership hui.

Daz often jokes that he's lived many lives. He trained as a chef and worked in youth and community development before moving into events in 2010. He's produced events for students' associations in Christchurch, Melbourne and London, for festivals and an event agency, and spent two years as a producer and reporter on Newshub's AM. Since then he's run events and engagement for Kea New Zealand, Spark and One New Zealand.

He holds a London City & Guilds Diploma in Culinary Arts (high distinction), a bachelor's degree in Youth and Community Development from Laidlaw College, a Graduate Diploma in Event Management (with distinction) from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (now Ara Institute of Canterbury), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies in journalism and screen production from AUT University.

Daz led Spark Accelerate, Spark New Zealand's flagship customer conference, growing customer attendance 67% in a year. The event brought together customers representing NZ$54 million in annual business. Every partner from year one came back for year two and increased their investment. In year two, the partnership programme he designed brought in NZ$380,000, 27% over target. Years earlier, at the University of Canterbury Students' Association, he turned an event budgeted as a NZ$70,000 spend into a NZ$17,000 profit.

People don't trust a brand. They trust people they've met, connected with and believe in. Daz believes the B2B organisations that will succeed in the AI era are the ones that build strong personal connections with their customers and stakeholders. That's why his work brings customers together with the people who serve them, face to face (and as a trained chef, he'll tell you the best business conversations happen around a table). "Business is personal" was the line on his first website in 2019, and it still shapes how he works.

Daz uses AI every day for the busywork: drafting, research and admin. (He's also run an AI photo booth that took over LinkedIn for two days.) But he believes the future is human - not in spite of AI, but because of it. AI can draft a document, but it can't replace a real conversation. Used ethically and well, it hands back hours that are better spent with customers, guests and colleagues, and that's where he puts them.

An event is one channel among several. Daz plans the whole campaign around it - the invitations, the content before and after, the follow-up - because those matter just as much as the day itself. Planned together, one event becomes an engagement programme that keeps working long after pack-down. He calls the idea Return on Attention: people's time is valuable, so every touchpoint has to be worth it for the person it's aimed at.

The work and the experience come first. Daz brings his best to every project, but he doesn't have to always be right - he's happy to be wrong if it gets a better result. He leads like air traffic control: the team are the pilots, and his job is to give them a clear flight plan. His favourite part is seeing it all come together, and everyone involved getting excited about it.

Get in touch through the contact form on dazmartin.com with the date, the event and who's coming, and whether you need hosting, production, strategy or a mix. Daz will come back to you as soon as he can. The more notice the better, but he can work to tight timescales.

Every event is different, so Daz quotes once he knows the scope: what the event is, how much preparation it needs and where it's held. Quotes are in NZ dollars plus GST, or in your local currency for international projects. He treats your budget as a boundary line, not a target.

Yes. Daz is open to media interviews, podcasts and panel spots on B2B events and customer engagement, what broadcasting teaches you about live events, and keeping things human as AI takes on more of the busywork. As a former producer and reporter for Newshub's AM, he knows how live media works from the other side of the desk. Get in touch the same way as a booking.