The Phoenix Summit

New Zealand's music, media and entertainment industries had no single event that brought them together. Hamish Pinkham, co-founder of Rhythm and Vines, created The Phoenix Summit to change that, and I joined as event director and creative producer.

Summit 001 drew about 150 people to Q Theatre on 14 September 2019 for a full day of interviews, presentations and conversations. The line-up ran from Lady Gaga's creative director and John Legend's manager to MTV's Brent Hansen, alongside local industry names. I shaped the programme, ran logistics, hosted speakers, and built the community, marketing and communications.

Then Covid-19 arrived. Phoenix Rising, in July 2020, was a smaller networking event after the first lockdown, looking at the opportunities ahead. Summit 002 was planned for November 2020 and did not go ahead when Covid-19 returned to Auckland, so The Phoenix Encore closed the year in December, celebrating people who had found success anyway, including the creators of the film Baby Done.

In November 2021 the community came back together at Wynyard Pavilion for Summit 003, with Grammy-nominated producer Mike Snell and LiveNDirect founder Keith Turner among the guests.

The event is only the beginning. Phoenix is the proof.