The Westpac Northland Business Excellence Awards for 2013 took place at Forum North, Whangarei on Friday 26th October. Entrant numbers exceeded last year’s Awards with 55 Northland businesses competing in 6 business categories, 5 ancillary categories and an overall supreme winner.
This was Collective Concepts third consecutive year as event managers of this event which is run by the NZ Chambers of Commerce Northland and hosts over 350 guests from around the Northland region.
Business Excellence Awards are run regionally throughout New Zealand, recognising and celebrating the business success of local companies. For businesses going through the awards process it is a way to identify strengths and challenges that exist and find new ways to deal with them through a renewed focus on their business. The process for the 2013 Northland business excellence awards entrants began back in March when entries opened, and included a tight judging process, a networking evening for entrants and culminated in a black tie formal awards presentation and gala dinner event.
Collective Concepts worked alongside the NZ Chambers of Commerce Northland right from the outset with the venue selection and took full responsibility of the event budget as well as contracting and coordinating all of the event suppliers such as equipment hire, audio visual technicians, catering, food & beverage wait staff, floor supervisors, entertainment, MC’s, graphic designers and printers. Given that this is an annual event Collective Concepts placed a particular focus on updating the format and coming up with a new ‘WOW’ factor to ensure guests that attended each year received a different experience. This meant creating a new tag line for 2013 – ‘The Ultimate Pursuit’ and incorporating elements of surprise such as entertainer Luke Bird beginning his act by singing from the crowd.
Treating each event supplier as an extension of their own business, Collective Concepts worked closely with the catering team to ensure the menu fitted with the overall event, was seasonal and showcased the best of the regions produce. Wine was also carefully selected to match the menu and create the best possible dining experience for the guests.
An extensive media campaign was implemented that included radio, newspaper and social media coverage as well as direct emailing to the NZ Chambers of Commerce Northland members. Press releases that encouraged nominations through to gala dinner ticket sales and post event exposure for all entrants and sponsors were written and distributed by Collective Concepts as part of the overall media strategy.
Collective Concepts assisted in the delivery of all sponsorship requirements to meet the needs of major Awards sponsor Westpac, as well as all media, category and partner sponsors involved in the 2013 awards. A pre-awards networking event organised by Collective Concepts and held on the 9th of October gave entrants of the 2013 Westpac Northland Business Excellence Awards the opportunity to meet and chat with sponsors and judges of the Awards and size up their competition.
For more information on how Collective Concepts can assist you with your Event Management requirements contact us today for a no obligation discussion.
Photos: Dan McGrath – Fullmoon Photography. Click here to view the full awards gallery
