Mrs Kennedy (44), who was thrilled to be appointed to the newly created position, is relishing her new role.
Educated at Waitaki Girls' High School and then Lincoln University, where she graduated with a diploma in parks and recreation management and tourism management, her first job was managing the Waitaki Community Recreation Centre.
While in that position, she was involved with establishing a Sport Otago role in the Waitaki community and did that for three years, as well as managing the recreation centre.
The mother of two later worked part-time as a tourism tutor for the Te Mahi o Waitaki trust and also as sports co-ordinator at Waitaki Boys' High School.
She loved organising sport for the pupils and seeing them succeed, as well as playing sport for the camaraderie.
Mrs Kennedy had been at Tourism Waitaki for a month when she went overseas for two months, joking she was on her "OE as an old lady".
After rowing on the River Seine in Paris with a group of friends, she then did a two week "intrepid tour" of Turkey, before her husband joined her and they explored Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Having gone straight from school to university to the workforce, she had never previously had an opportunity for an OE and it was a goal she always had.
Now back at work, Mrs Kennedy is busy helping various groups run their events, while also researching events for the future.
She has just completed a comprehensive event planning guide, covering everything from planning, funding, marketing and budgets, along with a "massive" section on council requirements.
The document, which was a combined Tourism Waitaki and Waitaki District Council compilation, was available free to anyone wanting it.
A large section was dedicated to council consents and processes, as Mrs Kennedy believed it was an area that needed clarification.
"It is important that event organisers are aware of the permits and licences required for running their event, the associated costs and, more particularly, the time frames for submitting these to council.
"It has also created awareness that issues relating to event management are complex but, with good communication and negotiation, these challenges can be resolved without conflict," she said.
Most events were organised by well-meaning community volunteers and it was important to acknowledge the effort they put into providing entertainment for locals, while also attracting visitors to the region.
Mrs Kennedy has been assisting with events including the food and wine festival, farmers market, Relay for Life and the Golden Oldies rugby festival for next year's World Cup.
She was also researching new events that could bring significant economic benefit to the region and was receptive to event ideas and suggestions from the community.
