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It is designed to unite all who live here with a shared vision of the district's future and to take advantage of the knowledge and skills in our towns, rather than seeking outside expertise first. In this week's update, Mr Kennedy urges the community to have its say on events.
The next forum focuses on events, and how the opportunities presented by events should be governed and harnessed for the benefit of the entire district.
This forum takes place on August 17, from 4pm to 6pm, simultaneously in Queenstown and Wanaka. The two centres will be linked by video conferencing.
Wanaka people can head to the Otago Polytechnic campus, on Cliff Wilson St, to take part, while Queenstowners should go to the Queenstown Lakes District Council offices, on Gorge Rd.
This forum will pick up where the previous events forum left off. The aim is to establish a governance model: what banner do events fit under, or do we need a new entity entirely?
The previous forum established four major drivers of change. These are strategy; funding; facilities and infrastructure; co-ordination and facilitation. There's plenty for the new entity to discuss under these subheadings.
For example, in terms of strategy, we need to agree upon a definition of "events" before sorting out what should be prioritised - quality versus quantity, national versus international, effects on brand and marketing and so on.
Similarly, funding, or lack of it, needs discussion and ideas.
How do we measure and recognise the value of events to our district? What balance should there be of commercial versus community events? How do we evaluate events and their spin-off potential?
Two news subjects over the past week bring these and questions raised by the other "change drivers" into sharp focus.
First, Prime Minister John Key's pronouncement Queenstown needs a convention centre highlighted the facilities and infrastructure issue; many people are incredulous Queenstown doesn't have a centre for large conventions.
Second, the public failure of the funding of Gay Ski Week and the resulting reputation-damaging fallout. It's possible that given a strong events strategy as part of a districtwide vision, Queenstown would have a convention centre (or at least plans for one) and that events such as Gay Ski Week would be subject to much more rigour and therefore be less likely to fail.
For these reasons and because of the value the events industry can deliver, come along on August 17 and join the conversation at www.shapingourfuture.org
