How I paved my path into working festivals
I was 20 years old when I had this realisation that I wanted to work at mainstream concerts. I had no contacts, friends, or acquaintances in the industry who I could reach out to for help or advice. I also didn’t quite know where to begin. I was still in university. I knew the basics of putting an event together. We’ve all done it so many times, for our birthdays, or friends’ birthdays, anniversaries. You start with a venue, figure out transport. Easy right?
A lesser-known fact about me, and that only perhaps some of my closest friends know, is that at the time, I thought putting a concert together would be easy. I thought sponsors would roll in, without much effort, and it would take shape. Perhaps the naivety of an undergraduate. I fed on that (over)confidence. I reached out to someone I thought was a booking agent for my favourite artist of the time. Whilst I landed with some choice words as feedback about my inexperience in this space, I did get their rider.
Reading through the rider was a humbling experience to say the least. Elements in there that I couldn’t even fathom how that could come to life in a country like New Zealand. I had zero negotiation skills. I was already taken aback by the said choice words as feedback. I didn’t quite know where to begin. I reached out to the airline with the rider requirements for the flight, and almost reached out to a hotel with the same. I very quickly figured this wasn’t a one-person job. I felt lost. I didn’t know what to do, just that I knew this had to come to life. But here we are in 2026, and it hasn’t yet come to life. I’m sure it will one day.
I decided at the time that there was one more year left of my degree, let’s focus on finishing that, and I can just chase jobs that allow me to do what I want to do. The hurdle here was that I didn’t know how a promoter operated in New Zealand. The only knowledge I had was Live Nation. I knew I would try my luck there. I didn’t have any idea about the roles there or what I should even map out. The elephant in the room, I graduated whilst the global financial crisis was ravaging through New Zealand.
I took what I got at the time. My boss at the time knew of my ambitions and allowed me to take the lead on putting together her networking events that ran every 6-8 weeks in downtown Auckland. I guess you could say that this is how I officially got started in events.
During this time, everyone was experimenting with creating YouTube videos. I was one of them. The YouTube New Zealand community became my second exposure to events. A bunch of us decided to do what major influencers at the time were doing. Creating skits and videos to raise money for charity. Our group was nowhere close to being influencers. But we each had skills that, when we put them together, we created a gaming livestream to raise money for charity. I spearheaded the event. The first one for Youthline taught us a lot. We took the feedback and learnings and put together a second live stream for Rebuild Christchurch. This was a much more successful event.
Finally, in 2015, what I thought was a huge breakthrough happened for me. I secured a full-time role working in events and made the move across the ditch. My knowledge grew. I was learning about the nitty-gritty. What do you need to look at when sourcing a venue? How do you negotiate a contract? How do you shortlist a supplier? How do you put together an itinerary for a site visit? How do you work with bureaus to get the full picture of taking a conference/incentive to that country? You get the picture.
But like others who are new to the industry, I felt disheartened somewhere. When thinking about working in events, you rarely ever think of everything that goes on in the background. The events I’d worked on so far, I didn’t necessarily need to go into as much detail as I now had to in a full-time role. All I thought about when wanting to work events, is the actual event. Not the spreadsheets, not the phone calls, or the briefings or the briefings about briefings. Just the event. It took a bit of time and learning, and now, I love the anticipation and build up to the event. I’m like a kid on Christmas eve the day before an event. Full of nerves, excitement, anxiety, and any other emotion you can think off. The adrenaline at an all-time high.
My career in events continued as I moved back to Aotearoa. I let some time pass, before I felt settled and ready to map out my next move. How do I get closer to my goal? Yet again, I found myself lost and confused. Even worse, COVID hit. The worst time for events. I had connected with many event professionals over the years, and across the world. I spotted a few event membership groups floating on my social media. I wasn’t sure as to how this would help me, until I started doing events for a membership-based organisation.
I took a chance on myself and signed up as an individual member to one of them. I joined the mentorship program as a mentor. My journey thus far, and seeing young talent leave the industry, made me passionate about championing and bringing new talent on a journey in an industry I love so much. Then a light bulb moment occurred. Why don’t I join as a mentee too? I still have a lot to learn, and more than anything, a niche type of events to get into. The best decision I ever made.
Joining this organisation and participating in the mentorship programme was probably the first major step in guiding my career down a path I wanted to take. That’s how I got to work Groove Armada. It opened up pathways I once dreamt of. It got me in front of a promoter to pitch my first concept. It taught me to start thinking like a promoter, but of course add my flair to it, and keep in mind what is important to me.
As the days passed by, I took another chance on myself. I started following groups where they would put a call out for extra staff on site at events. As a result of that, I’ve now been on site at many festivals, gigs, and major events. I won’t list them out yet again for you. You can have a look at my Portfolio of Events.
Whilst it’s been 16 years in chasing this, I wouldn’t change this for anything. I’ve grown so much and learned so much. If you’re ever wanting to sound out anything, I’m always up for a chat if you think I can help.
Until next time,
Mili
