Page 86 - Hereford Magazine 2021

Posy (second from left) with the NZ Herefords organising team and naming right sponsors Boehringer Ingelheim, (left to right) Robert
Peacock, David Dodge from BI, Robert Kane, Andrew Russo, NZH president Colin Corney, Steve Rochester from BI, conference chairman
Phil Barnett, Paul Fitzpatrick from BI, and Gray Pannett.

oversee presenters, Philip Shepherd took control of the World
Hereford Council, Robert Kane and a team took on the Wanaka
Show, and the Brown and Campbell families kindly agreed to
host the field days, with Natalie Campbell from Hereford Prime
putting her hand up to organise the BBQ lunch. This meant
I could concentrate on the budget and securing some more
sponsors, which put the event in a financially strong position
prior to taking registrations.
From the outset, Phil wanted a strong youth element to the
conference. An eager youth committee was formed early in
the planning process, however after a few months of getting
together and a minor reshuffle, Becs Paterson was asked by
Colin Corney to take the helm. Becs and I continued to work
well from then on, with very few hiccups along the way. One
hiccup which Becs could not have prevented was an overseas
youth member realising during check-in at Queenstown Posy with NZ Herefords office manager Christine Nagel.
Airport that she left her passport at the Wanaka backpackers!
Fortunately, a councillor’s wife accepted the mercy mission
and was met at the top of Crown Range to make the handover,
and the relieved youth member boarded her plane.
In the lead-up to the event, both Christine and I were in daily
contact with AgriTravel, who assisted us with the tours (namely
the coaches and accommodation bookings), and Dinamics, who
ran the events software, made the conference bookings, and
liaised with external business such as the audiovisual teams.
We were forever trimming costs though. One way of keeping
the cost down was to limit Dinamics’ involvement with the gala
dinner and Wanaka Show. This was only possible due to the
wonderful support we had from Hereford Prime, the Southern
club, and a great team of breeders.
With event management you plan for everything to run
smoothly, however you know there will always be curve balls
thrown at you. Just before I was about to depart for the pre-tour Bird’s eye view of the action at the conference reception desk.

84 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2021