Audiences dancing to the world of music at WOMAD NZ might not realise that behind the scenes there is a banker pulling the strings! 

Never fear Chris Herlihy quickly moved from banking, to hospitality, to using his skills as business manager at Taranaki Arts Festival Trust (TAFT).  As the first and only staff member for years, he held TAFT steady while it grew in the past decade to run multiple large events drawing in national audiences to Taranaki.

Chris tells us about his role at WOMAD NZ as event director, and the small ‘adaptable and responsive’ team who keep it all ticking.

Tell us a bit about your background in business and arts.

My work life stared in banking but quite quickly I moved into hospitality and continued in Hotels with Lion Breweries, Cobb & Co, Quality Hotels with various roles and finally I opened a boutique hotel in Taranaki. I have been the Business Manager at TAFT for 11 years.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?

Keep your Chief Executive happy….. keep the partnerships happy, present professional events and keep control of the finances!

Be flexible, creative and adaptable. I enjoy problem solving so am always focused on outcomes. I am happiest when feeling organised and solving a problem (or else having a wine!).

Tell us a bit about Taranaki Arts Festival Trust.

I love and support the ethos of TAFT, it is about making a difference in the community and peoples’ lives.

What was your role when you started and how has it evolved?

When I started I was the only full time person in the office so was a bit of a jack of all trades.

Since 2003 we have added structure to our organisation and grown our existing events  - Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectatular, Taranaki International Arts festival. Over the years we have also developed new events – Kinetika, Tropfest, Right Royal Cabaret Festival, and since 2008 we present WOMAD annually. We are still a small team who is adaptable and responsive.

How/when did you become involved in WOMAD as event director?

There was an evolution in 2008 when NZ was mentored by WOMAD Singapore and together we refined an event structure to work on the NZ event. By default I was responsible for a number of services and activities on site and the new structure that was formulated meant we were able to achieve excellent outcomes of service and presentation of the festival. 

We have a Technical Director, Michael Keat, who builds the site, then he manages all the technical presentation of the stages, hands me over the rest of the site and I manage that and the services for the weekend. At midnight on the Sunday I hand it back and then Michael and his team start the pack down.

What does your role involve in the lead up and then during WOMAD?

In the lead up to WOMAD the main role is overseeing the budget, cashflow, ticketing, partnerships, logistics, passes, overseeing campsite, global village, volunteers, disability support and building a site operations team that we’ll manage over the weekend.
 
What combination of people and resources do you work with?

We have a great core team (Sharina, Jane, Sophie, Josie, Cleo and Lisa) who work on other events during the year & move over to WOMAD to manage the Artist Liaison, Global Village , Kidzone and Logistic. Emere Wano is our Co-Artistic Director for WOMAD NZ who coordinates the artist line up.

We have two short term staff who return annually; Leigh to do the passes and wristbands (usually 2800) and, Pallak to manager the Volunteers. Zero Waste managers Kim and Sam are back again and make a huge difference in delivering this programme which we are really proud of. We contract in some heavy hitting publicists from Auckland that we’ve worked with for a number of years who really understand the music media landscape and help us deliver the best results. And the team from WOMAD Global also make the trip over each year to offer great support. It truly is a team effort.

Why is WOMAD important for Taranaki (including the creative economy)?

WOMAD brings artists from all over the world to a small regional city, they simply wouldn’t come otherwise. We now have a generation of 20 somethings who live locally, who have grown up with WOMAD. What a diverse and sophisticated bunch! We have a team of over 500 volunteers, a number of whom get to meet artists and work with them. Its great to see the synergies that develop.
 
What opportunities does it provide for NZ artists and organisations?

Always half of the programme is devoted to NZ and local artists. Many local community organisations benefit from supplying services to support WOMAD from parking to crafts.
 
What are your top tips for other event directors?

Do it as long as you enjoy it.
 
What are you personally looking forward to at this year’s WOMAD?

St Germain will do it for me. I was really happy when they confirmed… and I think from NZ -  Tami Neilson and those boys from Pass the Gat!
 
What’s your big idea for 2016?

I think I will keep a diary to note all the great things that happen to me.

• WOMAD NZ 2016 is on 18-20 March at TSB Bowl of Brooklands in Taranaki.