In the next episode of our Oh-Ah-Ha journey, we move north, to balmy Auckland. There we meet Meredith Drucker from The Events Group, a company specialising in Corporate Event Management. Â
As always, her story is unique, and bursting with passion and purpose. Â
Young and with a beaming smile, Meredith shares her story. Â
She’s quick to point out that The Events Group is slightly different to PCO’s in the type of events they do. The Events Group serve their clients with fully customised team experiences that cover three lines of services:  Corporate Event Management, Event Theming and Team Management.  But it’s corporate events and team building that catapulted the small company into the cream of the New Zealand events world. Â
To this day, corporate team building activities are their core business. 
Coming Home to Corporate Event Management
Have you noticed too, that if you want to make it in the New Zealand events world as a business, a bold start with a lot of pzazz is a pre-requisite? It’s fair to say that The Events Group is no exception to the juicy beginnings.Â
The Events Group story starts with a pair of young guys returning from the UK and embarking upon a journey with a borrowed idea, a set of army tents (Oh yes!) and a complete disregard for health and safety. The name was MotivAction NZ, and the company specialised in corporate events. Â
Fast forward a couple of years and Heather (Meredith’s mum) eyed up the company’s potential, handed over the cash and called herself the new Director and Owner of what would eventually become The Events Group. Â
Even in those early days, barely out of her teenage years, young Meredith felt a calling. But mum wisely told her to go and hone her skills elsewhere first. Meredith did as she was told. A rejection for the job she’d been dreaming of finally saw her coming home. Â
14 years on and she’s still happy as a clam. Â
It’s all in the family
The Events Group is a family company; if not by blood, then definitely in the way they have each other’s back. Â
Husband Mike joined The Events Group a few years ago, taking on the corporate team building side. Â
‘Support girl’ Ashley on the other hand is family in anything but the name. That’s what happens when young mum Meredith scurries into a meeting, telling you to ‘just hold the baby’. Â
But when the entire household budget hinges on a small company, it’s definitely scary to watch the world go into a pandemic lockdown. Â
‘Luckily, we have the most amazing clients who believe in us. So many of them told us they were worried about us. To me, that’s the silver lining of Covid: all the people from Aotearoa wanting to support the small Kiwi businesses out there. We pull together and it makes me very proud to be a Kiwi.’Â
Embracing Technology and Crowd Data Gathering
But it’s clear that The Events Group did not just sit idle when a pandemic caused a bit of a stir. Â
The Events Group holds the NZ licence for Wildgoose Global, bringing technology-fueled engagement solutions to corporate events.  It hasn’t gone unnoticed with The Events Group team how people’s willingness to embrace technology has shifted. Â
‘It looks like the world has crammed 10 years of technological advancement into 6 months.  Covid pushed everybody to be more tech-savvy. But I also liked how it humanized everyone. Suddenly it was ok to struggle with the mute button or for kids to interrupt a virtual meeting.’Â
And while there is no replacement for a face-to-face meeting, going through the experience of measuring engagement during remote corporate events made the company think about interactive crowd technology.  It opened up novel ways of thinking about how they need to step up their game in terms of data gathering during real-live team building events. There is so much potential there!Â
It just goes to show that when you’re a small family business, there is no rest for the wicked. Not even during a global pandemic. Â
Oh-Ah-Ha Moment: ‘Running a Team Building Events Business is my Happy Place’
But in the end, that’s all in a day’s work. Â
When you ask Meredith about her Oh-Ah-Ha moment she doesn’t have to think very long. Â
‘If I would win Lotto tomorrow, I’d still do what I’m doing today.  This is me.  I love what I do. I love who I work with. I’m happy here. Even in 2020. ‘Â
And THAT is called being Rich…Â
Meredith Drucker is the General Manager of The Events Group. Managing all areas of the business from initial client contact, onsite delivery of events, event styling and theming and managing day-to-day functions of the business. Meredith’s passion is taking an event from concept to delivery and making sure the client’s objectives shine through. (14 years in TEG).
Website:Â theeventsgroup.co.nz
Facebook:Â www.facebook.com/TheEventsGroup
