Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Said, b one of Wellington's favorite events is back this
year and it's going to be back for a whole
lot more. I hope they're celebrating a big milestone this week,
the World of Wearable Arts. Can you believe this sold
their one millionth ticket? One million tickets to WOW and
(00:34):
this year also actually marks twenty years since the event
came to Wellington. Now, I didn't. I couldn't believe that.
Joining us now is Well CEO Meg Williams.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Good morning, Meg, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Twenty years since you've been in Wellington. That sounds like
an incredible amount of time. I reckon. If you said
to me on the street and said I'm going to
give you twenty thousand dollars to tell me how many
years Wow's been here, I would say eleven.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, I reckon, that's a good time. Yeah, it's amazing.
It's an amazing milestone and it's come around quick. But Wellington
has been really important for Wales's growth and become the
event that is today and to also you know, hit
that other milestone you mentioned one million tickets, which is
just an incredible achievement for any international event, but for
(01:23):
an event in New Zealand is something really special. So yeah,
we're very excited.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
There's lots of rumors always floating around that Wew's too
big for Wellington. It needs to either go to New
York or at very least Melbourne or maybe even Auckland.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Is that could that be a possibility.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
We're very at home in Wellington and we're really focused
on celebrating twenty years there. This year we've got a
new show called Rise, which is going to really the
theme of it is about a city aliven with the
Credit spirit and it's very fitting for Wellington, i think,
for our twenty years to have that theme. So no,
we're happy where we are. And you know, WOW does
(02:02):
have a global reach, you know for sure. So our
designers come from all over the world, our social media
which is all over the world, but we're very happy
doing it from home.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
We often on this show talk about well being the
biggest event Wellington has on its showcase. No longer has
the Sevens, no longer has the car races. Wow is
our big event. How significant is this event for Wellington
when you boil it down with the numbers.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, you know, it's very significant. So for the last
three years we've delivered thirty million dollars into the Wellington
regional economy. And we do that because a lot of
our audience seventy percent of our audience come from outside
of the region. So we have audiences all over New
Zealand and a further afield too that come to Wennington. They
(02:52):
make a weekend of it. They stay in the hotels,
they're eating our beautiful restaurants, they're drinking our bars, they
buy amazing things in their stores around town. So and
that's to be honest. Also when one can really switches
it on Oneington is a great event city and so
you know, one of the things about the Wow experience is, yes,
you get to come to our amazing arena show a
different show every year, so we encourage people to come
(03:15):
back again and again. But also you get that added
benefit of that kind of city experience. You can walk
through town and you literally feel Wow, both in the
arena and on the streets, and I think that's what
makes it really special. And I think that you know,
alongside the economic benefits, there's also just the creative benefits
of having something like this having Wow, which is just
such a very repressible celebration of creativity. And what I
(03:38):
love is when the community comes around Wow. And one
of the reasons that we got to this one million
tickets sold is because of all those people who came
in the early years back in Nelson in nineteen eighty seven.
You know, they bought their friends, they bought their daughters,
their daughters brought their daughters. So we are one of
those few shows in New Zealand and in the world
(03:58):
that actually captures kind of three generations in one go.
And that's what gives the vibe I think that comes
when Wow's in town. But you know, I certainly hear
from business owners when when wows in. One of them
told me that, you know, the Wow season is a
bit biggerferent than that for them than Christmas. And yeah,
it's certainly as sort of shop in the arm and
just what wanted to need.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I heard an interesting story, Meg that you may be
able to confirm or deny, is that begs in our
city get a whole lot more cash and when Wow's on,
because the woman's shopping want to spend with cash, so
their husbands don't see how much they're spending.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Is that Is that just a rumor?
Speaker 5 (04:37):
Or?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
Is that? Is that a fact?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I don't know about that. I don't know about that,
but certainly what I do know is that you know,
those our audience that come down, they they love to, yeah,
to take in everything that has mon Eton has to offer.
And yeah, certainly eating, drinking, shopping being part of that
is is all part of it. But that sounds like
(05:00):
any County Wed opera.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I think, tell me how many tickets do you have
for sale this year? I mean, how many are you
totally going to sell for the season.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Yeah, so we aim for sixty thousand or more, and
so we're on our way. You know, we work off
every ticket we sell. We never take one for granted,
and so yeah, we we just can't wait to welcome
everyone to Wellington. The show is selling well, which is fantastic,
and you know, touch would we continue on that way?
So yeah, if you haven't been for a few years
(05:31):
or you've never been before, a third of our audiences
by new Yeah, so you know, out.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Of those sixty thousand, sorry Meg for interrupting, I just
got excited with a question. Then out of that sixty thousand,
how many of them are out of town. And do
you know that number?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, about seventy percent out of the region. Yeah, of
those ticket buyers.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, excuse my pun, but I said, well.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
I get that a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
I bet you wouldn't be surprised to hear the last
time you came to the.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Show you said, last time I kept went to the
show was many, many years ago. And I and I
have I suffer from a bit of anxiety. So I'm
not those big events for me just too over the top.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
It's just incredible.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
I get that, it's incredible.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I mean, you can't you will never speak to a
bigger fan of Well than me. So, I mean, that's
what my next question was going to be, though, how
much different is this show going to be the last show?
So I I went last year? Should I say, oh,
maybe I shouldn't go this year? Await a couple more years?
What do I need? Why do I need to go
to this year's show?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
I'm so glad you asked that, and absolutely not. I mean,
that's literally what we sur around as a team. We
talk about and one of the one of the phrases
that's really important to us is kind of expect the unexpected,
and we just every year want to raise the bar.
So you know, this last year's show was called dream Awake,
and it was really dreamy, and it was sat in
this beautiful kind of ephemeral space and and really was
(06:49):
kind of about hope. And so what we want to
do this year is this year's show is about taking
that hope and almost turning it into action. So it's
really vibrant the show rise. You should really feel the energy,
so we're trying to bring this kind of blast of
sunshine energy into Wellington. The other thing is that we
changed this We've changed the st aging design quite significantly
last year and we're going to continue to evolve that
(07:11):
this year. And so what that means for the audience
is what we've heard and what we know our audience
really loves is getting those wearable art garments as close
as we can to them. So we've changed the stage design.
So alongside the stage, we also now have these walkways
that go write through the auditorium, so in some of
those seats you're literally in the front road, the right
in front of you. We also use technology in really
(07:32):
incredible ways, so we use projection to really super size
those garments and the action with our dancers and our
musicians and our area lists, so you can see them
on the big screens. And then we also have innovated
in the area of sound design and for the last time,
for the first time, last year, we put together a
new immersive sound system that really wraps the audience around
(07:54):
the sound, so you feel like you're kind of in
this immersed sort of bubble of action and activity. So
that's really what the audience can expect next year, and
that's something that we work on. Every year is different,
and we want to welcome people back again and again
and again.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
You know what, I've been sitting here listening to you
and my heir on the back of my next raised
and I'm sort of can see all those amazing lighting
and you know, sound and music, and I'm in the vibe.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
I'm in the vibe.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
It's so funny you mentioned that the goosebumps, because that
is exactly what we talk about it. We talk about
how do we create those groots bump moments, those literal
wow moments where the audience does that oh wow. And
so we've got a number of things that we've got
in the works for this year, and yeah, that's the
standard we set ourselves and I hope we deliver and
(08:45):
we hear that from our audience. I think we've got
ninety six percent positive rating for our show, which was
so humble by and I think that's what brings people
back and back again. I did just want to give
a shout out to our one million ticket dit F.
That's okay Glennis from Auckland and she is bringing her
sister to the show and we gave her a ring
and said to her that we were going to upgrade
(09:06):
her and give her a behind the scenes experience and
really you know, provide her with an incredible experience. And
she said, We've made her year. So that's what we are.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Well, I'm going to I'm going to rig you closer
to the time because I want to take bring my
microphone down of an afternoon before you when you're rehearsing
or doing something. I actually I want to actually just
go around and do some interviews and actually get put
to people and put the people in the groove of
you know.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
I'm talking to the talking to the people that make wow.
I mean, that's another reason that we got we got
to this milestone. Our incredible founder, Dame Susi and her
sister Heather Palmer, who who thought of this idea and
then did all the hard yards. And in reflecting on
this milestone talking to them, you know, they they got
quite moved. I think thinking about the family members that
actually helped them get it off the ground in the
(09:50):
early days, all the people that make Wow. We have
over three hundred and fifty people involved, maybe four hundred
people involved in the show each year. Some of them
have been with us since since those early years, and
some of them are anew and they really are. It's
because of so I wanted to say a big thanks
today as well, because I.
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Want to say it.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I will definitely bring you up and see if I
can come down with my microphone. Thank you very much, Meg,
it's amazing to talk to you. Congratulations on two counts,
twenty years and one millionth ticket. We'll interview that person
that sold you've sold a million tickets to as well.
After the show. We're going to push this good on
you appreciate it. I have a great, great day, and
(10:31):
I thank you for everything you do.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Thank Meg Williams, their CEO of Well, Well, we've talked
to the CEO, Meg Williams. Now, we're lucky enough to
talk to Glennis Cowley, who, by the way, didn't realize
she did it, but she did it. She bought the
one millionth ticket. Good morning, Lennis, Good morning.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
How are we going?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Great? Thanks? What happened when you bought that ticket? What
went down? Tell us the story?
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Well, I just got a lovely phone call telling me
if I've been upgraded to a stage by table with
all sorts of lovely treats.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Wow, have you been sorry? Say that? I've got to
stop saying that. We have you been to well before?
Speaker 5 (11:14):
I had? Actually my sister and I went three years ago,
and then we went before COVID. I think it would
have been the other time. So yeah, really looking forward
to it.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Can I ask you where you're from?
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Auckland?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Oh, Auckland. I bought the one million tickets. So do
you enjoy your trip to Wellington? Do you like Wellington?
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Absolutely? We're coming down on the Thursday night and coming
home on Sunday. And we last time we came, we
did a high tea and got a lovely message around
the waterfront, had a ball, had a great time.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
What do you like most about Wow, if it's your
second or third time, what do you like most about it?
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Just seeing how creative, what clever people are out there
and how well the show's put together.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Congratulations, wonderful, look forward to playing host. Do you will
have a chat when you come to Wellington? Can you
give us a call? We want to have a talk
to you when you get there after the show. Glennys Cowley,
who is the one millionth person to buy a while ticket. Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks It'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio