Julian Cook is no stranger to event management Experienced event manager and marketer Julian Cook will take the helm of Auckland’s Pride Festival, with Queen of the Whole Universe creator Jonathan Smith to run the Parade aspect of the February event. The announcements have just been made by the Auckland Pride Festival Trust. Cook has worked on many festivals and major events within Auckland – including New Zealand Fashion Week,WOMAD, Ignite, AK03, Aroha and Hero, for which he produced the 2001 and 2002 Hero Parties. He is also a public relations writer for a range of arts, fashion, television, youth and charity organisations, including the Art Director of JACK magazine and a former Editor of Express newspaper. Smith is a well-known community figure who has been involved heavily for 18 years, since he organised the first HIV/AIDS March held in Auckland in 1994. Since then he has been involved with the community in a variety of roles from Chairman of the NZ AIDS Foundation, founding trustee of the Circle of Friends, numerous fundraising events for NZAF, project manager of the Big Gay Out (2003/2004/2008 and more recently the Creative Director of Queen of the Whole Universe. He is also known for his alter-ego Bimbo that he shares with his/her partner Buffy. Jonthan Smith Jonathan is also the owner /director of Eventimento NZ Ltd, an event management company specialising in art related events small and large, which he combines with his lecturing responsibilities at Unitec. The Board says it congratulates and welcomes the pair “to this great opportunity to lead and organise Auckland Pride Festival and Parade 2013”. It continues: “Both men will bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills to the Auckland Pride Festival 2013 and have a great deal of knowledge in working with the community and in events and festivals alike.” The Board says it was a tough decision, as there were an extensive number of high quality applicants. Both men will be at the Gay Auckland Business Association’s mixer tomorrow night at Ipanema Food
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 4th September 2012 - 4:43pm