Events

Large-Scale
Events

Planned and executed multiple large-scale junior sports events across New Zealand, with the largest drawing 15,000 attendees. Built operational know-how from the ground up — logistics, sponsorship, delivery.

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NZEA Award-Winning 15,000+ Attendees NZ-wide Events Junior Sports Ground-Up Builds

The Story

Built From
the Ground Up

Events are where I learned to run things and largely where my practical business eduction came from. I came on at Global Games as an event manager and picked up the ropes fast — how a large-scale sports event actually gets built, how to implement the systems that hold it together, and how to put the right people in the right roles. I was promoted to General Manager not long after, working alongside stakeholders, managing budgets, and keeping our operations tight.

Working across New Zealand's junior sports landscape, our team planned and executed a series of large-scale tournaments and championships. Each event was an exercise in operational precision: venue logistics, volunteer coordination, sponsorship acquisition, and the thousand small decisions that determine whether something runs smoothly or falls apart on the day.

The largest event drew 15,000 attendees. That number tells one part of the story. The real story is in the months of preparation behind it — every stakeholder managed, every risk mitigated, every participant who had an experience worth remembering.

"A great event is invisible to the attendee. They just feel the energy. The work is in making that feel effortless."

— Jason Hart

15,000+ Attendees

Recognition

Award
Winning

The NZ Junior Rugby Festival — an event we build and run each year — was recognised by the New Zealand Events Association at the 2026 New Zealand Event Awards, taking out two national titles in the same year.

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2026 Sports Event of the Year

National recognition from the New Zealand Events Association for the NZ Junior Rugby Festival — judged against every sporting event staged in the country that year.

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2026 Sustainability Initiative of the Year

Awarded for the sustainability work built into the festival — proof that an event serving thousands can be run responsibly without compromising the experience.

NZ Events Association NZ Junior Rugby Festival Two National Titles

Jason Hart holding the 2026 New Zealand Event Awards trophies for the NZ Junior Rugby Festival

2026 NZ Event Awards

Scale & Impact

Events at Scale

15K+

Peak Event Attendance

Global

Reach

Operational Planning

Every large-scale event is a project management challenge at its core. I developed systems for venue logistics, scheduling, resource allocation, and contingency planning that could scale from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

Sponsorship & Funding

Building an event without money is the first test. Learning to pitch sponsors, structure agreements, and deliver on commercial commitments gave me a foundational understanding of how businesses and communities intersect.

Stakeholder Management

Schools, national sporting bodies, local councils, sponsors, parents, athletes, volunteers — events involve more stakeholders than almost any other endeavour. Managing competing interests with clarity and care is a skill I built here.

Community Building

Events are ultimately about people. The best ones create a sense of belonging, energy, and memory that outlast the day itself. That's what I optimised for — not just a well-run event, but one that people would talk about.

Delivery Under Pressure

No event goes exactly to plan. The gaps between preparation and execution are filled with real-time decisions. Learning to stay calm, adapt quickly, and lead a team through unexpected problems is where event management really teaches you.

Youth Development

The junior sports focus was intentional. Providing young New Zealanders with exceptional competitive experiences — from the organisation to the atmosphere — contributes to a sporting culture that lasts generations.

Transferable Skills

What Events
Built in Me

Event management at scale is one of the best schools for any kind of leadership. The pressure is real, the accountability is total, and the feedback is immediate. You learn who you are when things go wrong.

The operational rigour I developed running events directly informs how I approach building technology products, medical systems, and any complex multi-stakeholder challenge. The muscles are the same — only the context changes.

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Execution Over Ideas

Events taught me that ideas are cheap and execution is everything. A brilliant concept that falls apart on delivery is worse than a modest idea delivered perfectly.

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People-First Thinking

Every operational decision ultimately affects a person's experience. This people-first lens — asking "how does this feel to the person on the receiving end?" — now drives every project I work on.

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Confidence at Scale

Once you've coordinated something that works for 15,000 people, your idea of what's achievable shifts permanently. Scale stops feeling intimidating and starts feeling like a design problem.