"Many participants rated this conference as the best, or one of the best, conferences they had been to." Brian Richardson PhD, Scion

"Organising a conference is a thankless task, but with many of the administrative tasks handled by CONNEX, we found the burden taken off us." Warren Grigsby, PRBBCS Conference Committee

"I have nothing but praise for the manner in which CONNEX organised and executed this Conference. It was one of the smoothest events I have ever attended and it was done with class and character. " Dr Ruud Kleinpaste, Entomologist (The Bugman)

"The detailed approach of Innovatek/CONNEX means that the presenter is well briefed, well prepared, and is given all the tools needed to communicate clearly with the audience." Rob Mallinson, BANZ

"Once again the event was very well orchestrated in every aspect of contact." Mary Drummond, Energy for Industry

"If a large conference needs to be organised and then co-ordinated, then clearly this team has the experience to do a professional job, ensuring happy attendees and a satisfied client." Rob Mallinson, BANZ

"One of the better conferences I have attended in terms of organisation and balance – fantastic." David Reid, Energy for Industry

"I found the event to be well organised and very valuable. The audience was large and had many of the significant industry players represented." Peter Hall, SCION

"Approachable and willing to assist, the conference worked very well for Energy for Industry and for this we can thank CONNEX’s event management skills." Mary Drummond, Energy for Industry

"I personally would recommend CONNEX to any organisation considering holding a top class conference." Dave Little, Crown Forestry

Member of Conventions & Incentives New Zealand

Member of Professional Conference Organisers Association

Upcoming Events

Selection of Past Events

With over 150 events run throughout New Zealand and Australia, we have organised a wide variety of conferences, exhibitions and special events.

Here is a brief selection of events we have run in the past:

TrustPower ElectroTECH 2011

Following the success of the inaugural ElectroTECH Expo in 2010, this expo has since become an annual event organised by Connex on behalf of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Branch of the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand (ECANZ).

The goal of this expo is to keep electrical contractors up to date with the new innovations, products and knowledge available in their industry. This ensures that they know what’s available and can offer their clients the best solutions.

With 45 exhibitors ElectroTECH 2011 was a must-see for electricians from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Region and even further afield.

Ecology in the Heartland

Connex ran the 2011 Annual Conference of the New Zealand Ecological Society, also incorporating the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists Annual Conference. Held in Rotorua this conference was aptly named Ecology in the Heartland.

Rotorua is home to a diverse range of ecological environments and provided attendees with great opportunities to see and experience real ecological issues.

This conference included a student day, three days of three-four concurrent sessions, a poster session, an annual dinner and four separate field trips. With over 100 speakers there was something for anyone with an interest in ecology.

2011 BNZ Technology Clinics and One-Day Conference

As part of a large three day forestry event run in Rotorua to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, Connex was asked to design, manage and run 14 technology clinics to provide the technology component of the three day New Zealand Forest Industries Expo in September 2011. Over 450 national and international visitors participated in the series.

Connex also organised a one-day conference as part of the Expo, “Innovative Products, Designs and New Developments for Timber Building”. The conference was designed to profile the very latest innovations in building products and construction techniques as Christchurch looks to rebuilding - with an increasing emphasis in wood. The conference attracted a wide cross section of architects, wood designers, engineers, specifiers as well as New Zealand wood producers.

IUFRO International Forest Bio-security Conference

This event included the international 6th International Vegetation Management Conference, an OECD sponsored workshop on managing the biosecurity threats to forests in a changing global environment and meetings of the working parties of IUFRO Division 1 (Silviculture), Division 7 (Forest Health) and Division 8 (Environment).

9th Pacific Rim Bio-Based Composites Symposium

New Zealand was host to the inaugural Pacific Rim Bio-Based Composites Symposium back in 1992 and this marked the first time this event had returned to this country. The theme for the Symposium was “Innovation and Challenges in Bio-based Composites – How Far to the New Frontier?”

The key objective of this international symposium was to provide a forum for discussion and to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information on the latest development and findings in bio-based composites. Among the delegates attending this event were scientists and experts from the relevant industries, government agencies, universities and research institutions.

In addition, this symposium was a forum for promoting and strengthening further cooperation and networking amongst the researchers, experts, manufacturers and machine suppliers for the development of bio-based composite industries.

Forest Industry Strategic Summit

This National Summit focussed the forestry sector in New Zealand to review the country’s wood supply chain competitiveness and was aimed at reviving forestry’s financial performance.

This event encouraged New Zealand’s key forestry enterprises to consider adopting an industry coalition for applied & pure research coupled to technology transfer as a basis for real productivity growth.

A key part of this event and development of a strategy was to engage with other key global players to create an international collaborative process and knowledge sources including the CRC for Forestry in Australia; FERIC in Canada and SKOGSFORSK in Sweden. Key linkages to training with institutions such as Oregon State University and the University of British Columbia were also an integral part of this Summit.

The Forest Industry Strategic Summit managed and run by CONNEX provided a key opportunity to move the New Zealand industry forward with a common vision.

NZIF 2010 Conference

Because of CONNEX’s skills in running and managing larger technical events, the company was selected to run the 2010 Annual Conference for the New Zealand Institute of Forestry, the country’s largest professional grouping of its type.

This included a two-day conference, social activities and field visits around the central North Island in addition to assistance in programme design, promotion and event management.

TrustPower ElectroTECH Expo 2010

TrustPower ElectroTECH 2010 was an inaugural electrical industry trade expo organised by CONNEX on behalf of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Branch of the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand (ECANZ).

This first event attracted over 42 exhibitors and 55 stands.

World Mountain Bike Champs

The UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing events in cross country, downhill, four-cross and trials riding events. It’s organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

In 2006, New Zealand hosted the UCI MTB & Trials World Championships. CONNEX was involved in running and managing the trade exhibitions as part of this large international event in Rotorua. The event won a Tourism Award for 'Best Event' in 2006 at the NZ Tourism Awards.

New Zealand Society of Soil Science Conference

CONNEX ran the Annual Conference for the New Zealand Society of Soil Science in Rotorua. The theme, “Soils & Society”, reflected the vital role of soil in sustaining our economy, our environment, and our communities. The event provided a forum for discussion on a wide range of current soil research topics.

Conference delegates came from a wide range of soil related disciplines in New Zealand, including Universities, research institutes, government departments, analytical services, the fertiliser industry and regional councils, as well as representatives from agricultural, horticultural and forestry businesses.