On Tuesday the 7th of November I was lucky enough to be sponsored to attend the Parks Agencies Managers Meeting in New Plymouth. The day started early with a short flight out of Auckland and then we were straight into it.

The first presentation was an end of year review, highlighting the achievements of the group throughout the year, there were fascinating insights gained from a trip to the US, which provided unique perspectives about how we manage safety in our parks. We also heard from an Australian Eco Tourism manager, heard two propositions on the value of parks, and had an extensive round table session that promoted discussion on many things, including how Parks managers balance recreation needs with biodiversity needs, how we promote the industry to young people and how do we control the messaging around Parks when often we don't control the ways that message it distributed.

The afternoon was spent exploring Pukekura Park with our fantastic tour guide, the Park curator, Chris Connolly. We saw all aspects of the Park and heard about the rich social and geographic history of the land. We were also able to ask questions and understand the operational challenges that Chris and his team face in their day to day work.

Pukekura Park contains a zoo, a natural events bowl, lakes, playgrounds, passive grass area, native bush, display gardens and more. Seeing how Chris' team manage the diversity of land and visitor experiences within the park was fascinating, and will help me to consider how I manage shared spaces in the future.

Overall the day was enjoyable and rewarding. It was great for my own professional development, helped me to meet some great people in our industry and gave me fresh perspective on how to tackle some issues in the Parks sector. I want to thank the Parks Agencies Managers Group for allowing me to attend, and the Generate Network for sponsoring me. 

John Cook, Generate Member