Meetings 2023 was hosted at the Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre. This venue is owned by the Wellington City Council and managed through Tākina Events, a partnership combining the Tākina and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa event spaces under a common brand and managed by Te Papa. 

These two buildings are on opposite sides of one of Wellington’s main roads enabling access to multiple rooms for events – meetings, ceremonies and functions.

The largest space in the convention centre can seat up to 1600 theatre style, however there is no plenary hall (stage and raked seating). ASE asked David Perks, Takina Commercial Development Manager what was on offer if a conference organiser wanted to stage a large opening ceremony. No problems, nearby are two theatres (The Opera house – 1380 seats and St James Theatre 1550 seats) also owned by the Wellington City Council. And if you want bigger, then the TSB arena can seat up to 6000.

Within a 5 minute walk from Tākina there are 7 hotels, ranging from 3 to 5 star, offering a total of 680 rooms. Within a 5-20 minute walk from the convention centre there are an additional 28 hotels.

The expo for Meetings 2023 took over two floors (with north and south islands dominating separate floors) and the foyer spaces. The vibe on both floors was great and exhibitors were happy to chat with the media (me) when they didn’t have scheduled appointments.

Meetings is owned by BEIA.  ASE took the opportunity to chat with Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins.