Every two years the
International Naturist Federation (INF) have a World Congress which is hosted
by different Federations around the world. In
September 2014, the INF and Delegates will meet at a village called Drumshanbo
in Ireland.
We
are excited to announce that the NZNF are in the process of submitting a bid to
host the 2016 World Congress of Naturism here in New Zealand at Wellington
Naturist Club on the dates of November 16th to 20th.
The Steering Committee for
the NZNF bid comprises of Kay Hannam, June Campbell-Tong and Donna Miller who
report to Ken Mercer (Wellington Naturist Club President) and Wendy Lowe (NZNF
President).
The weekend of 22nd and
23rd March saw the Steering Committee meet
together at WNC to brainstorm ideas, discuss progress and take video footage
around the club in Wellington.
Kay Hannam and June
Campbell-Tong had met the previous day with Tourism New Zealand and Absolutely
Positively Wellington so had some extremely exciting news to share regarding
the support of these organisations and their offer of collateral and funding to
ensure we win the honour of
hosting the 2016 Congress.
TNZ are so excited about
our proposed bid and about working with us and want to do everything possible
to assist us in bringing the congress and delegates to our country.
As well as funding, they
have offered the guidance and assistance from an Events Manager (or
Professional Conference Organiser) along with professional promotional/marketing
collateral and a DVD presentation to Delegates at the 2014 Congress in
Ireland. TNZ are putting a complete
video presentation together along with professional, stunning footage and
images of New Zealand scenery and will freight this and all
promotional material to Ireland.
We
are blown away by the support that TNZ are offering and look forward to working
with them and gleaning all the information and assistance they can provide so
that our bid, and hopefully the 2016 Congress, will be the most successful
possible. I’m sure you will understand and appreciate how this generous
assistance has inspired us greatly and boosted our anticipation and expectation
for submitting the NZNF bid.
From registration to venue
facilities and accommodation options - our plan is to have a world-class
business event and cultural experience. We aim to make travel information and
bookings for attendees professional and easy - with no detail missed.
The next step in this
process is for a financial feasibility study to be conducted then TNZ will
prepare and produce the bid document and logo/banner design, along with the
DVD, brochures and collateral packs.
We are currently working on
the theme for the congress as being "Naturist Tourism" and this is a
big opportunity in our country and worldwide, so we are hoping for additional
ideas and concepts from TNZ.
The steering committee are
in overdrive meeting with the appropriate mentors and preparing everything
required for the bid - although an enormous amount of work has been lifted off
our shoulders which will make our work as keen volunteers a lot easier and the
result more professional.
As with any team, we need
the support of all naturists in New Zealand so there are many ways that you and your club can help.
- We want to include a product unique or known to each region in
the Welcome Packs for the Delegates. You might know of something or have
contacts to a supplier and this will be invaluable to us.
- Some of the Delegates and Council might arrange to stay at your
club en-route to the Congress or as they travel around the country
afterwards. You could provide your own short video, Powerpoint
presentation or photos of your club facilities that we can include in
information being provided to them via newsletters and email
communication.
- We have 28 months until the congress so you should start
working on and implementing a plan for upgrading areas around your club to
a more international standard for the visitors.
- If you have ideas on our Naturist Tourism theme or have contact with someone well known (or better still, internationally recognisable) who would be a great keynote speaker along this theme, that would be very much welcomed.
A Facebook page has been set up to keep you informed with our ideas and plans - "like" it and share it with your networks so you can be updated as things happen.
Please join with us and
assist us with this very important project to bring the - “35th International Congress of Naturism” to New Zealand on 16th to 20th
November 2016.
