DayBreak — Festival of Innovation
A one-day innovation event designed to challenge thinking, shift perspectives and deliver plenty of “Wait… what? Wow!” moments. Now in its fourth year, DayBreak brings together 300 attendees from regional and national organisations, world-class speakers, interactive workshops and authentic connections — with a healthy dose of the unexpected. From the “choose-your-own-adventure” city-centre Potluck lunch to the multi-sensory Sundowner, alongside the team at Priority One, we’ve helped shape an event where innovation isn’t just talked about — it’s experienced.
OUR WORK
Here are some of the most recent gatherings, events and activations we’ve helped develop and deliver.
Māori & Pasifika Leadership Summit
In 2025, we were an integral part of bringing Māori and Pasifika leaders, rangatahi, navigators and innovators together from across Aotearoa and Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa for the inaugural Māori & Pasifika Leadership Summit. Rooted in tikanga Māori and Pacific cultures, the Summit created space for honest kōrero, practical learning, connection and collaboration for 200+ attendees — exploring indigenous leadership, innovation and enterprise while celebrating the success, creativity and resilience of Māori and Pasifika communities. Our role was to help bring this ambitious kaupapa to life and create a platform for relationships and ideas that extend well beyond the event itself. We also supported the establishment of the Maori and Pasifika scholarship in business, in partnership with the University of Waikato, to recognise and support Māori and Pasifika students and encourage the development of future leaders. The 2027 Summit is in the making.
Shift Hub
How do you get people to rethink their commute? Make it hands-on. The Shift Hub transformed an empty city-centre space into an interactive playground for alternative transport, where people could learn, ask questions and — most importantly — try things for themselves. As a Priority One initiative, working alongside 15 partners, we helped bring the concept to life, engaging more than 1,000 visitors, 85+ organisations and hundreds of people through fun team-building education sessions and test rides. Alongside creating a buzz in the city centre, the project generated valuable insights to help shape the region’s future transport options.
yia! — Young Innovator Awards
Priority One’s yia! is New Zealand’s largest youth innovation programme. The multi-faceted event challenges intermediate and secondary school students to tackle real-world problems using creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and design thinking. Now in its 14th year in the Western Bay of Plenty, the programme has seen more than 670 registrations across nine schools.
In 2024, we helped bring the experience to life, creating opportunities for young people to connect with business, test their ideas and build the skills and confidence they’ll need for the future.
Cultivate Your Career
What does a career in horticulture actually look like? Cultivate Your Career gives Years 10 and 11 students the chance to find out — hands-on. Bringing together students, industry experts, businesses and education providers, the event showcases the surprisingly diverse pathways within one of the region’s biggest industries, from science and technology to engineering, innovation and beyond. In 2024, we helped Priority One create an engaging experience where students could meet the people behind the sector (right here in our back yard), try things for themselves and start imagining where a career in horticulture could take them.
Downtown Tauranga - School Holiday Activations
During 2025 and 2026, we developed and delivered a range of school holiday events and activations for Downtown Tauranga, turning the city centre into a place to play, explore and connect. From interactive family-friendly scavenger hunts that engaged local retail, eateries, historic sites and landmarks, to creative ways of encouraging people to discover and engage with local businesses, we created activations that brought some energy to the city and a reason to visit, support local and make a day in town a little more memorable.
