Luke Schroder, director of Knock Knock Events. Photo / Supplied
Luke Schroder, director of Knock Knock Events. Photo / Supplied
Knock Knock Events founder and director Luke Schroder, 26, talks about taking a leap of faith into the unknown.
What does your business do?
I started Knock Knock Events at the beginning of last year basically to provide event contracting services to the Bay of Plenty. My passion is for immersive and creative event experiences and my vision for it was an event management company to create memorable experiences.
I primarily contract out to organisations and businesses who are either wanting to run events for the first time or needing assistance. I provide different event services such as stage and event management and oversee a particular aspect of an event. That's the bread and butter essentially and then I have a bunch of projects of my own on the horizon.
What was the motivation for starting the business?
When I returned back to the Bay of Plenty after being in Auckland for six years I noticed that there was a massive population in the Bay that was missing out on events. I anticipated the massive population swell and that was the motivation. I'd like to be that person to provide some really cool experiences for people to get involved in.
What events does Knock Knock Events put on?
At the moment I help run a large Christmas event in the Bay called A Night Before Christmas which will be on December 22. Close to 15,000 people are expected to attend, my mum's actually [its] event director, and that's been running for 20 something years. I oversee operations and logistics and production for that.
I'm also about to launch my own ice cream festival for summer which will be announced in the next month or two. That is basically a celebration of everything that's cold and sweet - ice cream, gelato, frozen yoghurt, all sorts. We have been getting ice cream providers locked in so we can go to market essentially. Some companies are on board and we're expecting about 9000 people at the Tauranga waterfront on the 9th February for that.
Knock Knock Events is focused on large-scale events. Photo / Supplied
I'm on my 63rd event since starting. I've done school tours across New Zealand, laser light shows, music festivals, public consultation events, conferences, all sorts.
What are your long term plans?
I'm a creative thinker, I love coming up with ideas and ways of engaging people. I have a passion for creating moments of joy through shared experience and that in a nutshell is what I want to do. That, also coupled in with encouraging other organisers, particularly in the Bay of Plenty, to take their events to the next level.
My big goal is to establish Knock Knock events as a really creative event management solution here in New Zealand, putting on large-scale events. I'd love to do some work on a large overseas music festival like Coachella one day, that's the dream to get some overseas work experience on such productions.
What advice do you give to others thinking about starting their own business?
Don't be afraid to take a risk and give it a go. It's easy to be afraid of the unknown but take a leap of faith otherwise you'll never know if it works until you try.
