Anei a Tia he wahine pōtae huhua kua roa kē ia ki tana tūnga mahi hai rangatira pou-whakahaere nō te tau e rua mano mā whitu.
Nō te puku o Hānuere ka hoki mai ia i te whenua o Iharaira, ka whakarewangia e rāua ko tona hoa ko Martin Croft te pae-tukutuku nei a www.theorganiser.co.nz kua roa rāua e huritao nei tēnei whakaaro nā te tini o ngā pātai ā te iwi.
"He mea pūāwai tēnei whakaaro nā runga i te pirangi ki te whakakotahi i te iwi me te pou-whakarato me te kaupapa whakangāhau e ngāwari ai te moemoeā o tētehi!" " Kua maroke kē ngā pātai ā wētehi e mea ana, e hoa kai te mōhio koe ki tētehi manu tīoriori, rānei tētehi pahi whakangāhau me te noa atu, nā kua ea katoa aua momo pātai i tēnei tumu pae tukutuku kotahi nei!"
"He mōhio nō tātou ko ngā whakangahau ā te iwi, te pūmanawa o te hāpori!".
I whānau mai a Tia i Rotorua nei. He wahine e toru tekau mā iwa ōna tau e whakapapa ai ki a Ngai Te Arawa me Ngāti Kahungunu,ā, he wahine moe wahine hoki ia, engari auware ake ki a ia ngā whakkaro o ētehi. He wāhanga hoki nōna nō Ngāti Kearoa me Ngāti Tuara ko te marae o Kearoa te kura kāmehameha o tōna ao. He rata nōna ki te ao whakangāhau i tahuri ai a Tia ki tēnei momo mahi.
"E hoa – ko te kanikani, ko te waiata me te ngāhau tētehi ao harikoa ki tōku wairua, ko te kaupapa kē te mea nui ki ahau, ka pakeke haeretia kua mārama ahau ka nui kē ngā painga o ēnei momo tūāhuatanga e tū whakahīhī ai te hāpori!".
Ka nui tōna hiahia kia rumakina tōna wairua ki te puku o te mahi kia titiro ki kō atu o te kaupapa. " Ka nui te hiahia ki te kawe i te wairua o te, o ngā kaupapa whakangāhau tēnā i te kaupapa whakangāhau noa iho". Ko ngā kaupapa ā te iwi me ngā hapū kē te whāinga ināianei kua huri ki ngā kaupapa whakamana tangata whakamana hāpori!"
E hoki ana ōna maumahatanga ki te taima i timatangia tana mahi nei, kāhore he karaehe ako, kāhore he wāhi akoako, "I aua wā ko te kanohi atu, me te karawhiu i te wairua o te tangata e mātau ai ia ki tana mahi, kia ngākau tika, kia kaha ia ki tōna whakapono ki tana mahi, ā, kia puku mahi ia, koinā te mea nui i aua taima".
Ināianei e titiro atu ana ki te pae tawhiti e whakatakoto rautaki ana ia. " Kai te atawhaingia e ahau tētehi wahine māori hai pikituranga pea a tōna wā, koia tōku ringa kaha". Kua maha noa ōna pou-ako, ōna whetū kōmata nāna ia i poipoi i whakatangata.
"He rerekē te wairua o tēnā o tētehi o tērā engari taka iho mai ki ahau te wehi, me te ihi, ā, ko te wana a ēnei tuahangata!"
Ko te FIFA Arab Cup 2021 tana kaupapa whakaharahara whakamutunga – he mea parakitihi mō te FIFA World Cup 2022 ka tū a te Nōema.
He ahakoa, he ika-a-Whiro kē ia ki te whakahaere kaupapa nui, he ao anō a Qatar. Ko tō rātou ahurea, te reo me te māuri o te taiao he mea kāhore anō kia kitea e Tia. Ko tana mahi he kawe tangata pēnei i te hunga mātakitaki me ngā pou-mahi ki ngā wāhi mahi ki ngā wāhi whakataetae.
Ko te momo o te whakataetae i tu i te hiku o Nōema tae atu ki te kotahi tekau mā waru o Hakihea, he mea whakataetae nui mā ngā tima kotahi mā ono nō ngā whenua o ngā Ārapi kia puta he toa māna te mana o te whenua e kawe atu ki te FIFA World Cup. Ka nui tana pakiki ki a rātou whakahaerenga a kēmu nei i te mate urutā, hai tāna he rite tahi ki ngā rautaki a Aotearoa nei.
Ko te taha ki te pepa kē te wāhanga taumaha rukiruki. Ka kaha aukatingia te kōrapa e ngā tikanga mārō.
Hai tāna hoki, i haukurukurungia tana mahi i te kaha o te urutā.
"Engari mēnā ki te titiro tātou ki ngā whenua kē atu, kai te kitea e piki anō te kaha o tēnei momo mahi!". He pou-kirimana ia mā tētehi kamupene o Amerika nāna ia i tuku atu ki te whenua o Qatar. I tētehi o āna uiuinga me Martin Croft mo te kaupapa, "The Organise".
Hai tāna, ka nui te moni engari ko te hakoke whenua tētehi o ngā tino painga ki ahau, kāore i pātaia ngā pane uruwhenua, kāore he raruraru ki te kimi kāinga nā reira i māmā ake ai. Ko te hunga mahi i reira i tae mai i ngā tōpito katoa o te ao.
Ko āna kupu tohutohu ēnei ki tētehi, ki ētehi rānei e pirangi ana kia tu hei pou whakahaere ki tāwāhi? Kia tika te kōrero, kia māmā te tuku o te mōhiohio. Pai kē atu kia rangatira te iti tēnā i te moumou o te nui. Ko āna kaupapa rangatira hoki ēnei hai whainga mā tātou; tuatahi ake, ko te Burning Man Festival, kai te kōraha i Nevada.
Anō nei he tāone pakupaku, ka katia te kuhutanga ki tēnei kaupapa ka eke ai rātou ki te manomano o te hunga pāti, e whitu tekau mano tangata.
He huinga tangata whakapono nei ki te wairua pono o te tangata, tukua kia māori noa te tangata, he kaupapa whakamihi ki ngā ahurea katoa o te ao, he wānanga tuku mātauranga, koia nei me ētehi o ngā kaupapa whakahirahira. Whoi anō, tāti ai tēnei kaupapa i te wiki whakamutunga o Akuwhata tae noa ki te rātahi tuatahi o Hepetema.
Tia Smith is on a mission to learn te reo Māori and has taken the year off to attend He Kainga Mo Te Reo.
As part of that kaupapa, she is studying her whakapapa and has just completed, through Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Level 2 He Papa Tikanga. She is also exploring Māori governance and working part-time managing projects for Te Tatau O Te Arawa.
Wearing multiple hats is par for the course for Tia who has been in event management since 2007.
Since returning from the Middle East in January, Tia, with friend and colleague Martin Croft, has launched www.theorganiser.co.nz
They had been chewing over the idea of a website for some because people kept asking Tia the same questions.
"This idea has come from the desire to connect people/suppliers/organisers in order to make delivering an event or production easier! "I have always been asked, do you know any singers or entertainment, stallholders etc. This website was created as a one-stop shop!
"Events have such a significant social impact on a community!"
Born and raised in Rotorua, Tia, 39, identifies as Takatāpui and has Te Arawa and Ngāti Kahungunu hononga. She is Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuara and close to Kearoa Marae.
Tia embarked on the event management journey because she loved going to live events.
"I have always enjoyed going to events, I love live music and the excitement of the atmosphere.
"It has always been about the experience. Over the years I have realised that events have real social benefits to a community."
Experience over the years has shown Tia that there is more to events than instant enjoyment.
She wants now to be more involved, to see beyond the immediacy of a project.
"I want to and be a part of projects that mean something versus just doing projects for the sake of doing it.
"I want to be more involved in hapu and iwi projects that uplift and enhance our community."
When Tia first started event management there were no courses available.
"It was all about volunteering for events showing commitment, enthusiasm, common sense and just working hard."
She looking to the future and has a succession plan.
"I have been mentoring a young Māori wahine who studied events.
"She is and continues to be my right-hand man in all the projects I have taken on and I hope through this experience she is able to excel in the space of events and or TV mahi."
Throughout her career, Tia has had several mentors.
"Each of my mentors has taught me different personal skills that have empowered me."
Tia's last major project was the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup — a practice run for the 2022 FIFA
World Cup in November.
Although she has had previous experience working on major international events, Qatar was very different as their culture, language and climate were all new to Tia.
Tia's role was in transport, getting spectators and workers to six of the eight venues.
The games, from November 30 to December 18, saw teams from the 16 Arab countries competing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Tia was particularly interested in how the games coped with Covid and found it was not that different from in Aotearoa. It just meant that the paperwork had to be properly completed. There was no room for mistakes.
She says her industry and hospitality were most affected by Covid.
"However, we are seeing overseas that the industry is on the comeback and there is a real appetite for it."
Tia was contracted by a US company to go to Qatar. In an interview with Martin Croft on The Organisers, she said it was quite lucrative and the experience of going overseas without the hassles of setting up work visas and accommodation had much to recommend it.
She found that many of the people there were part of a game's community, travelling from various world events. Her best piece of advice to anyone contemplated event management overseas?
Keep communications clear and simple. Don't overwhelm people with too much information. Top of her bucket list is the Burning Man Festival held in the middle of Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
It is described as a temporary city (with a population cap at 70,000 paid participants) that has forged a permanent community of people who are dedicated to celebrating creativity, self-expression, cultural differences, knowledge sharing, releasing social stigma. It runs from the last Sunday in August to the first Monday in September
