31 August 2011

Wellywood or What?

The opportunity has arrived for people in the Wellington region to submit and vote on their creative ideas for an alternative to the Wellywood sign on the Miramar Peninsula.

The ‘Wellywood or What?’ competition, launched today, has been designed to:

- have fun and be inclusive;

- celebrate the Wellington region; and

- challenge the creativity of the Wellington region.

The competition is being overseen by an independent panel of Wellingtonians who have met regularly since June to design the process.

“We want people to really embrace this great opportunity and develop ideas that can challenge Wellywood for the prime position on the Miramar Peninsula,” said the Panel today.

”The process ensures that anyone can have the chance to submit ideas and, ultimately, vote on what will be installed on the Miramar Peninsula hill."

Wellington organisations that capture the essence of the Wellington region have donated their experiences as spot prizes during the process. Details of these will be announced later.

The Dominion Post is hosting the “Wellywood or What?” competition on its website www.dompost.co.nz. The site will include a special section on the competition, with design specifications, rules and the official submission sheet.

There have been many ideas already sent to the Airport, but the Panel says that to ensure they are all captured and assessed equally, they will need to be re-submitted through the official process hosted by The Dominion Post.

The Wellywood or What? Competition has a three phase process:

- Ideas phase: To challenge the creativity of the Wellington region to develop and submit ideas that can stand against Wellywood in the competition. This commences on 31 August 2011 and closes at midnight on 9 October.

- First voting phase: Up to eight ideas will be chosen by the Panel to be put to a public vote. This phase commences on 28 October and closes at midnight on 5 November.

- Final voting phase: The two ideas that receive the most public votes will go up against “Wellywood” in a final vote for the public. The idea with the most votes will be adopted and installed on the Miramar Peninsula. This phase commences on 6 November 2011 and closes at midnight on 11 November.

- The winning idea will be announced on 19 November 2011.

“We challenge people to put on their creative caps and submit alternative ideas to Wellywood. And we urge everyone in the region to vote in both phases on what they think is the option that best captures the essence of Wellington,” said the Panel.

The competition will run over the next few months, with the details of timing well publicised in the Dominion Post.

ENDS

[WWOWRulesofEntry.pdf]

About the Independent Panel

The original idea behind the sign was to celebrate and draw attention to Wellington’s vibrant and award-winning global film industry. The name Wellywood was chosen from a process in early 2010. Many voiced an opinion that a more comprehensive consultation process was required. For this reason, the Airport decided to put options through a community selection process.

The Airport invited a group of individuals representing a range of Wellington interests and views to form a panel. The Panel decided to consider alternative options, including installations or artworks and has worked out the details of a democratic process to engage the Wellington region.

The Airport is not represented on the independent panel.

The Independent Panel Members:
Fran Wilde
Chair, Greater Wellington Regional Council
Liz Mellish
Trustee, Wellington Tenths Trust
Allan Probert
CEO, Enterprise Miramar Peninsular
Andy Boreham
Head of Protest
Dave Gibson
Producer, Gibson Group
John Milford
Chair, Wellington Tourism & CEO, Kirkaldies
Richard Stone
Chair, Jackson Stone and Partners

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