Rotorua’s inaugural Storytelling and Tech Festival offers an exciting line-up of local and national story-tellers who
are using tech in creative ways to share cultural stories.
Part of Rotorua Techweek 2019, the Festival takes place at Toi Ohomai this Thursday (23 May), and is divided into two
parts. The 11.30am session aims to encourage rangatahi (youth) to consider tech careers so they can play their part in
Rotorua's tech future. Then from 4pm, the focus turns to brand story-telling for businesses, helping them harness tech
to connect with customers and stakeholders.
At the festival’s heart is keynote speaker Kat Lintott (Ngāi Tahu) who is the co-founder of Wrestler, a creative agency
specialising in virtual, augmented and mixed reality. She will be in Rotorua to share the story of the exciting VR
collaboration her team is creating with Ngāti Awa and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, where audiences will explore and
marvel at ancient Māori stories through a carefully crafted, co-constructed interactive experience.
In this event, she will explore the different ways stories can be captured and told through technology ranging from an
iPhone, all the way through to immersive interactive VR headsets.
Kat says she is particularly excited to present to rangatahi to bring young talent along on the journey so that New
Zealand has a strong foundation of talent for the future.
Fellow speaker Kristy Mayes lives in Rotorua and is a digital designer and developer who has worked in New Zealand’s
cultural sector for over 20 years.
During that time she has worn many hats including that of fashion designer, entrepreneur, animator, video editor,
illustrator, graphic, web, UI (user interface) designer and front end web developer. She maintains that throughout her
career tech has simply been a tool to connect with people which is why she has done so much.
Kristy is now bringing her talent and skillset to the gaming industry. She is co-founder and COO of Koi Digital,
creators of new story franchise Titans of Aotearoa.
Mercia-Dawn Yates from Ngā Pūmanawa e waru will be presenting on their new Te Arawa Digital Storehouse. Research by Te
Arawa academic Dr Angus Macfarlane has shown that there are eight identifiable key qualities which highly influence the
success of Te Arawa learners: resilience, humility, identity, values, innovation, wellbeing, relationships and
scholarship.
Te Arawa Digital Storehouse utilises these qualities to introduce learners to Te Arawa stories, creating a system that
is easily accessible to young learners and simple for teachers to incorporate into teaching.
Destination Rotorua chief executive Michelle Templer says the Storytelling and Tech Festival will showcase the power of
tech in bringing stories to life, particularly when it’s combined with the Te Arawa people’s exceptional storytelling
heritage.
“In an increasingly digitised world where global communication is driven by devices and the internet, people are craving
authentic and genuine connections and Rotorua is the perfect place to offer this.”
Other speakers include: Mead Norton, John Maybury, Craig Render of Microsoft, Teri Teei of KidsCoin, Ngapera Riley of
Figure NZ, Taku-Anne Jones of Origins Software, Lee Timutimu of Arataki Cultural Trails, Robin Hartley of Scion, Chris
Parnell CG Design, David Blackmore of Waimangu, Nige Ward the Animator, Piripi Curtis and Mike Jonathan of Steambox
Films, Glenn McLeary of RedSpot and Potaua Biasiny-Tule of Digital Natives Academy.
ENDS