Think Coromandel Gig Guide is a grassroots project launched in December 2017, aimed at supporting the local arts and events industry on the Coromandel Peninsula.
“It all began with us wanting to get out and about, being willing to travel for a good gig but wondering where the heck we were supposed to find out what was going on without having to trawl through a bunch of different whats on listing sites,” explains co-founder Emma Mudgway.
The Gig Guide wholeheartedly understands the value the arts play in maintaining positive wellbeing, and is a community focused initiative. The team strongly believes that events, arts and music are what connects communities and helps collective social wellbeing to thrive.
“We are passionate about supporting and providing opportunities for our community to engage with the arts, and connecting our townships by focusing on the Peninsula as a whole. Keeping the guide free, and accessible to all is very important to us,” says Emma.
Alongside their monthly gig guide (previously available in hardcopy brochures, now available online), they host arts events in the community featuring creatives from around the Coromandel region. Audiences will remember them for THINK fest, THINK 01: Collective Exhibition and the recent Ebony Lamb gig in Whitianga. They’ve also collaborated with other local arts groups and organizations, including Creative Mercury Bay and Yellow Door Art Space.
With support from the team at Creative Waikato, The Gig Guide is fundraising this season by running a Boosted crowdfunding campaign. Boosted is a New Zealand based, arts only crowdfunding site run by the charity, The Arts Foundation.
This crowdfunding campaign is part of a larger initiative headed by Creative Waikato, who invited The Gig Guide to create a campaign in conjunction with a few other arts projects across the Waikato region.
Crowdfunding is a form of fundraising for a project by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. When the project hits its financial target inside its time limit, the project receives the money and Boosted donors get a tax credit (33% for donations $5 and up), plus the satisfaction that they have contributed towards a worthy arts-related project.
“Our aim for 2021 and beyond is to keep on keeping on! This means keeping up with operating costs, maintaining our new online presence, being flexible to take on projects and most importantly, keeping the guide free and accessible to the masses. Crowdfunding in this way will help us raise the necessary funds to do so,” explains fellow cofounder, Kenzie Sampson.
As the Gig Guide grows, Emma and Kenzie have needed to find new ways to keep it sustainable, create a bigger impact, support the community and the creatives they collaborate with, and promote Coromandel events and artists on a larger scale.
“Given that we are supported by local small businesses and event organisers who are really struggling during this unstable COVID-19 environment, we have chosen not to increase our advertising rates. It’s important to us that we find other avenues to continue to grow the Gig Guide, while simultaneously keeping costs down for our advertisers due to the current economic times,” says Kenzie.
If you value the important mahi of THINK Coromandel Gig Guide, now is the time to be part of it! We’ll be sharing the details of their Boosted campaign when it goes live on November 12 so you can donate to their cause and share with friends and whanau. #supportlocal
Article published 3 November 2020
