Gwenny Davis

The stress and chaos that can come with event management is no obstacle for this organisational dynamo. Gwenny’s eagle eye for detail combined with exceptional organisational skills, honed over many years on the educational event circuit, make her a perfect match for the job. Many wonder how conferences such as Navcon2k4, ULearn, Learning@School, and He Waka Eke Noa 'happen'; they need look no further than Gwenny’s 11-acre property in Nelson where she brings the many components of each event together and does just that – with a little help from the other members of the events committee. 

After graduating "decades ago” in sociology and French at Victoria University, Gwenny spent many years as president and office manager for the Maruia Society. The society has since undergone a couple of name changes from the Native Forests Action Council to the present name of the Ecologic Foundation and has been responsible for the protection of millions of acres of publicly-owned native forests in New Zealand.

Bringing two boys into the world put a pause on all that and once they were in primary school, Gwenny launched her own business with Janet Matheson in Nelson called Conferences & Events Ltd. With plenty of event management experience behind her Gwenny began working with Nick Billowes in 1999 and now works exclusively for CORE Education on ICT PD conferences.

Gwenny has lived on the same property on the outskirts of Nelson since arriving from Cornwall in 1962. She has planted thousands of trees and is still planting. When not organising conferences, Gwenny plays violin in the Nelson Symphony Orchestra and is currently learning to tango.