The times they are a changing (and so are we)

The world is on fire and the sector is in a spin, so like many arts and media organisations currently grappling with an avalanche of uncertainty, The Big Idea is embarking on what can best be described as a low-key makeover. Here’s what we're working on. 

New team 

First and foremost – we’ve reshaped our core team. We are: 

Samuel Walsh – CEO 

Sam (Pākehā, Indian, Lebanese) keeps the big picture in focus while making sure the day-to-day stuff actually works. He has ample experience as an arts administrator and arts-centric businesses owner.  

Gabi Lardies – Editor 

Gabi Lardies (Pākehā, Argentinian) works with talented freelancers to bring you critical and enlightening arts sector coverage and keeps you updated through the Aotearoa Artswire every Thursday. Gabi has an MFA, a Graduate Diploma in Sociology, a previous career in graphic design, and a background in magazine feature writing. She has written for The Spinoff, The Guardian, Pantograph Punch, Metro, New Zealand Geographic, and North & South. 

Sananda Chatterjee – Cultural Insights & Programmes Manager 

Sananda (Bengali (Indian), Tangata Tiriti) works on various projects at TBI, ranging from evaluation of current offerings to strategic developments of new ones, and some aspirational in-betweens. She is a freelance theatre maker and an Audience Behaviour researcher in Tāmaki Makaurau. 

Kate Rylatt – Business Development Manager 

Kate (Pākehā) looks after our partnerships, advertising, listings, and new business. She has a background in marketing, sponsorship and funding in both the commercial and non-profit sectors. With a couple of decades knocking about in the sector both as a creative and an arts administrator, she’s already a familiar face to many, and is a friendly face to those she hasn’t met yet.  

We’re supported by a growing gaggle of contributing writers and suppliers and a network of collaborators. 

A refined approach  

We’re refining our approach and embracing a new mission to ‘Empower creative industry professionals by helping them navigate the arts ecosystem in Aotearoa’. 

The Big Idea’s CEO Samuel Walsh reflects "this is by no means a massive reinvention of the wheel but it does mean acknowledging with limited resources, TBI will never be all things to all people. So we’re adopting a trade magazine approach so we can carve out our own space amongst the milieu and reframe our focus to better serve the needs of the artists, administrators and organisations working in the sector". 

This has meant pressing pause on some past initiatives but our focus is still keeping you up to date with industry news, platforming artists and organisations, sharing tips and tricks and continuing to house jobs, opportunities and events from across the motu, with a definite collaborative and community centric approach.   

Community centred content 

We’re diversifying our content by retiring some old columns and regular features, leaning into tried-and-true favourites and opening up the editorial process so our full team can feed into the types of stories we publish and those who write them. 

“The Big Idea is a real trooper,” says Gabi. “It’s been part of the arts sector for almost 25 years and I’m excited to take a turn at the editorial helm. The tradition of close reporting on government arts policies will continue, as will keeping a close eye on structural issues that impact the sector, and all the amazing things our artists do. I bring with me a sense of fun, a fresh pointedness, a renewed critical eye, heaps of curiosity, a love of writing and a desire to nurture arts writing and writers.”  

We’re growing our contributor pool and putting an emphasis on more regional coverage to ensure we’re more fairly spread across disciplines and mediums. 

Off the back of content partnerships from Te Manawa, Art Makers Aotearoa and Tangata Ataamai – we’re also looking to launch new collaborations and look forward to working more closely with an array of industry partners and friends. 

Brand Refresh 

Over the coming months we’ll be rolling out a face-lift – streamlining, simplifying and splashing a bit of color across our EDMs, social channels and public facing collateral.  

Newsletters 

We’re simplifying our EDMs. From next week we will be retiring our Monday Bulletin and focusing on one weekly newsletter that will arrive in your inbox on Thursday. 

TBI 2.0 

Work is underway on a new TBI website – one that’s easier to use, more accessible, aesthetically pleasing and packed full of practical bells and whistles.

Business Development Manager Kate Rylatt says, “The new website is going to be much easier to navigate and use – not just for our visitors and listers, but for our team as well. It means we will have more flexibility so that we can be responsive to the community’s needs. Updating the website was one of my main goals when I came into this role and I can’t wait to share it”. 

As part of this new build, we will be rolling out a series of small but practical changes including separating our jobs and opportunities boards, revising our pricing tiers, offering community discounts and initiating a new form to make it easier to pitch stories, send press releases and provide feedback. 

We’re rebuilding the site from scratch so it’s no small feat but we hope to have it launched in early 2026.

Professional Network 

We’re rejigging our professional development platform the Learning Network – creating a toolbox for those working in the sector. 

Cultural Insights & Programmes Manager Sananda Chatterjee says “I see the Learning Network as the ultimate cheat sheet for artists and arts managers. We’re gathering all those fragments of knowledge scattered across the sector in Aotearoa and putting them in one place, at your fingertips. Venue in Ōtepoti? Sorted. Funding in Waikato? Sorted. A producer in Tāmaki? Off you go! A practical hub, built to back artists.” 

We’ll be adding practical resources sourced from organisations across Aotearoa alongside a suite of directories to help connect with the sector – more on that to come. 

New Governance 

We’ve reshaping our board with Philip Clarke taking over as Chair alongside Ian Bonner, Ashlee McCormick and new recruit Dr. Emma Bugden. Our governance make-up is also expanding and we will have more updates over the coming months. 

Philip Clarke says “One of my fave IG comics signs off with ‘stay stable, stay relevant’. The board is committed to a TBI that is always a dependable and relevant resource for the creative sector. In his first year Sam has done a fantastic job to ensure that we’re stable in changing times, highly relevant and the best we can be by assembling an impressive team committed to the flourishing of the arts in Aotearoa”. 

Thank you 

We want to thank everyone who took part in our Brand Health Survey, all the artists, arts organisations and funders who have taken the time to share their thoughts with us, and the wider TBI team (past and present) for all their support and patience over the course of this sea change. 

We are profoundly grateful to departing Editor Sam Ackerman and Marketing Manager Mercedes Ackerman for their outstanding contributions to TBI over the past six years. Their dedication and hard work have been fundamental to the The Big Idea’s growth and we wish them all the best on their next adventure. 

We also want to acknowledge departing Chair Tina Symmans for her contribution to TBI over the last few years and wish her well in her many endeavors. 

Whilst we’re only just getting started, we’re excited about where things are heading and hope you’ll all be patient with us as we transition to this new phase of our organisation. 

Kia ora rawa atu,  

Sam, Kate, Sananda and Gabi – also known as The Big Idea.