History – Where we started

John Hutchison and Deanne Kennedy of Jaydee Events have worked in agricultural event management and within primary and secondary schools, delivering agricultural programs for the past twenty years.

John brings 40 years of practical, industry-based knowledge and experience to the company, while Deanne has a solid financial background in project management and has worked within the agricultural sector for 25 years.

Commencing in 2004, John and Deanne combined their extensive knowledge of agriculture and work within the education sector. Since then, they have worked in over 3,000 primary and secondary schools (both urban and rural) across Australia. John and Deanne established strong networks and friendships with farmers, teachers, and industry personnel during this time. The school-based curriculum business is based on the fact that knowledge about the agricultural industry from teachers, students and the community, even in rural areas, can be extremely low. Their successful work has rectified this lack of knowledge in schools, with parents, and, thereby, the broader community. These early learnings and understandings continue to drive John and Deanne’s passion for agriculture and education today.

Furthermore, the Jaydee team has extensive experience in agricultural and community event management, managing small events such as industry workshops and festivals that attract over 6,000 people. The team has experience in organising conferences, field days, festivals, workshops, tours, and award ceremonies.

Passion, enthusiasm, motivation and excellent communication are the driving forces around the success of running agricultural events and school-based initiatives; these attributes, combined with a committed, efficient and knowledgeable team, are powerful.

John and Deanne have extensive experience in project evaluation and analysis. Evaluation information is imperative as both parties need to see a mutual benefit, and the outcomes of such projects need to be able to be reported to all the stakeholders.

John and Deanne have proven project management, research, and organisational skills and a reputation for working within project timeframes, milestones, and budgets. These skills are verified by the success of the projects that they have researched, developed, and delivered in industry and schools.