Glen McCracken, Technology Director, Eden Park Trust

Glen is the Head of Technology at Eden Park, New Zealand’s largest stadium.  Eden Park hosts over half a million local and international sports fans each year, and has been the home of Auckland Cricket since 1910 and Auckland Rugby since 1925.With a 100 year history, Eden Park boasts some of New Zealand's proudest sporting moments, including the 1950 Empire Games, inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup and 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Eden Park has recently completed a $240m upgrade, which has seen half the stadium demolished and rebuilt.  An integral part of the redevelopment has been the investment in technology initiatives.  These initiatives include electronic turnstiles, IP CCTV, IP Telephony, IPTV, Digital Signage, IP EFTPOS, two new 110m2 LED superscreens, 190 point of sale, 260 plasma monitors, Video Production Suite, Outside Broadcast compound, Access Control, Patron Wireless, PA and Building Management, allowing the centralised control over nearly every aspect of the stadium’s operations.

Glen led the technology workstreams associated with the redevelopment, and remains responsible for the overall direction and operations of technology.  Glen started his career as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and has since worked for Telecom, Vodafone, Kordia and TelstraClear, typically in the project/programme management space.  Glen holds a Bachelor’s in Corporate Finance, a Bachelor’s in Applied Statistics, and has completed Post Graduate studies in Computer Science, all from the University of Auckland.