Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side.
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Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side.
Sticky Post
Australasian Special Events in 2021
I started ASE in early 2000. It was a year of optimism for the event industry. We had survived the Y2K …
February 23, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
February 23, 2021
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Dull and boring are a couple of descriptors I’ve heard, however I want to go a little deeper. If I had …
July 30, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
July 30, 2021
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I’ve previously blogged about events in Sydney not recommencing until after Christmas. Unfortunately today’s developments reinforce that view. First, yesterday’s statement …
July 29, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
July 29, 2021
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Until lockdowns “become a thing of the past” the event industry cannot plan ahead without the government providing cancellation insurance. PM …
July 28, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
July 28, 2021
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As expected the lockdown in Sydney is to be extended for another four weeks. I figured that now is a good …
July 28, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
July 28, 2021
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Arinex Incentives and Corporate Events Senior Account Manager Leonie Ferris-Tonge shares why you should consider a travel reward program to motivate …
July 27, 2021
Posted by arinex
July 27, 2021
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Dull and boring are a couple of descriptors I’ve heard, however I want to go a little deeper. If I had to use one word it would be “sparse”. Normally what we see is a massed spectacle designed for television. This time we had a TV event with some elements presented live. As a TV event it was not only sparse, but slow as well, in fact it lacked …
I’ve previously blogged about events in Sydney not recommencing until after Christmas. Unfortunately today’s developments reinforce that view. First, yesterday’s statement by PM Scott Morrison that lockdowns would become a thing of the past once the vaccine rollout is complete, and that he believes the rollout will be essentially complete by the end of the year. As we know, until lockdowns become a thing of the past the event …
Until lockdowns “become a thing of the past” the event industry cannot plan ahead without the government providing cancellation insurance. PM Morrison said today that he believes the vaccine rollout will be essentially complete by the end of the year. “By the end of the year we will be in that position, where everybody who has had the opportunity will have had it,” he says. This means lockdowns will …
As expected the lockdown in Sydney is to be extended for another four weeks. I figured that now is a good time to reflect on how we got to this point. Not how Golden Gladys didn’t shut down Sydney’s eastern suburbs when this outbreak started spreading, but how the virus got there in the first place. As event managers we always work on risk analysis and contingency plans. So …
Arinex Incentives and Corporate Events Senior Account Manager Leonie Ferris-Tonge shares why you should consider a travel reward program to motivate your staff. Leonie Ferris-Tonge Staff are unlikely to talk about their cash bonuses However exciting it might be to get financially renumerated for a job well done, most people will not share that good news with people beyond their immediate family. Incentives are designed to positively impact the …
As we are back into lockdown I’ve taken the opportunity to get some more interviews completed. The new interviews will be dropped each four weeks with repeats from last year in between. Darryl Lovegrove is a singer and an entrepreneur. His singing career started in the school choir – he featured as a soloist on a recording made by the choir. Darryl went on to be a pop singer …
I’ve listened to and read a lot of commentary and concerns from within the event industry over the past year or so and I want to sum up the key points. NB I’m using “event industry” to describe business events (B2B), consumer events (B2C) and festivals. The event industry is always in the first round of shutdowns and the last to reopen. Next in line is travel and tourism. …
The experiments are both on humans. Experiment #1 commenced on Monday – Boris Johnson’s so called Freedom Day. ASE checked what this meant for the event industry in the UK. The UK Government guidelines for events and visitor attractions covers – indoor and outdoor attractions, performing arts venues, Indoor and outdoor events of any size Complete a health and safety risk assessment that includes risks from COVID-19Turn people with …
Entertainer James Bustar has compiled a heart rending video in which members of the arts community tell of the devastation of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods and the need for further government income support to be extended to the arts.In the emotion-charged 10-minute video, prominent artists from a wide range of disciplines speak of the loneliness and despair combined with deepening concern that the arts are being overlooked.They tell of having bookings and income in their gig-to-gig industry cut to …
The construction industry is up in arms because they have finally been shut down. Welcome to lockdown boys and be thankful that you do not work in sectors that have been affected far more seriously than you. The arts, events, entertainment and festivals sectors have been the first to be shut down and the last to reopen. Since 13th March 2020 these sectors have been shut down for longer …
Part two of the interview with Roslyn Mcleod looks a the Olympics and the 21st century
Over the past few weeks I’ve been observing the tradies working on building sites as I go for my morning walk. This morning those sites were quiet. Welcome to lockdown guys. Like all politicians Gladys Berejiklian loves donning the hi-viz and hard hat for a photo op, so it must have been galling for her to announce the shutdown of construction in Sydney, however… Ms Berejiklian announced on Saturday …
Hi Melbourne – we really didn’t want to stuff it up for you again, and we feel for you. And just putting it out there – I reckon the Sydney lockdown will tighten this weekend. “Dictator Dan” was decisive yesterday while “Gold Standard Gladys” is still dithering. However, the language at this morning’s presser from both the NSW Premier and Dr Chant is certainly pointing to a harder lockdown …
On ABC RN this morning medical epidemiologist Mike Toole was talking about the modelling done by the Burnett Institute on the Victorian second wave. There have now been a number of media stories covering this call for tighter shutdowns in Greater Sydney because the modelling predicts that unless an equivalent to Melbourne’s stage 4 restrictions is introduced in Sydney we could be in lockdown until Christmas. NSW restrictions will …
Currently our political leaders are all telling us that they are “listening to the medical advice” before making decisions on lockdowns. But in the end the decision they make is a political one. If John Howard had sought military advice before committing to sending troops to Afghanistan they would have told him to look at the Russian experience in that country and our role in the Vietnam war. No, …
Roslyn Mcleod OAM started her first business providing tour guides for the 1971 Rotary International Convention in Sydney. That business developed through supplying tour guides and interpreters to then become a PCO. Roslyn Mcleod Arinex is now one of the foremost conference and destination management companies in Australia. Roslyn shares her school days in Sydney and Perth and how learning Latin and Japanese prepared her for that career. This …
Gary FitzRoy has had plenty to say about the situation we find ourselves in as an industry. He went on to create yet another industry association – the National Events Alliance. The NEA held a meet up at Sydney Showground last month and ASE took the opportunity to sit down with Gary for a chat.
You were right Trevor; July 2021 does still look a lot like March 2020 and that’s still having an impact on the events industry. Peter Jones We all knew it was coming but that doesn’t mean the pain is any less with the cancellation of the Grand Prix In fact, it ended up a double blow with the bikes gone at Phillip Island as well. The number of …
Once again this morning has seen wall to wall media conferences by state premiers and the federal treasurer. The big news is that the Sydney lockdown will continue for another week while the Melbourne lockdown will ease from midnight Thursday. Metropolitan Melbourne will be brought into line with regional Victoria, which means all COVIDSafe settings will apply statewide.Masks will continue to be required in indoor, public-facing settings unless an …
Business events might account for 79% of Victoria’s event industry in economic terms, but frustratingly today they again didn’t get a mention. Simon Thewlis The government trumpeted that 40,000 people are allowed at the football and 2,000 people are allowed at theatre productions. But no mention of business events despite the critical role they play in Victoria. Prior to Covid, 120,000 business events were happening in Victoria every year. …
National Event Alliance (NEA) are delighted to announce the appointment of Doug MacColl as the interim CEO following overwhelming positive feedback from their first Forum held recently in Sydney. Doug MacColl Doug was previously Finance and Transformation Director at Reed Exhibitions APAC, with many years in the Industry. In welcoming the appointment Doug said that “National Events Alliance are keen to give a voice to the 2,198 direct businesses …
We are saddened by the loss of every event – whether it is a conference for a not-for-profit group, a product launch, a community festival, or the Grand Prix. They are all important. They all contribute to our communities, and to what makes Victoria a great place. And, they all provide much needed income for Event Industry people and businesses. Simon Thewlis Sadly, Victoria has lost over 100,000 events …
Philip Carr was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this interview Philip talks about growing up in apartheid South Africa, how started in business with his mother and catering for President Nelson Mandela’s 79th birthday. Philip moved to Sydney in 1998 and had to start all over again to build, what is now a very successful event business. This wide ranging discussion goes into his philosophy of design …
How nice that Our Beloved Leader has released a National Plan to transition Australia’s National COVID-19 Response. Which looks like this Which looks very much like this one released in March 2020 This is what I had to say about the 3 STEP FRAMEWORK FOR A COVIDSAFE AUSTRALIA last March. So what is different? Well another step has been added. Apart from that they look very similar. This time …
Doug MacColl discovers that 100,000 people have lost their jobs in the events sector A Nine Newspapers investigation into inbound arrivals into Australia has highlighted, as a by-product, the shocking collapse of the events industry revealed by the decrease in the number of visitors into Australia for conferences, as questions swirl around the international border system. Doug MacColl Building on the reports in the Nine Newspapers, my own research …
Currently over half of Australia’s population is under lockdown restrictions of some sort. It appears that the only safe place to hold an event at the moment is Tasmania. Financially our industry is getting slammed. So I decided to have a look at where we currently sit. We are living in a three tiered economy and the events industry is on the bottom rung. The top rung is reserved …
In the second half of the Peter Jones interview we discuss some of the great events he has delivered – and the effect of COVID on his business and the overall events business
First held in 1823, the Sydney Royal Easter Show (SRES) is Australia’s largest annual ticketed event, attracting over 828,000 attendees on average. The RAS has a full time staff of 155 who not only run the SRES they also manage one of the largest event precincts in Australia. In addition they run Wine, Dairy & Fine Food competitions and the Australasian Animal Registry. This swells to over 500 paid employees …
In March 2020 the events industry was the first to be shut down when the 500 pax limit was put on events, followed by more limits until no events were viable. Gary FitzRoy People in our industry are now at breaking point. We, unlike tourism, have received very little mainstream media coverage. Look at Margy Osborne from the Tourism Task Force who has been on virtually every mainstream media …
The business events industry’s leadership convened at ICC Sydney earlier this month to prepare for the future of business events in Australia. The Business Events Industry Roundtable was jointly hosted by the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) and Tourism Australia. The workshop focused on building an understanding of the immediate objectives for the sector as well as obtaining business events industry insights to inform the Reimaging the Visitor …
Peter Jones is Melbourne born and bred; a dedicated Melbourne Football Club fan, despite the team having a miserable track record when it comes to winning. Peter’s career in events started when he worked on the Moomba festival when he was 16 – earning $25 per week. Peter Jones While at University his first job was with Life Be In It – touring around shopping centres with “Norm” Then …
At the recent National Events Alliance Meetup at Sydney Showground Gayle Dickerson shared insights into how business sees events coming back. ASE spoke to Gale about some of those issues About Gayle Dickerson Partner – Restructuring Services, KPMG Board Member – Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Gayle has over 20 years of experience in both the UK and Australia in corporate turnaround, insolvency, restructuring and turnaround advisory. Gayle is engaged …
The latest Victorian outbreak has started to have real bite and again the exhibition and event industry is left in disarray, with many on the brink of closure, yet there seems to be no recognition of the dire situation from our industry bodies, nor the Government, and I sound like a broken record wondering what it’s going take? Not only has the recent break out in Victoria specifically caused …
This week the Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula, announced new grants for event organisers saying, “Event organisers have done it tough and they deserve this across-the-board support – from big companies with dozens of workers to individual contractors it will provide critical cash injections when they are needed most.” “Victorians love turning out to events and we are backing the sector and its workers to recover …
Media release from Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Martin Pakula Event organisers, hosts, suppliers, producers and cinema businesses will benefit from a new support package of grants announced by the Victorian Government today. The $20 million Victorian Events Support Package has been designed to support the events industry, acknowledging the heavy and ongoing impact of the May-June restrictions on the sector. Part of the more than $500 …
The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) has announced that Independent Chair of the peak industry body, Dr Vanessa Findlay, has stepped down from the role after leading the business events industry’s advocacy and federal government lobbying efforts throughout the turbulent period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the 2020 lockdown I started a podcast – in 2021 we are revisiting those chats. Lena Malouf grew up in Canowindra in regional NSW and learned retail from her shopkeeper parents. Lena Malouf Engaged at 18, married at 19, then starting a business with three young children Lena had to be resourceful. We follow her career from opening a floristry business in Wollongong in 1957 to teaching at …
While training at the William Angliss Institute Anne failed egg boiling but managed to run a catering business on the side. Anne Jamieson Anne relives her career in hotels in Melbourne, Sydney and back to Melbourne – ranging from basic chores to senior sales roles. Following a couple of decades in hotels Anne joined the MCEC as Director of Sales in 2009. Then two years ago she was …
Event organisers are a responsive, take-it-in-your-stride type. Throughout the last 14 months we have found ways to continue meeting despite uncertainty and the imposition of last-minute restrictions. Now with industries picking up pace once more and events returning to normal, we are beginning to ask ourselves; what is normal anyway? Why return to the standard event when we can deliver so much more? We believe event planning needs to …
You don’t expect page 7 of the Sunday Herald Sun ($) and the back page of the Sunday Age to be scary reading in relation to events but yesterday they were. It is even in today’s papers and one of the hot topics on talkback radio. Our Events Minister Martin Pakula had to spend more time answering questions about this topic at the press conference yesterday than any other …
As Victorians enter week two of lockdown 4.0 I became aware of massive failure and a missed opportunity. The failure We have been told that contract tracing is the key to stopping the virus in its tracks. It is almost a year since NSW introduced a state-wide QR check-in system, with the other states and territories following soon after. Yet Victoria has only just managed to finalise their rollout …
The organisers of the Australian Event Awards are providing an opportunity for a State, Territory, venue, government bodies or partnerships thereof who wish to boost their region and promote their destination to the wider Australian events community, to become the ‘Destination Partner’ by hosting the culminating event of Australian Event Industry Month, the Australian Event Awards Ceremony. Partnering with the Event Awards as the Destination Partner demonstrates your commitment …
Trina Butler is Senior Director, Global Accounts at HelmsBriscoe Trina works with clients in Legal, Medical, Corporate, High Tech, Government and Association Markets in the US, South East Asia and Australia. At an industry function last week Trina shared her thoughts on where we were in 2020 and what we should be doing in 2021 Trina Butler February 2020 the bottom fell out. My self-worth is not solely but …
IN 2020 there were no evens to cover so I took the opportunity to have a chat with industry colleagues. In 2021 I’m revisiting those interviews. Andrea is a girl who likes to party. Fortunately she is the Managing Director of Onstage Entertainment so she gets to design the entertainment for fabulous parties – mostly for her clients, but sometimes for her own amusement. Andrea’s memories from school in …
The Victorian government’s announcement of $20m in Event Assistance is a modest, but long needed, step in the right direction. It is also a very welcome acknowledgement of our Event Industry – an industry that makes such a huge contribution to life in Victoria. It is a direct response to the extensive lobbying that has been done by Save Victorian Events and others in recent weeks. But it …
We all have memoires of the childhood story of the Little Engine That Could who pushed to get over the mountain and kept saying I think I can, I think I can. The train was very positive with the intention and eventually the little locomotive huffed and puffed and conquered the mountain and then the down run was far easier. The question for the exhibition and event industry is …
The Acting Premier of Victoria James Merlino has just announced a seven day ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown of Victoria. The lockdown covers “Hotels, clubs, TABs and the casino will be closed, indoor and outdoor entertainment venues, swimming pools, spas, saunas, indoor and outdoor springs, community venues, drive in cinemas, amusements parks, creative studios, art galleries and museums, tourism, tours, and transport, and auctions can only happen online.” Sources in Melbourne told …
How exhibitions drive economic recovery by enabling growth and recovery is the key theme for this year’s Global Exhibitions Day 2 June 2021 #GED21, which will be marked by the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) with a hybrid seminar featuring high-profiled speakers and networking drinks. Global Exhibitions Day is an annual world-wide campaign that was established by UFI, the Global Association for the Exhibition Industry and is …
In 2020 I did a series of interviews for a podcast series. The idea was to get to know the back story of people in our industry. This week we revisit my chat with Ian Stuart. Ian is well know as an MC and anchor of many industry events including a number of hypertheticals. Ian also hosts a weekly show on a Sydney community radio show. Ian Stuart Ian …
Someone has to come out and say this so it might as well be me. Time to say enough of the never-ending doom and gloom. Enough of the Victorian events industry in crisis to the point it will never recover and be wiped out. Enough of the poor whoa me, we are hard done by. Enough of let’s just blame the government for not handing out blank cheques. Enough …
The latest budget papers show that over the next year the Victorian government will give $10.2 million to Melbourne Convention Bureau (a division of the government owned Visit Victoria) in on-going funding and support. The only government support at all for Victoria’s $12 billion business event sector. By comparison, the government is giving $11.2 million to Puffing Billy to fund their on-going operation. In a normal year in Victoria …
Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) welcomes the Victorian Government’s commitment to long-term investment in Victoria’s Business Events Program through the announcement of $42.913 million over four years, to support the Melbourne Convention Bureau and Business Events Victoria to acquire business events for the state. MCB Chief Executive Officer Julia Swanson said: “This commitment recognises the essential role business events play in the Victorian visitor economy, and their contribution to innovation, …
At Wednesday’s hearing of the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Support for the Tourism and Events Sectors, we heard Norwest CEO Matt Jones talk with great pride about his audio crew who are in hotel quarantine in Tokyo. They are there to do the audio for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics – just as they have done for nearly every Olympic Games since Sydney. As Matt clearly …
Yet again the exhibition and event industry has been left wondering what they have to do to get recognition and any kind of acknowledgement from governments, both state and federal! Whilst tourism has come out fighting and beating the drum again, the exhibition industry needs to beat louder and harder as a sector for multiple reasons, as there is no hope of a silver bullet. We can fix ourselves …
To celebrate 20 years of publication in 2020 I set out to interview 20 interesting people in our industry and this year we are revisiting those interviews before adding some new ones. This week we revisit the proud recipient of a Ducktorate from Disneyland. Thomas Brown is the owner of event theming and décor company Events Fantastic. Follow his story from Disneyland to university in Perth, his start in …
Exactly one year ago today, we were advised that Australia had moved up to 12th place in the world for hosting international association conventions through the ICCA Statistics Report on country rankings. Without a clear pathway to the reopening of our international borders, business events as a catalyst to driving travel, innovation, trade, and the growth of industries cannot occur. If we are not in a position to host …
In March and April 2021, the Australian Event Awards Team reached out to the industry across the country for input about the Australian Event Awards for 2021, whether it should go ahead and what it should look like. A wide range of judges, partners, past entrants, and wider members of the community provided their input. The resounding messages received were: The Event Awards should go ahead in 2021 as …
Originally from Perth, David moved to Sydney with dreams of being a successful rock musician. When that didn’t eventuate he became a roadie and met Stevie Wonder on his first gig. From rock n roll to a career in corporate events David has delivered outstanding events across Australia. Throughout all this David has been a passionate surfer, and he shares how that passion keeps him focussed.
This week I’m back to reviewing the COVID situation – How it affects us personally and how it is affecting events. First up on the personal side. Our governments are promoting the vaccine rollout under sectors. With, as it should be, front line workers (healthcare, etc) the priority. However, anyone working the events sector must consider themselves to also be a front line worker, simply because anyone who is …
Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) CEO, Andrew Hiebl, expressed the key role that the health sector will play in the recovery of Australia’s business events industry at STR Insider, a pre AHICE event in Adelaide this week. Key insights from the AACB’s Forward Calendar of Business Events report highlight that ‘Health Care and Social Assistance’ represent one in three business events secured by convention bureaux, with more than 115,000 Australian health …
The tragic preventable death of 44 Israeli citizens during their religious celebrations is just another link in the long ugly chain of crowd crush disasters. The Lag B’Omer event where this tragedy occurred is designed to reveal the deepest meaning of the Jewish Kabbalistic mysticism. I have studied crowd management techniques for nearly fifty years and have discovered that there is a general pattern of neglect and non-compliance with …
The exhibition industry has been one of, if not the worst affected industries as a result of Covid. Unable to operate from March last year, and now battling to come back by dealing with the different state rules and venue openings that Victoria has, has now impacted the industry with another major blow by taking over industry purpose built facilities as vaccine centres. This is directly opposite to other …
The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA), calls for the Commonwealth Government to extend the money available under the Business Events Grants Program to the industry immediately. As an active member of the peak body for the events sector, the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA), EEAA supports BECA’s pre-budget submission which calls for targeted support to add the rebuild of the Business Events industry. Claudia Sagripanti, EEAA …
Music industry charity Support Act is encouraging anyone working professionally in music across the arts and who is in financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, to apply for one of their new MusicKeeper or CrewKeeper cash grants. Since announcing the creation of the new grants in March, which were made possible thanks to funding from the Australian Government through the Office for the Arts, Support Act …
In March 2020 our industry was shut down and so most of us who could still work, did so from home. Zoom meetings proliferated and so did webinars and podcasts. I decided it was time to get to know the back story to a few of my friends in the industry. While their work is mostly well known, how they got there was another story. A year on it …
NEA Emerge Meet Up is not about feeling dwelling on negativity, it’s about putting in place positive actions to rebuild and regrow along with taking on the challenges head on and putting solutions and plans in place. The Challenge of Change is long established and previously successful strategies, practices and ways of working have become marginalised and compromised, we need to emerge and meet the new era of exhibitions …
Tourism Australia’s specialist business events unit, Business Events Australia, has today made a series of announcements to further bolster the Australian business events sector and drive demand for future business through continued funding for the Bid Fund Program and Boost Program, as well as releasing a new video series showcasing Australian innovation. Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the business events sector contributed $36 billion …
The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) welcomed yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, and thanked Tourism Australia for its continued commitment to the Business Events industry with the extension of the Bid Fund Program by $3m for an additional 12 months through 2021/22. The Bid Fund Program is designed to increase the conversion of bids for new international business events …
My name is Simon Thewlis. I’ve proudly been a member of the event industry in Victoria for 39 years – including 30 years as a business owner. I’ve produced a vast range of events from major public events, music events, charity and community events through to high end business events. And have worked across nearly every part of Victoria’s event industry. Today, I’m here representing Save Victorian Events. The …
At 10am this morning (Wednesday) Simon Thewlis from Save Victorian Events will be appearing, along with Tiny Good from ShowTech Australia and Howard Freeman from CrewCare, as the first witnesses at the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into Support for the Tourism and Events Sectors. He will be outlining Save Victorian Events’ strategy for the future of Victoria’s Event Industry. The hearing can be viewed here Information about the Inquiry can …
Melbourne Convention Bureau has announced today a new funding initiative to encourage interstate organisations to hold their events in Australia’s event’s capital Melbourne. Under the National Business Events Program, a significant cash injection up to $25,000 may be offered to business event organisers to support costs for hosting their event in Melbourne, including accommodation, venue hire, transport and other event costs. What’s more, 50 per cent will be payable …
Professor Joe Goldblatt reviews The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. Professor Goldblatt is the author, co – author and editor of 39 of books in the field of events management. When I first experienced the author Priya Parker and her husband Anan Giridharadas at the virtual SXSW Festival in March of 2021 I was fascinated at the immeditately obvious chemistry between these two successful people. It almost appeared …
There is no question one of the biggest unspoken impacts of the pandemic was on health and mental well-being. Expertise Events family, staff, industry, and the communities we work with have all been impacted heavily by the pandemic. Today Expertise Events is proud to announce a partnership with the Black Dog Institute aimed at not only raising awareness of mental health issues but doing something practical within our community …
The cancellation of Bluesfest is devastating for so many in our industry. Sadly, it is just one of the many events cancelled due to the Brisbane lockdown. Please ask our governments to act: The Victorian lockdown a month earlier also saw a vast number of events cancelled – from festivals and community sporting events through to conferences and public events – causing huge losses. The Perth and Adelaide lockdowns …
It’s not just COVID. The industry is tearing itself apart as well. In scenes reminiscent of the shutdown of the 2020 Melbourne Grand Prix, last night television news bulletins were once again showing fans being turned away at the gate, this time Bluesfest. What is killing our industry is uncertainty. Following this week what organiser would take a risk on planning a festival or event this year? There are …
The National Events Alliance (NEA) today has released its logo, vision, mission and objectives for the future. The National Events Alliance is a new events alliance launched to proactively look after the events industry after over a year of serious struggle for the industry and its associated businesses. NEA has set out its vision to represent all sectors of the events industry who support and conduct exhibitions and events …
As JobKeeper ended on 28 March, the latest insights published by the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) highlight the difficult situation that the business events industry finds itself without the support of Government. While state, territory and local government-backed convention bureaux continue to strategically bid for and win new business events for their respective destinations over the medium to long term, the immediate future is not clear. The Snapshot Reports …
Report to members by Chris Porter, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Tourism Industry Council As Victorians prepare to embark on the Easter long weekend holiday, the events in southern Queensland and northern NSW are a stark reminder that the impacts of this pandemic continue to challenge our operations and reinforce the fragile nature of any recovery for our industry. These ongoing disruptions only serve to substantiate why the …
The revelation from BECA that only $8 million from the $50 million Business Events Grant Program has even been earmarked for distribution comes just days after the Federal Government announced an additional $135 million in support for our more glamorous cousins in the Arts. Only $8 million for a $35.7 billion industry that is one of the very hardest hit.Save Victorian Events’ survey back in February showed that 40% …
March 28 has now passed and so too has JobKeeper, the vital support mechanism that supported the Business Events Industry over the months that saw its revenue streams decimated by between 75-100%. What has not passed is the uncertainty, severe limitations and restrictions that are compromising our industry’s survival and pathway to recovery. The business conditions that saw the JobKeeper scheme being introduced have not altered for our sector, …
On the day Job Keeper is removed and Qld goes into lockdown again, we are already hearing about redundancies within our sector as independent Australian family businesses are hitting the wall, while the industry association is talking about skill shortages! Given what may eventuate in the next month, there could well be a large number of people seeking employment. Gary Fitz-Roy MD of Expertise Events said, “Unfortunately all too …
In 1996 the people of Australia were jubilant over having won the right to host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney. Legacy volunteers from the Melbourne Summer Olympic Games of 1956 were particularly nostalgic as they anticipated the privilege of once again serving their country through this mega sports event. I met many of these veterans at a training session held in Sydney’s largest conference centre when I …
Yesterday, a group of event industry suppliers – led by Damian De Jong from Action Events – organised for 40 branded event vehicles to circle parliament house with horns blaring. They were there to show that their part of the event industry – which is involved with community events – has been completely forgotten by government.Needless to say, everyone in parliament knew the Event Industry was on their doorstep …
A large number of Events Industry people are driving their trucks and signwritten vehicles down to Parliament House, Spring Street Melbourne, this Thursday between 9am – 10:30am. We have been discussing the issues affecting our industry to our Local Members of Parliament and will be holding a press conference on the steps of Parliament at 10am on Thursday 18th March. We are inviting a number of members of Gov …
It’s now just on one year since Friday 13 March 2020 when not even the Village People could stop what was about to happen. And it wasn’t just the music that stopped – events of all shapes and sizes were mortally wounded. At 8:45am on that fateful day, the Grand Prix was cancelled and at 1:00pm the Prime Minister banned all events over 500 people. We all know the …
I bet most people in our industry can remember exactly where we were on Friday 13th March when the PM announced that our industry was about to be shut down. And most business owners and event producers spent the next week taking cancellations and trying to work out how long this would last. Of course on that weekend the rugby league matches went ahead as did the Hillsong conference …
The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) acknowledges the announcement from the Federal Government yesterday in relation to the changes to the Business Events Grant Program as part of the National Economic Recovery Plan. BECA’s feedback on Business Events Grant Program challenges have been considered and contributed to the announced extension and enhancements to the current program guidelines. The grant program was designed to assist those attending and participating in business events, but …
The Federal Government’s latest tourism package to support tourism and the flow onto restaurants, bars, taxis, supermarkets etc. is another on support package for that sector. Residents are being given restaurant vouchers and travel subsidies. Yet, the one sector that was shut FIRST, the Events & Exhibitions industry, has had no acknowledgement or support to allow the sector to rebuild after the end of March. Whilst various tourism bodies …
Even though business events – worth $35.7 billion per year – account for one third of the tourism sector, the Event Industry was once again left empty handed today.The federal government’s $1.2 billion Tourism Support Packages includes nothing for the now decimated business event sector.The only thing mentioned was a three month extension of the existing $50 million Business Event Grant program – that was announced many months ago …
This year, Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre (MCEC) celebrates its 25th anniversary. It also follows a year like no other. Peter King As one of Victoria’s largest physical assets, we are also a major contributor to the vibrancy of Melbourne. Every year we host a huge array of diverse events that drive enormous economic activity and visitation to the city. That is, until the global pandemic of course. I am …
I took a break since Christmas and like many in our industry I had to reassess what my businesses are doing. I had discussions with a few people about the future direction of specialevents.com.au and decided to revamp the site – and the content. I’m now going to focus on commentary, opinion, interviews and event reports which I’ve spelled out in this blog post. You can read press releases …
In today’s announcement of business support Victoria’s decimated Event Industry missed out yet again.We saw another $24.9 million go to licensed venues – on top of the $165 million they have already received.We saw another $26 million go to tourism – on top of the $485 million they have already received.Yet the $10+ billion Event Industry has still not received any targeted support from the Victorian government – despite …
The Australian Open needs to happen as it is an event that encapsulates the tourism, hospitality and events industries here in Victoria which have been, and still are, severely depleted by the pandemic.
In 2020, the events industry quickly adapted to survive. Virtual interactions became the norm, from Zoom calls to full animated avatar driven worlds. Event and conference organisers mastered a new skillset by jumping on board with virtual technology. The Sports Tech World Series Conference (STWS), held in November 2020, took a bold step by converting its in-person event to wholly virtual. STWS is the world’s leading sports technology community …
Robyn Johnson’s announcement that she is leaving MEA got me to thinking about the number of industry associations most of us belong to. There are many producers and suppliers who work across many sectors. For example – stage technology companies provide AV, audio, lighting etc for business events, music events, sporting events, festivals, live theatre and private events. Many event producers work on business events along with private and …
After 9 months of watching, learning, and quite frankly just existing in this COVID-19 world, I’m finally at the point where I can say ‘it is what it is,’ and I just have to accept what this means for us as a company, a city and an industry as a whole.
The Events and Exhibitions Industry identifies inconsistencies in the government’s definitions and calls for the persons limit to be changed in the next Public Health Order due at the end of September and there is legal precedence see below ! Paddy’s Market, shopping centres and sporting events can now host over 150 people in their venues, as long as they adhere to the COVID safe guidelines of social distance …
Gary Fitz-Roy MD of Expertise Events asks what is the daily number of COVID cases within a State that allows us to resume events.
It is important for the business events industry to show the way when it comes to creating association conferences. MEA had the opportunity to show the way when their annual conference had to be “renovated” due to the COVID lockdown. A truncated version of the conference was produced this week – how did it go? First up – full marks to the committee for “pivoting” in these “unprecedented times”. …
Security firms are in the spotlight again after being blamed for the latest COVID outbreak in Victoria. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed repeated media investigations into dodgy practices by security firms. The most consistent issues have been the use of sub-contractors and the lack of training. Inside the messy world of the security firms at the heart of Victoria’s COVID-19 crisis Leaked …
Scotland, and Edinburgh in particular, has a lively festival and event program that is often seen as an inspiration for Australia. The vision for Scotland’s festival program was mapped out in 2008. In this article Professor Joe Goldblatt and event manager Gerry Reynolds ponder how Scotland’s event industry will recover from COVID-19. Their findings would also be relevant to festival and event directors in Australia. When “Scotland the Perfect …
On the weekend I visited a few venues in Sydney. First up, the MCA, where a steady flow of people were wandering around to view the Nirin exhibition. There were staff on the main doors and at the entrances to each of galleries monitoring how many people were in each sector. They were courteous and attentive and the experience was quite relaxed. Secondly, we went to a pub …
Dormant, billion dollar white elephant venues, thousands out of work or on Jobkeeper, and hundreds of events being cancelled every week, possibly never to return – The Events Industry is on its knees and leaders in the industry are calling for the government to at least give them a restart date. Gary Fitz-Roy, MD of Expertise Events, a large family-owned events business that runs Oz Comic-Con, Craft Shows, …
Spectacular. Iconic. Historic. These are the kind of friendly adjectives often deployed to describe ‘hallmark’ or ‘mega’ events – perhaps best exemplified by the likes of the Olympic, Commonwealth and Asian Games, the FIFA World Cup, Expos, Biennales and other grand-scale sporting and cultural experiences, festivals, celebrations and commemorations. Because of their scale and complexity, these events tend to draw on the assets of an entire city or region …
Live Performance Australia has developed a $345 million plan to help the live performance industry restart, rebuild and reopen for audiences following the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan includes capital investment in performing arts companies and productions to help them restart, extending income support to businesses and individuals to retain jobs, and incentives to encourage Australians to return to live performance events. “As we enter the …
It is important for the event industry to be at the forefront of event design, technology and presentation. It is also important for industry events to show the way for the rest of industry. This includes conferences, seminars and award presentations. Associations and other industry players should be early adopters of technology and be prepared to go out on a limb to try out new concepts. Last week Meetings …
So far the federal government has only published a Three Step Framework for Recovery Now the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has stepped up and put out a PROPOSED TOURISM RESTART TIMETABLE The Chamber’s newly-formed Tourism Restart Taskforce approved the timetable for business events, venues and attractions, and domestic and international travel, at its weekly meeting last Friday. According to the proposed timetable, Business Events of less than 100 pax can …
The recent announcement of the $250 million support package for the arts community is wonderful news, but has again highlighted that the events industry still isn’t being heard and given some direction or support. It’s encouraging to know that some states have announced a roadmap to easing restrictions around events, but it’s a shame that this does not apply nationally, as, without a definitive reopening date, we are unable …
When I was a young man, my first real job was working in a theme park entitled Six Flags Over Texas that was located between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas and opened in 1961 following upon the great success of Disnelyland in California. I was thrilled when I was hired at the tender age of 19 with the phenomenal salary of $2.00 (£1.75) per hour to operate the sound …
Peter Jones shares his thoughts on how corporate, fundraising or awards dinners might look under the current social distancing proposals. Your annual dinner for 1,000 is now going to look something like this in the new world we find ourselves in. Sorry, can’t allow 1,000 pax in due to social distancing. We might be allowed 350 pax maximum. However you still have to book and pay for a space …
Alan Joyce is proposing that Qantas can resume services with full aircraft. Let’s extrapolate that option to the event industry. Joyce argues that “Social distancing on an aircraft is impractical,” and if the 1.5m distance between people was enforced, a 180 seat Airbus A320 could only board 22 passengers “That means airfares are going to be eight to nine times more than they are today” Compare that to a theatre, …
Copyright Australasian Special Events 2000 - 2021
Australasian Special Events | Commentary on the Australasian events industry
Australasian Special Events in 2021
I started ASE in early 2000. It was a year of optimism for the event industry. We had survived the Y2K bug (that never was). We had celebrated the dawn of the 21st Century a year before the actual start of the new millennium, and in Sydney we were anticipating the 2000 Olympics. We are all familiar with the challenges our industry has faced since then. But nothing has …