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.
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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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Melbourne Convention Bureau has announced today a new funding initiative to encourage interstate organisations to hold their events in Australia’s event’s …
April 9, 2021
Posted by Melbourne Convention Bureau
April 9, 2021
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Professor Joe Goldblatt reviews The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. Professor Goldblatt is the author, co – author and editor …
April 9, 2021
Posted by Joe Goldblatt
April 9, 2021
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There is no question one of the biggest unspoken impacts of the pandemic was on health and mental well-being. Expertise Events …
April 6, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
April 6, 2021
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The cancellation of Bluesfest is devastating for so many in our industry. Sadly, it is just one of the many events …
April 6, 2021
Posted by Save Victorian Events
April 6, 2021
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It’s not just COVID. The industry is tearing itself apart as well. In scenes reminiscent of the shutdown of the 2020 …
April 1, 2021
Posted by Trevor Connell
April 1, 2021
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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 …