ASE February news

What’s in a name? Or more to the point, what’s in a web address? Sydney on Sale has now become the Australian Events Expo and when those words are run together in a lowercase web address it is just too easy to read it as australian event sexpo. Now I know the organisers are looking at expanding the market, but…

They have come up with a very clever logo though combining champagne flutes and searchlights.

Where will it end for Staging Connections? The corporate takeovers are continuing unabated with Bytecraft Entertainment the latest target. Bytecraft Entertainment is the lighting and effects services arm of Bytecraft, which also runs an ATM and poker machine repair and maintenance business, known as Bytecart Systems.

Bytecraft is currently owned by Tattersall's, the Victorian based lottery and gaming company who bought out the minority interests in Bytecraft in 2005 for a total investment reportedly worth $39 million. It paid $12.9 million for a 75 per cent interest in the entertainment business, according to its last annual report.

And speaking of Staging Connections, some people within the company have been feeling that they are getting a bit of stick in the media (who, us?) so industry legend and SC employee Jon Smith has kindly written an insiders view for us – check it out below and feel free to respond.

Julius Media College is expanding on their well regards technical production courses to launch an Advanced Diploma of Venues and Events (Music Management) on February 19^th. The college, at Rydalmere, was the first accredited institution to pick up this new qualification which is entertainment based, unlike the traditional slew of hospitality and sports based events courses offered across Australia.

Other courses run by Julius Media include technical production; sound light and video; and the college offers skills recognition assessments for people already working who need a formal qualification. More at www.juliusmedia.com

Summernats is perceived as a festival of booze, burnouts and babes. It is however a very successful event that has been running for 20 years so, now that I am based in Canberra I thought I should go along. I did and then I interviewed the man behind the event, Chic Henry – the interview is in our Event Talk podacst section and can be downloaded as an mp3 file or you can read the transcript.

And the great event movie thunders on. Kenny is about to open in the UK. Talk about flushed with success!

AIME is on next week in Melbourne, I’m sure I’ll catch up with many readers there – please say hello. Then give me a week or so and I’ll have social pix and reports on the AIME events online.

Staging Connections – the inside story

by Jon Smith – Creative Services Manager – Staging Connections Melbourne

There has been a fair amount of media surrounding Staging Connections over the last twelve months. While I can understand that a company as large as ours is always going to be a talking point I am somewhat amazed by some of the things that have recently been written about us.

While it is true to say there have been many changes at Staging Connections over the last 12 months, it has remained very much business as usual for the majority of staff. During this period we have expanded our Australian operations with offices in Fiji, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai and while some staff have left a lot of talented people joined our team.

As a current employee who has been at Staging Connections on and off for 15 years I can honestly say that I am continually amazed by the passion and dedication of our staff and crew. While there may have been ongoing changes at senior management level our staff have remained focused on delivering high quality events and I believe our standards are better than ever.

Contrary to popular belief it is a great company to work for - with great clients, great staff, a wide variety of projects, heaps of career opportunities, and most importantly a fun place to work. While some staff have left as a result of change many leave for other reasons – in our industry with the stress and hours we hours we work there will always be a fair amount of natural attrition. We actually encourage staff to what’s best for them – most leave on extremely favourable terms and are welcomed back when the time is right - that’s why so many are returning as I did a couple of years ago.

I’m not alone. People like Bill Kneebone who was with SC in Victoria and SA as General Manager for over six years is now working within the ETG SC Chinese operation; Fraser Watkins is back as Sales Manager at Staging Connections in Melbourne and then there’s Nigel Taylor returning to head up the sales team in Sydney, just to name a few. Our senior management team now includes highly regarded event specialists such as International Creative Director Paul Kenny who’s worked on many large scale sporting and corporate events around the world as well as Philip Black who is Director of Venues, Keren Southgate – Director of Business Development, Rob Vass – Director of Sales, and Nic Allum our Director of Communications.

So there is already a substantial amount of IP within the business and with the calibre of people like Bill Kneebone, Fraser Watkins and Nigel Taylor returning to Staging Connections our experienced event team is once again in a league all of its own.

It seems that as long as Staging Connections remains such a palpable force within the local events industry we will continue to be the focus of criticism from certain sectors of the industry. It has always amazed me how positive our clients are yet how negative the industry is towards us. How come the majority of our staff are well liked within the industry but as a whole the company is despised?

People come and go – that’s a fact of life. But from my perspective most of my colleagues are really excited to be here, and work on all the great events we do every day. Yes as an organization we are continually trying new things and implementing changes - some have worked others have been less successful. What is most encouraging is that as a company we are embracing change and we are prepared to take some risks in order to grow and improve.

The fact is as a company, Staging Connections puts its money where its mouth is. Just look at how much we have invested in becoming an RTO and how far we have developed our internal training systems. Under public company ownership and with the total support of our management team we continuously review our systems and processes and train our people to make sure that our service delivery is the best. There is a real atmosphere of collaboration. And our recent acquisitions only strengthen the company and provide more opportunities for our staff.

Our board is extremely positive and encouraging and again contrary to popular belief they view our staff as the companies most valued asset and I can personally add that the future looks really bright – there has never been a better time to get on board as we continue to develop and grow through the passion and commitment of our Management and staff.

Some will tell you we are loosing business but I can tell that we are winning more and more new clients every day. You only have to look at some of the very large events we are now working on to understand that although we are seen negatively by some parts of the industry, in the marketplace we are still considered to be leaders. And again while the industry has had mixed reactions to our new branding, it has been very positively received by our clients.

So while many might scoff about the branding we are still delivering what we promise, creativity, service, and reliability.

Ah, the youth of Australia. Tell them they can’t and of course they will.

The media told the fans that bans would apply to the Aussie flag at Big Day Out and the Mexican Wave at the cricket.

However the flag was never to be banned at BDO as the organisers stated “We are not banning the Australian flag but are simply discouraging its use for anti-social purposes at the Big Day Out.”

Last year’s BDO was held in the aftermath of the Cronulla riots and some “true blue” yobbos took it on themselves to enforce patriotism by insisting that passers-by kiss the flag and if they refused they were abused both verbally and physically.

The Mexican wave was banned at the cricket because more yobbos were making the event uncomfortable for others by insisted on throwing anything in the air they had at their disposal, like drink containers or even eskys, which caused injury to those around them.

Then the opportunist pollies and shock jocks jumped on the bandwagon to decry the banning of the flag, but not the Mexican wave. So why not? Are they anti Mexican? If so they would be off the mark. The Wave originated in the US in 1981 and was practiced at football and baseball games around the country. The Wave came to international attention at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and so became known as the Mexican Wave.

So surely our USA loving PM would encourage an audience participation activity with such an American pedigree. But his voice was not to be heard, pity he couldn’t hold his tongue on the flag issue as well.

As for the flag hysteria – I leave the last word to BDO organisers “The Big Day Out is not an Australia Day event, but a music festival showcasing music artists from around the world and aspires to unify people through music. Unfortunately the media reports yesterday were not quoted accurately and we must thank the participating media for wasting everybody's time including the Prime Minister John Howard, Premier Morris Iemma, NSW RSL President Don Rowe, Keysar Trad (a confidant of the Mufti Sheik Taj el-Dene Elhilaly) and Burt Lane of the Australian National Flag Association...”

So what is the lesson in this for organisers of public events – large or small?

1. Damage control starts with Risk Management. Understand the consequences of any decisions that may be taken and then work out what possible reactions may occur so that you are prepared for those reactions.
2. Have your media responses worked out in advance and be prepared for whatever comes up.

And tread carefully when it comes to nationalism because John W Howard has wedge politics down to a fine art, particularly as he had to wrestle the national flag and all its symbolism back from Pauline Hanson.

Here we go again – How did a major disruptive event get to be held in Melbourne CBD

In 2000 protestors caused disruption to the leisurely pace of Melbourne when they blockaded Crown Casino, the venue for the World Economic Forum. Then in August last year protestors once again caused disruption to Sydney’s Circular Quay precinct during the Forbes Conference.

In both these instances considerable areas of each CBD were “locked down” by Police, causing considerable disruption to traffic and access to public areas.

Now it is all happening again in Melbourne.

Assistant Commissioner Gary Jamieson told the media that police did not expect demonstrators to blockade the meeting venue, as they did at the 2000 WEF meeting at Crown Casino, but he could not guarantee delegates would be able to enter the hotel, located in the heart of Melbourne's central business district.

And get this – “Police had not been consulted on the choice of venue,” he said.

The G-20 Meeting is being hosted by the Federal Treasurer and funded by the Federal Government. Just imagine anyone else deciding to hold an event that is expected to disrupt the running of a major city and not consult the local police before booking the venue. How arrogant!

Here is how the event is being explained on the G-20 website…

Public Information about the G-20 Meeting of G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Melbourne, Australia, 18–19 November 2006

This November, Melbourne will host the world’s most influential economic and financial leaders at the G-20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. It will be the most significant gathering of its kind ever held in Australia.

Following the success of this year’s Commonwealth Games, Melbourne will again be at the centre of the world stage. Melbourne has proven its ability to deliver a truly world-class event and with the G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting in town, Melbourne will once again show the world what it has to offer.

The meeting will take place at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne and at several other venues around the city, showcasing the dynamic and cosmopolitan nature of Melbourne – sporting greatness, vibrant arts industry, successful business sector and the natural beauty that surrounds the city.

The meeting is likely to attract local and international interest, including possible demonstrations. As a result, it is expected that there will be some changes to a small area of the CBD however, most of the CBD will remain open for business as usual.

Location

The meeting will be held at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. Its facilities will be closed to the public from 12 noon Wednesday, 15 November until 12 noon Tuesday, 21 November 2006.

Traffic and Roads Information

Security around the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, and the possibility of some protest activity, is expected to lead to some minor traffic disruptions. These will be clearly sign posted and up-to-date traffic information will be regularly communicated.

Don’t you just love the reference to “some minor traffic disruptions” when you see today’s news reports. And “showcasing the dynamic and cosmopolitan nature of Melbourne” with the Paris end of Collins St blocked off to traffic and pedestrians.

The 2002 WTO meeting was held at the Novotel Sydney Olympic Park – well away from the Sydney CBD and where the police had special powers under the Sydney Olympic Park Act to control protestors. Surely this is a much saner way to manage such events.

However Sydney’s turn will be next.

APEC is being staged this time next year in the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre. I got a taste of how some of this will be managed when I had to make a delivery to a client at the SIBOS conference at SCEC last month. The carpark under the exhibition was shutdown and the entire centre was restricted to those with appropriate accreditation. This is a venue that can handle that type of security. Although for APEC one would assume that the lockdown perimeter will be far more reaching.

A word on APEC.

Remember all the speculation some months ago about whether John Howard would stay until the next election? I kept saying that APEC was the reason that he would stay on. This will be the first time that a full APEC meeting will be held in Australia (it came out of an informal Ministerial-level dialogue group with 12 members in Canberra in 1989) and there would be no way Howard was not going to host it.

Let’s face it; he has to get his own back on previous hosts by dressing them in Ken Done shirts.

It’s a new soundsation!

Recently I had my first close quarters experience with a band using in-ear foldback, and it was very disconcerting.

The band was playing a corporate event at SCEC’s Bayside Grand Hall, the exhibition and function space under the main convention hall at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.

The FOH sound system in the hall has been “upgraded” from a Meyer UPA system to a line array system. Now this in itself is intriguing because the while the Meyer system provided a very good, even coverage of the room, the line array system is very focussed. While it pushes the sound right to the back centre of the room (where the FOH mixing desk is located) it provides no coverage to most of the dance floor or to the sides of the room. So fill speakers are used for the sides and the dancefloor.

However the band on this occasion was being mixed from the side and the operator was frequently seen walking to the side of the dance floor to assess the mix from directly in front of the line array. However, the front middle section of the dancefloor was getting nothing from either the line array speakers or the infill speakers rigged on the lighting truss.

Normally this isn’t a problem because there is usually plenty of spill from the band’s stage monitors and foldback. However, the drummer was enclosed behind a Perspex screen and the electric instruments were plugged directly into the mix without on-stage amps. This meant that the only sounds that could be heard in front of the stage were acoustic - the brass and a proportion of the drums. Watching the guitarist go into a very dramatic solo and just hearing the scratching of the strings was like listening to a teenager practicing without an amp – very weird.

The lead singer made a number of forays into the crowd – no problem with feedback as he never got in front of a live speaker and his singing could be heard better than when he was on stage.

Seeing so many Gen X and Y kids plugged into their ipods these days one wonders how long it will be before sound systems are done away with all together and the audience listen to the band via a wireless ipod device.

A very clean stage look - note the lack of amps and foldback

Sydney on Sale and RSVP

The second Sydney RSVP has created quite a buzz, with people I’ve been talking to this week saying they are very busy just trying to get through their follow-ups.

A number of industry old hands were likening the event to Sydney Destination One – the precursor of Sydney on Sale (the first Destination One was held in the cargo area of the OPT at Circular Quay). The hubbub was quite energetic and although RSVP is booked back into Wharf 8 for next year I can foresee that it will have to move on to larger premises, maybe the RHI where Single Market Events are next week running the Restaurant show. The big advantage of Wharf 8 is its proximity to the CBD and this was evident with the number of corporates who came in to have a look around lunchtime.

RSVP had over 4,700 visitors and feedback from the 234 exhibitors was very positive with over 85% already rebooked for next year.

The transfer across the city to Fox studios for the RSVP cocktail Party After Dark was a typical Sydney experience 30 – 40 mins to travel about 5 Kms. Another good reason to have it all in the same area.

The Party After Dark should have been a real highlight, but for me it was marred by a deafening audio system. Maybe I’m getting too old but I’m not into having my chest thumped by the bass and head sawn through by the tops when I’m trying to socialise. I thought I had left that behind in my pub band days (Cold Chisel, Midnight Oil, Chior Boys, Kevin Borich, etc). I seems that this nightclub venue runs a sound system more suited to the nearby Hordern.

The food from Lishas Catering was great but unfortunately the wonderful waitstaff had a huge job getting through the crowd to distribute it, which was pissing some people off who should have known better.

The star attraction of the evening was undoubtedly The Laserman Experience - this is a stunning new act to Australia (from France) that takes interactive laser dance to a new level.

This is the first industry event I know of to grace the social pages of the weekend paper (Sun Herald), although I understand it did last year as well. A number of us were intrigued by the Fairfax photographer talking into the back of her camera to record names with the photo – sure beats trying to write in the dark. You can view my social photos here (with names written in the dark, so if I got any wrong… blame the sound guy because I couldn’t hear you)

These events are usually great for networking but after about an hour conversation was impossible, I understand the band was quite good but the only place I could comfortably listen to them was outside.

Seen at the Howard & Sons RSVP stand was a very pregnant Kellie Howard with her beaming husband Andrew. Their baby was born the next day – now that’s dedication. As their proud email says “Henry Christian Howard born at 9.57am Friday 21st July 2006 7lbs 13oz. Words can not explain how we feel.” And of course in this digital age the email was accompanied by pix of mother and child. Congratulations to both.

Loved DJs corner at RSVP. Peter Jones has joked that one day he and David Grant would join forces and become known as David Jones Special Events, so there they were last week adjacent to each other at RSVP.

Friday night saw many in the industry gather at the Four Seasons Hotel (nee Regent) for the annual ISES Sydney Gala dinner.

The entertainment was kicked along nicely by the very verbose verbaliser of the vernacular, MC Rodney Marks with SMA Productions new Ohh James show. Ohh James very nicely blends the James Bond movie themes into a slick cabaret show. Being a diehard I couldn’t come to grips with Goldfinger not being sung Shirley Bassey style, however the Live and Let Die rendition was very Paul McCartney. SMA have produced great backing tracks for their shows so it was a pity that the supplied sound system was somewhat inadequate.

And returning to his old stamping ground was John Rohanna, on a break from the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai. John left The Regent to take up his current position in Dubai, so it was very nice to see him back in his old digs. And of course John totally fitted the James Bond theme of the evening by dressing in the traditional Arab Dishdashah, a most becoming look.

With ticket prices now up to $150 for the ISES dinner it is not surprising that numbers were down despite the solid membership base, maybe it’s time to re examine the style of the dinner and look at event venues rather than hotels, despite the excellent fare served in this venue.

Had a great chat at the ISES dinner to Des Wittingslow about a movie that he and his Splashdown business partner Glen Pruesker have financed. Brothers Clayton and Shane Jacobson worked up the script about a plumber working for a portable toilet company while working in event management. Kenny is about to hit the cinema screens and is a mocumentary about Kenny Smyth, who dispenses philosophy along with clean toilet humour while working for a company called Splashdown. The movie was shot on location with Splashdown’s products at events such as the Melbourne Cup, airshows, car races and even at an international toilet expo in Nashville. Watch out for it.

Sydney on Sale was on two weeks before RSVP and this year run for the first time by ETF, who very sensibly pulled the event back to a single hall. This defiantly created a more concentrated feel with the reducing number of visitors attending the show. ETF have claimed 5,000 visitors this year, however that includes around 1,000 for the offsite seminars and the cocktail party.

Having Sydney on Sale and RSVP only two weeks apart is a challenge for those of us exhibiting at both but the two shows seem to be settling into quite different fits. With Sydney on Sale focussing on the conference market and RSVP focussing on the more fun party market and although I noticed a percentage of buyers who attended both there was certainly quite a different set of buyers for each.

In the past SOS organisers have tried a number of presentation styles for the entertainment and usually had to cop flack from the exhibitors about the noise level. This year the entertainment was restricted to walk-around acts only with more focus on the Meeting Place for serious networking. RSVP on the other hand was a hubbub of entertainers and musicians on stage and throughout the venue.

SCEC were promoting their new very expensive coffee machines at SOS. The coffee still tasted like something made by a kid. It’s not the machine that makes the coffee taste good, it’s the barista!

Tony Assness was a very popular panellist at the SOS breakfast along with Michael Hassett (TDC), Robert and Victoria Fisher (Production Stuff) with fashion designer Leona Edmiston and Mistress of Ceremonies Nell Schofield. Probably the most telling comment from Tony was regarding his credo for how he works – you can shock an audience, entertain them, challenge them, make them cry, make them laugh, but never bore them.

Games fever in Melbourne?

Visited Melbourne this week and took in some of the Commonwealth Games preparations – here are some observations.

The Opening Ceremony
Andrew Walsh is the artistic director for the Opening Ceremony on behalf of Jack Moreton Worldwide. People in the Melbourne event industry are confident that Andrew will produce a fitting spectacular.

Andrew has rejected reports in the British media yesterday that Kylie Minogue was booked to perform at either the Games opening or closing ceremonies.
After the opening ceremony, crews will have two days to remove the 7300-square-metre stage before the athletics competition begins.
A stage for the closing ceremony will take 16 hours to erect.
The network of overhead steel cables will support many of the 3000 lighting fixtures that will be used during the opening ceremony.

Games officials are now considering giving away tickets to the Opening Ceremony to Games Volunteers. According to The Age “Thousands of Commonwealth Games volunteers will get free seats at the opening ceremony if the remaining tickets fail to sell by the end of the week.
With 12,000 A and B category seats still on sale, Melbourne 2006 chairman Ron Walker said the tickets — priced at $590 and $420 respectively — could be offered to Games volunteers in "three or four days' time".”

Obviously the ticket prices were grossly overpriced in the first place. The Manchester opening ceremony was sold out in advance, but the Manchester stadium only accomadated 35,000 wheras the MCG has 85,000 seats.

Ticket Sales
The organisers of Melbourne 2006 were focussed on the notion that Melbourne is a sports mad city – true, Melburnians even watch rugby league even though their homegrown football is much more skillful and entertaining. However Melbourne sports fans are tribal rather than patriotic.

The Games Buzz
Comparisons with Sydney 2000 are inevitable, but skewed. The Olympics are a far bigger event in terms of events, competitors, officials, visitors, etc.
There were a few things in particular that captured our attention and imagination in the lead-up to Sydney 2000 and I shall compare them.

The blue line in Sydney marked the Marathon course and people got excited when it passed nearby, so much so that it was diverted into a pub somewhere along the route. The blue lines in Melbourne mark the Games Vehicles only lanes and are causing much angst with Melbourne drivers.

The “LOOK RIGHT” signs that appeared on Sydney footpaths prompted many newspaper letter writers to ask what the right look might be. Melbourne has missed this unique opportunity.
From about two weeks out athletes, officials and volunteers in their distinctive uniforms and ID lanyards seemed to be everywhere. There is nowhere near that saturation in Melbourne one week out from the opening.

What really set Sydney abuzz was the arrival of the Olympic Torch in the Sydney CBD about a week before the opening. This really set Sydney alight. So far the Queen’s Baton Relay has engaged little excitement apart from a protest yesterday at the site of the Eureka Stockade.

Regarding the traffic – most of the issues are currently around Albert Park where the track is being prepared for the Grand Prix that will take place the weekend after the Comm Games. The road closures are seriously affecting access to the venues in that precinct, mainly swimming.

However on the positive side people I spoke to are sure that Melburnians will get behind the event once it kicks off.

I was asked in Melbourne for my perspective on the Games from outside Victoria. I related the Queen’s baton Relay experience in Canberra. The ACT Government put on an event to mark the baton’s arrival on Saturday 25th February in the Canberra CBD. Over 100 officials, sponsors and event staff were evident in their uniforms of various hues, but they outnumbered the “excited” citizens who turned up to witness the event. The following Monday morning the Baton departed from Government House and was carried through the Parliamentary triangle to the Australian War Memorial. The National Capital Authority put on a BBQ breakfast for workers from the surrounding Government buildings – no one came. The baton was held aloft for the obligatory photo op in front of Parliament House, the forecourt was deserted.

The Arts
Festival Melbourne2006 is a fantastic program of arts events running during the Games period and it is all free. So even if you are not interested in sport, a visit to Melbourne during the Games can be well worthwhile just to check out a huge range of talent that will be on display. Information is buried on the Melbourne 2006 website.

Thoughts of NOLA

It is now a week since Katrina ripped apart one of my favourite cities in the US.  
I have only spent a week in New Orleans, but I enjoyed it thoroughly when I attended The Special Event tradeshow in January 2001.  So here are a few random thoughts on the current situation based on my experience of the city.

New Orleans has two nicknames – NOLA (the LA is the abbreviation of Louisiana); and The Crescent City, derived from the fact that the city sits in a crescent loop of the Mississippi River.

The population of NOLA is around 480,000, about the same as Canberra and Queanbeyan combined and the similar to the Gold Coast. In common with the Gold Coast much of the city is built on reclaimed land.  Now image a cyclone coming in from the sea and flattening the Gold Coast like Tracy did to Darwin and all that reclaimed land flooding.

A lot has been heard about people being housed in the New Orleans Convention Centre and exhibition halls – this was the location for The Special Event.  To get an idea of the size of the exhibition halls look at the Sydney or Melbourne exhibition centres and then imagine them stretching for a mile, that is how big the NO exhibition centre is.  

So why am I so fond of a city that appears now to be a hotbed of anarchy? Well the CBD area of NOLA is one of the most cosmopolitan in the world, certainly in the US.  This is due to it’s history as a shipping port and because it was initially a French colony.  

The anarchy has come in from the poorer suburbs that surround the city, it is also the suburbs that have been most affected by the flooding.  Apart from Canal Street (named because it used to be a canal) the remainder of the CBD and French quarter has remained mostly above the flooding.

While in New Orleans I chatted to a guy in an information centre and he gave me details of his website where he published his photos, poetry and a monthly ramble about life.  His name is Leonard Earl Johnson and I’ve been reading his column every month since.  He sends an alert whenever his column goes online, on 28th August his email arrived with this message “Hurricane Katrina approaches.   This could be my last message out.   What better to say, at such a time, as I'm in love with this song: Main Street Blues - (mp3), Red Stick Ramblers.  Listen while watching Melanie Plesh's ten-cent slide show (below), and it feels like Berlin in the Twenties.   Or New Orleans the last weekend before The Great Storm.  LEJ”

A few days after Katrina hit I checked his site to look for news of my friend.  At that stage his friends were posting messages of hope, then on the 3rd a message was posted to say he had got out and was in nearby Hammond.  I commend the site for Leonard’s musings on his town and also for the messages on the forum with vivid descriptions of what was going on in the wake of the storm.  www.lej.org


Some other links of interest

New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau www.neworleanscvb.com

www.NOLA.com  the definitive New Orleans website hosted by THE TIMES-PICAYUNE  - in particular checkout the webcam images frozen as the storm approached.

Student request

Hi there,
I'm part of a small group of students at university working with the not-for-profit organisation - Very Special Kids in Victoria.  We're currently working on a marketing implementation project with VSK as to the viability of moving their major fundraising event (the Piggy Bank Appeal - 1 month duration) from September to May or another month.
Would you be able to help us with some information or advice as to what is important information to research when moving such an event?
eg. where to find info on things like the IMPACT the move would have on various stakeholders - such as the general public or tourist levels in Victoria?
This would be very much appreciate
Regards,
Jessica

work-life and travel-work issues in the events industry

I am student currently invovled in studying a subject that looks at
event management. As part of a discussion group we need to look at
work-life and travel-work issues in the events idustry. I was hoping
that you could provide me with some relevant information or point me in
the direction of where to find relevant academic literature in regards
to these issues. Any help you are able to provide will be greatly
appreciated.

Sebastian