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If you haven’t met Max Markson but seen him on TV you expect him to be larger than life – loud, brash and confident. And while he can be all those things, he certainly wasn’t when I met him in his Redfern office.
Buzzed into the building you are met with a life-size cardboard cut-out of a smiling Max, suited up and ready to make your day. His company, Markson Sparks! celebrates 25 years in 2007. For many years it focused on celebrity management and public relations. More recently it has added events to its mix.
That began, Max says, when John Singleton asked him if he would organise a benefit night for football legend Johnny Raper. At the end of the night Johnny Raper was presented with a cheque for $70,000.
Benefit nights for Dawn Frazer ($200K), Betty Cuthbert ($260K) and Raylene Boyle ($380K) followed soon after, with each successive event becoming more successful in terms of dollars and cents.
Charity and special events with special guests like Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela, former NY Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark and most recently Rachel Hunter (for the Children’s Hospital’s St Tropez Beach Party fundraiser) are now a big part of the company’s day-to-day operations. One of the first was for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
“As a kid I loved Raquel Welsh, so I decided to bring her out for the event,” Max remembers.
The success of that event has seen him continue to combine big name celebrities with events. He estimates that he has created more than 150 events and raised more than $35 million for charity.
“The world is much closer than it has ever been and people love gossip, they love celebrity gossip; they can’t get enough of it.”
One of his personal favourite events was for the Red Cross which was celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2005.
“They didn’t have anything to hang their hat on until we suggested that we bring out Princess Mary because we knew that Prince Frederik was a patron of the Red Cross. We cleared $700,000 profit from that one event.”
Like those who have worked in the events industry for a long time, the benefits of events are understood and recognised, which was proven again by Markson Sparks! following the Canberra bushfires. From one dinner Markson Sparks! raised $430,000 to assist those who most needed assistance. A telethon barely reached half that figure.
Besides the Rachel Hunter’s St Tropez Beach Party for The Children’s Hospital at Westmead that was held recently, Markson Sparks! was also involved in the Gold Coast Tourism’s Very GC Global Business Insights 2007 event. Markson Sparks! assisted in securing the three keynote speakers, Dr Alan Greenspan, Ricardo Semler and Michael “Kell” Ryan as well as taking an advisory role for the event.
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