NAME: The Gold Dinner
TYPE: Sydney’s biggest charity fundraising dinner
CLIENT: Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick
NO. ON ORGANISING TEAM: 21 people on the 2007 Gold Dinner Committee.
PAX: 700
WHAT YOU DID: Opera Point Events produced and served a three-course-plus-canapé dinner for 700 people in a marquee erected on a pontoon located in the centre of Kippax Lake, Centennial Park with a purpose-built kitchen as well as an auxiliary kitchen on dry land.
SPECIAL TOUCHES: The Gold Dinner Committee was supported by David Grant Special Events in conjunction with Country Trader who provided furniture valued at more than $3 million to decorate and theme the room. The furniture gave the room an opulent, renaissance feel. Opera Point Events challenge was to ensure that the food also reflected the same theme. For example, the dessert was a chocolate tart with real gold leaf.
CHALLENGES: The weather was a huge challenge on the day as the event was held during the time when Sydney was experiencing major storms and record amounts of rain. Bump in for the event had to be executed amid heavy rain falls – thankfully the rain stopped for a few hours in the late afternoon and for the event, starting up again at the conclusion of the evening.
As it was a charity fundraising dinner, it was a “love job” whereby there was no profit to be made for the extraordinary amount of hours worked. However, as it was for a great cause it was well worth the effort. It was also a great opportunity for staff to be involved in such a large scale charity event.
The attendees were the crème de la crème of Sydney’s top level business, political and social leaders.
OVERCOMING CHALLENGES: Forward planning is the key to large special events of this scale. Many hours of pre-event planning were crucial so that all details were covered. Then when challenges did arise, such as the rain, the forward planning allowed it all to run smoothly.
CLIENT’S COMMENT: “We were incredibly privileged to have Opera Point Events cater for the 10th Annual Gold Dinner. Opera Point Events have an excellent reputation and together with their wonderfully professional staff, they directly contributed to the success of the dinner.” – Skye Leckie, Chairman Gold Dinner 2007.
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