Mere mortals may have panicked in being awarded the contract to produce 16 events at APEC 2007. Thankfully, not Peter Rix and the George P Johnson (GPJ) Australia team.
Appointed by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as executive producer to manage the major events of the APEC 2007 Leaders’ Week, Mr Rix led a team of 25 full-time staff, 40 freelancers, and hundreds more to create what has since been described as “the best” APEC to date.
Once they had been given the go-ahead, about 12 months out from the event, GPJ created an internal taskforce headed up by senior event producer, Ro Tynan, who was responsible for running the 10 producer teams.
Mr Rix is quick to point out that GPJ was not responsible in any way for the protocol, the content of the summit, or security matters. Their area of expertise extended to producing the two-day business summit in the Sydney Opera House; the two leaders’ retreats (at the Opera House and Government House); The ABAC Dialogue – five separate spaces within the Sydney Opera House for Australian business leaders to converse with the 21 leaders; two dinners – one at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (500 pax) and the leaders’ dinner in the Opera House (which was in two separate areas and saw about 1000 attendees); and the Saturday night cultural performance.
They also created the stage (Staging Rentals & Construction Services) when the 21 leaders donned their Driza-Bones for the traditional photo call.
To the inexperienced event planner when you list what the GPJ team worked on it may not sound like a great deal until you really start to drill down into the nuts and bolts of the program. And besides, these weren’t your run-of-the-mill events. They were for what many would say are the most important, powerful and influential people on the planet!
The leaders’ retreats, for example, at the Opera House and Government House were pretty much held behind closed doors – even the producers weren’t allowed on-site when discussions were taking place. And as Mr Rix explains, they aren’t your traditional retreats.
“At these events the 21 leaders sat together, sometimes around big tables and sometimes in a more convivial (relaxed) way. These [sets] were specially built and designed – in fact we hired well-known theatrical designer Eamon Darcy especially for this part of the APEC week.”
In fact, like any good production, the entire process was a team effort.
Companies like Staging Rentals & Construction Services were contracted for specific parts of the event (see separate story), and professionals working in niche sectors were also utilised. This included specialist event producers such as Stuart Maunder, executive producer of the Australian Opera, who was contracted to produce the concert, while TDC was contracted to provide many of the all-important audio-visual requirements.
The theme of the concert component of the event was “My Island Home”.
“It was designed to give leaders a snapshot of Australian cultural life – everything from aboriginal dancing to opera, modern performances, and much more.
“Hugh Jackman agreed to come and host it, which was great. We were given a very strong brief on how they [the organisers] wanted it to play out. We had to provide a showcase of Australia but we had to be quick about it. They didn’t want to be there for three hours.”
As Mr Rix explains, the team excelled and he believes exceeded peoples’ expectations.
“There were a lot of logistical challenges in terms of access and egress that came as a result of the security that was required.
“I and the rest of the team took none of it for granted. We [felt we] were particularly privileged to have had the job. There were a couple of days when we all realised that we were at the centre of the universe.
“This is work that we are trained to do. The challenge was to create something that people would be proud of. We were the hosts, and we felt we were doing it on behalf of the electorate and the Federal Government. And I think that we achieved our aims.”
Mr Rix believes this kind of work is great for the event community at large.
“They’re wonderful jobs to do because they take the business of event management and give it a public face. How often with these kinds of events can you show the world what it is you do?”
Far from taking a breather after the last APEC event, many staff at GPJ were straight into producing the Australian Classic Music Awards three days later – an event the company and Mr Rix has been doing for many years.
And as he adds, GPJ has a full-time staff of 70, and for those not working on APEC, their triumph was continuing to maintain “business as usual” with the company’s clients including IBM, Toyota, Lexus, and RIM, while “the madness descended”.
Staging Rentals & Construction Services in conjunction with George P Johnson worked around the clock building sets and environments for the most highly-secured event ever to hit Australia’s shores.
Managing director, David Comer, worked as production director on three APEC sites: The Sydney Opera House, Government House and the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
During the event he said with tongue in cheek that he was happy to report that all Staging Rentals team members working on APEC all passed their police and security checks.
“This has been the most high profile event we have worked on since the Olympics.
“Our preparation required clever logistical management, and it is working. We needed to factor time into our installations for the trucks to be screened for bombs. Once all the stage and set pieces were put together, the site is shut down to allow the army bomb squad through.”
The company’s work for APEC was featured in three major Australian newspapers.
Amlink Technologies, developers of eventsPro event management software, was contracted to the APEC 2007 Taskforce to provide a delegate information system (DIS).
And, in late December 2006, what began as a relatively low key requirement – a basic delegate database to provide key information (arrival and departures, accommodation, meeting attendance, demographic and contact information) – expanded rapidly as the various taskforce areas began to use the DIS and realised its further potential.
Ultimately, Amlink delivered a dynamic system including a custom-built web portal that gave the entire taskforce access to delegate information via a series of smart searching and reporting screens.
Amlink Technologies CEO, Trevor Gardiner, said it was imperative that this web application be fast, flexible, easily accessible, and requiring little or no training. And it was.
A sophisticated transport management system, developed in partnership with the APEC Taskforce, managed all VIP and motorcade requirements.
“There were in excess of 4000 individual transport requirements at Leader’s Week alone,” Mr Gardiner said.
To compile the daily run sheets for dignitaries, the liaison officers used the web- based run sheet tool.
“This tool had the added benefit of the liaison officers being able to watch – in real time – to see if their transport requests, being processed in the transport module in another taskforce area, could be confirmed or not.”
In addition, Amlink customised its Accreditation Module (currently being used at Rugby World Cup) for APEC 2007, as a strategic part of the accreditation and security access control system (ASACS). The development of a sophisticated registration portal, powered by eventsPro and eventsInteractive, captured data from delegates, media, workforce, security personnel and volunteers and then the data was validated via a secure verification zone and fed into the eventsPro accreditation module.
Dave Bowden from the APEC 2007 Taskforce project office said, “The outcome for the Taskforce could not have been achieved without DIS and the role that Amlink played in delivering this tool.”
Venue and service search website EventConnect.com and online accommodation booking service Wotif.com have announced a partnership that will allow event organisers to continue generating revenue in the final weeks prior to an event, while offering a greater choice of accommodation options to their delegates. The agreement allows event organisers to install a link on their event website or e-mails, which will direct readers to a page displaying appropriate accommodation options in the four weeks leading up to the event. EventConnect’s MD, Steve Coombes, said he was very pleased with the agreement and excited about the benefits it would provide to organisers and to suppliers listed in EventConnect.com through implementing a number of initiatives including reciprocal links between the two sites.
“EventConnect.com is the leading online directory of MICE suppliers within Asia Pacific, so who better to create a strategic partnership with than Wotif.com,” Mr Coombes said.
“We feel this is especially useful for organisers who have had to release back hotel rooms in the weeks prior to the conference.”
Wotif.com’s chief operating officer, Robbie Cooke, agreed the partnership was a natural fit for the two companies.
“A large proportion of business travel is organised at the eleventh-hour, and we’re noticing that this trend flows through to accommodation bookings for conferences,” Mr Cooke said.
“This agreement ensures that you can continue to generate revenue on bookings made in the weeks leading up to the conference. It also enables organisers to offer their delegates a wider variety of accommodation options located in the general vicinity of the conference.”
Event organisers interested in exploring the accommodation opportunities available should contact Wotif.com’s business development manager, Chris Bright on (07) 3512 9999.
Top
|