In the last decade or so, Sydney has played host to some truly amazing international events that have demanded years in the making and taskforce after taskforce to execute. Think APEC 2007 or the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The travesty is that unless you’re directly involved in the early stages of planning and development, you are likely to know next-to-nothing about how much work goes into successfully carrying out events of this nature, often considered afterwards as historical accomplishments that did much to boost the profile of Australia’s largest city.
The general public often won’t know these large-scale international events are even happening until a few weeks out when the media runs a few stories highlighting any negative aspect they can poke a stick at (Sydneysiders will always remember APEC week as a time of traffic problems and ugly security fences, rather than a valuable period whereby the city’s business, society and culture was showcased to influential constituencies within the region and the wider international community. Not many would know that a total of 15 Australian Government agencies were set to work on policy, organisational, logistics and security planning for the meetings).
But for us in the conference and events industry, you’d surely think we have a fair idea of how much work goes into the process of researching, bidding, securing, organising and executing large-scale extravaganzas, right?
Unfortunately according to someone who knows more about these things than most people, even those in the industry underestimate what’s involved in bringing major conference and events business to our shores.
“Many people, including those in the industry, can’t comprehend what’s involved in the process or how long it can take to see these events go from researching stages through to fruition,” Jon Hutchison, managing director of the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) says.
“The tourism and hospitality industries in particular think in the short term. They’re focused on whether they can fill a hotel or an aeroplane over the coming month or so. So to get their heads around an event that’s being held years in the future is challenging, when they’re probably thinking, ‘I’m not actually going to be working at this hotel or be in this job when the event comes, so it’s of no real interest to me’.
“The key is to get the industry thinking that there’s a continuous stream of events coming through. What was negotiated on a decade to 15 years ago is happening now, and if you break the chain, the flow of events gets gaps in it and stops. So we need to sell them into the concept of working with us and supporting bids.”
Where the international body or association has chosen Australia as the host destination for its next event or conference, but haven’t decided on a specific location. It’s then up to the Australian cities to compete with each other, as supervised by the Australian branch of the association in question, to get the rights to host the event. The cities each present their own case and bid against one another to secure the event. Where Australia is competing against other international destinations to secure a bid, but when it comes to association events, its protocol in Australia to send only one city out into the international competition, rather than send them all out and dilute the votes. A showdown is where the Australian cities compete with each other to see who will represent Australia on an international scale. Again, the Australian, or Asia-Pacific, branch of the organisation runs the bid competition.
Fifteen years sounds like a long time between drinks, but Mr Hutchison confirms that this sort of lead time is not unusual for larger events. He points out that it takes more than a decade to win conventions such as Rotary International and Lions International of around 25,000 to 30,000 delegates, and then the events themselves happen six or seven years later.
Another example of long lead times is the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH) which was held in Sydney last year. The SCVB submitted the bid for this event in 1998 and won the bid in mid-2001, but Mr Hutchison says the research and planning started long before that.
Traditionally research for conferences of this ilk start with an “opportunity” – in other words the research team at the SCVB will pick up the possibility that the conference is likely to go ahead in the future. On the back of this research, the team will then build a file on the conference, and the bureau starts thinking the process of trying to secure it, making contact with the various people concerned with the event, both locally and internationally. This research is done around two to five years before the event “comes into our orbit”, as Mr Hutchison puts it.
“It’s traditional for events to cycle around the world in zones. In the past there were only three zones: Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, which includes Australia. In recent times, a couple of zones have been added to make five: Africa and the Middle East.”
When it is determined that the conference will indeed come into Sydney’s orbit, the SCVB starts talking bids. They set out to find a host organisation, usually the Australian or Asia-Pacific brand of the association or related organisations, and convince them that they should bid for the event – a process which Mr Hutchison says in itself can take several years as many organisations are wary of taking on such a responsibility, particularly if they identify any risks of doing so.
Once a host organisation is tied in, the SCVB starts building a strategy for bidding for and securing the event. Mr Hutchison says it’s key to ensure they’ve got the timing right so they don’t end up missing the opportunity for a bid.
“And at that point, you might say we’re on the runway, and working towards a full-blown bid. That particular period can take a couple of years. Then we go through the whole process, the lobbying, the funding, bringing in the industry wherever we can, submitting site inspections, all the way through to the bid.”
Of course, there’s never any guarantee that all the time spent researching, lobbying and planning will pay off with a successful bid win. Mr Hutchison points to the example of the Rotary International Convention as a prime example of where a lot of hard work was at risk of not paying off.
“Sydney originally bid for the 2012 Rotary International Convention, but lost in November 2005 after a tough battle with rival city Bangkok.”
However, he says that Sydney remained persistent, submitting a bid two years later for the next Rotary International Convention to be held in 2014. On the strength of the previous bid, the Rotary International Board decided to award Sydney with the 2014 convention without calling for interest from other cities.
However, not every lost bid ends up being picked up again (so soon) down the track. If Sydney is bidding for a conference which cycles the world in zones, there’s every danger that it will lose out to a rival city in its own zone and be left waiting until the event returns to the Asia-Pacific well into the future.
“In a traditional rotation form, a location in the same zone, say Hong Kong or Singapore, might beat us in a bid. We’ve then got to wait for it [the event] to come around again. In that case, the time periods will be stretched out even further. It can be between 10 and 20 years before we get another go.”
If you throw the need for shootouts and showdowns (see separate box) into the mix, it becomes clear that there’s a lot more to bidding for an event than one might have thought – and a lot of scope for a city to be disappointed by a string of bid losses.
And as Mr Hutchison explains, it’s not like the SCVB has the fortune to concentrate solely on just the one bid.
“At any one time we’ll have 100 to 130 events on the go, and so the bids are constantly overlapping. So when you look at it like that, running an event bid for 10 years is no big deal.”
Although Mr Hutchison says longer lead times are not uncommon when it comes to larger events, he also notes that this trend is gradually changing, principally being driven by the Asian market. The SCVB started working quite seriously in Asia, particularly in China, in 2003, and have had success after success in winning events from there. In fact, this business now makes up about 20 per cent of the events secured for the SCVB.
“But the interesting thing is, most of these events have very short lead times – and this is a reflection of how the industry works in Asia. They’re constantly “horse-trading” for the best deal. They keep you on a wire. Just when you think you can expect an event is yours, you find out they’re continuing to negotiate with other destinations!”
He uses the Amway China event in January 2005 as an example.
“14,000 people were coming to Sydney for that event. The hotels hadn’t actually been told that they had the business until November, and the event was coming in January. They squeezed the best deals. Thus lead times for incentives like that can be quite quick, from one to six months. But we get used to it and run with it, because it’s turning out to be very high yielding for us.”
While lead times might be coming down due to the influence of Asia, Mr Hutchison says he hasn’t yet seen a change in the average lead times for big association events, Sydney’s bread and butter for attracting business to the city.
They share an office, see each other for up to 12 hours a day, five days a week, yet they’re still getting along after a year of working together. Newest member of the dynamic duo, Tai Pettit (left) jumped into the saddle of the event sales co-ordinator earlier this year, joining events department veteran, Sally Irwin (right) who has been at the venue for the past three-and-a-half years.
How closely do you two work together?
Tai Pettit (TP): Our desks are about four metres apart!
Sally Irwin (SI): Tai and I work closely together on numerous projects. We’re definitely a good team! We’ve very similar personalities and work ethics, so we compliment each other well.
What changes have you seen at the venue during your time?
SI: There have been numerous changes at the venue during our time, but the biggest would definitely have to be the construction of our new venue, the Grand Pavilion.
What would you say is your most memorable event?
TP: I would have to say the Golden Slipper Festival each year. It’s always memorable.
SI: The most memorable event for me would be my first Caravan, Camping, 4WD and Holiday Supershow. This event utilises 44,000 square metres of space and has a nine-day move-in period. To see the venue transform during that time completely blew me away.
What’s been your most challenging event?
SI: The most challenging event would be the first Teddy Bears’ Picnic (TBP) held at Rosehill Gardens in 2005. There are so many components to the TBP and logistically it was quite challenging, however it was certainly worth the hard work to see the children having a great day.
TP: For me, the Race & Taste Festival we held during our Winter Racefest in July 2007 was the most challenging. We only had a short time to prepare for the event and it was definitely a big learning curve, but thankfully it was a great success!
When is the best time of year to be at Rosehill Gardens?
TP: There’s always an exciting buzz around the venue when any large event is bumping in. The Golden Slipper Festival is always exciting as it’s the racecourse’s feature race event of the year, and the Caravan, Camping, 4WD and Holiday Supershow, Rosehill Gardens Boat Show and Teddy Bears’ Picnic are always enjoyable.
 What’s the most popular dish served at functions?
SI: Our chefs have to cater for such a diverse range of clients, from retail outlets during exhibitions to exquisite dishes at gala dinners. They enjoy the challenge of working in a diverse environment. Their signature dishes include medallions of Wagyu beef fillet and the crispy garlic and sumac quail.
What is the most common theme that events take on?
TP: Racing themes – the racecourse is such a unique venue and many other places can only get away with racing themes during Melbourne Cup time.
The venue has both inside and outside spaces. How are these commonly used?
SI: The ratio of inside events to outside events is approximately 70/30. 20 per cent of our events use a combination of both, and if wet weather strikes we utilise our existing indoor facilities.
Does Rosehill Gardens do big or small events best?
SI: We can accommodate a diverse range of events from conferences for 150 pax, to catering for 35,000 patrons on Golden Slipper Day. So I guess we do both pretty well!
What are the pros of holding an event in the Rosehill area?
TP: We’re minutes from Parramatta CBD, the geographical heart of Sydney. The venue is situated between Victoria Road and the M4, so it’s easily accessible. We also have our own train station right at the door, 5000 free car parking spaces and numerous accommodation facilities within walking distance.
What’s on the horizon for Rosehill Gardens?
TP: Our new $30 million Grand Pavilion is currently under construction and will be completed in February 2008, so it’s a very exciting time for us. The pavilion will be one of the finest event and conference centres in Sydney and a great addition to our current facilities. Sally and I are both extremely busy leading up to the completion and launch of the Grand Pavilion, but we’re both excited to be involved with a new product.
Top |