Entertainment Centre loses 4000 seats

A plan to build a 12,000-seat stadium to replace the Sydney Entertainment Centre has been dumped in favour of an 8000-seater arena.
Infrastructure NSW is due to present its plans for the new Sydney Convention site to cabinet for approval after receiving proposals from two private consortiums.
Defending the decision to downgrade the ageing Darling Harbour venue, an INSW spokeswoman claims that Sydney already has Allphones Arena at Homebush, which seats 13,500, for bigger concerts.
“It is proposed the new entertainment venue at Darling Harbour will have a minimum seating capacity of 8000 people,” the INSW spokeswoman said.
In the past decade, only a handful of events at the Entertainment Centre were for 8000 people or more.
“While the existing Sydney Entertainment Centre has a capacity of 12,000 people in sports mode, it seats 10,000 people in concert mode,” the spokeswoman said.
Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said there was an argument that with The Star casino opening a 4000-seat complex and the Allphones Arena housing 13,500, there needed to be a mid-sized venue.

Source: The Daily Telegraph Friday 23 November 2012 Page 9

Glebe Island Expo

News to hand is that five groups have submitted tenders to design, build & operate an interim venue on Glebe Island – the Glebe Island Expo. The plan is to host exhibitions and trade shows while construction takes place on the Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct (SICEEP) from late 2013 to late 2016. The bidders are: Infrastructure Glebe Island Consortium, which include: Cox Richardson Architecture Pty Ltd, Singex Venues Pte Ltd; iEDM Pty Ltd; Probuild Construction (Aust) Pty Ltd - Sydney Harbour Expo@ Glebe Island: Pages Equipment Holdings Pty Ltd - GL Events SA- Expertise Events and Renascent Sydney Pty Ltd. While the successful tenderer will develop detailed plans, the Glebe Island Expo is likely to be constructed as a marquee-style structure. The successful tenderer is expected to be selected in December 2012, while the Glebe Island Expo is to start operating by late 2013.

Luxury Show Founders Split - Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal

Luxury Show Founders Split - Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal

Sydney will host two “luxury and experiential” shows in September 2013, with the cofounders and owners of this year’s inaugural Luxperience event in Sydney each going their own way (BEN breaking news). Luxperience is 50% owned by former Travelcorp founder Helen Logas and Rosemarie Sama, who headed up AIME for some years. Overnight Logas announced that she was the new ceo of Luxperience, while Sama “is no longer with the company”. And Sama has launched her own event, dubbed Luxe Events +

Travel Experiences (LETE) which is scheduled for 02-04 Sep at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal - the same dates and venue planned for Luxperience. It’s not clear where Luxperience will be held now, but according to Logas Virgin Australia has continued its major partner agreement and “dozens of exhibitors from around Asia Pacific and Australia have reconfirmed for 2013 and will be joined by product suppliers from additional destinations such as Europe, the Americas and Africa”.

Sama is pitching LETE as an evolution of Luxperience, saying “her event returns in 2013 with a new format and a new name”. She said feedback from this year showed huge demand, but that “a greater focus on experiential meetings and events was needed”.

Interestingly Sama resigned as a director of Luxperience Enterprises Pty Ltd on 01 Sep this year - before the show started - but according to ASIC records remains a 50% shareholder. Logas said Luxperience 2013 would include a Thought Leaders’ Forum dedicated to top end experiential travel, while Sama’s LETE will feature eight “fun and informative networking events”.

The EEAA reports optimism

The Exhibitions and Events Association of Australasia (EEAA) says its latest market monitor, which tracks the health of the industry, reveals increasing business optimism among its members, as the NSW government enters the final weeks of bid evaluations for the new Sydney International Convention Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct at Darling Harbour. This is the second report produced by the EEEA, covering the period of January to June 2012, with consolidated results for the full 2011/12 year. EEAA general manager Joyce DiMascio (pictured) said it is encouraging to see the sector perform strongly with optimistic forecasts for future growth. “Sixty four percent of event organisers report the sectors they are operating in are growing, compared with 52% in the previous six months.  “Members estimate they will deliver 27 new events in 2013 alone,” she said. The report also shows that 38% of trade shows and 10% of consumer events included a paid conference and that EEAA members hosted 649 events. EEAA chairman Matthew Pearce said, “We understand that there is pressure on the Government to deliver much needed social infrastructure – but it must not lose sight of the fact that business events generate profound economic and social benefits to the State. “We urge the Premier and Ministers evaluating the options not to skimp on NSW’s economic future by making a bland choice – this state needs to deliver a flexible, world-class venue that is large enough to allow the industry to continue on its growth trajectory. “The competition is not Melbourne, the competition is the rest of the world and we need a convention, exhibition and entertainment precinct that will be the envy of the world. “As the international panel of experts now considers the two short-listed consortia bids for the Sydney International Convention Exhibition and Entertainment precinct, it is important the evaluation driver is to produce a facility not simply competitive with the best in Australia, but rivalling the best in the world.” According to the market monitor, EEAA members organised 136 events in the financial year ended 30 June 2012, attracting more than 1.6 million visitors and 22,898 exhibitors. Members employed 2,659 full time staff, plus an additional 6,725 part time or contract staff. The industry contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the national economy, the association said.

(Source: Business Events News 12/11/12)

MEA Awards Open 25th National Conference Sydney

The MEA Industry Awards that recognise excellence and best business practice in the Meetings & Events Industry, are now open. The awards encourage industry professionals to excel in the achievement of their business and personal goals, and reward those who achieve outstanding results. Winners enjoy considerable profile within the meetings industry and with the general buying public.

In all but Individual Awards, members self-nominate for an Award by addressing a range of criteria that are relevant to the particular category or categories they are entering.

Candidates for MEA Individual Awards are nominated by a third party such as an employer, client, supplier or colleague who is responsible for completing the written application.

All Award submissions must be submitted on official award submission templates. The submissions are then judged by a panel of industry and independent judges. Short-listed candidates are interviewed by telephone to determine the category winner. Applications close 18 January 2013.

(Source: Business Events News, 7th November 2012)

Crave showcases at the SCEC

The Crave Sydney International Food Festival, staged their two-day,World Chef Showcase at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, transforming the exhibition halls into a massive kitchen for more than a dozen of the world’s top chefs. Two showcase sessions ran concurrently throughout the weekend, with no less than 14 cooking stations created in the Exhibition Centre hall to allow the visiting chefs and their teams to prepare food for their sessions, as well as two lunches for 150 people. 

In all, more than 2500 dishes were served last weekend to an appreciative audience.The chefs, including Italy's No. 1 restaurateur Massimo Bottura, Spain’s Jordi Roca and Italy’s famous pizza chef Gabriele Bonci, cooked a range of dishes for their fans, assisted by a team of 12 chefs from the Centre and 16 volunteer chefs. The Centre also staged a welcome cocktail party for the showcase chefs and many other famous culinary faces including Italian Antonio Carluccio and Australian Maggie Beer.

The Centre’s director of food and beverage Simon Lomas said the showcase was a significant logistical exercise with every chef requiring specific food items for their dishes.Whilst the Centre had many ingredients to hand, others had to be sourced.Unusual items included local chef Alessandro Pavoni’s Parmesan Vacche Rosse – a cheese made from the milk of red cows - and hay, used by English chef Jason Atherton for his full

English Breakfast. “It was a great experience to be working with such different chefs and cooking such different dishes,” Lomas said.

Crave Festival director Joanna Savill said the event was an amazing feat. “Everyone from the chefs to the attendees were impressed with the Centre’s attention to detail and the care that was taken in ensuring that the World Chef Showcase was the premium experience it was designed to be. "We were thrilled with the results,” Savill said.

(Source: Business Events News 2^nd November 2012)