A few weeks ago I appeared as a witness at the Senate Inquiry into the Commonwealth Games to give an event industry perspective on how such a large , high-profile event could go so dreadfully pear-shaped . It ’ s been a big issue for the industry so I ’ ve given it a lot of thought and wanted to share my insights with event-planning EAs …
Let ’ s get to the core In my opinion , the fundamental issue was that the Victorian Government didn ’ t value , respect or properly use the unique skills and experience that the event industry ( and event organisers ) have . Instead , they thought they could organise a major event themselves .
And this is no new thing . Event people not being valued for their unique skills and experience , and the significant contributions they make , is pretty common . It ’ s something all of us involved with organising events face to varying degrees . But why ?
Well , part of the reason might be because we make what we do seem too easy . When events run smoothly , they probably look very simple to outsiders . Many people will walk in to a fully set up venue , for example , and not realise that the day before it was an empty shell . They aren ’ t likely to understand the complexities of getting 500 people from around the country or beyond together ; how much of a juggle it can be to prepare a seamless menu with lots of dietary requirements , or the rush to bring together a huge amount of content ( that was inevitably submitted after deadline ). And that ’ s before you think about external challenges – flights , weather or last-minute changes of direction .
A unique industry and job What makes events so different to other things is that if the event is due to start at 2pm on Wednesday that ’ s what has to happen – there ’ s no scope to delay a week or two . Plus you only get one shot – events have to be perfect first time , every time . There are no trials or gradual implementations of changes .
The event organiser role is also different to most because of the huge impact events can have right across the organisation . A one-day event can be transformational for the organisation and its people ; money raised by an event might be essential for the running of the organisation ; the event may be critical for building public support for a cause , or for changing political opinion . There is a flip side , though – the risk that if things don ’ t go well , they can have a hugely negative impact . That means pressure to get it right . And all this applies regardless of event size – whether for fifty or 50,000 people .
In summary , to successfully deliver such a complex thing as an event first time , every time , regardless of challenges is something very special . It needs specialist skills and experience , natural talent , hard work and dedication . And it ’ s not something many people can do well . Yet many who do it are still not properly valued by organisations , clients and others . I see this all the time .
Back to the Commonwealth Games debacle …
When events fail it ’ s always for very simple reasons , and this case was no different . The reasons in this situation are relevant to all events regardless of size , so I thought they would be worth sharing …
Reason 1 : Lack of expertise Successful events don ’ t happen by magic – they need the right people , expertise and planning . But with the Games , many of the people leading ( especially at the critical foundation stage ) had little to no major event experience – very surprising for something of this scale and complexity . The business case for the Games had fundamental flaws ; something an experienced event professional would have picked up with a quick read ; but it went unnoticed . w Lesson : Have the right expertise in place from the very beginning with specialist support if needed .
Reason 2 : What ’ s the goal here ? Events must have a clear , well-defined purpose and aims , agreed on by all major stakeholders , and adhered to throughout the process . Without this , everyone can go in different directions as they try to use the event to further their own aims . In this case , different stakeholders seemed to have different purposes and the project was being used to meet a whole range of aims – but failed to deliver any of them . w Lesson : Decide the purpose and aims at the very beginning . Get them agreed by everyone , down on paper and consistently referred to throughout .
Reason 3 : Commitments were made before logistics and costs were understood The logistics and costs of the Games were not understood until a long way down the track after many public commitments had been made and after many hundreds of millions of dollars had been committed or spent – simple things , like understanding the number of people that j
Summer Issue 2024 | Executive PA 27