Sydney’s star appeal came in for high praise at this year’s Platform10 seminar for event organisers, as conference chiefs outlined their success in attracting record delegates to the harbour city.
Held annually at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in conjunction with Business Events Sydney (BESydney), the Platform seminar allows associations and future event planners to draw from the experience of others who have already held successful events in Sydney.
Speakers at this year’s event included Chris Johnson, Conference Director of the 9th World Congress of Metropolis, an international forum for city planners and political leaders held in Sydney in 2008.
Mr Johnson said the event had surpassed targets to attract 650 delegates including representatives of 80 major cities, as well as 350 people at free public events and 800 students in a program for local schools.
Organisers had mounted a successful campaign to garner major sponsors, boosting revenue high above their $1 million target to $1.8 million.
Mr Johnson said linking venues like the waterfront Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and Sydney Opera House by ferry had been a big hit with delegates.
“Most of the delegates thought Sydney people only ever travel by water,” Mr Johnson said. “You can really exploit that well with an event in Sydney – use the city and the harbour and push off into other locations by water.”
Guests at Platform10 also heard about this year’s International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Congress from its director Paul Harcombe.
The Sydney congress drew a record 2200 participants from around the world, despite concerns the global financial crisis would impact on attendances.
To build delegate numbers, the organising committee had created a team of FIG 2010 Young Ambassadors from Australia and New Zealand and a team of eminent international surveyors known as FIG 2010 Honorary Ambassadors.
These teams attended more than 50 events around the world in the lead up to the Congress in order to successfully promote the Sydney event to prospective attendees.
Other speakers at Platform10 included professional conference organisers Bryan Holliday, Managing Director of ICMS Australasia, and Roslyn McLeod, Managing Director of arinex, as well as BESydney Head of Bidding Virginia Loyola.
