Where were Weddings at The Australian Event Awards?
October 12, 2009 by Kylie · 2 Comments
Last week Christine and I travelled to Sydney for the Australian Event Awards. This great initiative has been put together to benefit anyone currently in the industry, rather than just those who are members of an industry association. It was the first year for these awards so there was certainly some pressure on the organisers to make it memorable. Did they do that? Well yes and no.
Were there guests in attendance and did they win awards? Yes. Was it a spectacular event? No. Why? Well firstly it was the attention to detail. As this was an event put on by industry experts I was expecting to witness a flawless event. Unfortunately, I didn’t. There were hiccups in the presentation power point amongst other things that I would not expect to see at an event such as this. It was also a shame to see that in the program the organisers had started off with a negative and almost apologised for the fact that event wasn’t going to be perfect. The quality of the program itself was dubious and the entertainment, although I understood the motives behind using groups who were happy to donate their time, was really not that great. It would have been better to have one fabulous act rather than a few very average ones. Finally, it would have been great to meet the people behind the event. I left the event without knowing whether or not I had met them.
Now on the positive side, the pre-event attention to detail was excellent. We were well informed and the whole thing was managed well. The venue was also good and the catering superb.
As I have already mentioned, I do think the Awards are a great initiative, but I was very disappointed to see that they didn’t cater for all the Events Industry. There were plenty of categories for those who plan corporate events, festivals, not-for-profit etc but there was no relevant category for Weddings and Social Events. This segment of our industry makes up an enormous part and yet there was no representation. For this to be a true Australian Event Awards it should cover ALL events. What about a few catergories such as:
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Best Wedding or Social Event
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Wedding & Social Event Planner of the Year
The area of best event covered 5 different event types: Meeting or Conference, Corporate, Sporting, Tourism & Charity or Cause-Related Event. What about Weddings and Social Events?
I would love to hear from anyone who has a comment to add to the addition of weddings and special events to the current award sections available at the Australian Event Awards.
I attended the Awards with Kylie and share her views on the event.
Firstly, I must congratulate the venue. As a former corporate girl I have attended many events like this one, some with hefty price tags and it is generally accepted that the food is average. In this case the food and service were very much above average and for me this was actually a highlight of the evening. I was also really excited to be part of this inaugural event and I admire what the organisers were trying to do.
But as Kylie said; who are they? The people behind this event never took to the stage and I think particularly for a new event with big, bold goals, this is something those behind the event should have done.
I was also very disappointed by the attention to detail elements missing. These were basic and simple things and a young ‘newbie’ event planner seated near me picked up on them early in the night….
Secondly I agree with Kylie. Weddings make up a huge part of the Events industry and whilst one of the presenters at the Awards was a significant player in the wedding industry both here and overseas, there was no representation for those of us who have decided to specialise in this field of Event Management.
Having said all of that I support the Awards and will watch with interest to see how it grows and develops from here.
Christine Kerr
Course and Communications Manager
AAWEP
Dear Event Experts,
Thankyou for your feedback on the 2009 Australian Event Awards, you have identified some important areas for us to focus on as we continue to build the Awards in 2010 and beyond.
You are right to point out that Wedding Planners did not have a specific category in 2009 and we have addressed this by introducing a new category in 2010 – Best Private Event, recognising the role that events play in marking significant private occasions (such as a wedding, birthday, etc.).
The Australian Event Awards aims to recognise excellence and innovation across the entire Australian events industry and we hope that Wedding and Social Event Planners will embrace the opportunity to be recognised in 2010.
Entries are now open and you can find more information at http://www.eventawards.com.au/categoriescriteria.html
I look forward to meeting you at the 2010 Awards presentation in October.
Yours,
Jeremy Miller
Executive Producer
Australian Event Awards