A selection of general topics for those working in the business events industry in Australia and abroad
1/11/2010 3:21:51 PM
melanietk
Posts: 54
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Well, an associate of mine and I decided to quit our whining and actually put together our own little famil tour of the inner-city Brisbane function venues about which I had previously spoken, being Cloudland, Limes Hotel, Urban Brisbane & The Fox Hotel (some of which are being or have been featured or advertised in mice.net and EventConnect, so they seemed fitting choices for a day tour).
Sadly, time constraints meant we couldn't expand it and invite others along, which was our original goal, but if Wednesday goes well, and the venues are supportive of the idea, I would look at ways of making it a more official Famil for others to attend in the future. If there are any Event or Venue marketers out there that would interested in supporting such a concept, I'd love to hear from you.
I'll report on how the day went later in the week, if anyone is interested.
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8pod Internet Business Centre || MTK Promotions || A bit of everything (blog)
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10/17/2009 3:59:16 PM
Joshua White
Posts: 1
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My ideal famil is either a full day or a one and a half day educational, which showcases one brand of hotels / resorts or different brands of hotels that have come together.
It would start with breakfast, followed by a site inspection of guest rooms and meeting space. Throw in another venue, then lunch and drinks. Another venue in the afternoon, and then dinner. All meals at a different venue so you can get a feel and taste of each venue, getting to spend time and enjoy one venue without being rushed off to another one too soon.
A recent famil that I attended was hosted by Mirvac and Show Group. They showed off their hotels and apartments within Sydney CBD and city fringe, and it pretty much ran as above with an extra two hotels (from a different brand) thrown in. It wasn't too jam packed with info and was a casual and smooth flowing day which is what they should be.
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www.flawlessevents.com.au - Coming Soon!!
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10/1/2009 2:41:12 PM
melanietk
Posts: 54
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sydney_magician - from what I understand (after talking with them at RSVP) this is what Venues2Events does.. or will do?? V2E - can you confirm ie: free registration for venues that aren't necessarily 'conference orientated'? I'm not on top of their structure as they're only just expanding in to Brisbane, but fingers crossed they come to party.. so to speak 
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8pod Internet Business Centre || MTK Promotions || A bit of everything (blog)
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10/1/2009 2:00:45 PM
melanietk
Posts: 54
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bfoster - thanks for your feedback; I've left a message with Brisbane Marketing, and I'll see what kind of suggestions they come back with. I've been in touch with MCVB in the past about this (we went up against the Grand Prix last year, and we needed all the help we could get!!) but I've found that the type of venues that register with Convention Bureaus aren't really the 'atmosphere' we're looking for. When bringing out International speakers, we tend to go for unique, funky, or classy spaces that offer something different to the standard function space - which is why I was hoping there was an independent 'local hotspot' guru that knew of all the fantastic places perfect for a special night out.
One of the best functions we've had, out of 12 that we've done so far around Asutralia, was at The Point Restaurant in Southbank, and they're not registered with any industry related search engine (that I know of!). I only knew about it because of the work I've done at Southbank Parklands - would not have considered it otherwise. There are so many places that can take group bookings/functions of 30 or more people, that are underselling themselves by not marketing to event organisers.
IMO of course.
If you see value in this bfoster, I would be more than happy for you to follow up! Let me know when the tours are organised  (I'd travel interstate in an instant if they were worth the time).
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8pod Internet Business Centre || MTK Promotions || A bit of everything (blog)
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10/1/2009 1:25:35 PM
bfoster
Administrator
Posts: 62
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melanietk, I see no reason why a local convention & tourism bureau wouldn't want to spend half a day taking you around the place to view properties. In Brisbane there is Brisbane Marketing (www.meetinbrisbane.com.au). There are other bureau in every other capital city in Australia and some regional destinations - in Sydney - www.scvb.com.au; Melbourne - www.mcvb.com.au; Adelaide - www.acta.com.au; Perth - www.pcb.com.au; etc. Perhaps they do do this kind of half-day tour, although I've never heard of them, but it is really a spectacular idea! Might even follow this up myself!
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9/25/2009 5:12:25 PM
melanietk
Posts: 54
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I've only be on a few famils myself - and usually only locally as I'm not the 'decision maker' or direct buyer of an event company - instead I am the researcher who gives recommendations to my clients because they have tours to worry about and don't have the time, so while I think my participation valid, I just can't seem to get in the 'famil' door. Usually I arrange 'one-on-one' direct inspections of venues, hotels, pre-post touring attractions, etc. How these freeloaders are doing, I'll never figure out.
I am wondering however, how and with whom I could arrange a 'tour of banquet/cocktail venues', as every year, in every capital city, I have to go through the long and mostly tedious task of finding a venue for our VIP functions. Some sight-unseen results have been... hideous. *shudders at recollection* 60 pax in a room best suited for 40 (my mind raced through the fire regulations all night), "private" area means there's a rope across half the dance floor; catering no more than half frozen tuna sandwich soldiers for $50 a platter...
I can name 5 new-ish BNE function venues that I'm dying to see, but I just don't have the means (transport) or time (don't we all!) to make arrangements with each of the individually. Oh for a guided mini-bus tour, taste test and bulk-information dump!
V2V I'm really looking forward to your expansion north, and hope you're including such venues in your databases.
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8pod Internet Business Centre || MTK Promotions || A bit of everything (blog)
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9/15/2009 10:00:18 AM
bfoster
Administrator
Posts: 62
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Not likely, but I doubt that she will be getting an invite back in 2010!
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9/14/2009 4:34:00 PM
bfoster
Administrator
Posts: 62
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Venues2Events... you need to up the ante if you want to go on a few more famils. There are plenty on offer. And the pool of potential participants are diminishing... well at least in some circles. New Zealanders have probably banned for life one individual who played up terribly at the recent MEETINGS 2009 exhibition from what we hear. This was to the extent that mice.net magazine received two separate emails about the woman's behaviour from a number of other (embarrassed) Australian hosted buyers. Dear dear!
But back to the topic. I went to the Byron at Byron Resort & Spa on a famil recently and was highly impressed with the way it was done. In keeping with the resort and the destination there was no rushing from pillar to post. There'll be a write-up in the Oct edition of mice.net. An ideal famil in my opinion is one that doesn't involve half a dozen venue sight inspections a day. And it's nice if your partner gets invited occasionally!
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9/2/2009 1:35:09 PM
Venues2Events
Posts: 1
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I see famils as a great way to experience a destination and what it has to offer. It certainly helps me sell a concept or destination a lot better if I have been there. I have only been on 2 famils and have placed an event at one and presented proposals on the other.
These destinations and venues will always be at the front of mind when I am recommending options for my clients.
edited by Venues2Events on 2/09/2009
edited by Venues2Events on 2/09/2009
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8/20/2009 3:42:30 PM
Sydneygirl
Posts: 12
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I've been on lots of famils over the years and I'm tired of seeing the same people all time...they're not interested and I'm convinced that some of them use these as holidays! I would love to see some sort of user pay (and I'm not talking hundreds of dollars) system that everyone adopts to 'ween out' the 'holiday makers'. If I was genuinly interested in a particular destination I would not have a problem with paying a small fee to attend a famil...esp if it was reimbursed.
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8/9/2009 10:46:52 AM
SYDPCO
Posts: 6
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I've been on a few famils, some of which have been very well put together offering a balance between organised 'must do' site inspections and events together with free time to allow you to get a feel for the destination. I've also been on some where the organisers have every minute of every day organised to within in an inch of their lives with site after site after site until you get to the stage where you really can't remember one site from the other. Then there are famils when half the buyers decided to sneak off and do their own thing because they've 'done it all before'. Just what IS the ideal educational/site inspection?
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