Another Austech success

I would also like to thank our contractors who largely go unnoticed in the overall scheme of putting on such a large event but are an integral part of making it happen. So at the risk of embarrassing some companies and individuals, I write this article to thank them and give our readers some insight into the mechanics of running our show.

Thank you to Michael Begg and his team at Harry the Hirer. The 4-6 months of daily pre-show email communication to ensure every “T” is crossed and every “I” dotted with our team ensured the smoothest move in to a show we have had in almost 20 years. Beggy’s unique “Sector” plan, which involved four sectors of carpet lay and stand build over three days, was well received by other contractors and certainly gave us a few laughs along the way. Also thanks to Travis Wall and his team of electricians and riggers. Safety is paramount during our move-in and move-out process and the challenge of having carpet laid, rigging done and crane movements all at the same time (along with everything else) was made easy by the professionalism of the HTH staff. An interesting fact is, that in order to provide power to all the stands and equipment, over 13kms of electrical cable needed to be laid in the carpark prior to the show.

Our logistics contractor Agility Fairs & Events, ably led by the “Freightman” Michael Stubbs, again did a great job of controlling the logistics of freight, loading dock chaos, fork lifts and crane movements. Special thanks to Michael Barker and his team for an outstanding effort. To be on-site from 6.00am until 10.00pm most days and be organised and flexible at the same time takes a great deal of management and patience. An interesting fact about Michael Barker is he is actually in the national roller hockey team!

F Wood and Son is our plumbing contractor and well done to Paul Wood and his team on another smooth show. Paul has such confidence in his team that he arranged to get married on the Sunday of move-in and take off on a honeymoon! Thanks to Bryan and Mandy for getting the job done in his absence.

Thanks to Chris Petropoulos and the guys at Sims Metal, with some late changes to our schedule being easily accommodated. Another interesting fact is that we recycled nearly seven tonnes of swarf and scrap metal generated by exhibitors at the show.

Thanks to our gas suppliers, Coregas and BOC, again accommodating some rushed changes to our schedules and late orders being placed. Interesting fact: On the Friday prior to the show opening, 54 tonnes of gas packs were delivered to the venue and each morning of the show a number of stands had to have gas pack changeovers.

Thanks to Bruce Emmett at Houghton Australia for supplying and removing over 5,000 litres of cutting fluid and meeting all the exhibitor requirements.

Thanks to Nigel and Tony at Oztag for testing and tagging all the electrical leads.

Thanks to Jamie and Rajesh at Ikon Cleaning for being so accessible each and every day. Cleaning is often a thankless task, so good on your team for having our show looking so good at opening time.

Thanks to Kevin and Richard and their team at Australian Security Services. Interesting fact: 716 man hours of security were provided during the show.

Thanks to Rick Kober and the Info Salons group for their patience and understanding of our registration process. We had quite a number of extra activities at the show this year that required varying registration changes and, once again, easily accommodated by the Info Salons team.

Thanks to the MCEC venue staff and their Operations Manager Jamal Gittens for his appreciation of our efforts. Quite understandingly the MCEC has very strict guidelines and safety considerations and liaising with Jamal to provide a safe working environment provided an excellent outcome. Thanks to Kaylor Clark, our event coordinator at the MCEC, working behind the scenes to help make everything happen.

Thanks to our partners, Reed Exhibitions, who we co-locate with. NMW is a good show and one we are pleased to run Austech alongside. Thanks to the operations team led by Christiane Beck for all their efforts and assistance on-site.

Finally, thanks to my team led by our Events Manager Kim Banks on another outstanding show. Our critical path has 131 line items and each one of them has been managed and ticked off on time on budget. Great effort team.