From the Chair: 2 November 2022
By Michael Firman
Despite a chilly day of hail and rain in Melbourne, thousands of racegoers poured into Flemington Racecourse on Tuesday for the biggest day on Australia's racing calendar, the Melbourne Cup.
I was fortunate enough to attend myself. While it was the coldest cup day since 1913, being a local I knew just how to rug-up and stay warm. More on my mind was that this year’s spring carnival was celebrating the first time capacity crowds had been allowed at the Melbourne Cup in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The weather also threatened to deter the crowds, but after more than 71,000 people attended Victoria Derby Day on the Saturday, a bumper crowd of around 80,000 racegoers was expected to experience the Melbourne Cup first-hand with no restrictions.
As I arrived by train there was a noticeable reduction in the number of racegoers that typically adorn the carparks and it became clear the impact of the pandemic on major events is still being felt. It’s been a bumper year for many events, in particular trade and business events. But there’s still a number of events struggling to see a return to pre-pandemic numbers. Should we already be expecting the industry to resume to normal operations entirely?
The year has seen more confidence and certainty return to events, but the ability of some organisers to run events has been hampered by limited or non-existent venue availability, while event and hospitality staff and some services have been in high demand and hard to find.
As in many other industries, finding and retaining talent has had an impact on events throughout 2022. Even before the pandemic our industry suffered from a skills and staffing shortage leaving many feeling burnt out, with the pandemic compelling some to transition into a new field altogether.
There’s also been a shift in expectations of employees, it isn’t just about the money anymore. Workers everywhere have higher expectations in their roles and are looking for companies that place an importance on personal wellness, mental health, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Staffing issues, skill shortages, supply change issues, rising costs as a result of the impacts of supply and demand, all continue to hamper some events returning to normal operations. Growing inflation and interest rate rises have many asking the question, what will 2023 look like?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but what I can tell you is that 2023 will look nothing like the pandemic years of 2020 & 2021, and thank goodness for that! How happy we should be that our glass is half-full rather than bone-dry as it was throughout 2020-21.
What we can expect in 2023 is surely for the surge in events to continue, so start planning now; plan for a continuation of venue and staff shortages; give prospective employees great reasons to work with you, and even better reasons to stay; review your budgets and expect continued price increases; continue to innovate, adapt and change and don’t expect things to go back as they were before.
We should also expect wellness and sustainability to trend strongly in 2023. For the past two years, we've collectively struggled with navigating personal challenges while coping with the magnitude of a global pandemic, not to mention an environment riddled with climate disasters. It is becoming more and more important to prioritise well-being and take intentional steps to improve our values and social responsibility.
While nothing is certain, the future of our industry in 2023 is certainly great. It won’t be back to business as usual, but that won’t matter - we're a highly creative and resilient industry where great things happen.
