So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu

By CEO, Peter McDonald

A fitting heading from a few perspectives. Firstly, this is my final MEA Express article as after almost 3½ years, next Friday will be my final day at MEA. An upfront thank you to everyone who has reached out with kind words of thanks and well wishes. I have truly appreciated those.

Secondly, I recently returned from my first ever trip to Europe – a long planned one – which included a visit to none other than Salzburg, hometown of The Sound of Music, where I got to enjoy some of the movie sites. This song is an earworm that’s living on, and it’s said that speaking an earworm aloud is how you get it out of your head. Job done.

And thirdly, a lot of people have commented to me over the years how they enjoyed the music references I did for a long while when writing these articles, so it feels right that I bring one back for my – dare I say it – swansong piece.

Hindsight provides the clearest, and truest, narrative. I started on Monday June 21, 2021. By the end of that same week, the NSW government had reimposed lockdown conditions to manage a COVID resurgence. Those would continue for 4½ months. With MEA’s core industry already struggling, this was hardly a launchpad for soaring success. Since then, we've faced tough economic conditions, marked by inflation and continuous interest rate hikes. It’s largely been a time of survival.

And survive MEA has, to the point that it’s about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. For any business to last 50 laps around the sun is uncommon, but for one to do so under the circumstances MEA and the industry have endured over the past few years is not unremarkable. MEA’s capacity to be effective for the industry is synced with the industry’s empowerment and support of it. I thank the industry for its support of the association over my tenure.

As MEA continues its journey forward, I can only hope that the chapters of its unfolding story in which I am a character tell of a necessary reconsolidation period that facilitated for future wonderfully prosperous times, and my contribution and leadership played a key part in the occurrence of those.

I have always said I’d love to play against myself in a game of pool. Reason being is that I often set up great shots for the next player. Whilst I certainly haven’t achieved everything I set out to or would have liked to; I know I walk away having given the job everything I could and there’s nothing left in the tank. A friend of mine has said to me, it’s not how you enter a business but how you leave it that matters. I hope my successor will receive the industry’s full support. I know that there are multiple respects in which they’re walking into a better circumstance than I did. And that’s no criticism in any way of previous leadership to me. It’s a leader’s job to improve what they inherit. She or he will be counting on your backing to in turn leave the place in a better position than I have. I truly hope that happens.

The time for surviving has passed, and the time for thriving has come. A new leader’s fresh enthusiasm and energy will increase the chances of that coming to fruition.

In my very first article where I introduced myself, I wrote: “I’m a pretty matter of fact guy. I say things as I see them but acknowledge that perspective is individual. Some describe the glass being half full, others define it as half empty. I simply say its half a glass – it is what it is.” I kept true to that statement, which didn’t always make me ‘top of the pops’. But I can put my hand on my heart and say that every decision I’ve made and action I’ve taken has had concern for the greatest good of the association, equity amongst our stakeholders and good ethics paramount. I’ve prided myself on operating the association with honesty, integrity and transparency. Carl Jung, the founder of analytic psychology, is quoted as saying “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do”. I’ll take that.

In my time we’ve delivered three great, successful conferences in Melbourne, on the Gold Coast and in the Hunter Valley that have grown in duration, attendance and most importantly delegate satisfaction. It was 17 and 21 years respectively between gigs for the Gold Coast and Hunter Valley. I’m proud to have been a part of reminding the national industry of those centres as wonderful event destinations.

We brought the national awards program back to existence after a pandemic caused hiatus. The value of peer natured recognition was apparent through healthy participation each time, and I urge everyone to participate and compete for the various 2024 award crowns when the program is launched.

Regular live webinars are again scheduled as upcoming activities, and the library for on-demand viewing has grown to support the industry in skilling its workforce. Not to mention the multiple rollouts of the Mentor program we’ve delivered – increasing it from once to twice per year to accommodate the differing peaks and troughs of the industry’s various businesses.

I’m really proud that we’ve been able to educate and graduate several students through our RTO and qualify them with a Diploma of Event Management. For mine, nothing beats practical education of an industry by an industry. Who better to coach than people who walk the talk, not just talk it.

The financial performance of the association came back to ‘black’ and has remained there. Whilst as an industry body we don’t set out to achieve huge profit, its essential that a surplus is generated to insulate it for survival, but also to be able to reinvest to the industry’s benefit. I’m glad to have produced a positive result for each of the financial years I’ve overseen.

I didn’t do all of this on my own of course. I want to thank the people who made up my team at different points over the years – Jo, Lisa, Gabby, Emmanuel, Claire, Christine and Sonia – for all their efforts in working alongside me to serve MEA’s members, students and partners. In particular Jo and Lisa, who remained on deck for my whole stretch at the desk. It was a pleasure. To the various people who’ve been Board Directors over my time, thank you for support that was provided, and the over and above contributions made to benefit MEA’s members and the greater industry.

Some of the people I’ve interacted with in going about my responsibilities are amongst the most genuine and salt of the earth I’ve met in my life. Whilst I would really like to personally name them all, for fear of mistakenly omitting just one I won’t. I hold a degree of confidence that I leave having the respect of the industry’s people that I consider and value that to be worthwhile from. To them, and I believe they’ll know who they are, I say thank you very much for everything you did with and for me.

It’s my wish that MEA flourishes and that its future is successful, bright and secure. I encourage members’ maintenance of their membership, or industry’s rejoining or even for the first time joining the organisation that has from day 1 existed for the full breadth of the Australian events industry in respect of event nature, sub-segment and geographic location.

I’m still fully on deck for another week and a half, so please continue to reach out if I can be of any further assistance before I go.

I opened with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s lyrics and could close with the words of Spice Girls, “Look for the rainbow in every storm…. Goodbye, my friend”, or Robert Burns, “For auld lang syne, my dear; For auld lang syne; We'll drink a cup of kindness yet; For the sake of auld lang syne”

But I think the right way to do it is firstly via ABBA:

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it? I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance, what are we?

So, I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me

and finally, via Queen, when they sing:

The show must go on

Sources:

Song – “So Long, Farewell” [link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy9_lfjQopU]

Artist – The Sound of Music cast

Album – “The Sound of Music (soundtrack)”

Song – “Goodbye” [link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegDtyrSUZw]

Artist – Spice Girls

Album – “Forever”

Song – “Auld Lang Syne” [link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y0r4gT1kjw – a personal favourite version]

Author – Robert Burns

Song – “Thank You For The Music” [link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dcbw4IEY5w ]

Artist – ABBA

Album – “Thank You for the Music”

Song – “The Show Must Go On” [link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t99KH0TR-J4]

Artist – Queen

Album – “Innuendo”