For most organisations considering an event in Alice Springs , accessibility and travel costs will be key considerations . There are daily direct flights to Alice Springs from all mainland capital cities and all are within three-hours flying time . While the cost of delegate air travel is likely to be higher than to major Australian cities , that ’ s offset by more cost-effective accommodation and conferencing facilities . And while you are not going to find the equivalent of a 5-star inner-city Sydney hotel in Alice Springs , you certainly will find a consistently good to high standard of accommodation , across a total of 1300 rooms . The largest accommodation offering is set to undergo a major upgrade in 2017 with Lasseters Hotel , connected to the Alice Springs Convention Centre , being rebranded Crowne Plaza Alice Springs , a move which marks InterContinental Hotels Group return to the NT .
D ’ sa says the biggest concern at the beginning was travel cost to Alice Springs and numbers and whether they would we get the numbers they needed ?
“ It turned out to be the second biggest event in our history ,” he says . “ The destination – and pre and post touring options – actually attracted more delegates . No-one complained about flights . There was no kickback . A number of sponsors reconfirmed immediately for the following year based on the success of the event .”
Top left : Parrtjima – A festival in light . Above : Drum Atweme . Left : NT ambassador Lisa Wilkinson with the famil group .
The Alice Springs Convention Centre is the backbone of the city ’ s large scale business events venues . Suitable for up to 1200 delegates , the centre offers a full suite of event spaces and facilities . From there , a number of unique off-site venues can be layered into the program . One of the absolute highlights of the Stampede is our welcome dinner at the Old Quarry , a versatile space that can cater for from 20 to 1500 guests for a seated dinner . Here we ’ re completely immersed in the very essence of the outback . From complimentary Akubras to whip cracking demonstrations , native wildlife , live music and even a floodlit didge player performing high on the rocky escarpment surrounding the site , it ’ s one amazing surprise after another .
Alice Springs ’ many historic sites also offer inspiring opportunities . The Royal Flying Doctor Service Tourist Facility provides a 72 seat theatre and a fascinating insight into the backstory of a truly iconic Australian institution , while the Alice Springs Telegraph Station , which dates back to the 1870s , is the perfect backdrop for a wide range of outdoor events ( the venue plays host to stunning outdoor seated dinners for passengers of the Ghan for example ).
Over at the Alice Springs Desert Park , at the foot of the majestic MacDonnell Ranges , we enjoy another memorable dinner inside the atmospheric Nocturnal House , a cavelike wildlife enclosure . Special mention
also to our picnic supper in the middle of a grape farm , in the middle of the outback , complete with live music and a drumming performance by Drum Atweme – a group of at-risk Indigenous kids getting a different perspective on life through music .
With a population in Alice Springs of just 28,000 , 20 per cent of whom are Indigenous Australians , Aboriginal experiences are a special , and indeed integral , part of the city ’ s business event offering .
“ We incorporated the Indigenous community in every facet of our event , well beyond the traditional welcome to country ceremony ,” says D ’ sa . “ Right down to an original artwork by a local artist that was commissioned especially for our conference collateral .”
On day two of the Stampede we settle in for the two-hour business and networking event , which brings together a diverse range of inspiring speakers – including Sarah Brown , CEO of Western Desert Dialysis – also known as The Purple House . With the high incidence of renal failure in remote Indigenous communities , The Purple House provides life-changing mobile dialysis . Sarah ’ s presentation is heartwarming and gutwrenching at the same time and I can only think that any conference lucky enough to secure her as a keynote speaker on effecting positive change will benefit beyond belief .
Lyndon Frearson , managing director of CAT Projects , an engineering firm working in the renewable energy sector in Alice Springs , gives us further food for thought on the Red Centre as a business event destination . “ The desert is defined by scarcity ,” says Frearson . “ But as you start to understand the desert , you realise it ’ s that very scarcity that gives the landscape its great strength .
“ This is an environment that demands a shift from the way we think in our major cities . How do you start a new conversation within your organisation ? This is the place to inspire it .”
The remainder of our time in Alice Springs is spent enjoying a multitude of extraordinary experiences , many of them with a proud Indigenous element . We drift over the gentle stillness of the Red Centre at dawn in a hot air balloon ; enjoy a bush-inspired feast and cultural experience with the amazing ladies at Kungkas Can Cook ; marvel at the nimble fingers of the Tjampi Desert Weavers ; pick out constellations in the impossibly bright night sky with Earth Sanctuary ; and dance along with a glittering drag tribute to The Adventures of Priscilla , Queen of the Desert .
I doubt any of our Stampede delegates leaves the Red Centre the same person they arrived . And that ’ s what an unconventional approach to business events can do .
www . cimmagazine . com Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 8 , 2016 23