Methodology

The city chosen for the conferences in this report is Melbourne in Australia. Melbourne is the center for diverse business events, conferences and seminars, widely eminent and popular among the masses for the vibrancy it displays as a city (Melbourne.vic.gov.au 2017). Organizing any conference is itself a difficult job, which becomes manageable as soon as the venue for the conferences is decided (Müller 2015). The objective of this report is to look into the aspects of space, function and operation for three conferences venues for three previously discussed conferences. The three conferences were discussed in terms of their size and what venue is necessary for them. This report, based on that discussion recommends three venues for the three conference scenarios, after   undertaking a complete venue research of Melbourne has been carried out for tallying the conference requirements.

As discussed in the first scenario, a small conference would be taking place that would feature workshops and forums. In this small conference, there would be present 100-200 delegates and 10 exhibitors. The conference would go on for two long days. For that, the venue needs to be at a popular place which would be easily accessible and appropriate for the conference. While deciding the venue, consideration must be given to tranquility, accessibility and legislative permissions (Getz and Page 2016). Additionally, for accommodating this number of people there must be accessibility to enough rooms. Each room must have an accommodating capacity of at least 200 people, so that four rooms can be booked.

Space for a podium and for standing would also be necessary. Apart from the function rooms there is a need of some spacious halls too that would accommodate at least 200-300 people for exhibitions. Each wide hall must be able to accommodate at least one exhibitor so that they can properly display all their items and achieve their goals of joining the conference. These halls would be also used by participants in holding a get-to-together of sorts for discussing things over some refreshments. These halls must also hold the capacity of allowing staff to set up the requirements like food stages, chairs, documentations, and the stage for different sessions. An additional room would help in serving as a dining hall.

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne is a respected conference center, being the pioneer institution to have explored different forms of moving image like art, television, films, new media and video games. Federation Square has taken care of the architecture and the center has previously also been host to a lot of exhibitions, creative workshops, talks and even film screenings. The center has the capacity of hosting theatre-style functions, cocktails and banquets with guest numbers ranging from 20-400, ideal for such conferences, meetings, launches and celebrations. The place offers different options for styling, interactive events, pre-event drinks, registration areas and break-out spaces as it boasts flexible spaces and modern settings. The place also possesses two state-of-the-art cinemas, in-house audio visual, studio green screen and world-class facilities for presenting lively presentation prospects.

Findings – Conference Scenario 1

At ACMI the prominent and imaginative spaces has the capacity of melding sections of ongoing exhibitions inti the main event, which offers an excellent foundation for establishing a continued connection for the guests. Transportation facilities are easily available (such as train and tram) and car parking is available too at Federation Square and in Flinders Street. Parking is easier with two available car spaces on each level of the Federation Square car park. Lessen Rowland has brought on unparalleled opportunities of passing on the fundamentals while directing some new regulations that hold significant worth and progression. The center has an area of 1307 sq. meter, while the height of the ceiling is 26.7 ht. meter (ACMI 2017).

As discussed in the second scenario, the requirements of the first scenario do not match with the requirements of the second scenario and therefore the venue of the first scenario would not do in this case. Location is an important element to be taken into consideration while deciding on venues for conferences. For shaping the willingness for adjusting and understanding, attitude and accessibility plays a huge role (Silvers 2012). It becomes even more complex when these exhibitions and delegates are into planning plenary sessions or any other concurrent sessions regularly and are throughout funding it themselves. An alluring area and available restaurant is imperative to be considered when making arrangements for such conferences. As far as plenary sessions go, the venue ought to be extensive, and must be deliberately implied for being a conference room.

For such prerequisites of 50 exhibitors, the room should, at any rate, be of measurements as 14000 – 18000 m2 for ensuring that every one of the perspectives is dealt with. Such measurements must guarantee that every one of the exhibitors has the space to show their items. A podium is an absolute necessity for tending to every one of the delegates. The room should likewise be furnished with clean offices for every one of the guests. Regarding conference needs, the venue must look at as far as furniture accessibility, elegant style, and also napery. The venue must consider having adequate rooms, with no issue of lighting or energy supply. The issue of food and drink must be dealt with for pleasing all inclinations (Getz 2012).

The Melbourne Park Function Centre in Melbourne is a major centre in the city for sports and entertainment functions. Regularly, the centre is a host to more than 2.5 million people and 600 events. It is also the place of a long list of the best and prominent experiences and events. Most famously, the place is the venue for the Australian Open and some other celebrated sports and conference events in the city, open for both domestic and international clients. It has one of the most enviable locations, amongst the Botanic Gardens and Melbourne’s CBD, with the Yarra river on one side. The park has an area of 40 hectares and is also a sophisticated meld of arenas, stadiums, suites and function rooms that are offering the most convenient time flexibility for being the host of a diverse range of events of all sizes. The city’s huge and picturesque skyline is the backdrop of the park. The center even has sufficient amenities inside its 1800 sq. area, like on-site car packing (Melbournepark.com.au 2017).

Findings – Conference Scenario 2

Previous scenarios would not work if the conference included 3500-5000 delegates and 400 exhibitors. For sessions like plenary and others to concurrently run easily the best choice is to liaise with a goal management organization who are practiced at directing the underlying readiness to the greatest advantage of delegates (Hettiarachchi 2015). These sort of organizations help delegates in arriving to the venue by methods for travel offices, which likewise includes legitimate, enlightening and advantageous methods for transport. These organizations likewise make arrangements ahead of time for the diverse convenience offices for ensuring every one of the guests are dealt with.

They develop programs that meet the general population needs of relaxation, networking, social and different types of programs. The accessible rooms must have the space for facilitating exhibitions and conferences without obstacles. The clean offices at the season of such conferences should be at the best condition with the goal that nobody’s wellbeing is put in danger. For pleasing every applicable innovation, power supply and wire associations must be put to point of view. Moreover, internet services, communication offices and other related items are should have been placed in context for guaranteeing smoother operations. The 5 days conference for plenary sessions, award ceremonies and gala dinners would require a venue like a bug convention and exhibition center (Bladen et al. 2012).

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is Melbourne’s best place for hosting the most successful events – having wonderful and huge space, award winning food menu, leading technology and the proficiency in melding all these for a successful events. MCEC contains 54 meeting rooms, 30,000 square meters of pillar-less exhibition space and huge multi-function plenary. It has been a venue to everything ranging from conferences, conventions, exhibitions to concerts, gala dinners and tradeshows. Similar to Melbourne Park Function Centre, MCEC also enjoys the proximity to the Yarra River in south Wharf. It boasts of majestic views, and is accessible to the airport, by an airport bus, but otherwise it’s a taxi ride – no public transport is available. Moreover, it is a stone’s throw away from the Melbourne city center.

It can contain at least 5,500 people, offering them the best technology, large and intimate spaces, highly experienced staff and succulent food and wine. These aspects make it the most popular choice as a conference center in both the city and the country (MCEC 2017).

Conclusion

The business event industry is in nature a facilitator of meetings between people that helps in information sharing. It is true that prior preparation in this industry is important. This preparation would make sure of sufficient rooms, refreshments and amenities. It is extremely vital that delegates get the best of experience from plenary sessions. The above discussed three venues would be able to do just that for three discussed scenarios. They are Melbourne’s best available options.

References

ACMI. 2017. Film, TV, Video Games, Digital Culture & Art Museum. [online] Available at: https://www.acmi.net.au/

Bladen, C., Kennell, J., Abson, E. and Wilde, N., 2012. Events management: An introduction. Routledge.

Getz, D. and Page, S.J., 2016. Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events. Routledge.

Getz, D., 2012. Development, and Marketing. Sport and adventure tourism, p.49.

Hettiarachchi, S., 2015, April. Plenary talk II: Planning, design, & implementation of Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System. In Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon), 2015 (pp. xxv-xxx). IEEE.

MCEC. 2017. Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. [online] Available at: https://mcec.com.au/

Melbourne.vic.gov.au. 2017. Melbourne as a smart city – City of Melbourne. [online] Available at: https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/about-melbourne/melbourne-profile/smart-city/Pages/smart-city.aspx

Melbournepark.com.au. 2017. Melbourne Park Function Centre. [online] Available at: https://www.melbournepark.com.au/

Müller, M., 2015. The mega-event syndrome: Why so much goes wrong in mega-event planning and what to do about it. Journal of the American Planning Association, 81(1), pp.6-17.

Silvers, J.R., 2012. Professional event coordination (Vol. 62). John Wiley & Sons.