October 2010 – SAXON MITCHELL from Venue Management Services (VMS) discusses how a Queensland council changed its civic centre into a commercially viable community hub.
A recent issue of The Sydney Morning Herald stated, “Australian Local Government has three main sources of revenue: property taxes, fees and charges, and intergovernmental grants. By international standards this is a very narrow funding base. It has been further limited by legislative restrictions on revenue raising, such as rate pegging, falling grants in real terms and limits on charges and fees, all of which have stunted revenue growth.”
The pressures facing local government were highlighted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a 2006 National Financial Sustainability Study of Local Government, which concluded the following:
“Individual councils have had mixed success in managing and funding community demands or more services whilst retaining a healthy financial position, particularly the 60 percent of Australian councils that are rural, or which may have experienced static or declining population bases.”
In its report, PWC identified “limited access for some councils to strong financial and asset management skills” as a critical issue for councils in identifying sustainability problems, optimising renewal expenditure and improving revenue streams.
FINDING A NICHE MARKET
At our Australia-based company Venue Management Services (VMS), we believe we have found a solution to this problem by helping local authorities to tap into additional sources of income by leveraging extra revenue from their existing venues and facilities.
Biloela Civic Centre, Queensland.
Most recently, VMS has been working with Banana Shire Council in Queensland to help turn its Biloela Civic Centre into a viable and sustainable long-term business.
Biloela Civic Centre is a multifunctional, council-owned venue facility in the rural heartland of the state. Built more than 30 years ago and refurbished in 2000, Biloela Civic Centre has arguably some of the best facilities of its kind in regional Australia.
Its facilities include a 950-seat auditorium, which can host theatre and concert performances, as well as conventions and weddings. Its supper room, which can be used for smaller seminars, dinners and shows, is also suitable for both social functions and corporate meetings. It also has a courtyard, which is serviced by its own bar for social gatherings, and a grand entrance foyer that is often used for art and product launches and various social events.
The venue is located centrally in Biloela, just a couple of blocks from the main highway, with good parking and access.
A CARETAKER APPROACH
Before VMS took over the management of Biloela Civic Centre in 2007, Banana Shire Council ran the venue, with a caretaker in place. The centre was used primarily for large primary and secondary school events, public meetings and corporate functions. The caretaker’s role was largely to provide access to hirers, who would then organise and run events themselves. The caretaker was also the holder of the liquor licence, but had no specific credentials beyond hospitality experience.
Despite its great facilities and the extensive remodelling undertaken in 2000 by Banana Shire Council, the centre was suffering a gradual but steady decline in popularity, and usage was at an all-time low. Unsurprisingly, the centre was losing a considerable amount of money.
Banana Shire Council recognised that the decline in the utilisation of the centre was largely due to its ‘caretaker’ approach to management. Lacking all-round expertise in venue marketing, the council was struggling to provide genuine and professional hospitality and was failing to meet the needs of corporate and community clients.
In 2007, Banana Shire Council decided to look for a better approach to the management of the civic centre. Its primary objective was to re-engage the community in order to increase venue utilisation, and to improve the fiscal return to the council and therefore the community, via sustainable commercial activities.
After consultation with the local community, Council decided to put the running of the civic centre out to tender. One of the important criteria put forth in its tender for new management was that the management body be able to not only provide expertise in event management to its hirers, but also to create business from within the centre.
Council also needed to implement legislation governing catering practice and occupational health and safety – neither of which were being adhered to (hirers could come in and cater for themselves, move furniture and equipment around without supervision and even use complex sound and lighting equipment without training or knowledge).
After a comprehensive, nationwide tender process, Council selected Venue Management Services to manage and market the venue.
MEETING COMMUNITY NEEDS
One of VMS’ first priorities was to win back corporate faith, which had been lost in the years prior to VMS taking over management. This was done via a process of providing consistent, expert consultation in corporate event management. VMS placed an on-site venue coordinator at Biloela Civic Centre, with a proven track record of successful event and hospitality management. Corporate bodies quickly learned that they were now in the hands of a professional and effective coordinator, which gave them confidence that their event was being well looked after.
The second priority was to bring the facility in line with health and safety laws, something it did in consultation with the local community. This was a very important public relations and public education process.
In the past, the community had viewed the centre as ‘theirs’ to make use of as they wished, and they were understandably resistant to change. What VMS did was to create a community-specific events schedule that not only allowed much needed access to the facilities for community groups, but also ensured a steady income for the centre.
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COLLABORATION
VMS views its relationship with local councils and their communities as a true partnership – a collaboration to connect the community, revitalise the civic venues and facilities, and provide a morale boost and financial return on investment to the region.
As such, the VMS business model has been specifically designed around servicing the needs of local councils and their communities.
We appreciate the important role community venues play in reflecting the distinctive culture of the local residents, and we believe that every community, both regional and metropolitan, is unique and that each venue requires a customised management and marketing plan, incorporating a different set of programs, to ensure each community’s vision is realised.
In the case of Banana Shire Council, VMS works closely with councillors to ensure that the programs created for the venue are suitable for the needs of the community. Likewise, Council provides ongoing support through a dedicated ‘entrepreneurial fund’ for the development of community-orientated in-house venue productions, which utilise the talents of local musicians, actors and production personnel. The on-site venue coordinator was also selected due to her experience with regional communities, theatrical production and hands-on hospitality experience.
The general community responded well to the VMS venue coordinator because she has worked and lived with rural communities for more than 15 years.
MEASURABLE SUCCESS
Since it took over the management of the venue in 2007, VMS has revitalised Biloela Civic Centre, the image of which has improved beyond all expectations in both the local community and corporate sector. VMS achieved this by using best practice hospitality standards, competent and experienced consultancy for corporate events and creative in-house designed entertainment and theatrical productions using local community talent.
VMS has not only provided Banana Shire Council with structured performance monitoring systems for visitation and revenue, but it has also given council officers within the shire a greatly improved accountability to ratepayers for the use of council funds and community facilities.
Success can be measured both qualitatively and quantitatively. The community and venue hirers have an enhanced respect for the facility and its management team, evidenced by an increased utilisation of the venue and a substantial improvement in the financial return to council coffers.
Biloela Civic Centre is now enjoying resurgence in its popularity and its reputation is attracting corporate conferences and seminars as well as touring theatrical productions from around the state. The venue is once again ‘the place’ in which to conduct social and community events.
Furthermore, the venue is now returning a more significant financial contribution to Council and is a deserving source of pride for the community.
Saxon Mitchell is managing director of two companies: Venue Management Services, which provides venue management and marketing solutions to local councils, government and private venue operators; and Event and Conference Services, a professional event and conference coordination and management company.
He has more than 14 years’ experience in hospitality, event and venue and facility management within Australia’s leading venues and hotels.
More information
Venue Management Services www.venuemanagement.com.au