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How NSW Teachers Provided Valuable Lessons for Olympic Ceremonies |
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Trevor Connell interviewed Liz Moss for this insight into the logistics of staging massed events.
“The Performing Arts Unit was able to help SOCOG prepare so many kids for an event of that magnitude. Working out how to move them from point A to point B, and then back again, how to rehearse that number, how to define SOCOG’s duty of care, auditioning, handling registration, transport – all the logistics.” Ms Moss said. “In the end we even managed transport for adult performers as well.” “The Unit did have the experience from managing the annual Schools Spectacular, this year’s Pacific School Games and a host of other events. This experience turned out to be invaluable” The Department of Education and Training has many years experience in running large public events. The first of 17 Schools Spectaculars ran in 1983. The Unit also works for government and private clients in managing entertainment for corporate, private and public events. Departmental staff were involved in the Atlanta Closing Ceremony but more than anything, it was the organization SOCOG saw during the Unit’s management of this year’s Pacific School Games that set the wheels turning. The Pacific School Games mimic the Olympics in that they are held every four years. Australia hosts the Games and all Pacific nations are invited to send teams. Two years ago Ms Moss put together a “bid” to manage the Opening Ceremony of those Games. “With the full backing of the Performing Arts Unit I went to the Games’ Steering Committee with a proposal,” Ms Moss said. What resulted was an amazing production. “Nobody had ever done a live event which involved 20,000 performers. The first time it came together was two days before the opening,” she said. Due to the size of the performance troupe, each segment of the Opening was developed and rehearsed at a regional level. The event involved a 100-piece orchestra, 6,000 choral singers, 12,000 dancers, 50 featured artists – and 150 stage managers! “The finale of the Pacific School Games Opening was a first. It involved bringing all the performers back onto the arena within a very short timeslot. In fact, that was the hardest thing to work out. We had to develop the logistics to get 18,000 kids in their place in four minutes. It required a large, dedicated, production team,” Ms Moss said. The ceremony was a success and the first event of this scale held in Stadium Australia. SOCOG staff was in attendance, as was Ric Birch. Everyone wanted to learn from this unique opportunity. But even Ms Moss, with the Pacific School Games’ success and five years of experience in the Performing Arts Unit under her belt, did not trivialize the enormity of the task in coordinating the students’ contribution to the Olympic opening ceremony. “The Performing Arts Unit had seven staff, including me, working for SOCOG in various roles,” Ms Moss said. “There were 198 schools involved in the Opening Ceremony dance segments – and that means that teachers from each of those schools had to be released from teaching duties to assist and accompany the students to rehearsals. In fact, it was a huge commitment from the Department.” SOCOG initially sorted through the available talent with the aid of videos, supplied by Ms Moss, which had been taken of student performers auditioning for the Pacific School Games. The videos served as initial auditions and the process gained momentum from there. “It all went smoothly at the Opening Ceremony, but the build-up had its challenges,” Ms Moss said. For example, they had a few scary moments when country bus drivers working for the ORTA bus consortium could not find their set-down locations in suburban Sydney. But she admitted that, while they were tiring, such hurdles are part of managing large events. And the year was jam-packed with large events. “It has been a huge year, but it’s been great. SOCOG and the Department had a great working relationship which resulted in a fabulous outcome” With the successes of the Olympics and the Pacific School Games behind her, she returned to work at the Unit in October with less than a month to finalise the organisation the Schools Spectacular, but “loved it”. “I felt like I was home, because after five years of doing the Spectacular it comes as second nature. I was very relaxed. After this year I feel like I can take on anything,” she said. Ms Moss managed the operational aspects of the Schools Spectacular this year, leaving much of the organizational work to her Departmental colleagues. “It was a challenge to pull together the operational side in four weeks, rather than the usual three months.” Other Performing Arts Unit staff share her professionalism and confidence. The Unit manages more than 100 events throughout the year, taking on tasks as diverse as entertainment production through to event managing Government celebrations. They can source MCs, dancers, actors, musicians and singers. “We do not bid for work and are not trying to compete with others in the events industry,” Ms Moss said. In fact, she says that the Department offers its event staff the best of both worlds – working on Government functions, while liaising with the corporate world and private event companies. “You learn a lot doing this job. And where else in the Public Service could you manage a lunch for Princess Diana one minute, organise Commonwealth Day celebrations one week and work alongside David Grant the next” she said. From time to time Ms Moss admits that she feels the pull to experience a new work environment. “I think working in PR or corporate public affairs would suit me – it’s the sort of work I do in my current position anyway,” she said. “I’d love to run events for a big company, say a corporation like QANTAS. They seem to be switched on.” Are you listening, James Strong? Just imagine the size of the children’s choir you could then put together for your advertisements! |
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