17 September 2007

AIMEX 2007, one of the world’s top mining exhibitions, was held at Sydney Showground this month. Alongside the exhibition, the AIMEX International Mining Conference 2007 (Mining 2020) featured speakers from the highest levels of government, academia and the mining industry.  

Held over four days from 4 – 7 September, this year’s AIMEX was the biggest in the event’s history. Featuring more than 520 exhibitors the event was spread over seven venues and more than 70,000 square metres, including 18,000 square metres of exhibition space. AIMEX utilised Sydney Showground’s signature venues the Dome, Halls Two, Three and Four, Howie Complex, Badgery Pavilion and the Southee Complex. Mining 2020 took place in the Playfair Room.  

With a choice of 20 versatile and unique indoor and outdoor venues, Sydney Showground offered AIMEX organisers Reed Exhibitions a versatile space to work with, including outdoor space to house large scale exhibits.  

The Dome, with a ceiling height of 42 metres, comfortably showcased towering 21-metre mining drill rigs as well as extremely heavy mining equipment and vehicles.  

Due to the sheer size of the pillar-less Dome, exhibitors were also able to go beyond the typical shell scheme for their stands, and wow potential and existing visitors with 13 double storey stands, many offering visitor hospitality.  

Sydney Showground engineers worked with Reed Exhibitions to ensure that heavy vehicles that are not always permitted by traditional exhibition venues were successfully accommodated for. Outdoor exhibits with 110 tonne earthmoving and coalmining equipment were mounted on 50 millimetre metal plates to evenly distribute the weight of the machinery.  

“Sydney Showground prides itself on being able to offer a diverse range of venues to accommodate logistically challenging business events such as AIMEX. Our professional staff – including the event planner, the operations team, and the food and beverage staff – are well trained to successfully handle all issues that may arise before, during and after the event” said Kim-Laura Brown, General Manager Event Sales, Sydney Showground.  

The interconnecting Dome and Halls Two to Four - equating to 21,600 net square metres - housed international exhibitors in country-specific pavilions representing exhibitors from the United States, Germany, South Africa, Canada, China, India, Chile and Poland, each participating under their nation’s flag.  

Sydney Showground’s catering team was called on to supply authentic food and beverages for some of these international pavilions – giving visitors the chance to sample worldwide flavours such as German sausages, Indian curry, Chilean wine and South African beer.  

According to Stephen Steenson, Operations Director, Reed Exhibitions Australia, Sydney Showground’s ability to meet demanding exhibitor requirements set an industry precedent.  

“Sydney Showground was extremely cooperative and accommodated the needs of our exhibitors in ways we rarely see in this industry. Some of the machinery that needed to be showcased here could only be transported after hours so we needed access to the loading docks from as early as 3am,” said Steenson.  

AIMEX organisers and Sydney Showground worked collaboratively to overcome several logistical challenges raised by the nature and sheer size of the exhibition. Some machinery had to be built piece-by-piece over several days, while around-the-clock security was essential to ensure that exhibitors and their equipment were safe and secure at all times.