Of the grand order of folio leviathans, the Sperm Whale and the Right Whale are by far the most noteworthy. They are the only whales regularly hunted by man. To the Nantucketer, they present the two extremes of all the known varieties of the whale. As the external difference between them is mainly observable in their heads; and as a head of each is this moment hanging from the Pequod's side.
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COVID-19
During 2020 and 2021 I did my best to keep readers up to date with how COVID-19 was impacting our industry. One of my most trusted sources for information was Coronacast with Dr Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor – I quoted them often. After over 500 episodes Coronacast has come to an end. So is the COVID pandemic over as well? Actually, no. And here are some points from …
November 13, 2023
Events are back but is the industry at risk again? COVID? What COVID? Everyone in the industry knows that events are going gangbusters at the moment. A combination of pent up demand and the catch up of postponed events. This has led to a shortage of staff across the board. Jobs boards are loaded with offers for event staff, technicians, catering staff and almost any other event job you …
November 11, 2022
Everyone in the industry knows that events are going gangbusters at the moment. A combination of pent up demand and the catch up of postponed events. This has led to a shortage of staff across the board. Jobs boards are loaded with offers for event staff, technicians, catering staff and almost any other event job you can think of. Interestingly not for security, which must be the cushiest job …
November 11, 2022
Back in 2020 I declared that if anything, the overall government response to COVID proved once and for all that the Australian Federation is fucked. Essentially Australia has eight different jurisdictions (the feds, six states and two territories) doing things in different ways. This is most apparent in health in regards to data collection, analysing and reporting. During 2020 and 21 we were getting lots of data regarding the …
October 14, 2022
In three short years the world has seen more changes and impacts than most of us have seen in our lifetime! A lot has been written post covid about how things have changed and will continue to change. However, perhaps the biggest change is how we communicate, how we consume news and information and how we stay in touch. The biggest shift has been to social media! The longer …
September 24, 2022
Geez COVID sucks! After catching COVID in Melbourne two weeks ago I’m finally coming good. Bloody crook for about three days and still have an annoying sniffle and cough. The worst part was the “covid brain fog” that is only clearing up now. Interesting listening to the new federal health minister on RN this morning – he could just as well have been speaking for the previous government. One …
July 15, 2022
Events are back and event management companies are busier than ever. Certainly there is an appetite for events and people are keen to attend meetings, expos, festivals, art exhibitions, theatre, music events and more. However, in NSW, we have now seen the return of Dr Kerry Chant and Brad Hazzard to our TV screens as Australia reached the milestone of 10,000 deaths associated with COVID. The scary thing about …
July 8, 2022
My company has recently completed several events across three states and we have another in the next two weeks. I am left wondering when will the industry stop using covid as an excuse for poor service, increased costs and haphazard delivery? It’s become the default to everything, when anything falls short the top-drawer answer is it’s because of ‘covid’ !! What was underestimated by many, particularly venues and some …
June 2, 2022
Last October NSW Premier Perrottet’s reopening of the state of NSW was met with celebration. As we emerged double vaccinated to ‘live with Covid’ we all anticipated getting back to normalcy, however, the hospitality industry is still cocooned waiting to fully emerge from the impact of multiple lockdowns. Giovannino Navarra Late last year Navarra launched an innovative ‘Train to Retain’ certified course, where participants were offered the opportunity to …
May 20, 2022
COVID-19 Archives | Australasian Special Events
November wrap
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done an update and for good reason. Like the rest of the event industry my photography business is currently flat out. So here is my wrap for November so far and I’ll wrap again before Christmas. Last month our industry lost a true gentleman when Mark Magennis lost his battle with cancer. As co-owner of Decorative Events & Exhibitions, Mark was a …