Making the most of your event MC and optimising speaker presentations with Andrew Klein

In this episode of ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’, Andrew Klein sheds light on how event organisers can create a better conference experience for attendees through changing the traditional agenda timeline and switching to shorter presentation sessions. Andrew also discusses the ways in which an MC can elevate your event and when an MC may not be worth your while. 

Transcript

Libbie Ray  0:04  
Welcome to the conference collective podcast celebrating the best in innovation and leadership from those who are creating positive change in the business event industry, a podcast brought to you by the professional conference organizers Association and hosted by me Libbie ray from connected event group. This podcast provides listeners with the behind the scenes access to some of our key innovators in our industry as they share their honest and raw insight, highlighting how collaboration and innovation resilience are at the core of our industry. Today we are joined with Anne Marie Quinn and Marie is the founder and managing director of all occasions group and has built the company since its inception in 1998. She has developed the organization over the past 24 years to a staff of 12 multiskilled team members, and has attracted a very impressive range of major national and international clients. All Occasions group is the true South Australian success story offering award winning conferences, event and Travel Management Services. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Anne Marie Quinn  1:06  
Thanks, Libbie. lovely to be here.

Libbie Ray  1:08  
Now just to get started, it would be great to actually have a bit of a chat around what your journey has been to this point how you started all occasions group and brought you to that point.

Anne Marie Quinn  1:19  
Sure. Well, yeah, it was, as you mentioned in the introduction, it was in late 1998 that I decided to take the plunge and start my own organization. So I had previously been working in the business events industry at the at what was known then as the Adelaide actor was Adelaide convention and Tourism Authority, which is now business events Adelaide, and had had probably out of those six to eight years experience in business events, and then decided to take the leap into being an entrepreneur and starting my own organization, I had come from a family of of self employed people. So I guess it was in my ethos, and it was, you know, it was in our our DNA, I guess, to go out on your own sort of take that risk. So that was 25 or so years ago now. And I guess it's been, you know, a fantastic journey and a fantastic ride since that time, the usual trials and tribulations that anyone in in small business, you know, experiences and, you know, there's been highs and lows, and there's been some really pivotal moments. And, you know, but it's been thoroughly enjoying, and exhilarating, I guess, to get to this point where we are here today.

Libbie Ray  2:27  
Fantastic. And it's so amazing to hear from such a experienced business leader in the event space. And I can imagine that then you've alluded to some of this already. But I imagine that you've seen a lot of different iterations within your company and different stages throughout those past 25 years. I'd love to dig a little bit deeper into how has your organization or your approach to business changed, particularly over the last few years?

Anne Marie Quinn  2:54  
Sure, yes. I mean, I guess in those stages of evolution of an organization, different things are important at different points in time. And obviously you learn along the journey around you know what worked and what to change, and you reflect on your previous successes, and obviously, you know, previous failures as well, and then learn from those. And I think that where I'm at now is in a much more relaxed and confident position, I guess, than where I was, in the first sort of 20 years, I'd actually have to thank COVID for this because it gave a real opportunity to sort of sit back and reflect and take that time out. And, you know, some natural changes occurred as a result of that. And, and so I guess now I'm a lot more in tune with, you know, what is my passion? And what is my higher purpose? And, you know, do I feel comfortable doing something? Am I confident to work with these people do I believe in what they don't believe in their product or don't believe in what they're selling. So I guess we've become more selective around the kinds of clients we work with now, certainly more so than we were previously. And I think the change now is you end up putting, you know, people and the planet, for example, head of profit. So it's not just all about a numbers game and bigger equals better. And that's something that COVID has helped me to understand that it's, there's actually there needs to be a fit with the staff that you employ, but also with the clients that you elect to engage with. So the journey has helped me to become a lot more clear about what is my purpose and what is my passion. And now if there's not a feeling of alignment, I don't pursue those opportunities. So I guess that that's a sense of knowing now that I'm I have that I perhaps didn't have previously. And interestingly, I also believe now that, you know, obviously we went through that period of a lot of a lot of zoom and a lot of meetings online and a lot of digital conferencing. But really, I've come to understand into that it is that face to face communication that does, I think it leads to greater levels of empathy and greater levels of understanding. And, you know, I've experienced that personally just in my dealings with people and my relationships. And there is that sense of exhaustion over online conferencing. So it's really great to see people back face to face doing what we, as a species are best at doing. And that is that, you know, face to face communication, and all of the subtleties that go with that.

Libbie Ray  5:29  
Fantastic, and it's so lovely to hear your conversation around passion and purpose. And you alluded to the way that we operate as as businesses and whether or not we are supporting the planet and the people in our communities is that really where your strong passion and purpose lies, if you were to articulate what your passion and purpose is,

Anne Marie Quinn  5:49  
in my personal life, I guess, you know, I am a bit of a climate warrior, and I do what I can to support the planet to support the natural environment to minimize climate change, and it helped do my bit to achieving net zero. So when you know personal belief system and ethos marries in with your work, beliefs, and ethos, that that's when you have that real sense of congruency. And that real sense of this is the right things, the right journey that we're on.

Libbie Ray  6:18  
That's wonderful. And I think that you've alluded to some of those processes around understanding what your personal passion is, and marrying that up to your business, your strategic growth, passion and purpose, are there any are there any other tips or strategies that you might be able to identify, for people to take on to find their own passion and purpose? Ah,

Anne Marie Quinn  6:40  
I think you have to spend some time really kind of working, you know, getting to know yourself and working out what really floats your boat, and kind of stripping back the layers of what you might have been told, or, you know, those that driving ego to achieve. And that's the journey that I've been on, I guess, you know, it used to all be about numbers and about graphs and statistics, it's got to be more, it's got to be better, you got to see 10% growth, and you've got to like grow, grow, grow. Whereas other times that left me emotionally exhausted, and not necessarily really enjoying what I was doing so, so for me, I've kind of taken it back to what really is important to me. And you know, if I get up in the morning, am I happy to go and spend time with those people or go and work on that project? Do I believe in what what they're doing and what they're espousing? You know, and so if it doesn't really fit, then I'm not so keen to pursue it. Whereas once upon a time, I would have pursued purely because it'll increase our sales, or it might add to our bottom line. So my advice to people is to spend some time really working out what do you believe in? And, you know, who are you culturally, emotionally and then find, you know, if you're in a place of employment, where it doesn't really align with what you believe in, then, you know, perhaps that's an opportunity to to make a change.

Libbie Ray  7:59  
That's fantastic. And as a passionate and purposeful leader in the industry, how do you build your team to ensure that organization breeds the same culture and purpose that you're striving to achieve?

Anne Marie Quinn  8:12  
Well, I can't I mean, I've said this to staff before when I've been mentoring. So I like to mentor stuff that we often employ younger staff strike from tertiary education, because I'm happy to support the institutions that support our our future. And I think if someone's prepared to invest in their future, in this industry, in the business events industry, then you know, we're gonna give them a shot, we have to give them a go. So I like to take on people that have trained in the business events and tourism or related fields.

Libbie Ray  8:40  
And with the slightly more developed structure around recruitment and the types of people you're looking to bring into your organization with easier or more difficult to find team members for yourself.

Anne Marie Quinn  8:54  
Well, we struggled obviously, during COVID A lot of staff left the industry and move to other industries, because obviously business events was so severely impacted. I feel now that we have come out of that side, because, you know, federally sort of certainly at the state level in Australia, and federally, governments are supporting business events and supporting tourism and hospitality as a career choice. And they're obviously funding those opportunities for young people to get trained and, and to get developed in the industry. So I feel as though it's, it's become somewhat easier just to sit, we've advertised for a couple of roles because of the increase in in business that we're experienced since COVID. And you know, initially 12 months ago, I would be lucky to have, you know, half a dozen people apply. Whereas now, in my more recent advertisement, we must have had about 30 to 40 applicants apply. So to me that indicates that there's more candidates out there and that there's, there's more people to choose from now than there was sort of 12 months ago. So we like to get I have a strategy where I like to get people in and give them But try get them in and do some casual work. And you know, you don't make any commitments, but you sort of you pay them for the, you know, few days or whatever week or so that you want to trial and for whatever they're available to do. And then that way, you get a pretty good indication, does this person fit with the team in alignment? You know, is it going to work?

Libbie Ray  10:16  
That's a really great, great points. And it's great to see that, particularly in Adelaide, and I'm sure across the country that we are seeing an increase in applicants coming through. And it's great to see that our industry is developing that strength again, from where we had a little bit of weakness over the past few years. Now, climate change, and sustainability is obviously extremely important to you. I'm interested to hear about a particular event that you produced, and how much that really played into the process, all occasions, group one, the climate change conference in Adelaide, which is quite a significant event in Adelaide, and obviously very aligned to all occasions scripts purpose. Now I'd love to hear about how that tickler process and how much it all aligned for you.

Anne Marie Quinn  11:01  
Sure, yes, well, we just finished probably it was in April, actually the South Australia's industry Climate Change Conference. This was a an inaugural event. It was an initiative of the premier and the climate change Council. South Australia has pretty much always been a leader in climate change. And it was the government of South Australia and the premiers climate change council that actually had this vision along with business SAE and the industry to create this conference and have all sectors of the community come together for climate 2023 I guess it comes down to some key factors, the sort of the guiding principles around our around recycling, around water reduction, energy efficiency, sustainable packaging, carbon offsetting and paperless practices. So we had already implemented a number of these guiding principles in the organization because as I alluded to earlier, I have been on board with Europe with climate change, and with reduction of energy, greenhouse gases and emissions for some time, you know, at a personal level, and obviously, that transpires into a business level with, you know, the introduction of solar panels. I've recently purchased an electric car and an electric vehicle, and we'll be installing, you know, charging stations both at home and at the office. Some of the other things we elected to do for that particular conference, we had trestle tables instead of instead of exhibition booths. Now, I love a good Expo, it looks great. However, it's not the most environmentally friendly option. And so in this instance, we had trestle tables instead of boots, and you know, with white tablecloth, and we had a plant sponsor, which is was something exceptionally good. And our plant sponsor was Jared Platt higher, and so they had all the foliage and they brought in like 100, hundreds of plants and themed stage themed up the tables in the exhibition area. And then those plants could actually be purchased by delegates afterwards if they want to, or then obviously back to the warehouse and reuse so so just making some conscious decisions around instead of single use throw away theming and props and the like, actually using lots hiring and plants. And we did that for a deal. We had a lovely dinner at the Rose pavilion with potential gardens. And that was the way we elected to find the tables as well with was with plants from table gardens. And then, you know, we sent them back to the gardens to do what they do with them. So the whole paperless practices thing, you know, using the mobile attendee app, obviously, that's pretty mainstream now. But electing not to print anything is important merchandise, you know, we didn't have a section we didn't promote sexual inserts, because at the end of the dialogue that ends up in the bin, we had lanyards made from bamboo. So instead of your old, typical kind of fabric, plasticky sort of style, we elected to have these stackable recyclable unbranded as well, so they could be reused. So people did want to reuse them. They weren't branded with that particular event. So I think that's again, a conscious choice, and no single use plastic pouches as well. So we are moving away from that we're moving towards just printing out badges on palpable paper and using bamboo lanyards, instead of old school style, which are not particularly environmentally friendly. So there was a number of sort of detailed decisions that were made strategic decisions that were made with that we propose and we've worked with the government to actually try to make this have the lowest carbon emissions that we could, we didn't get it 100% Right. There's been some good takeaways from this to now work with our clients moving forward and educate our clients and a lot of it is going to be actually educating people, not even in this industry, but the other groups that the other clients that we've worked with actually educating them because everybody wants to this has been driven by consumer sentiment and by client client sentiment, delicate sentiment that people are looking for a more sustainable choice that in their personal lives, people are realizing we have to act, you know we have to do Something so. So I think it's really important for the business events industry moving forward that it embraces, you know, low emissions thinking, and it starts to really not just talk about it, but start to put into place practices that are more sustainable and more environmentally friendly than what we have seen in the past

Libbie Ray  15:20  
some incredible ways that organizations can really be thinking about how to change their processes and policies moving forward for all of their events, regardless of where their passion or purpose stands. Why do you think that it has taken so long, or it's been a little slow off the mark, for our industry to really get behind some of these initiatives? Is it around costs or the time or just maybe that there's not there hasn't necessarily been a a leader in the way that you're leading now, to sort of show the way?

Anne Marie Quinn  15:51  
I mean, it's not only our industry, I think it's a number of industries. And that's what was evident from this conference was that, you know, they looked at the agricultural industry, in the transport industry, in the manufacturing industry across the board. And you know, there's plenty of room for change and for growth and for improvement across the board. So it's not just business events. And it's not just hospitality, but I think that certainly profit and cost plays a significant part. Because to do this, you have to be committed your your values, and your concern about the environment has has to be a higher standing point, then the bottom line, because it's not always the most it's not, it's not necessarily going to be the cheapest solution. However, it's the solution you elect to do from a moral standpoint, because you know, it's the right thing to do. And because you want to make a difference, because you want to wake up each morning and and you want to be able to go I did I tried to do something today, or I did do something today, because I think that's what's important now that we know the science. And now that we know what's happening, and there's so much data and so much evidence out there, I think it's important to actually go What did I do, you know, to look at yourself in the mirror and actually say, Well, what choices did I make? And what did I do to play my part, because it's, you know, all of us on the on this earth that, collectively makes Mote will make a difference? I don't think you can. Sometimes, you know, people get overwhelmed and get depressed or whatever, by climate change. So I think you don't want to get depressed, you want to get active, you actually want to do something, because then you feel better straightaway, just so these small changes, I think are important. So I think it's just education. And it's like I said, it's been driven by client sentiment and delegate sentiment now. So I think we can't just turn a blind eye to it anymore in our industry, I think we will start to see change. It's people pushing you know, having a voice and actually standing up and going no, I don't want you single use compostable cups. I want you to put old school you know crockery out. So I've said like with our barista carts now, you know, we're not going to be having single use paper cups, 500 of them with plastic lids. But you know, because it's just not, you can't just go you that's fine. It's only a one off because it's not so. So it's about actually having a voice and wanting more and pushing for more. So and again, it's not going to be cheaper or may not necessarily be cheaper to do that. But it's the right decision to make.

Libbie Ray  18:21  
Yeah, certainly ringing home true and and there's certainly so much that we can all do as an industry to stick together and just as good human beings. So great to hear these points, what what was some of the key processes that you needed to undertake in the management of this conference, that may not be a standard in generally managing most events,

Anne Marie Quinn  18:41  
one of the things that we participated in was a climate active carbon neutral standard for events. And I didn't even really know such a thing existed. But it does. And we were part of that. So this is a voluntary standard to manage greenhouse gas emissions. And it basically involves a data collection of emission sources, you know, with a consultant, so we had to provide information before the event and after the event around the source of attendees, so that like numbers of flights and numbers of people locally versus interstate and overseas, and then hotel nights as well, looking at utilities usages, and so the venue had to they had a convention center with a venue here, and they had to provide a lot of information around the food and the food types that they sourced the waste and defining those waste types is at landfill recycling organic waste, we had a look at staff commutes, you know, within our office. So looking at that aspect of it as well as marketing and advertising costs and sustainability. So we that we submitted all this data before the event and then we submitted it after the event as well and there's a greenhouse gas inventory that's prepared and then I make recommendations about how to how we could have done better I guess, or and then look at eligible carbon credit offsets for any residual emissions and And then you can basically promote your event as a carbon neutral event under the climate active standard.

Libbie Ray  20:06  
That's fantastic. And that might work perfectly into my next question for you actually, what is your vision for the future of the business events industry?

Anne Marie Quinn  20:15  
I think was, I certainly feel that we're continuing to prosper and thrive. I think the rate of change is really rapid. You know, from from where we were a couple of years ago to where we are now, you know, that the technology is constantly evolving and changing. And so I think it's really important for organizations to keep up with that and to not become too complacent. I do think that at the moment, you know, that we're really busy. And I know, all my cohorts are really busy as well, I think it's because postcode, a lot of people let staff go, or a lot of organizations, you know, they couldn't sustain having events, people on the team, so they let them go. So now suddenly, as a subcontractor, we're really in demand, and we're, you know, extremely busy. And that also plays into the fact that people have realized the value of face to face getting together, getting the members together at a conference and the networking opportunities, and the educational opportunities cannot be replicated in any other way. And so I think that's, that's really played into the future of business events. So I don't think our futures uncertain or cloudy at all, I think it's really strong. And I think it's a great industry to be a part of, it's given me so many wonderful opportunities. And I highly recommend it as a career to any young person who's who's interested from a climate change perspective, the future of business events, I think, you know, everyone's coming on board bit by bit. And you know, that being involved with events like this has certainly helped us to evolve even more and to be educated. A lot of this is just about education, empowerment, and then electing to do something about it. So I think we will see a shift to transform and you know, hopefully, at a good rate, I think that will happen. And then we will start to see those guiding principles of recycling and water reduction, energy efficiency, sustainable packaging, and that paperless. Those paperless practices, and carbon offsetting, I think we will start to see that becoming more mainstream, and, you know, in people's tender documents and in people's proposals, it'll be, it'll be talked about.

Libbie Ray  22:15  
That's a really great, great point. And what is the most important lesson that you've learned over your career?

Anne Marie Quinn  22:22  
I guess, firstly, a couple of things. Actually, like I said, it isn't a bigger isn't always better. Like I said earlier, I think in the early days, it's all about numbers and growth. And, and you want to see though, you want to be on the right trajectory, and you want to see those graphs and those pie charts, you know, showing growth year after year after year. And to be honest, I where I am now, that is no longer the sole purpose, that's now no longer the driver for me. So I've learned more about what we've been talking about. And that is a that is, is it. Am I in the right place? Does this feel right? Does this fit because you can burn out, it can become disheartened, you can get sick, you know, it's a quite a stressful industry that we're in. And if you're not in love with it, and if you're not really believing in what you're doing, it has to pay a price. So an incoming with that is that sense of confidence to actually push back a bit of people and to say no, because, you know, often we are at the mercy of a client's demands and a client expectations, and some of them are not realistic. And so I tell my staff, that we're the experts, you know, we're the knowledge professionals, we're the experts in this field. And we, a client has engaged with us, for us to advise them not the other way around, you know, so if what they're saying doesn't stack up and isn't right, then speak up and educate them about the best path moving forward.

Libbie Ray  23:50  
Some very amazing points to remind ourselves of ticular getting caught up in the excitement and adrenaline that events industry does bring just to take that time and slow down and really understand what we're here for and how to look after ourselves and greater lessons that we can all learn from that. So thank you so much, to kind of start to wrap up, I would love to find out from you. If you have a tip for all of us. That's one thing that we could do either today or tomorrow immediately to move us forward to a greener and more purposeful industry.

Anne Marie Quinn  24:22  
I yeah, I think that whole paperless environment is you could start with that, you know, that's a simple one and when we've got the technologies and we've got the tools to do that, so it's just that we're thinking about reusing and recycling and using the technology so that you know make the most of your apps and and the website and so forth. Don't print you know, where you can do not print anything, go for those sustainable materials in your lanyards and in your you know, you don't need to use single use plastics and talk to the venue about them doing it better as well. Like I talked about the crockery and the compostable cups and whatever. So there's a lot of Small things that you could do, it doesn't have to be earth shattering. That's I think that's somewhat of a misconception. You know, everybody doing something small every day, it adds up

Libbie Ray  25:08  
to finish up our conversation. Before we do, I'd love to ask you our first five questions that we ask all of our audience. So every, all of our guests matter, to get to know them a little bit better. So first of our first five questions, most memorable event that you have ever attended.

Anne Marie Quinn  25:29  
Your one, probably one that I organized a conference that I organized that I would say is one of the most memorable and I was really happy to be part of it was wipsy was the World Indigenous persons conference on education because it was such a delight to meet so many First Nations people and to just be part of something that was so different, culturally different. They're very creative. They're very musical. They just, you know, the whole collaboration, the way people got together the way people would do impromptu poor performances at the gala dinner and things like that. It was fantastic. The Senate was just such a good energy and, and buzz in the room. So I think that's one for me that I've organized recently that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Libbie Ray  26:08  
Fantastic. And what is your favorite city in the world?

Anne Marie Quinn  26:12  
Well, I'm actually not really a cities person. I tend to go for more regional and rural environments, rather than highly populated densely populated city spaces. Because I feel I don't feel at peace. I don't feel ease in big city environments with a lot of noise. So you know, I spend a lot of time locally in South Australia here in the Flinders Ranges. You know, anywhere World Heritage listed, the wilderness of Tasmania is another place I love to spend time as well. So yeah, I'm an outdoors person rather than a city.

Libbie Ray  26:44  
Fantastic. And what's the best book or movie of all time, in your opinion?

Anne Marie Quinn  26:50  
Well, I've got three actually. And they're all very different. I have to say one of my best action movies, I do like a good action was the equalizer. With Denzel Washington. It's just such a gripping fantastic movie, nothing to do with the environment or anything else. But it's just an awesome, action packed, gripping movie. I've been recently watching Road Heroes on the SBS, which is an historical drama about the origins of the British Army Special Air Services. And that's fantastic. It's up. And then I recently saw a film called The Giants. And this really played into my passion about climate change. And that's basically looking at was about the environmentalist Bob Brown, Dr. Bob Brown that everyone would know from the Greens party. And it's basically intertwining the lives of the trees in Tasmania with, you know, with Bob Browns history as well.

Libbie Ray  27:38  
And what or who is your greatest inspiration?

Anne Marie Quinn  27:41  
Well, I think to David Attenborough would have to be one of the most inspiring people because of his commitment and unwavering dedication to the preservation of the planet. And recently, I'd have to say that Bob Brown, Dr. Bob Brown and his fight to save the Franklin River in the Tasmanian wilderness.

Libbie Ray  27:58  
Sounds sounds wonderful. And finally, would we be more likely to see you climbing a mountain or jumping out of a plane?

Anne Marie Quinn  28:06  
I think that one's pretty obvious I'd be I'd be a hate the thought of jumping out of a plane and I will never go bungee jumping. But I love mountains.

Libbie Ray  28:14  
Wonderful owl. And Murray, thank you so much for sharing your passion and experience with us today, had a really great conversation, we will be making sure that we link your website. So if any of the audience would like to get in touch with you, perhaps having a conversation around sustainability or just maybe potentially want to work with you or get some advice. They'll be able to contact you via your website in the links that we will be providing. Thank you again for your time.

Anne Marie Quinn  28:41  
This great, thank you Libby, and it was my pleasure to chat with you today.

Libbie Ray  28:45  
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the conference collective brought to you by the PTO a and connected event group.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai