Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

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ISSUE 129

ATTRACTIONS

Transition at BridgeClimb Sydney Sector Developments

FACILITIES

Print Post Approved PP100022562

Secondary Spend Christchurch Rebuilds

SAFETY

Emergency Preparedness Aboriginal Pools Project

PLUS

Recognising Communications Excellence Peter Norman’s Olympic Legacy Sound System Quality

Correspondence

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Reports

Member Management

Front Desk

Retail, POS

Support Team

Bookings

Integration

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contents

Issue 129, 2018

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features

COVER: BridgeClimb Sydney now has a new operator.

See page 18.

regulars 6 From the Publisher 10 Two Months in Leisure 59 People 61 Products www.ausleisure.com.au for all the latest industry news, products and events

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4 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Transition at the Top ‘Australia’s top tourism experience’ has a new operator

State of Attractions How attractions are facing the future

Rising from the Rubble Rebuilding Christchurch’s leisure infrastructure

Encouraging Participation Western Australia’s Aboriginal swimming pools project

The Time is Now Emergency preparedness at fitness and sport facilities

The Spending Equation Making the most of secondary spend

Lasting Memorials Technology to save and modernise historic swimming pools

Sounds Amazing A new installation is reshaping professional sound

Getting the Message Excellence in industry communication and marketing

Black Power Controversy 50 years since Peter Norman’s Olympic stand

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From the Publisher Rewarding Communication and Marketing Excellence Published by Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd, 102 Taiyul Road, North Narrabeen, NSW 2101 (PO Box 478, Collaroy, NSW 2097) AUSTRALIA ABN 32 092 549 721

Tel: 02 9970 8322 Fax: 02 9970 8355 E-mail: leisure@ausleisure.com.au www.ausleisure.com.au Twitter: @AusLeisure Facebook: www.facebook.com/AusLeisure Editor Karen Sweaney Publisher Nigel Benton Design Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd Administration Bill Gillies

Advertising Inquiries Nigel Benton Tel: 02 9970 8322 Email: nigel@ausleisure.com.au James Croll Tel: 0488 090 904 Email: jcroll@ausleisure.com.au Printed in Australia by Newstyle Printing Co Pty Ltd Suite 112, 330 Wattle Street, Ultimo NSW 2007 Tel: 1300 773 438 www.newstyleprint.com.au The annual subscription cost is AUS $90 (inclusive of GST) in Australia, New Zealand and throughout the Rest of the World.

Members of AALARA, ALFA, ASSA, EVANZ, Exercise Association of New Zealand, Sports and Play Industry Association and the VMA receive the magazine as a membership benefit.

The views contained in Australasian Leisure Management are not necessarily those of Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd or the Editor. While every care is taken with advice given, Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd and the Editor can take no responsibility for effects arising therefrom. Views expressed by contributors may be personal and are not necessarily the views of their employers or professional associations.

© Australasian Leisure Management, 2018.

ISSN 1446-1374

Official Publication

In Association with

Australasian Leisure Management is an Australian product, Australian owned and printed in Australia.

It is again a pleasure to feature and to have recently announced the winners in our third Communication and Marketing Awards.

Featured on page 52, the Awards recognise excellence in communication and marketing across the leisure industry and we feel they are a small way to encourage operators, organisations and governments in reaching out to guests, customers and members as well as those with a stake in the industry.

The Industry’s new Employment Nomenclature

The People page in Australasian Leisure Management is one of this magazine’s most popular features, with reader feedback indicating how people value finding out about appointments and movements in the industry.

Over recent issues it is interesting to note how new job titles are emerging in the industry, roles such as: Insights Officer; Integrity Manager; Chief Experience Officer and Athlete Wellbeing Manager.

These new titles reflect a changing industry.

Integrity roles reflect the need for sport to maintain high standards and be able to withstand scrutiny during a period of increasing pressures relating to gambling and match-fixing while wellbeing roles mark requirements to sustain athlete welfare.

This industry is often seen as being about the delivery of experiences – in attainment, entertainment and enjoyment.

This explains why such roles are increasingly important while the need for all operators to have insights into their customer/ member base accounts is now, more than ever, vital for the industry.

As technology, consumer demand and integrity roles become increasingly mainstream, it may be worth considering other roles that will emerge in the coming years.

The Participation Challenge

At a time when there are enormous challenges to attaining levels of physical activity and sport participation, the rise of eSports presents an interesting new form of competition.

The exciting and fast growing phenomena is seen as having the potential to exceed traditional engagement in elite sports – resulting in leading sports developing eSports brands. Even the International Olympic Committee is looking at including video games in future Olympics.

Recently IOC President Thomas Bach and Olympic officials met with eSports stakeholders with a “very open mind” to consider inclusion – a considerable shift from a few years ago when Bach himself touted physical education in schools by stating the need “to get the couch potatoes off the couch.”

Offering his personal opinion, Bach said elite eSport gamers “prepare and compete in a way, and with physical demands, which can be compared to the ones in more traditional sports.

“You need long-time concentration, you need quick reaction, you need tactical understanding, you need to be not only mentally fit but also physically fit.”

While it might be easy to dismiss eSports participation as merely twiddling your fingers and thumbs, its acceptance does raise the issue of what constitutes ‘participation’.

In sport, participation is, distinct from spectating, one of active involvement at an elite or community/social level, and this can include roles such as that of coach, manager and trainer.

By contrast, participation in the arts is not necessarily one of activity but is based on the creative process being one of engagement with the audience that is often incomplete without physical interaction.

Nigel Benton, Publisher

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Two Months in Leisure Some of the industry headlines over recent months.

Daily industry news can be read at www.ausleisure.com.au

Lake Macquarie opens $15 million Pasterfield Sports Complex

The 8 hectare Pasterfield Sports Complex at Cameron Park in the NSW Hunter region, featuring one of the area’s largest sporting fields, a skate park and a host of other sport and recreation facilities has been opened.

The $15 million development by Lake Macquarie City Council also offers cricket practice nets, netball courts, a 1 kilometre shared pathway loop, outdoor fitness equipment, a dedicated parkour area and a giant playground, with separate play areas for younger and older children and the Hunter Region’s tallest climbing net.

The site will be the new home ground of the Cardiff Hawks AFL Club and the Cardiff-Boolaroo District Cricket Club.

Swimming Australia and Belgravia Leisure present new swim program to 40,000 children

Swimming Australia and Belgravia Leisure have partnered and engaged broader industry expertise to develop and deliver an exciting new learn-to-swim curriculum with an emphasis on fun, experiential and activity-based learning.

The new curriculum, introduced into all swim classes from the 18th August, offers a modern product suite to the swimming community of over 40,000 children Australia-wide.

Canterbury Bankstown Mayor seeks assurances on finances for former Olympic velodrome

With the City of Canterbury Bankstown set to assume control of Sydney 2000 Olympics venue the Dunc Gray Velodrome as of next year, the Council is looking for assurances from the NSW Government that it will not become a burden on local ratepayers.

The 11,000 metre² venue at Bass Hill in Sydney’s west will come under Council when its current lease with Bankstown Sports Club ends.

Catering primarily for elite cycling programs conducted by Cycling NSW, it currently loses $420,000 a year.

10 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Venues announce naming rights

Recent months have seen the Perth Arena be rebranded the RAC Arena under a naming rights deal with Western Australian motoring organisation the RAC. In Victoria, the Hisense Arena at Melbourne Park has shed its naming rights to be known as the Melbourne Arena while the city’s Etihad Stadium has transitions to become the Marvel Stadium.

Venues looking to sell their naming rights include the new Western Sydney Stadium and the new $44 million Brisbane Arena project in Nathan.

Queensland Government set to enforce tough safety rules for amusement rides

New regulations governing the safety of amusement rides will come into force in Queensland before the end of the year, in a further crackdown following four fatalities at Dreamworld in October 2016.

The proposed changes include mandatory training for ride operators, mandatory major inspections of all amusement and theme park rides, a requirement for major theme parks to develop an integrated safety management system and additional record-keeping through detailed log books for rides.

www.ausleisure.com.au for all the latest industry news

IN BRIEF

The WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong (left) has marked 20 years since its opening, giving the Illawarra region a 6,000-seat venue for international and local performers.

Facility management company BlueFit’s recent acquisition of Lane 4 Aquatics has seen it become the manager of the Gladstone Aquatic Centre.

Award winning Australian fitness franchise, KX Pilates (left) has celebrated two significant milestones with the opening of its 50th studio location in Hobart and the brand’s first international studio in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The original celebration of modern rural life, the ute and country music, the Deni Ute Muster has celebrated its 20th birthday attracting nearly 20,000 fans from across the country to Deniliquin in southern NSW. The Gold Coast has secured the rights to host the 2019 SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, which will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 5th to 10th May next year.

Wollongong Botanic Garden has become the first Australian Botanic Garden to receive Conservation Practitioner Accreditation from Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BCGI).

The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre has recently celebrated 21 years of delivering world-class sporting events, providing first-rate health and wellbeing facilities, and enabling athletes to perfect the sports they love.

With sporting fields across much of NSW deteriorating through the current drought, the NSW Office of Sport has released a guidance document on effective management of playing surfaces in dry conditions.

PAC Australia has named Bendigo’s Capital Venues and Events as the Australian Performing Arts Centre of the Year at the 2018 Drover Awards (left).

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High-intensity workout phenomenon Barry’s has opened its first Australian studio doors in Surry Hills, Sydney.

Guests at Warner Bros. Movie World can now experience the tallest HyperCoaster in the Southern Hemisphere from a new perspective with a new climbing attraction opened on the theme park’s DC Rivals HyperCoaster.

Arts Centre Melbourne has appointed NH Architecture and Norwegian practice Snøhetta to design its vision for the future of its Theatres Building that will include critical infrastructure upgrades within the Theatres building.

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Peninsula Hot Springs unveils new Bath House Amphitheatre

Peninsula Hot Springs on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has unveiled its biggest ever expansion - the new $13 million Bath House Amphitheatre.

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Peninsula Hot Springs has tapped into the latest trends in healing for its expansion, with the inclusion of seven new geothermal mineral spring pools, two cold plunge pools, an outdoor stage, food bowl, new café, wellness centre and cultural meeting spaces to accompany the fire and ice experience.

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Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 11

ICC Sydney welcomes two million visitors since December 2016 opening

The International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) has released new figures revealing that it has welcomed its two millionth visitor, with delegates and visitors attending events on site injecting more than $1.2 billion into the local community since it opened in December 2016.

The benefits continue to roll in as the venue anticipates 65,000 visitors to the Sydney International Boat Show this weekend who are expected to spend a further $24 million in Sydney.

The largest recreational marine show in the Southern Hemisphere, the event will feature 250-plus exhibitors and over 1,000 vessels across the venue’s entire exhibition centre and a purpose-built marina in Cockle Bay.

Arts sponsorship and donations revenue rises in volatile and uneven climate

Revenue from corporate sponsorship, donations and net fundraising events within the major performing arts sector continues to track ahead of consumer price index levels, increasing by $15.4 million or 16.1% on 2016 results to $111.1 million in 2017.

As reported by the Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG), of this total, 65.1% was received as donations, 32.2% was from corporate sponsorship and a net amount of 2.7% came from fundraising events.

The 16.1% growth in total private sector earnings was significantly higher than the growth reported in the groups total earnings of 4.3%.

ROLLER raises investment funds to accelerate global growth

ROLLER, the all-in-one software platform for attractions, entertainment and recreation venues, has raised $7 million in Series B investment funding.

The round was led by US based growth capital firm, Acadian Software, with participation from a number of Australian based investors.

ROLLER is an enterprise platform that allows attractions, entertainment and recreation venues to perform business critical functions such as online bookings and in-venue payments, and manage dayto-day operations and customer relationships.

Founded in Melbourne in 2011 by brothers Luke and Mark Finn, the solution is being used by hundreds of clients around the world to deliver best-in-class customer experiences and maximise operating efficiency. ROLLER will use the new funding to expand its product development team and accelerate growth in North America and Europe.

New $1 billion Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi attraction opens

Yas Island’s latest addition, the US$1 billion Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, has been officially opened.

Adding to a string of attractions on Yas Island, including Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and CLYMB, the 153,000 metre² indoor theme park is the result of a partnership between Warner Bros. and Miral Asset Management, with AECOM and the Thinkwell Group working on the landmark project.

Featuring six immersive lands, the indoor attraction offers 29 rides, shows and attractions, including thrill rides, family attractions and live entertainment spectacles.

The DC universe makes up two of the six worlds, with Metropolis and Gotham City - the homes of Superman and Batman respectively - designed to draw fans of the comic book franchises to the attraction.

Weight Watchers ends use of ‘weight’ in branding

Weight Watchers has unveiled a lightened version of its name, rebranding itself WW, in what it says will be “the next stage of the company’s evolution”.

The global weight loss company says the new name reflects its development from focusing on weight loss to overall health and wellness, with initials trademarked as ‘Wellness that Works’.

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Rooty Hill leisure precinct rebranded as West HQ

The aquatic, entertainment, fitness, hospitality and recreation precinct at the Rooty Hill RSL in Western Sydney have united to launch West HQ a location and destination representing one of the largest integrated precincts in Australia.

Spread across eight hectares, the newly named West HQ precinct will be home to the Rooty Hill RSL along with notable brands including the Novotel Sydney West HQ (formerly Novotel Sydney Rooty Hill), the Sydney Gymnastic and Aquatic Centre, One55 Health & Fitness, Sydney West Sports Medicine, Zone Bowling, Made By The Hill and Chur Burger Rooty Hill. West HQ, short for headquarters, is also where the new $100 million dollar Western Sydney Performing Arts Centre (WSPAC) is being constructed.

Sydney zoos reach out of court settlement in branding dispute

Taronga Zoo’s legal challenge with the developer of a new attraction which wants to call itself Sydney Zoo has been settled out of court, with the Western Sydney newcomer to keep the name. An agreement was reached by the two organisations out of court after Taronga Zoo launched legal action against Sydney Zoo Pty Ltd in the Federal Court earlier this year.

The not-for-profit Taronga Zoo alleged misleading or deceptive conduct, arguing the title could cause the public to confuse the new zoo with its own facility on Sydney harbour and to falsely believe it was located in the city’s centre.

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Pop-up Globe brings Shakespeare to life in Sydney’s Moore Park Entertainment Quarter

After performing to more than 400,000 people in just two years, the world’s first full-scale temporary working replica of one of the greatest theatres in history, the second Globe, has opened for two months at The Entertainment Quarter in Sydney’s Moore Park.

Replicating the Globe Theatre in London, the venue Shakespeare and his company built and opened in 1614 after the first Globe theatre burned to the ground, the temporary performance space features cutting-edge scaffold technology to recreate the iconic theatre, uniting both old and new.

The 900 capacity, three-storey, 16-sided design enables the audience, no matter where they sit or stand in the theatre, to be less then than 15 metres from the action.

City of Canning sues firms over green claims for Cannington Leisureplex

The City of Canning is suing the architects and consultants behind its multimilliondollar Cannington Leisureplex facility, alleging they made “misleading or deceptive” claims about features of its

ecologically sustainable design.

A writ lodged in the Supreme Court alleges architecture and design company Christou Nominees and engineering firm Aecom Australia breached their “duty of care” to the City by failing to design its multi-purpose aquatic and recreation facility with “reasonable care and skill”.

Adventure Park Geelong becomes Watch Around Water first

Life Saving Victoria has announced that Adventure Park Geelong has become the first ever waterpark to become accredited with the Watch Around Water child supervision program.

Adventure Park Geelong is Victoria’s biggest water theme park with 24 epic rides and attractions including the Tornado, the Aqua Racer and the Gold Rush Rapids.

The facility includes a wide range of wet and dry facilities and attracts huge visitor numbers from Victoria, Interstate and Overseas each year.

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Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 13

LED lighting innovations set to grow global stadium lighting market to a value of US$622.2 million by 2023

With sport stadiums around the world replacing old lighting systems with LEDs, a new report suggests that the global stadium lighting market, currently valued at US$432 million in 2018, is likely to reach US$622.2 million by 2023.

The newly released Stadium Lighting Market - Global Forecast to 2023 report suggests that with LED lighting lowering venue’s energy consumption and providing better quality light compared with traditional technology, the market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.57% over the five year period.

The report also suggests that new and retrofitted LED lighting in stadia is also helping to meet broadcast demands that include a push to high-definition TV and ultra-slow-motion technology. These also help in eliminating shadows and dark spots on playing surfaces and glares in players’ eyes.

VicHealth looks to enhance This Girl Can campaign in regional Victoria

Mindful of specific problems of inactivity and obesity outside of Melbourne, health promotion foundation VicHealth is encouraging activity among women in regional Victoria with $4.5 million in new funding.

The three-year funding will be shared by nine Regional Sport Assemblies to make sport and physical activity more accessible and attractive to regional teenagers, and women inspired to get active by VicHealth’s This Girl Can - Victoria campaign.

The funding will be used to introduce sport activities for local teenagers such as surfing, sailing and skateboarding with Regional Sports Assemblies to also help local clubs deliver new female-friendly activities.

Australians wasting $1.8 billion a year on unused gym memberships

With more than one in five Australian adults having a gym membership, new reports suggest that 27% of fitness club members visit less than once a week.

A poll for news.com.au also shows that about 553,000 Australian fitness club members don’t even go once a month, while 56% go at least twice a week For those that are infrequent visitors, their wasted fees add up to a staggering $1.8 billion, according to finder.com.au.

14 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Total Sport & Entertainment takes ownership position in Sydney Kings

The Sydney Kings has today announced a new ownership structure that sets up the club for a new era within the ongoing growth in Australian basketball.

The new structure will see Total Sport & Entertainment (TSE) assume a 50% share in the Kings with current owner AEG Ogden being joined by Australia’s largest live entertainment company TEG among the holders of the remaining 50%.

The new ownership group has a long-term commitment to transform the Sydney Kings into Australia’s premier basketball club and a platform for corporate support of basketball in Australia.

NRL advises of rise in Rugby League participation through 2018

The NRL has advised that Rugby League participation grew more than 3.5% in 2018 with 36,900 people playing the game for the first time.

The figures show that female participation remained the strongest growth area for the game with a 29% increase on 2017 figures - with the number of women playing Rugby League having more than doubled since 2015.

Queensland Government regulators left inspections of fatal ride up to Dreamworld

Queensland Government safety inspectors did not personally inspect, review or audit the Thunder River Rapids Ride at Dreamworld for almost seven years prior to the accident in 2016 that killed four people.

The revelation comes as the Queensland Government moves to increase scrutiny of safety standards at theme parks in a bid to rebuild public confidence.

As revealed by the ABC’s 7.30 program, documents held

by Queensland’s Office of Industrial Relations, obtained under Right to Information laws, did not show anything about Workplace Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) inspectors reviewing the Thunder River Rapids Ride.

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Belgravia Leisure launches expanded FloatFit class program

After a very successful year running at the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool on the shores of Sydney Harbour, Belgravia Leisure is to launch FloatFit fitness classes at six more of its aquatic and recreation facilities.

Developed by AquaPhysical, FloatFit classes are performed on the floating AquaBase and utilise all muscles equally strengthening them with every move.

The 30 minute full body workout is challenging, low impact and effective with the motion of the water forces the core and concentration to work together.

AUSTSWIM and Swimming New Zealand agree partnership aimed at providing single training qualification

The Australasian Council for the Teachers of Swimming and Water Safety (AUSTSWIM) and Swimming New Zealand have announced a new partnership agreement aimed at providing a single training qualification supported by wider coverage of courses across New Zealand.

The two organisations have formally signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together with an aim to shortly finalise details of the partnership.

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Commercial trampoline centre operators struggle to secure insurance

Following significant growth in the number of commercial trampoline arenas over recent years which, according to one operator, sees Australia with more centres per capita than any other country, the centres are being impacted by rising insurance premiums and in some cases, insurers not wanting the business.

Recent media reports have suggested a surge in personalinjury insurance claims, and in turn, insurance costs, suggests that rapid growth in the sector may be over.

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Mt Buller to develop new chairlift for 2019 winter season

Victorian ski resort Mt Buller is to offer skiers and snowboarders a new, faster ride up the Bourke Street slope next winter with the announcement of a $6 million, six-seater high-speed chairlift for season 2019.

Set to replace the Blue Bullet quad chairlift, the upgraded larger and faster lift will see Mt Buller skiers and boarders experience less time waiting in lines and more time on the snow.

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anna@hydrocarepools.com.au Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 15

Transformation for multipurpose Metricon Stadium

Venue Management School to reach education and development landmark The Venue Management Association [Asia and Pacific] (VMA) is set to mark a significant landmark in November this year with the 25th staging of its Venue Management School (VMS).

Commencing in 1994 with an intake of less than 30 to now exceeding more than 100 attendees, heading into its 25th anniversary the VMS’ program and its dedicated group of instructors have been instrumental in furthering the careers of more than 900 venue industry professionals.

As the brainchild of a group of passionate venue industry professionals associated with the VMA, the VMS was originally conceived to ensure that those with industry experience and knowledge passed it along to our next generation of venue management professionals.

One of the core strengths of the School, and what makes the VMS the ultimate industry education experience, is the remarkable team of instructors that give up their time free-of-charge each and every year to give back to the next generation.

Many of the VMS’s early students have gone on to be long-term instructors at the School, in part, due to what they believe has been the significant and career changing experience that comes with attending VMS as a student.

Acknowledged as the only venue industry run program of its kind in the Australia and Asia-Pacific region, the School’s unique program is designed by the industry and for the industry which has gained it a reputation as a world-class educational program in the venue management space. In 2017, the VMS was even recognised as a National Finalist for Best Education or Training Program by the Australian Event Awards.

As a residential program, the VMS offers students the opportunity to learn from the best and connect with other venue professionals from across the region. There is no other education experience in the venue industry that allows the opportunity for such intimate career-defining networks to be developed.

The VMS has been privileged with the ongoing support of many individuals and organisations from across our industry and we look forward to welcoming our next batch of alumni and celebrating this unique and proud milestone. To all of those VMS instructors and volunteers that have come before us, and all that will follow, the VMA salutes you - for your dedication to our industry, for your commitment to improving our profession, and for your personal contribution towards advancing the careers of all our students.

The 2018 Venue Management School and VMA Leadership Institute will be held from 11th to 16th November.

Capacity for this year’s program is full, with registrations for the 2019 program to open next year.

www.ausleisure.com.au for all the latest industry news 16 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Metricon Stadium’s status as a multipurpose venue has been confirmed over recent months with its transformation from being the main venue for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, back to an AFL venue for the Gold Coast Suns and now as a cricket arena.

Hours after the completion of the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony on 15th April, trucks rolled into Metricon Stadium to start reforming it into an AFL venue. Dismantling a temporary stand, lighting and other fit-outs for the Games’ main arena took three days before the running track was removed and turf relaying began.

A little over seven weeks later, on Saturday 2nd June the Suns and Geelong ran out on a pristine playing surface prepared at a location north of Carrara by HG Sports Turf that looks every bit as good as it did before the Games. The re-laying process took nine days in total with another two weeks for it to settle before the Suns began training prior to playing the Cats.

For the Suns, preparation for the project went back to last September when they handed over the keys to Metricon Stadium to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation.

After having played just eight home fixtures at Metricon Stadium, with the Suns’ home AFL season having ended as of 18th August, ground staff then set about the installation of drop-in pitches in preparation for four elite Twenty20 cricket fixtures this summer.

Head groundsman Kerry Betihavas told media “we started constructing these drop-in trays late December last year before the Comm Games started to ensure that the surface would be ready for this upcoming cricket summer.”

Australia will face South Africa in an international T20 at Metricon Stadium on 17th November before a trio of Big Bash League matches are played at the venue on 22nd December and the 1st and 5th January.

The world-renowned VMS combines the ultimate venue industry networking experience with a two-year program covering 35 topics essential to the industry. Executivelevel venue managers with years of experience and endless industry connections teach each course with ready-to-implement strategies for venues of all sizes and sectors! Completed by nearly 900 students, VMS has been cultivating the next generation of venue professionals for 25 years and is ideal for middle to senior managers. Join us to increase your knowledge and accelerate your career!

The newly developed VMA Leadership Institute (LI) is the benchmark educational program for senior managers to executives. Limited to 16 students per year, LI distinguishes itself from other programs through its focus on leadership skills specific to the venue industry – there is no other comparable course in the Asia-Pacific region!

Exploring leadership styles, strategic planning, management theory, empowerment, the art of negotiation, leading change and more, LI is your ticket to being a recognised authority in the venue management business.

“The school has been an amazing experience. You meet so many connections across the industry - being able to liaise with CEO’s and industry leaders across all genres and venue sizes. It’s fantastic.”

- Katherine Norman, Arts Centre Melbourne

“For me personally, LI was probably the greatest vocational education that I’ve ever done, it was so specific to the industry.”

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Transition at the Top The BridgeClimb Sydney attraction - ‘Australia’s top tourism experience’ now has a new operator. Karen Sweaney looks at the transition

O

perating for 20 years, during which time it has welcomed over four million climbers, the middle of the year was a momentous time for BridgeClimb Sydney, the iconic attraction on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The attraction was named Australia’s top tourism experience in TripAdvisor’s first ever Travellers Choice Awards for Experiences in Australia, and number four on the World list of Experiences.

This achievement was preceded just a few weeks earlier by an announcement from NSW’s Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) that operator OTTTO Holdings (Aust.) Pty Ltd, the business that had developed the attraction and run it since 1998, had been unsuccessful in its bid to win a new 20 year contract for the attraction.

Having attracted interest from major domestic and international operators since the tender for the operation of the climbing experience was opened in June last year, RMS announced that Hammons Holdings, best known as the operators of Scenic World Blue Mountains, had won the 20

18 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

year contract to operate a climbing attraction on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

While attracting considerable attention when it was announced - which included one of Sydney’s more sensational media outlets suggesting that pre-purchased tickets would not be honoured by the new operator - the transition has been almost seamless, with no disruption to operations.

Key to this was Hammons Holdings acquiring all BridgeClimb Sydney assets from OTTTO Holdings which saw all intellectual property - including high visibility items such as logos and the business’ website - remain unaltered. As a result, the majority of guests would have been unaware of the change as of the commencement of operations on 1st October with new guest harnesses the major change made in the transition.

The term sheet also provided for the transition of most employees to the new operator, with Hammons Holdings undertaking a reshuffle among its leadership team that has seen Scenic World’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Zumwalt become Chief Executive of BridgeClimb Sydney, leading the implementation of the Hammons Holdings strategic direction for the attraction.

Speaking in August when the acquisition of assets was agreed, Hammons Holdings Chief Executive, David Hammon advised “this is a great outcome for all parties. Hammons Holdings have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure a seamless transition.

“The team and I are looking forward to delivering on our commitment to expanding public access to the Bridge, rolling out new offerings and using innovative technology to enhance the visitor experience.”

Pioneered by BridgeClimb Sydney founder Paul Cave, the attraction began operation on 1st October 1998 and has since welcomed over four million climbers from over 140 countries,

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The Skyway at Scenic World Blue Mountains (above), brother and sister David and Anthea Hammon (below left) and the Scenic World team (below right).

including celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Jamie Oliver.

The world first experience, since imitated around the world, turned the Sydney Harbour Bridge from a postcard to a ‘global bucket list’ experience. At a time when attractions industry safety is under massive scrutiny, it has enjoyed an unblemished safety record, without one serious injury in 20 years.

Speaking after the RMS decision, Cave thanked all climbers and customers, and praised the team for their individual achievement in creating a globally renowned tourism experience, acknowledging the “end of a wonderful era”.

Cave continued “it has been a privilege for us to make a hero of the Bridge, and of every climber on every climb (with a) team (who) have worked tirelessly to deliver the ultimate experience of Sydney.”

Taking on the operations, Hammons Holdings is a family business that, over three generations, has been operating Scenic World since 1945.

The business commenced when Harry Hammon and his sister Isobel Fahey purchased the lease of the Katoomba Colliery Limited which had had been operating the site’s mine since 1928 and had been supplementing the mine income for many years by carrying passengers on weekends and public holidays on a specially built 14 passenger railway carriage named ‘The Mountain Devil’.

The pair decided to operate the old incline railway - the world’s steepest - solely to carry passengers adding a souvenir shop and tea room.

Over the years, many other improvements have been undertaken. In 1958 the first cable car in Australia was built across the Katoomba Falls ‘amphitheatre’ while, in 1960, the first revolving restaurant in Australia was built.

The Scenic Railway was expanded to carry 56 passengers in 1974, and further expanded in 1994. In 2000, a major redevelopment of the site was undertaken with the construction

20 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

of the Cableway and an upgrade to the Skyway, more than doubling its capacity. A 1.8 kilometre boardwalk was also added through the previously inaccessible temperate rainforest in the Jamison Valley.

In the past decade, the Hammon family has made a series of investments in the attraction.

In 2012/13, $30 million was invested in upgrading the Scenic Railway - expanded to 84 passengers - to transport visitors down to the ancient rainforest floor in the Jamison Valley and new top and bottom platforms.

In 2017, a $3 million upgrade of the Scenic Skyway was undertaken, increasing the ride’s capacity by 30% to provide a more spacious visitor experience and improve queuing times during peak periods.

Built by world leading ropeway engineering company, Garaventa, the re-configured cabin also allows for streamlined loading and unloading, with visitors able to access free onboard Wi-Fi for the first time.

In addition, since winning the Sydney Harbour Bridge tender, Scenic World’s Scenic Cableway has unveiled a $4 million upgrade with a more spacious cabin and larger windows to improve viewing of the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains.

Run by brother and sister David Hammon and Anthea Hammon (Anthea is Managing Director of Scenic World and David is Director of Hammons Holdings, Scenic World’s parent company), Harry Hammon’s grandchildren, Scenic World is now Australia’s most-visited privately-owned attraction, hosting more than one million visitors annually, 60% of whom are international visitors.

Looking forward, David Hammon advised “we want to make (the Bridge) a must-see destination for Sydneysiders and visitors to Sydney, regardless of physical or financial restraints.

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BridgeClimb Sydney, named ‘Australia’s top tourism experience’, in TripAdvisor’s first ever Travellers Choice Awards.

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numbers and increase economic value while respecting unique heritage and environmental values.

“Our vision is to recreate the people’s Bridge - we will be exploring ways to safely expand access to new areas of the Bridge, use innovative technology to bring the Bridge to life, and make its history and connectivity a more central part of the experience.”

Among developments that helped Hammons Holdings win the tender process are new climbing routes and improved accessibility – with opening the Bridge for climbs from its northern end being the first part of this process. Previously, climbers were only able to access its southern end.

Here, David Hammon advised “consistent with our vision to expand access to more parts of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we will be providing people with the opportunity to climb on the northern arches of the bridge for the first time ever.”

The increased access will allow more climbers through each year, potentially doubling numbers of climbers.

David Hammon has also suggested introducing augmentedreality technology to teach climbers about the landmark’s history. Anthea Hammon said the detailed plans on the new northern walks were still being finalised with the RMS, adding “the full route hasn’t been decided but having that ability to operate on the north side gives us a lot more flexibility around where you start, where you finish (and) how long it takes.”

The company is also an early-stage investor in Sydney Zoo in Western Sydney and sees that the Sydney Harbour Bridge appointment positions it to create a corridor of unique visitor experiences spanning the Bridge, Sydney Zoo and Scenic World.

As explained on page 24, there is a challenge in Australian attractions offering something unique, particularly to international visitors. By expanding the operations of BridgeClimb Sydney and linking it to distinctive landmark attractions, Hammons Holdings looks set to create a long term legacy of distinctive attractions.

As David Hammon adds “it’s not our Bridge - our whole family vision is about being custodians for future generations.

It’s about how can we make this so it’s an eternally amazing tourism attraction. It supersedes us and I think that’s the attitude that will make it successful.”

Karen Sweaney is Editor of Australasian Leisure Management.

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Wet’n’Wild Sydney has new owners.

State of Attractions

With the peak season for attractions approaching, Nigel Benton looks at the sector’s developments and challenges ather like the weather often is during peak holiday periods, the outlook for the performance of Australia’s visitor R attractions moving forward is undoubtedly ‘mixed’.

While the outlook is generally positive, the sector is also facing some very real challenges not least relating to safety and ongoing guest perceptions of safety largely in the wake of the October 2016 deaths of four people on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride and the ongoing Coronial inquest into the fatalities.

An IBISWorld Industry Report, Feeling game, Amusement Parks and Centres Operation in Australia, published at the end of last year suggested that the sector “has generally performed well over the past five years” advising that “this has been due to growth in real household discretionary incomes, and domestic tourist visitor nights and international tourist visitor nights.

24 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

“Amusement parks have also offered discounts to attract new customers and gain repeat business, contributing to industry growth over the period. Despite this, competition from substitute entertainment industries and services, such as sports and online content, has put pressure on industry operators and reduced profit margins.”

Identifying a fall in revenue of an estimated 6.8% in 2016/17, largely attributed to the impact of the Dreamworld tragedy, IBISWorld expects industry revenue to increase by an annualised 2.5% over the five years through 2017/18, to reach $847.4 million and forecasts an increase at an annualised 1% over the five years through 2022/23, to total $890.6 million.

However, IBISWorld also predicted a rise in revenue over 5% this year for the Gold Coast’s theme parks due to the Commonwealth Games which, it predicted “will bring more tourists to the area and greatly increase visitor numbers.”

This was not the reality for Village Roadshow’s theme parks, which, in its 2017/18 annual report advised that performance of its Gold Coast theme parks Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast and Sea World had been impacted by a reduction in non Games visitor numbers during the Commonwealth Games and April 2018 school holidays.

Village Roadshow’s latest annual report pointed out that in the eight years before the Dreamworld tragedy its theme parks were generating earnings of $86 million per year but that as of the end of the last financial year, these earnings had dipped to just $41 million.

Nonetheless, Village is looking to improvement, with a statement on the results advising “there is a strong indication that Gold Coast Theme Parks have returned to a positive trajectory as evidenced by the best month of July on record in terms of ticket revenue.”

Innovations to drive this growth include the opening of Australia’s first Top Golf attraction and moving away from low cost season passes which in past years had massively undervalued entries to its parks.

Village earlier this year also released what company Chief Financial Officer Julie Raffe called “incredibly disappointing” performance for its Wet’n’Wild Sydney. These results showed that in the first half of the 2017/18 financial year the waterpark had an overall $5 million loss before tax with attendance dropping from 235,000 in the corresponding period in 2016 to 173,000.

The 235,000 attendance in 2016 had been a 10.4% attendance fall on the previous year.

As a result, Village moved to sell the waterpark, which it opened in 2013, with Spanish-based operator Parques Reunidos becoming owner of Wet’n’Wild Sydney as of early October.

Commenting on the sale, Village advised in a statement, that “the net proceeds of the sale - approximately $37 million - will be used to reduce VRL’s debt levels.”

The arrival of Parques Reunidos, the fifth largest theme park operator in the world, is significant, with Wet’n’Wild Sydney National icons at Australia Zoo. Bindi and Terri Irwin and indigenous wildlife.

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Parques Reunidos has indicated that the Wet’n’Wild Sydney acquisition is the first step for expansion in the southern hemisphere, with the waterpark constituting a platform for growth in the region through further acquisitions.

Advising that Australia’s thriving tourism industry is an attractive market for Parques Reunidos, Chief Executive Fernando Eiroa recently commented “this is a unique opportunity for Parques Reunidos to access the Australian market, grow in the region through further acquisitions and develop indoor entertainment centres.”

As a contrast to this, Jamberoo Action Park in the NSW Illawarra reported a highly successful 2017/18 peak season with Executive Director Dax Eddy advising that visitation was rising following major investments in the park over the last decade.

Eddy explained “the Perfect Storm, our $5 million signature high-thrill water ride continues to be the main attraction with over 65,000 guests experiencing it in the month of December (2017) alone.”

Merlin’s LegoLand Discovery Centre, Melbourne and its potential Dungeons attraction.

26 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Australia’s other major international attractions operator Merlin Entertainments - the biggest owner of visitor attractions in Australia and New Zealand and the second largest, behind Disney, in the world - is confident about the market, being on track for a record year and actively scouting for expansion opportunities.

Divisional Director Rob Smith is predicting that visitor numbers to Merlin’s 13 attractions in Australia and New Zealand for 2018 will be up by 3% to 4% over last year.

According to Smith, the improved performance is based on excellent natural snow fall boosting visitor numbers at its Mount Hotham and Falls Creek ski resorts in Victoria over the winter; strong full-year performance from its newest attraction, LegoLand Discovery Centre Melbourne, which opened last April; robust visitation for its major attraction, Sea Life Sydney Aquarium complemented by what Smith says has been “very very good growth out of Sea Life Melbourne” and continued buoyant international tourism.

However, Smith is mindful that the Australian attractions market is becoming increasingly competitive, partly as a result of international tourists - who make up around 50% of its business - taking shorter breaks.

Smith explains “you could almost say that Australia is becoming a short-break destination for certain international markets - the average length of time spent in destination is definitely shrinking.”

Smith sees that Merlin’s local growth is largely predicated on the health of Asian inbound tourism market, in particular from India and China.

He also advised that Merlin, which also owns Madame Tussauds, is actively scouting further sites for another LegoLand Discovery Centre while the company is also interested in bringing its ‘Dungeons’ brand to Australia.

Despite this positive outlook, Merlin has also been impacted by safety matters with two guests falling to their deaths - in apparent suicides - from the Sydney Tower Skywalk in 2018.

Since the second fatality in July, the experience has not reopened.

The challenging attractions market in Sydney, particularly in relation to international visitors, is in many ways, a microcosm for the entire country.

While the Gold Coast is the nation’s acknowledged ‘theme park capital’ (the title of a past Tourism and Events Queensland marketing campaign), attractions have to offer something specific for local markets – such as waterparks and family entertainment centres – or be unique for international visitors.

The closure of attractions such as the Fox Studios Backlot, Sega World and Wonderland Sydney during the early years of the millennium and the issues Village encountered with Wet’n’Wild Sydney underline the challenges of the Sydney market.

International tourists can generally visit similar attractions in their home countries resulting in an environment where it is the

Australasian Leisure Management Issue 127 2018 13

The Cableway at Scenic World Blue Mountains.

The Gravity Wave at Funfields.

attractions that offer something unique for short-stay visitors that thrive – attractions offering encounters with Australia’s unique wildlife or unique locations such as the Blue Mountains or climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge (see page 18).

Grand plans for theme parks touted over the past few decades, regularly on the Gold Coast and also including Disney in Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast and Universal Studios in Melbourne have come to nought while even waterparks, which require smaller levels of investment, can be difficult to fund.

Land costs in metropolitan Sydney are another deterrent.

By contrast, Victoria is perhaps the nation’s bright spot for attractions development, with significant investments having been made in three attractions an hour or so drive from Melbourne over the past few years.

Ongoing investment at Adventure Park Geelong and Funfields in Whittlesea saw both attractions add major waterslides in 2017, while Funfields will launch Victoria’s very

first heated outdoor wave pool for its peak season.

East of Melbourne, Gumbuya World, which reopened in December 2017 after a $50 million redevelopment program is to commence stages 2 and 3 of its planned redevelopment project, offering new rides, onsite accommodation and a microbrewery.

Nigel Benton is Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management.

Feeling game: Revenue is set to surge in the current year due to the Commonwealth Games, IBISWorld Industry Report R9131 Amusement Parks and Centres Operation in Australia, is available from IBISWorld.

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Christchurch’s recently opened Taiora QEII Recreation and Sports Centre (above) and its under construction Metro Sports Facility (below).

Rising from the rubble

James Heffield looks at how Christchurch’s leisure infrastructure is being rebuilt seven years after the devastating 2011 earthquake

S

even years on from the Christchurch earthquake and the city’s leisure infrastructure is still recovering. There have been big strides – like the opening of the Taiora QEII Recreation and Sport Centre and the refurbishment of the Isaac Theatre Royal, but other major facilities are still at various stages of being rebuilt.

In the years following the earthquake, the Government, Christchurch City Council and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu put forth a Christchurch Central Recovery Plan with a vision to create a greener, more accessible city with a compact core and a stronger built identity. Despite the tragic disaster, the promise was that the city would rise again, better, more liveable, and with the benefit of all the urban planning learnings available to 21st century architects.

This dream is still alive, it’s just happening in slow motion.

Among the highest profile delays is the Metro Sports Facility – one of 16 anchor projects announced by the previous New Zealand Government in 2012. This $300 million project will see the creation of a 32,000 metre² multi-use facility featuring a 50-metre competition pool with 10 lanes, an aquatic leisure facility with five hydro slides, a high-performance sports centre, nine indoor courts, a gym and a café on site.

The facility was originally scheduled for completion in 2016, but groundwork only began in August this year.

Disagreements over the facility’s design and spiralling costs have been widely publicised as factors behind the delays, resulting in the Government launching an urgent review in November 2017 that trimmed $50 million off its budget. Among the changes to the initial design were the removal of an outdoor sports area and childcare centre, and a decision to use lower 30 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

cost materials in some areas.

John Bridgman, the new Chief Executive of Crown rebuild company Ōtākaro, is optimistic about the facility’s future, commenting that the design changes resulting from the review were “minor” and would not affect the “functional requirements” of the facility, stating “it is the largest facility of its type in New Zealand and is comparable with most large Australian multi sports facilities.”

Bridgman says the Metro Sports Facility will meet the needs of recreational users and elite athletes from a wide variety of sporting codes and is expected to attract as many as 40,000 visitors a week when it opens in 2021.

Another anchor project yet to begin is construction of a new stadium for Christchurch. Ever since the earthquake, 18,000seat AMI Stadium has been used as the venue for major sports events, but it is nearing the end of its expected lifespan.

When it was first erected by Hawkins Construction in the short timeframe of 100 days, the temporary stadium was expected to have a lifespan of five years. The Christchurch City Council has since provided additional funding to the Christchurch Stadium Trust to prolong the temporary stadium’s life until at least 2022.

Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel has publicly expressed a desire to expedite construction of the new stadium but acknowledges a detailed business case must be completed first. Christchurch City Council’s General Manager Citizens and Community Mary Richardson responded that Council was “just starting the detailed business case for the multi-use stadium”, when recently approached for comment by Australasian Leisure Management.

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The renovated Christchurch Town Hall is set to reopen in 2019.

Christchurch’s new Te Pae convention centre.

include the Christchurch Town Hall and Te Pae convention centre.

The Christchurch Town Hall project began in 2015 and will see full restoration of the facility, earthquake strengthening, and construction of a new three-storey building that will connect to all levels of the Town Hall and provide offices for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The project is due for completion in early 2019, at a total cost of $152.2 million.

The nearby Te Pae convention centre will include an auditorium capable of holding up to 1,400 people, a 1,250-person banquet hall and a large multi-use exhibition hall with space for up to 200 exhibition stalls. It is seen as critical to growing Christchurch’s convention market share, which dropped from 24% of the national market on a per-delegate-day basis before the earthquake to about 8% today. The foundations for Te Pae were poured in November 2017 and it is due for completion in 2020.

It’s not all delays and hold ups though. The Taiora QEII Recreation and Sport Centre opened to much fanfare in May and is now running at close to full capacity. The $38.6 million complex features a 130-metre long hydro slide, 25-metre lap pool, leisure pool, adventure playground, learn-to-swim and hydrotherapy pools, spa, steam room and sauna along with a fitness centre and a cafe.

Earthquake repairs on the Pioneer Recreation and Sports Centre’s swimming pools were also completed in May, allowing the facility to re-open for the thousands of swimmers that use it every year.

Further South, the Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub is in the process of being opened as this article is published. Located on Augustine Drive, Halswell, the hub will include an international standard athletics track, hockey pitches, tennis courts and rugby league fields. The athletics track will be available for use from opening day, with the hockey pitches scheduled to open before the end of the year. The hub’s 12 outdoor tennis courts and two rugby league fields are expected to be usable by April next year.

Arts lovers have also had reason to celebrate. The 100-yearold Isaac Theatre Royal re-opened in November 2014 and now hosts major acts such as Les Miserables and Elaine Paige.

The $40 million rebuild included major restoration works and

the installation of new seating, a stage extension and a big screen.

Tanya Jephson, Isaac Theatre Royal Marketing and Publicity Manager, advises “the silver lining of what happened was that our beautiful Shakespearean dome was lowered and a team from Italy came and re-did it.

“We were the first major historic rebuild and there was a lot of fundraising done.”

The Isaac Theatre Royal’s office space was also moved to create an entirely new space – The Gloucester Room – that is used for smaller acts and events.

All this work is having a positive impact on tourism, with record-numbers of tourists injecting more than $1.24 billion into the region’s economy last summer.

Caroline Blanchfield, Manager of Destination Management at Christchurch NZ explains “this shows that visitors are staying for longer in Christchurch as well as experiencing the wider region.

“These new facilities, combined with a thriving hospitality scene, brand new retail precincts and a booming hotel sector are proving a hit with visitors to the South Island’s largest city.”

Blanchfield says the new cycleways and walkways being created throughout the Canterbury region are enabling visitors to get active and connect with the city and its surrounding natural environment, significantly boosting Christchurch’s visitor offering.

Blanchfield highlights exciting new walking and cycling experiences that have been built or are underway including the Avon Ōtākaro River Network, the Christchurch Coastal Pathway, and the Christchurch Adventure Park on the Port Hills, for mountain biking enthusiasts.

In the fitness sector too, the picture is positive. Exercise Association of New Zealand Chief Executive Richard Beddie says Christchurch’s fitness club capacity is now back to prequake levels, advising “the quakes had a major impact on the fitness sector, but in the last three or four years we’ve seen large operators return and expand, as well as new operators arriving in the city.”

New Zealand franchise Les Mills has re-opened its Christchurch fitness club and international company Snap Fitness has arrived in the city. Independent clubs like Iron Hood fitness have also set up following the earthquake.

Beddie comments “it’s a different dynamic because many office workers aren’t in the CBD. A lot of the office space just isn’t there.”

As a result, many fitness clubs have changed the way they operate. Rather than servicing a specific office block or local businesses, Beddie says many have become “destination gyms”, often larger in size and offering different fitness products for different consumer types, including those who want a higher-end experience.

This kind of evolution is symptomatic of Christchurch in the post-earthquake era. A city that is embracing adversity to bounce back as one of New Zealand’s most modern and liveable urban centres.

James Heffield is Director of creative, marketing and public relations firm Last Word.

The Isaac Theatre Royal reopened in 2014.

32 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 33

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Lestair Sailor with Jigalong Remote Pool Manager David Lucas and local Jigalong boys enjoying the pool and Burringurrah children enjoying fruit after taking part in the Swim for Fruit program, with Burringurrah Pool Manager Mel Warren (below right).

Encouraging Participation Samantha Vigus explains Royal Life Saving WA’s remote Aboriginal swimming pools project mong Australia’s water safety statistics, Indigenous groups have been identified as a demographic at a high-risk of drowning and non-fatal drowning in Australia.

A Among these figures it is a sad reality that Aboriginal children drown at a rate two and a half times that of non-Aboriginal children.

However, drowning isn’t the only issue these communities face. Poor health in remote Aboriginal communities has been well documented, with children at a higher risk of severe skin, ear, eye and respiratory infections. They are also at a significantly increased risk of poorer education outcomes, due to lower school attendance rates.

Looking to address, the Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pools Project (RASPP) began in 2000 at six communities within the Gascoyne, Pilbara and Kimberley regions in north-west of Western Australia - these include Burringurrah, Jigalong, Yandeyarra, Bidyadanga, Warmun and Fitzroy Crossing. These communities vary in population between 150-700 primarily Aboriginal residents, and had recorded high rates of acute and chronic illnesses.

The Project, managed by the Royal Life Saving Society WA and funded primarily through the Western Australian Department of Communities with additional contribution made through BHP, focus on providing these communities with recreational and educational swimming programs, to encourage safe aquatic participation, better health outcomes and increased school attendance rates.

Royal Life Saving works in consultation with the communities to run safe, efficient and effective aquatic facilities and to meet the needs and expectations of the local 36 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

residents. Royal Life Saving pool managers live in these communities for nine months of the year, maintaining the pools and delivering community programs. These programs include: •Swim and Survive: teaching children a range of swimming skills, from basic strokes right through to rescue and lifesaving skills.

•Swim for Fruit: an after school and holiday swimming program which encourages children to swim laps to earn themselves a healthy fruit snack and other small prizes. The program encourages participation in swimming and teaches healthy lifestyle skills.

•Lifesaving training: older children and young adults receive training in lifesaving skills, with many completing their Bronze Medallion.

•Swimming and lifesaving carnivals: to encourage participation and interaction between the local communities.

•Birthday parties and other activities at the request of the community: to build social cohesion.

A unique study, titled Photovoice, was conducted by the Royal Life Saving Society WA in 2014/15, and found these pools lead to greater community cohesion, improved health and wellbeing and higher school attendance. The research saw Royal Life Saving Society researchers engage with participants in three of the six communities over a sixmonth period. Interviews were conducted with adults, while students took photos of things they liked and didn’t like about the pools; captions written to describe these photos were then analysed.

Participants identified a range of encouraging aspects of the RASP program including cultural appropriateness, community participation, positive effects on health, swimming ability and wellbeing and the promotion of good behaviour among youth. Evidence suggested the pool encouraged younger students to attend school through the implementation of a ‘No School No Pool’ policy.

Greg Tate, Royal Life Saving Society WA General Manager for Community Relations, believes the results from this project provide further evidence of the health benefits of remote pools.

He explains “while our findings are based purely on observations,

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community members consistently report that ear, eye and skin infections among children are reduced during the pool season.

“We are pleased that in 2017 the (Western Australian) Government allocated $14 million in funding for two more remote pools in WA, at the communities of Balgo and Kalumburu. When built these pools will enable these communities to also benefit from the health, social, educational and employment benefits delivered through the remote swimming pool program.”

The Photovoice research found that the pools are a community hub and the focal point for social interactions and recreation for those in these very remote locations. They build social cohesion while also providing mentoring and training for community members with a view to passing management responsibility and ownership of the pools back to the community in the longer term.

During the 2017/18 Financial Year our six remote aboriginal swimming pools recorded the following statistics: •42,611 total patronage •4,080 students achieved a lifesaving award •46 participants took part in pre-vocational training as part of our youth engagement program •10 local jobs were created •3,192 participants took part in our healthy eating & health lifestyle initiatives through Swim for Fruit •83 education classes were hosted •40 events were held fostering social cohesion The six current Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pools have now opened again for the new swimming season, and Royal Life Saving looks forward to seeing the positive impact they have over the coming nine months.

through swimming lessons and simply hanging out with them in the pool.”

For Egan the future is in having locals take more of a role in running the pool. This is already beginning at Bidyadanga with an indigenous woman called Rita becoming a great asset there.

She explains “Rita helped out with a survey at the pool, greeting people at the gate and pretty much taking role on attendance. We’re really looking at her becoming our pivotal point in promoting the Watch Around Water program here at the swimming pool, and increasing the supervision of the under-fives by the parents or guardians. With an indigenous person administering that program we’re hoping it’s going to be better received by the people using the swimming pool and hopefully increase the enjoyment and safety of our pool users as well.”

She already has her eye on a few more locals who can be trained up to play an important role, concluding “in recent years we’ve had high school students asked about the possibility of work experience at the swimming pool, so we’ve talked to the school about getting one or two kids to come over and maybe do some work experience. Who knows where that may lead?

There’s the possibility of them becoming a swim teacher or a lifeguard.”

Lestair Sailor - Jigalong Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pool

Bidyadanga Pool Manager Bernie Egan, with local community member Rita.

Bidyadanga Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pool

Bernie Egan has been a Remote Pool Manager with Royal Life Saving Society WA for the past eight years and currently manages the Bidyadanga pool on the remote Kimberley coast.

Bidyadanga is the largest remote Aboriginal community in WA with about 750 residents.

Egan says the pool is definitely a focal point for the locals, advising “I think a lot of the kids don’t have anywhere to go after school so it becomes a bit of a hub for the local community to have somewhere to go that’s safe and clean. I like to refer to the pool as a ‘G’ rated environment so there’s no swearing, no fighting; for the kids it’s just a really good place to hang out.”

The pool provides significant health and social benefits for the community as a whole, but for Egan it’s the individual impacts she’s seen that are the highlight, commenting “getting that kid who’s scared of the water and a non-swimmer, and actually seeing them progress through to being comfortable in the water, able to swim unaided across the pool and having that freedom to move around as they please. This comes 38 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

In early 2018 Royal Life Saving WA and Jigalong Remote Aboriginal Swimming Pool welcomed their team member, Lestair Sailor.

Sailor has been a local resident of the Jigalong community for over 20 years, and completed training last season with Jigalong Pool Manager David Lucas to learn about Pool Plant Operations. He also hopes to become a fully qualified Pool Lifeguard.

Jigalong is an Aboriginal community located 170 kilometres east of Newman and is on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The town and surrounding area is home to the Martu people, where the population fluctuates between 100 and 500 depending on the time of year and activities in the community.

Sailor took part in training as part of the mentoring program that is conducted at the Remote Pools, with a vision to see locals take a more hands-on role in the management of operation of the pools. Royal Life Saving is continuing to work closely with the remote communities to develop new and innovative programs which ensure we are adequately servicing the community’s needs. We are pleased to have Lestair as a member of our team and look forward to seeing him put his newly learned skills into practice throughout the coming season.

Samantha Vigus is Manager, Marketing Communications for Royal Life Saving Society WA Inc.

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The Time is Now Dr Betul Sekendiz questions emergency preparedness at fitness and sport facilities “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard. Your safety is our priority ... in the unlikely event of an emergency, floor level lighting will illuminate showing the routes to these exits...�

The commercial aviation sector is renowned for its mandatory safety briefing on emergency situations before each take-off.

This is due to the well acknowledged association between passenger emergency preparedness and passenger survival.

However, during these safety briefings many of us continue to read our magazines, think about our next meeting, listen to music, watch movies, play with our favourite apps or contemplate what we should have for dinner.

Indeed, studies into serious airplane accidents and evacuations showed that most passengers did not pay attention to the safety briefings, safety cards and demonstrations. Well, why would they? Emergencies are extremely rare, right?

Emergency situations in exercise and sports settings can occur mostly in the form of medical emergencies such as cardiac events that can affect both adults and young competitive athletes with known or hidden heart diseases.

In adolescents and young adults, sport is not the cause, but rather acts as a trigger of cardiac arrest in those athletes who are affected by silent cardiovascular conditions, which can result in life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias during physical exercise. By contrast, in older adults, physical exertion without enough preparatory training can increase the incidence of sudden cardiac events. Nevertheless, the cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise outweighs the risks of exercise by preventing development of coronary artery diseases.

In the event of an out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest, 40 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

timely cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and utilisation of an automated external defibrillator (AED) as part of an emergency action plan are crucial to increase the chances of survival.

There are currently no specific mandatory industry standards or codes of practice that require utilisation of emergency plans in sports and exercise facilities in Australia.

However, under the work health and safety (WHS) legislation a person conducting a business or undertaking (under the Work Health and Safety [WHS] Act 2011 [Cth], a PCBU is described as sole traders, principal contractors, unincorporated associations,

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partnerships and franchisees as well as self-employed people and volunteer organisations that employ people) is required to ensure that an emergency plan is prepared and maintained for the workplace, and that this plan is executed in the event of an emergency.

The plan should provide emergency procedures, testing of these procedures, and information, training and instruction to relevant workers about the procedures. Provision of first-aid equipment and first-aid facilities is also covered under the WHS legislation. Such equipment must be accessible by all workers in a workplace for use when it is needed. Workplaces must also have an adequate number of workers or persons trained to administer first-aid at the workplace. The contents of the firstaid kits and risk assessment considerations for the installation of AEDs are outlined in the First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice. Failure to meet these WHS requirements is a criminal offence with penalties ranging from $6,000 for individuals to $30,000 for body corporations.

In the USA, fitness industry guidelines relating to emergency planning have been jointly published by leading health and sports medicine organisations - the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA).

These guidelines deal with medical emergencies among fitness facility users and suggest that all fitness facilities must have appropriately developed written emergency policies and response plans that are regularly revised and practiced at least once every three months. Further, they must have an AED available for use by trained personnel as part of a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) program to minimise the risk of harm and death from exercise related adverse events.

Prompted by these statements, many states in the USA have mandated utilisation of AEDs in certain sports and fitness facilities. Even though there are currently no such laws or regulations in Australia, fitness industry national training standards require students to have a current first-aid and CPR certificate that also includes AED training before they can obtain their industry qualifications. Registered fitness professionals must also have a current first-aid and CPR certificate. First aid certificates must be updated every three years, and CPR certificates every 12 months.

Some facility operators may be reluctant to install AEDs for associated costs or merely for fear of liability if they caused

42 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

further harm or injury to the person they were trying to assist.

On the contrary to popular stigma, AEDs are sophisticated devices that assess a patient`s heart rhythm and guide the bystanders to apply a shock or continue CPR as appropriate.

What is more, sports and fitness facility operators have a heightened duty to protect their users from harm by applying reasonable emergency care.

Therefore, a disregard for the industry recommendations to install and use AEDs in cardiac emergency situations may not only hamper the chances of survival of a cardiac arrest patient, but may expose the facility operators and their employees to the risk of legal liability for breach of duty of care.

In recognition of the crucial role of AEDs in the chain of survival to successfully revive cardiac arrest patients at sports events, subsidised AED programs for community sport clubs have been established by some of the leading humanitarian aid and community services and state governments (such as the Australian Red Cross – ProjectDefib, Victorian Government Defibrillators for Sporting Clubs and Facilities Program).

However, these programs are yet to find the federal support they need for a nationwide and sustainable approach to better emergency planning at sports facilities. This may be due to a lack of supporting scientific evidence about the incidence of cardiac arrest relevant to the Australian sports context. In order to fill this gap of knowledge an Australian first research project was established between the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) and Central Queensland University in 2015 to analyse the incidence of cardiac arrest at sports and exercise facilities. The initial findings of this study were presented at the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) Conference between 20th and 22nd September 2018 in Italy. Investigation of the outof-hospital cardiac arrest data derived from the QAS electronic ambulance registry during the eight year period between 2007 and 2015 revealed that approximately 5% (250) of the cardiac arrests occurred at sports and exercise facilities. Most of the cardiac arrest patients were male (86.6%) and aged 65 years old and above (42.1%) with a mean age of 59.39 (Âą15.169).

The facilities with the highest incidence of cardiac arrest were golf clubs (n=41), fitness facilities (n=29), licensed sports clubs (n=23), lawn bowls clubs (n=22), and tennis clubs (n=17).

According to standardised incidence ratings (IR) per 10,000 users at each type of facility, the highest risk sites for cardiac

Control Who Accesses Your Facility arrest were motorsports clubs (IR=8.5), lawn-bowls clubs (IR=7.1), squash centres (IR=4), golf clubs (IR=2.9), and tennis clubs (IR=1.9).

Following a paramedic’s arrival and treatment, 38.8% of the cardiac arrest patients improved, while 32.4% died mostly on the scene. On-arrival at 75.6% of the facilities bystander CPR was present; however, only 38% of the bystanders were applying effective CPR, and only at 12.4% of the facilities both CPR and AED were present. Overall, a logistic regression model showed that effective CPR was 1.9 times a better predictor for improved cardiac arrest outcomes at the sports facilities.

In Australia and elsewhere, the focus of the media attention and the subsidised AED programs has been mostly on high intensity sports events and young athletes.

However, the findings of this recent study show that sports traditionally known to be low/moderate intensity such as golf and lawn bowls are among the highest risk sites for cardiac events in Queensland. Similar results were also found in Victoria, where a majority of the exercise-related cardiac arrests were associated with golf, despite its health benefits. This can be due to a number of cardiac risk factors such as insufficient levels of physical activity due to the prevalent use of golf carts rather than walking on the golf courses, elevated terrain of the golf courses, stress, gender and average age of the golf players.

As a result, the age and skills of the bystanders can also have an impact on their capacity to respond appropriately when a fellow player suddenly collapses next to them on the ground.

These current findings on the incidence of cardiac arrest in Australian sports facilities have public policy implications not only for the governments and sports governing bodies, but highlight an immediate need for the facility operators to revise their emergency plans and procedures, to assess their need to install AEDs, and to ensure they have staff currently trained in CPR and use of an AED to be capable of properly responding to a cardiac emergency situation. Fitness and sport facilities offering unsupervised training during afterhours must also ensure they have emergency alarm systems in place and all members receive adequate and regular training on emergency plan and procedures. Other strategies that can be offered to improve the outcomes of cardiac arrest at sports facilities are recruitment of trained first responder volunteers, having a technology integrated communication system to alert first responders and retrieve the closest AED (such as the St John First Responder App), and campaigns to encourage users in the higher risk groups to have a training partner, and to regularly refresh their skills in how to perform CPR and use an AED. Dr Betul Sekendiz is a lecturer in Exercise and Sport Management at Central Queensland University in Australia, where her research focuses on risk management and legal liability issues in sports and fitness settings. Sekendiz provides risk management consultancy for fitness service providers, and is a member of the Australian Fitness Industry Standards Council.

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23/10/2018 7:53:14 AM

The Spending Equation Darren Roberts urges facilities to make the most of secondary spend t’s not surprising that organisations across the leisure industry focus on their main income source but this can be to the Idetriment of member experiences, variety, income and value.

Adding a focus on secondary spend experiences across a variety of services increases income, reduces the stress of high member numbers and creates enhanced value for members with resultant improvement in community engagement.

Why Have Secondary Spend Profit Centres?

What I have found as our industry continues to get more competitive, is that businesses are so ‘desperate’ to create a new member that they will accept the lowest membership fees possible and are scared to introduce secondary spend with the belief it may create an objection and risk the primary membership. What this fear actually does is have everyone seem the same and makes it easy for members to leave after a short period of time.

However, when done effectively with a clear communication sequence, having a focus on secondary spend profit centres has these benefits: • Increases Your Unique Selling Points • Makes Primary Sale Easier Increasing Conversion • Keeps Your Team Excited • Keeps Members and Clients Interested Increasing Retention • Retains Primary Spend • Increases Income and Experiences In fact, secondary spend profit centres will have your members spend more and achieve greater value. As an example, I recently helped a New Zealand client whose fitness club teams had previously been trained by Impact Training Corporation.

44 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Having sold his gyms and purchased night clubs and restaurants, his challenge was that once main meals, the primary spend, were delivered to his customers, his staff would not return to the tables until the customers had left. Therefore, he faced pressure in having over four different groups at each table per night to achieve the income he required as each group of customers were only investing in main meals. This put pressure on his staff and lead generation.

I taught his team to be seen as ‘experts’ in their industry by them teaching the customers things they did not know. The staff taught expertise such as where the wines came from, the regions the meat was obtained from, which wines suit which food and the like. We know that once you are seen as an expert, over half of the things you suggest will be taken by the customer.

Once seen as experts, it was time to suggest secondary spend. Once the main meals were delivered and being enjoyed, the staff member would return to the group to make a statement and a suggestion - something like, “How good are those steaks?”, “I told you that Merlot would go well with that Angus steak”, “ By the way, make sure you leave room for dessert as we’ve got my favourite tonight, strawberry cheesecake.”

As a result, on returning to take orders, over half the table would order desserts where previously nothing was ordered after main meals.

Part way through dessert, the staff would return. “How good is that dessert? So what is it going to be tonight, just coffees or coffees and liquors?” Again, given the suggestion by an expert, over half the customers would order coffee, port and Baileys.

The owner now was happy to have that group of customer sit

all night rather than turning over that table with new customers, as they kept spending money. What was an extra surprise for the owner, was that not only did he increase income, the feedback from the staff and customers was that the experiences and enjoyment of the night was multiplied.

The customers spent more and achieved greater value and experiences.

More recently, I advised a fitness club offering pre-sale of personal training packs as a secondary spend at point-of-sale which saw 82% of new members purchasing these packs even while the club was still under construction. Another of my clients is selling MyZone heart rate belts at point-of-sale while another is selling nutrition products.

Instead of the new members walking away with just a gym membership, they are walking away with so much more.

So, what secondary spend profit centres can your facility or business offer? It could be group training, running club, cycling group, massage, shopping tours, nutrition advice, food diaries, merchandise, clothing, weight loss challenge, hair dressing, spray tans, over 60s program or other activities.

If you don’t have these facilities within your environment, this does not stop you from creating them through cross promotional opportunities with local retailers.

How To Sell and Communicate Secondary Spend Profit Centres It is important to create a culture among staff that encourages and values suggestions of the benefits around secondary spend. As Allan Parker, Managing Director of consultancy Peak Performance Development Pty Ltd, teaches, ‘culture is an action’, so to help achieve this, here are my suggestions; • Create awareness of the benefits to the members of secondary spend to increase variety and experiences.

•Set budgets and targets for individuals and groups with rewards.

•Train your staff how to communicate and sell these secondary spend profit centres.

•Have your teams use the secondary spend experiences themselves.

This last point is vital, as the best way to have buy-in from your team is to give them a taste of each profit centre.

Experience shows that facilities that have their team members buying and using the profit centres (after they have had a free trial) increases secondary (as well as primary) spend.

I suggest you give each staff a free trial then an ongoing discount to experience these secondary spend profit centres.

They will speak more passionately and authentically about their experiences to members when they have used them for themselves.

And reward this achievement.

Boosting Secondary Spend In selling fitness services such as personal training to increase secondary spend, opportunities must be pre-framed throughout the entire sales process and when the potential customer is asked to buy secondary spend prior to asking to buy the primary spend, not only does income increase but the conversion of primary spend increases.

Remember, “if you say it the client doubts it, if they say it it’s true”, so, as effective communicators, we cannot simply tell the potential customer that it “is important”. We must teach them the benefits as an expert and have the customer agree that these benefits are of great value to them. This is called the Tease Strategy.

Up-selling secondary spend after making the primary sale is less successful than having the customer agree to secondary spend prior to the primary spend. The old McDonalds approach of years gone by where they sell the burger (primary spend) then upsell “do you want fries with that?” are long gone.

Here is how to achieve secondary spend prior to primary spend.

GAC - Give Away Café As mentioned, secondary spend profit centres can be preframed throughout your entire communication with a potential customer. Then, the Give Away Café becomes a ‘lighthouse’ where there are examples of member only benefits such as discounted or value add personal training, massage; retail opportunities; and the like. This is the point we suggest and ask the potential customer which of these ‘members only’ benefits they would like. If they choose one, already knowing they are for members only, they have decided to be a member of your facility so not only have you achieved secondary spend income, the primary spend is already agreed to, also meaning the sales process is simple.

Another way of achieving Secondary Spend Profit Centre success is to include it in your price presentation. Your price presentation must be in written and verbal form. Just talking about your membership options will significantly reduce your conversion and create massive follow-up which doesn’t work.

So, whether you write it yourself, have it pre-printed and write additional information, use an iPad or a brochure, secondary spend must be suggested and chosen just prior to primary spend.

Remember to increase quick positive decisions by relating your memberships to the potential members compelling reason to join rather than just explaining memberships, prices and terms.

The benefit for your members to having secondary spend profit centres communicated effectively in your facility is they will increase variety, experiences and value while the benefit to you and your facility is an increased uptake of primary spend, income, experiences and retention as well as the potential to be the facility of choice in your market.

Therefore, use secondary spend profit centres to stand out in your market place by being seen as an expert and making suggestions that benefit your members and potential members.

Darren Roberts is a Master Trainer with Impact Training Corporation. He can be contacted on 0434 546 725, E: darren.r@impact-training.net Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 45

RenovAction technology has modernised Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park Pool (above & below middle) and the pools at Perth College (below left) and the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre (below right).

Lasting Memorials

RenovAction technology from Myrtha Pools provides an option to modernise ageing aquatic facilities without the expense associated with demolition and reconstruction

W

ith Australia and New Zealand having a significant stock of ageing memorial swimming pools, Myrtha Pools technology could provide the answer for local councils looking for cost effective options to save and modernise them.

Memorial swimming pools are an historic feature of the aquatic infrastructure for many councils, however, while these pools are structurally sound, leakage and outdated circulation technology means that they no longer meet health regulations. As a result, councils face a decision of whether to repair the pool structure and internal finishes, which in most cases is a short term solution, or to replace the pool with a completely new structure.

Myrtha Pools’ RenovAction technology offers an alternative to traditional short term repairs or complete replacement.

Specifically developed for the refurbishment and modernisation of existing concrete pools, the patented and exclusive RenovAction technology utilises a modular stainless steel panel system incorporating three main items – the pool walls, the pool floor and

the overflow gutter. The pool walls are modular panels of AISI 441 grade stainless steel, laminated at 300 degrees with a hard PVC surface on the inner swimming pool face. The lamination process permanently bonds the PVC to the steel and forms a product with the strength and integrity to be mechanically processed and bent in excess of 180 degrees without affecting the integrity of the PVC membrane. The panels are attached to the existing pool walls by anchor clamps and expansion screws.

As the pool floor is not subject to the same stresses as the walls it is more economical and practical to use a specially engineered reinforced PVC membrane with high density and tensile strength. It is supplied in rolls and heat welded on site to form a continuous watertight system from pool floor to walls.

The overflow gutter is formed using the same AISI 441 grade stainless steel panel laminated with hard PVC and folded to form a modular ‘wet deck’ gutter system complete with ABS channel grating. This gutter is installed by means of anchor clamps and expansion screws

46 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

onto an existing concrete pool wall which has been cut and prepared to the appropriate profile with the surrounding concourse then formed up to the back of the gutter to provide a seamless ‘wet deck’ finish to the pools edge.

RenovAction technology by Myrtha Pools offers a cost effective, yet durable long term solution to refurbishment of existing concrete swimming pools. The installation process is quick relative to a traditional refurbishment or replacement and due to the prefabricated nature with the system manufactured in a controlled environment under an ISO 9001 quality assured certification process.

Myrtha Pools have completed over 100 installations in Australia, with a number of these using RenovAction and each year produces in excess of 1,500 pools for export to over 60 countries worldwide.

David Bennison and Greg Clarke are with Myrtha Pools For more information contact David Bennison on +61 448 166 882 david.bennison@myrthapools.com or Greg Clarke on +61 419 855 058 greg.clarke@myrthapools.com

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the pool with RenovAction involved minimal impact to the existing strucCompletely replacing the pool would Only haveabeen both months costly and time-consuming.

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David Bennison

NATIONAL MANAGER

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Sounds Amazing

Hills AV has enhanced the sound experience for events at Adelaide’s Morphettville Racecourse.

James Croll looks at the new outstanding audio system at the Morphettville Racecourse and how it is an example of the reshaping of the professional sound industry

E

arly in 2017 the South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) published an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the upgrade of the audio systems at the Morphettville Racecourse.

The existing audio systems were based on a network of Media Matrix Nion controllers and primarily Lab.gruppen amplifiers, which were to be retained. The loudspeakers were a diverse collection of box and ceiling loudspeakers, of varying quality and suitability. Overall, most areas did not perform well and complaints from members and guests were frequent.

The South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) is South Australia’s largest premier racing club, playing host to 58 days of racing action throughout the year at Morphettville Racecourse.

In addition to racing on a weekly basis, Morphettville is a multipurpose venue featuring 22 function rooms able to host events for all occasions seven days a week. Audio was key to their reputation as a state of the art venue and the management realised the need to invest in a state of the art upgrade.

Horder Communication Solutions (HCS) responded to the EOI and presented a solution utilising the Community range of products. HCS had recently upgraded the Strathalbyn Race Track with a combination of Community D4 ceiling loudspeakers and R SERIES outdoor loudspeakers and the result had been described by the club as “stunning,” so it was a compelling choice for the SAJC to opt for the Community solution.

Providing audio to multiple zones, the sources varied 48 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

“It was possible to walk from any location to another within the complex and be subjected to the same uniform, outstanding sound quality.” Blake Kirby, Hills AV from ‘all venue’ Race Day caller, broadcasts from local and interstate meetings, to conference presentation and live sound reinforcement. The systems needed to provide a diverse range of acoustic solutions in the different areas to be covered. These included: large open indoor areas, requiring high resolution reproduction in noisy environments from ceiling speakers; two large open conference and exhibition pavilions with high ceilings; multiple intimate conference and presentation areas; the Main Grandstand and Horse Mounting Area; Heritage Grandstands, requiring sensitive loudspeaker positioning; and Lawn Areas.

total AV solution From the latest hearing assistance technology to PA systems and digital displays, Hills offers a total AV solution with products form the most respected brands in the industry

For more information on these and other best-in-class solutions from Hills call us on 1300 HILLS1 (445 571) or visit hills.com.au

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Community Professional Loudspeakers venue sound installations.

After acceptance of the HCS bid, EASE™ modelling of all areas was carried out by HILLS AV technical staff in conjunction with HCS, to provide final validation of the solution and the BOM, which included 338 Community D SERIES ceiling and pendant loudspeakers, 12 D SERIES subwoofers and 44 R SERIES loudspeakers.

Commenting on the installations, Blake Kirby of HILLS AV advised “the system proved itself on Race Day. With thousands of racegoers in attendance it was possible to walk from any location to another within the complex and be subjected to the same uniform, outstanding sound quality.”

Innovative products which have shaped the professional sound industry It was HILLS AV’s reputation for providing state of the art solutions and staying ahead of the curve that had appealed to the SAJC. In addition, the ‘stunning’ impact the Community R SERIES solution had provided at the Strathalbyn Race Track was compelling.

Based in Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, Community Professional Loudspeakers is a developer and manufacturer of innovative loudspeaker systems that has been gaining an unrivalled reputation for developing innovative products which have shaped the professional sound industry since the company was founded in 1968.

The company’s innovative fibreglass horns and enclosures were followed by ground-breaking transducers including M4, the world’s first dedicated midrange compression driver. Community is known for high-performance outdoor loudspeakers, spearheaded by its flagship R SERIES solutions. The company continues to innovate with products like ENTASYS the industry’s first three-way column line array.

Kirby adds “the R SERIES provide full bandwidth, versatile high output music, voice and paging solutions for outdoor and indoor venues of any size and configuration.

“The R SERIES has long been a standard for stadia and other large scale, all-weather applications worldwide. Community has consistently invested in improving performance across the range, introducing new models, and meeting increasingly stringent worldwide standards.”

The ideal premium music solution The R SERIES family consists of over 25 products providing tailored solutions for a vast variety of venues and their specific needs. The highly regarded R.15COAX for instance is ideal for venues seeking a premium music solution. The 6.5-inch Ultra50 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Compact Coaxial Two-Way R.15 and R.35 models give systems designers increased flexibility by offering vastly improved music playback, additional coverage patterns and higher output in attractive paintable enclosures. The R.15COAX and R.35COAX use identical 1.25-inch exit HF compression drivers, featuring Community’s exclusive Tru-Phase™ phase plug and Carbon Ring Cone Technology™. Both models include frontloaded LF drivers in highly reinforced enclosures for natural, non-resonant low frequency reproduction, while identical voicing ensures a uniform listening experience.

The perfect Voice Range Announcement System The RMG-200A meanwhile enjoys a reputation as one of the finest Voice Range Announcement Systems around.

The RMG-200 is an extremely efficient standalone horn/driver system designed for long projection voice-range sound reinforcement, announcement and signalling applications.

The 500 x 400 horn, driven by Community’s M200 midrange compression driver, delivers focused, high-output sound projection from 400 Hz to 8 kHz with effortless vocal clarity and extremely low distortion.

The rugged fibreglass construction and inherently weatherresistant driver design also ensures exceptional long-term durability and performance predictability. The RMG-200 is available from the factory with a 200W autoformer installed for 70V/100V applications. A weather-resistant, rotatable hot-dipped galvanized steel mounting bracket is included for installation convenience.

Kirby sees HILLS AV’s alliance with Community and in particular their R SERIES as being the perfect fit, concluding “over the 70 years since the company was founded, HILLS AV have diversified and divested, and expanded their product range to include AV, Communications, Security and Surveillance, Fire, Nurse Call and Patient Engagement (and) we have diversified every year.

“Our focus has remained constant. We’re committed to delivering the best technology solutions into the environments that people need and trust most: their homes, hospitals, places of learning, entertainment venues, retail spaces, workplaces and government institutions.”

James Croll is Client Relationship Manager at Australasian Leisure Management.

HILLS AV are Community Professional Loudspeakers’ official distributor in Australia.

Getting the Message

Recognising industry excellence in communications and marketing Living in what some call the communications age, surrounded by multiple media platforms with endless streams of communication, getting ‘cut through’ in marketing has never been more vital.

Having moved on from the old days of ‘build it and they will come’ the leisure industry - covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues – has become highly effective in communicating how it entertains, enriches and improves quality of life as well as in engaging with consumers to generate business success and in dealing with scrutiny.

To recognise excellence in communication and marketing Australasian Leisure Management has recently, for the third

year, presented its Communication and Marketing Awards.

Acknowledging achievement in 14 categories and presented to recipients across Australia and New Zealand, from Cairns to Christchurch and AFL Victoria to the Australia Council, the awards recognise a range of activities including major venues, national organisations and individuals.

Within the Awards, each winner displays absolute excellence and it is be to hoped that organisations that, even now, look to ‘fly under the radar’ (an often heard expression) viewing communication and marketing activities with misunderstanding, fear or being too difficult, can learn from the achievements of our winners.

Nigel Benton, Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management.

Ministerial Award: John Eren, Victorian Minister for Tourism and Major Events and Minister for Sport

Communications Executive Award (Industry): Amy Jozing

Amy Jozing, Manager Communications and Public Affairs for Sydney’s Botanic Gardens & Centennial Parklands, manages and oversees the strategy and operations of a highperformance media team and is responsible for the media, communications, issues and stakeholder management and public relations for seven of Australia’s iconic green spaces, which currently receive over 35 million visitors.

The sites include the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (RBG) and Domain, Centennial Parklands (made up of Centennial Park, Queens Park and Moore Park), Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah.

Jozing, who has been in her role since November 2016, having joined the former Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust in 2011, was recognised for her work across these high profile spaces. In particular, the Award recognises how, in 2017/18 she shifted her team’s output from a traditional media function to a forward thinking self-generating, ‘digital-first’ team.

Commenting on her role, Jozing describes herself as “a solutions-driven senior strategic communication and public relations professional” while acknowledging that her role includes “mitigating the bad with good.”

She explains “working across high-profile spaces promotes opportunity as well as challenges.

“We often face public criticism for key political issues including infrastructure projects (i.e. Light Rail), commercialisation of public space, Sydney Football Stadia debates and more.

“Key issues I have mitigated this year through positive media opportunities include tree planting stories for Transport for NSW on Anzac Parade, (the) $60 million funding announcement to move the NSW National Herbarium of NSW to Western Sydney and revitalisation of our significant heritage assets such as Victoria Lodge at RBG.” RBG’s 200 years campaign was an award winner in the 2017 Communication and Marketing Awards.

52 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Responsible for the Victoria Government’s leisure portfolios since 2014 Minister Eren has a high profile role in the state, making and implementing policy affecting activities that are of key interest in Victoria.

Just this year he has made funding announcements impacting numerous community sport facilities and major commitments on the redevelopment of Marvel (Etihad) Stadium, keeping the AFL Grand Final at the MCG until 2057 and money for the AFLW among a $500 million Victorian Government spending package.

Government Department/Agency Award: Australia Council for the Arts

The Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body, has delivered effective communications functions with key stakeholders and the Australian public through a period of adversity.

The Australia Council has endured a difficult few years having experienced a massive funding cut from the Federal Government in 2015, as then Arts Minister Senator George Brandis took $104.7 million from its budget for the now-abandoned National Program for Excellence in the Arts (NPEA).

With reduced resources and staff confidence clearly undermined, key members of the Australia Council’s communications and marketing team continued their role undeterred, communicating the body’s important work with key stakeholders and the Australian public.

The Award recognises the return of the Australia Council Marketing Summit in June this year, expanded with a wider variety of content and renamed as the Australia Council Marketing, Communications and Ticketing Summit.

Communications Executive Award (Agency): Liz Inglis, Liz Inglis Media

Social Media Award: ANZ Stadium

The ANZ Stadium’s social media program - with its status as the go-to source of information for Sydney’s biggest events - consistently provides important real-time communications channels and engages its audience before delivering key messages to fans before, during and after events.

As explained in the award submission from the ANZ Stadium’s Media and Communications team “from the time you start thinking about the event on any given day, while you are in and around the Stadium, and getting home post-event, the Stadium team is engaging with you and delivering tips and key information to make your customer experience as good as possible. “‘Content is king’ when it comes to engaging an audience, and the ANZ Stadium Social Media Program has been acknowledged as a leader when it comes to delivering content in an interesting and informative manner.

“It’s fun and upbeat most of the time, but there is a serious side to the messaging also as crowds of up to 83,500 pack into ANZ Stadium. The Stadium’s Social Media team works with ANZ Stadium Event Operations, Stadium Security and key emergency services like the NSW Police to deliver key realtime messaging around safety and security.”

The submission added “marketing is essential in the initial strategising process (and our) plan is built around the core communications objectives of our business - establishing real-time communication with our customers, delivering key information, and creating awareness “Our Event Operations team runs our events on match day and looks to Social Media to deliver the vital match-day information that improves the customer experience. Our sales department uses Social Media to nurture leads and close sales.

Our HR department regularly posts - and fills - job openings via social media. Skilled Media & Communications professionals establish our credentials and engage our audience daily.

Arthur Stanley, General Manager Media & Communications at VenuesLive/ANZ Stadium, was the inaugural winner of the Communications Executive Award (Industry) in the 2016 Leisure Industry Communication and Marketing Awards.

Communications consultant Liz Inglis’ promotion of Tropical North Queensland is based upon more than 25 years developing an intimate, high-level understanding of the Tropical North Queensland community.

She supports a diverse client base whose managers draw on her skills as a communicator, writer and media strategist with close links to the Cairns media. Her knowledge of the local community and its key players across a diverse range of industries is invaluable in community engagement, strategic communications, research and public relations.

With several clients in the tourism sector, she has developed a database of national travel publications and international tourism trade media.

Inglis is the communications consultant for Tourism Tropical North Queensland and works closely with Tourism and Events Queensland on issues relating to Tropical North Queensland.

She has worked on several State-wide and national campaigns as the Cairns-based consultant for the Queensland Corporate Communications Network (QCCN). This network of communications specialists is the only major consultancy focused on regional Queensland providing cohesive media and communications support throughout the State.

Industry Association/Peak Body Award: Exercise Association of New Zealand

The Exercise Association of New Zealand (ExerciseNZ) represents approximately 85% of the fitness/exercise industry in New Zealand, including commercial operators (such as Les Mills and Contours), non profit organisations (including the YMCA) and local government facilities.

The activities of ExerciseNZ, and its charismatic Chief Executive Richard Beddie, in communicating both with its members as well as with the wider community and influencers is exceptional.

Providing a range of communications to its members, in addition to its annual Roadshow and endof-year FiTex convention, ExerciseNZ and Beddie are powerful advocates for the fitness/exercise industry in New Zealand.

Over many years, Beddie has represented the interests of ExerciseNZ and its members on a national stage, advocating the value and benefits of physical activity and healthy living while engaging with stakeholders with interests in the wellness of New Zealanders.

In engaging boutique news media services company Make Lemonade in the middle of 2017, the partnership between Beddie’s passion and the communication skills of Make Lemonade principal Kip Brook has taken the ExerciseNZ message and brand to all Kiwis, with Beddie now among New Zealand’s key opinion formers in the exercise, physical activity and wellness space.

Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 53

Not-for-Profit Award: VicHealth

The pioneering work of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) in the promotion of good health and physical activity sees it undertake wide-ranging intervention campaigns and its effective communication of these initiatives.

Described as a “world-first health promotion foundation”, VicHealth creates and funds world-class interventions through research to advance the health of Victorians and producing and supporting public campaigns to promote a healthier Victoria.

In the past year campaign and communication activities from VicHealth have included the This Girl Can - Victoria women’s physical activity and sport campaign; helping sporting organisations engage with teenagers; funding of local sports clubs; encouraging LGBTI inclusion among athletes, clubs and organisations; overcoming barriers to women’s activity; calling for supermarkets to take action on obesity and backing sports clubs to meet demands for women’s sport.

In addition, with many of their campaigns VicHealth provides funding support to implement change.

Industry Supplier Award: Jonas Leisure/Centaman

With brands including Envibe, Centaman, Gladstone, Udio, Centaman Entrance Control, CAP2, MyMemberSales and The Retention People, Jonas Leisure provides solutions that it says “will transform your business, boost your efficiency and make your life easier.”

Catering to a wide range of leisure industry sectors and with price points applicable to both multi- and single-site facility operators, Jonas Leisure’s technological innovations are matched by its excellence in communicating and connecting with consumers, clients and stakeholders across all media.

This includes blogs on its various products; the engagement of specialist public relations agency Last Word for its media relations; masterclass events for clients and support for industry initiatives including Australian Leisure Facilities Association Queensland Awards and the Aquatic and Recreation Institute (ARI) Mentor Program.

Jonas Leisure Chief Executive Mike Henton states “engaging with industry and encouraging two-way conversations with customers play a vital role in driving the innovation behind everything we do.”

54 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Crisis Communications Award: Peninsula Leisure

The award recognises Peninsula Leisure’s team for successfully managing a crisis at the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre (PARC) that posed a significant disruption to business.

A critical malfunction within the pool infrastructure led to the closure of PARC’s 50 metre pool, learn-to- swim pool and aquatic playground for eight weeks prior to Christmas.

While the impact was evident in post event customer surveys, a 79% positive rating from 950 respondents was recorded with the mean response as ‘extremely satisfied’ (10/10) when asked how Peninsula Leisure (PL) handled the closure.

The crisis commenced when a malfunction was first detected on Friday 13th October 2017 through scheduled early morning inspection. The anomaly was immediately reported to the pool duty manager and operations manager.

After initial inspection, the Chief Executive Tim Gledhill and General Manager Simon Beqir were notified of a potential crisis and within 30 minutes the crisis management team - consisting of Gledhill and Beqir along with the facility’s operations manager, marketing manager, digital marketing coordinator and swim school manager - convened to determine the immediate actions.

These were: 1.Initial assessment: An expert pump engineer was engaged to investigate the issues.

2.A holding statement was formulated to notify staff and customers of the immediate pool closure during the investigation phase.

3.Crisis communications planning: Within 24 hours the marketing team formulated a Crisis Communication Action Plan.

•A crisis phone line was set up, speaking points and release statements for media were prepared and enquiries on social media were responded to.

•Gledhill notified senior stakeholders: the PL Board, Frankston City Council and PL’s Chair.

•Staff were notified on the communications platform (OneLan) with instructions to refer enquiries to the crisis media contact number. Staff were instructed to not comment on social media during this time.

•All PARC members were emailed.

•Centre signage was developed for casual users.

4.Business continuity: Beqir held meetings with area team leaders to understand the scope of interruptions to business and continuity planning.

5.Contingency planning: As the crisis dragged into the second week, a contingency plan was developed to divert customers to a nearby outdoor seasonal facility.

6.Ongoing communications: The communications team implemented updates each week of the crisis for eight weeks.

7.Recovery: Re-opening messages were delivered via email, social media, staff were thanked through OneLan while door signage announced ‘We are open’.

8.Satisfaction surveys: Post-event surveys were delivered to members and casual users. Questions addressing staff handling of the situation (speed, level of detail, solutions) averaged 7.9/10 with the mean response as ‘Extremely satisfied’. PARCs transparency and willingness to engage with members was a key contributor to satisfaction.

Awards

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Local Government Award: Blacktown Key Venues Formed in March 2015 Blacktown Venue Management Ltd manages Blacktown City Council’s sporting facilities and its five aquatic and recreation centres under the banner of Blacktown Key Venues.

The venues themselves range from Council’s flagship sports facility Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney to the other sporting facilities including Joe McAleer Oval, Blacktown Football Park and Anne Aquilina Reserve which are used for first grade cricket and NSW premier league football.

Blacktown Key Venues also manages the award winning leisure and aquatic centres in Blacktown Aquatic Centre, Blacktown Leisure Centre Stanhope and Emerton Leisure Centre. Rounding up the aquatics facilities are the City’s two seasonal swimming pools, the Mount Druitt and Riverstone Swimming Centres.

In order to communicate effectively with customers and stakeholders about the range of facilities, services and programs that Blacktown Key Venues offer, the Marketing and Promotions Team utilise a variety of engagement channels to ensure the needs of the varying demographics that visit its facilities each year are catered for.

Special Award: Mel Tempest The remarkable promotional activities undertaken by Mel Tempest, founder and host of the Gym Owners’ Business Podcast and FITREC Global Ambassador, have been recognised by Australasian Leisure Management with the announcement that she will receive a Special Award in the 2018 Leisure Industry Communication and Marketing Awards.

Originally nominated in the Social Media category, the judging panel explained “Mel’s remarkable and wide-ranging communication and marketing activities extended across so many areas that it became clear to the judging panel that her activity could not be contained by a single award. Hence, we have announced our first ever Special Award.”

The Award takes account of Tempest’s wide-ranging activities including the imaginative ways in which she markets the health

56 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

club that she owns, Ballarat Body and Soul 24/7 Gym. In a city of 101,000 with more than 80 fitness facilities, a number that has grown from 10 competing facilities when Tempest opened her gym in 2003, since 2010 she has used Facebook as main marketing focus with 75% of the facilities sales now driven by the social media channel.

In the past year, Tempest has also financed and launched the Gym Owners’ Business Network and Podcast – a platform that aims to educate professional club owners globally through resources ‘by gym owners for gym owners’.

Commenting on Tempest’s activities, the judging panel advised “a self-described ‘contrarian’, Mel will be the first to acknowledge that she is a disruptor in the fitness industry – something that is not to everyone’s liking. However, her dynamic approach, technological awareness and level of achievement in her communication and marketing activities cannot be ignored and it is appropriate that she gains recognition for this.”

Business Award: Eden Park, Auckland

New Zealand’s largest venue has retained the Business Award, which it also secured at the 2017 Leisure Industry Communication and Marketing Awards, for its communication and marketing activities promoting its innovative ASB G9 event.

In the creation of the ASB G9 event, the management and marketing teams at Eden Park took account of the changing sport and entertainment landscape, and, to showcase the diversity of the venue, created a golf event – combining New Zealand’s highest club participation sport with its national stadium.

From concept creation to implementation, Eden Park staff developed, implemented and hosted the inaugural ASB G9, a unique golf event, in a three-month window.

Eden Park’s Turf team, in collaboration with its Operations team, designed the course to deliver a unique experience while ensuring the safety of participants and officials, alongside its Commercial team who developed the collateral.

For eight days Eden Park’s famous turf was converted into a nine-hole golf course. Teams of four made their way around the carefully designed course and aimed for a hole-in-one from each tee.

The inaugural ASB G9 gave 2,880 lucky players the opportunity to tee off from nine different locations around Eden Park, with a bonus Longest Putt competition in the home team changing room used by the All Blacks and BLACKCAPS. Originally due to be held for only five days, an unprecedented demand for tickets meant three extra days were added.

Eden Park Trust Chief Executive, Nick Sautner commented “one of the challenges for stadia around the globe is underutilisation of stadium assets and Eden Park is no different.

“A key driver behind the event was the fact that November is an underutilised period, in between the rugby and cricket seasons.

“It also presented an opportunity for Eden Park to utilise the stadium in a new form, proving a unique stadium experience for patrons. It was delivered on budget and created new revenue for the Park whilegiving fans the chance to experience the Park in a new way.

“Auckland’s unprecedented growth in recent years demonstrates the city’s global appeal and diverse multicultural communities. Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world and along with its European, Asian and other diverse ethnic communities, there is now interest in all sporting codes, as well as recreational, musical, and cultural events.”

Awards

Campaign Award: AFL Victoria Themed Rounds Campaign

With more than 1100 football clubs across 82 community leagues, Australian football has a footprint in every Victorian community and has an important role in influencing community conversations, raising awareness of social issues and supporting fundraising efforts.

In its award submission for its Themed Rounds Campaign, AFL Victoria explained “in the past these (promotional efforts) have been largely fragmented, with individual clubs and/or leagues championing these causes in isolation of the broader football network.

“In addition, football clubs are microcosms of the communities that they operate within. Therefore, societal issues inevitably impact on clubs, their members, volunteers, supporters and participants.

“As the peak body for the sport in Victoria, we saw that we had a role to play in this space. In 2017 AFL Victoria developed a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy to assist our clubs and leagues in dealing with a variety of issues impacting on their communities as well as lend our voice to raise awareness on key societal issues.

“In implementing this, the communication strategy/campaign revolved around three key pillars: 1. Identifying the key issues impacting on our leagues and clubs; 2. Developing a partnership with a leading industry organisation who are experts in the field and 3. Consolidating efforts across AFL Victoria and our clubs and leagues via state-wide themed rounds.

“Three key partnerships and state-wide themed rounds have been developed and implemented across the 2017/18 seasons. These are: Love the Game Round (in partnership with the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation); beyondblue Round (in partnership with beyondblue); and Sockit2MND Round (in partnership with the Fight MND Foundation).

National Organisation Award: AUSTSWIM

AUSTSWIM, Australia’s national body for the teaching of swimming and water safety, which is also active in New Zealand, is the industry standard for Swimming and Water Safety Teachers and is delivered and recognised in each state and territory of Australia and many countries overseas.

There are currently over 33,500 AUSTSWIM Teachers in Australia and internationally with over 10,000 licensed in teaching specific programs such as infants, people with a disability and adults.

The Award recognises AUSTSWIM’s excellence in communicating its educational initiatives and water safety messages.

Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 57

The historic 200 metres medal ceramony at the Mexico 1968 Olympics with Peter Norman at left (above) and as remembered at the San Jose State University (right).

Black Power controversy Sam Benton remembers the role of Australia’s Peter Norman in the Black Power controversy at the 1968 Olympic Games

O

ctober marks the 50th anniversary of two US Olympic athletes making a Black Power salute at the medal ceremony for the 200-metre sprint final at the 1968 Mexico Games, and the involvement of Australian athlete Norman in what is regarded as one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympic Games.

When Tommie Smith and John Carlos each thrust a blackgloved fist into the air as the American national anthem, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’, played at the 200 metres medal presentation on 16th October, Norman, the silver medallist, stood in solidarity with the US athletes as they protested racism and lack of equality.

Norman had just run the race of his life in 20.06 seconds, which remarkably still stands as the fastest time set by an 58 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Australian in the 200 metres, and followed this feat by not only participating in the protest, wearing the Olympic Project For Human Rights badge, but also helping in its planning.

Smith and Carlos both grew up in the racially charged environment of 1960s America, gained athletics scholarships to San Jose State University in California - a track powerhouse, and, in the months that followed the assassination of the American clergyman and civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the pair wanted to run for something more inclusive than an individual medal.

Following their actions, then International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Avery Brundage deemed Smith and Carlos’ act to be a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were intended to be.

In response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the US team and banned from the Olympic Village.

When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the expulsion of the two athletes from the Games.

Brundage, who was President of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. He argued that the Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was acceptable in a competition of nations, while the athletes’ salute was not of a nation and therefore unacceptable.

After the Games, Smith and Carlos were largely ostracised by the US sporting establishment and were subject to considerable abuse, receiving death threats.

Smith continued in athletics, playing in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals before becoming an Assistant Professor of physical education at Oberlin College.

As their stand came to be respected, Carlos was employed by the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to promote the games and act as liaison with the city’s black community and, in 2008, Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honouring their action.

Coming back to Australia, Norman was criticised by conservatives in the Australian media was shunned by athletics officials, with a 2012 CNN profile saying that “he returned home to Australia a pariah, suffering unofficial sanction and ridicule as the Black Power salute’s forgotten man. He never ran in the Olympics again.”

Carlos later stated that “If we (Carlos and Smith) were getting beat up, Peter was facing an entire country and suffering alone.”

While he represented Australia at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, he was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite having qualified 13 times over and was not welcomed even three decades later at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

However, Australian officials say he was not picked for the 1972 Games because he came third in the Australian trials, in part due to a knee injury which severely affected his performance and that he was only cautioned after the 1968 incident.

When Norman died in 2006, Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.

In October 2012, the Australian House of Representatives passed the wording of an official apology to Norman that read “this House: (1) recognises the extraordinary athletic achievements of the late Peter Norman, who won the silver medal in the 200 metres sprint running event at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, in a time of 20.06 seconds, which still stands as the Australian record; (2) acknowledges the bravery of Peter Norman in donning an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge on the podium, in solidarity with African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the ‘black power’ salute; (3) apologises to Peter Norman for the treatment he received upon his return to Australia, and the failure to fully recognise his inspirational role before his untimely death in 2006; and (4) belatedly recognises the powerful role that Peter Norman played in furthering racial equality.”

Earlier this month, the Victorian Government announced that a statue will be erected in Norman’s honour at Melbourne’s major athletics venue, the Lakeside Stadium.

In the USA there are several statues of the incident, most notably at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC – although Norman’s place on podium is left empty in the statue at San Jose State University. Norman reportedly requested that his space was left empty so visitors could stand in his place and feel what he felt.

Since 2006, the USA Track and Field Federation has marked 9th October, the day of Norman’s funeral, as Peter Norman Day. In the Sydney suburb of Newtown, an airbrush mural of the trio on podium was painted in 2000 and is now listed as an item of heritage significance.

Sam Benton, journalist, Australasian Leisure Management.

The famous event marked on a mural in Sydney’s Newtown (above) and at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, USA (below).

IN BRIEF

People

Former NSW Sport Minister and first grade rugby league referee Graham Annesley has been appointed NRL Head of Football - Elite Programs.

Wendy Attenborough is the newly appointed Executive Director of Perth Zoo. Fitness Australia has announced that Jayne Blake, who recently joined their Board of Directors as an appointed member, has taken office as its Chairperson.

Experienced digital marketer Josie Brown has joined Tennis Australia in the new role of Chief Insights and Marketing Officer.

Rebecca Brown has taken up the role of Chief Executive of Tourism WA and Director General of the Western Australian Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

Leah Cassidy is the new Chief Executive of Sport SA. Cameron Clayton is the new General Manager at Brighton Baths Health Club in Victoria.

The Australia Council for the Arts has announced the appointment of Adrian Collette as its next Chief Executive.

The Walking Access Commission, the New Zealand Government’s expert agency on public access to the outdoors, has appointed Ric Cullinane as its new Chief Executive.

UWA Sport General Manager Ian Fitzpatrick has been named Chef de Mission of the Australian Uniroos World Winter Universiade team for the 2019 and 2021 campaigns.

Swimming Australia has appointed Linley Frame to the newly created role of Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Manager.

The Association of Australian Football Clubs (AAFC) has named Archie Fraser as its National Head of Second Division, to further the development of its planned national second division for football, known as The Championship.

David Gallop, Chief Executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA), will become the new Chairperson of the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports.

Former Commonwealth Games Champion, New Zealand team Chef de Mission and world-renowned sports administrator Dr David Gerrard has been appointed Swimming New Zealand President.

Long-serving board member Graham Goerke is VenuesWest’s new Chairperson.

Following the announcement of Bill Moore’s retirement, Fitness Australia has announced the appointment of sport administrator Greg Harris to the role of interim Chief Executive.

Greyhounds Australasia has appointed Anne Marie Harrison to the role of Chair.

YMCA NSW has announced the appointment of Susannah Le Bron as its new Chief Executive, Surfing Australia has appointed Chris Mater as its new Chief Executive, replacing Andrew Stark, who had been in the role since 2009.

MPower MSL and its subsidiary, Verteda have appointed Toni Mathew to drive client relationships across the Arabian Gulf and MENA region.

Johnson Health Tech (JHT) has announced the appointment of Barry McDonald as National Sales Manager for its Australasian Commercial Division.

The Board of the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) has a new President for the first time since 2013, with Jock O’Callaghan replacing Glenn Tasker in the role.

Kevin Roberts has succeeded James Sutherland as Chief Executive of Cricket Australia Brendon Rope, has been appointed Operations and Commercial Manager for the Hawke’s Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust.

Sport Australia has appointed Katrina Schildberger as Deputy General Manager Sporting Integrity.

Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 59

People

Death of Clean Up Australia Ian Kiernan

Prominent environmentalist Ian Kiernan, the founder of Clean Up Australia that expanded into a global success, has died.

The round-the-world yachtsman began the Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World campaigns after being appalled by levels of ocean rubbish in the 1980s.

In 1994, he famously helped come to the rescue of Prince Charles when a protester rushed at him, firing a starting pistol, on a stage in Sydney.

Kiernan was an experienced sailor who represented Australia in several races including the Admiral’s Cup and the Clipper round-the-world yacht race.

He received several honours for his conservation efforts, including the UN’s Sasakawa Environment Prize in 1998.

In 1994, he was named Australian of the Year.

New team members at Wet’n’Wild Sydney

Parques Reunidos, the new owners of Wet’n’Wild Sydney, have appointed new members of the management team within its operations division Palace Entertainment.

Tony Brancazio, until recently a Regional General Manager for Palace Entertainment in the USA and longtime manager of Wet’n’Wild Emerald Pointe, located in the US state of North Carolina, has been named General Manager of the Sydney attraction while Ros Pullen has been appointed Sales and Marketing Manager.

Hammons Holdings leadership changes in taking on BridgeClimb Sydney

Hammons Holdings, owner of Blue Mountains attraction Scenic World, has announced a reshuffle in its leadership team in taking on tourism activities on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Scenic World’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Zumwalt (pictured left) is the new Chief Executive of BridgeClimb while Scenic World’s Chief Marketing Officer Amanda Byrne has been appointed as Chief Experience Officer, with the expanded role to cover all marketing and operations functions at Scenic World.

Belgravia Leisure promotes James Ellender to General Manager role

Following a successful three years supporting unprecedented growth in NSW, Belgravia Leisure Chief Executive Nick Cox has announced the promotion of current NSW State Manager, James Ellender to the role of General Manager of Marketing and Strategy.

Since 2015, Ellender has grown the team and operations throughout NSW, leading the expansion of operations in the City of Sydney, re-winning the three site Liverpool contract, and leading the establishment of two green field sites.

Belgravia Leisure have also recently appointed Victoria Goodwin-Barlow to the role of Regional Manager, City of Sydney, joining David Burns, Scott Hawkins and Nicole Dunn on the NSW Leadership Team.

Key appointments at expanding Otium Planning Group

The Otium Planning Group has made two significant new appointments.

In a move it describes as marking a “new era” for the leading consultancy, Bruce Mackay is to head up its new Operational Management Support and Advisory Services unit.

Regarded as one of Australia’s leading aquatics and recreation industry facility managers, Mackay has been Chief Executive of both Western Leisure Services, incorporating AquaPulse and Eagle Stadium, and Peninsula Leisure, incorporating the Peninsula Aquatic Recreation Centre (PARC).

Otium’s new Operational Management Support and Advisory Services will provide facility owners and managers with practical support via operational reviews and scorecards, personalised coaching and mentoring, governance and management advice.

Yvette Audet has also joined as Senior Consultant in Otium’s NSW office.

Audet joins the OPG team with a vast range of experience across the sport and recreation industry where she has worked for private sector clients, local government and non-profit organisations.

60 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Live Nation announces new General Manager for Melbourne’s Palais Theatre

Live Nation Australia has announced the appointment of Neil Cox as General Manager of St Kilda venue the Palais Theatre, while also announcing 13 community projects as recipients of the inaugural Palais Theatre Community Fund.

Cox joins the landmark Melbourne venue from the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch where he has been General Manager and Chief Executive since 2008.

His remit in Christchurch included dealing with local and national government, event creation and procurement and the significant capital project of rebuilding and returning the Theatre to working order after extensive damage caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.

Cox has an extensive background in live and recorded music spanning 30 years. Having worked in various global capacities with EMI Music, Cox also promoted a number of tours and events, including festivals, with his own concert promotions business.

Products

Life Fitness equips Club Lime, CISAC with Australia’s first Apple GymKit application

Life Fitness Australia has partnered with Viva Leisure to equip its flagship Club Lime, CISAC (the Canberra International Sports and Aquatic Centre) with the first Life Fitness Apple GymKit-enabled cardio equipment in Australia.

With this functionality, CISAC’s Life Fitness cardio equipment will pair wirelessly and seamlessly with Apple Watch so exercisers can track the most accurate measurements possible.

Through a simple tap of Apple Watch to the Life Fitness console, a connection between the watch and the cardio equipment is established, and data is exchanged between the watch and machine. Once connected, Apple Watch and the machine exchange data like heart rate, calories burned, distance, speed and incline ensuring that the metrics on the machine match what the users sees on their Apple Watch.

Explaining that GymKit-enabled Life Fitness equipment will be gradually implemented other Club Lime facilities in the future, VIVA Leisure Chief Executive Harry Konstantinou stated “technological innovation is at the very core of all facets of the VIVA Leisure operation and we take enormous pride in leading our Industry in pioneering the development, adoption and implementation of allthings cutting-edge in fitness for our members.”

Contact Life Fitness 1800 689 622, www.lifefitness.com.au

SeatGeek to exit Asia-Pacific and non major entertainment and sport market

Mobile-focused ticketing platform SeatGeek is to exit the Asia-Pacific market to focus on major sport and entertainment properties in the USA and Europe.

The move will see SeatGeek Asia Pacific - the former TicketServ Asia Pacific - cease operations and, in due course, will see the cessation of support for clients across Asia, Australasia and Oceania and for facilities in attractions, regional performing arts and tourism at the end of the clients’ current contract terms.

In an update to Asia-Pacific clients, SeatGeek advised that since its purchase of TopTix in early 2017 and its partner group businesses, including TicketServ it had “reviewed all vertical markets and SRO product direction”, making “the decision to focus on specific verticals (and to) sunset any new business sales outside of live entertainment.”

SeatGeek defines ‘live entertainment’ as being sport, music/ concerts and major performing arts such as Broadway and West End-style commercial theatre.

Centaman Entrance Control introduces a portal to better security

A new range of security portals has been launched in Australia and New Zealand to help improve the safety, security and efficiency of gyms, fitness centres and related facilities.

Designed to stop people illegally entering facilities by ‘tailgating’ authorised users through entrance control gates, the security portals are ideal for unmanned entrances and provide a greater level of security than traditional turnstiles or speedgates.

Centaman Entrance Control General Manager Michael Bystram said the company’s new range of security portals was simple and easy to use, despite the impressive technology and security features behind them.

Bystram explains “the first door opens and the authorised person proceeds into the portal. The first door closes, and the anti-tailgating system checks only one person is in the portal.

“Once this check is complete, and any additional security checks have been passed, the second door opens to let the authorised person into the secure area.”

Bystram said the portals are a particularly impressive option for gyms, fitness centres and other facilities that wish to provide 24hour access, without the need for 24-hour staffing, adding “unlike simple infrared or camera-based tailgate detection systems that only alert to unauthorised entry after the event, security portals prevent these types of events from happening in the first place.

“There are obvious cost savings from not having to be on site all the time and through reduced staffing levels. You’re also able to eliminate the time and effort spent identifying those who have entered dishonestly.

“For the likes of gyms, a security portal stops people who haven’t paid for a membership using the facility by tailgating in with friends. This can increase revenue by making people join the gym to use the facilities. It also creates a safe environment for members to work out in by stopping potential trouble makers from entering the gym.”

Centaman Entrance Control’s new security portal range features five different products, each with its own strengths.

Contact Michael Bystram, Centaman Entrance Control General Manager on +61 417 229 801, E: michael@entrancecontrol.com.au, www.entrancecontrol.com.au Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 61

Products

Moshtix launches industry first chat bot

Vortex launches new aquatic play products for toddlers and preschoolers

Canada-based Vortex Aquatic Structures International has launched new products in its popular Water Journey and Elevations ranges specifically designed for children aged from two to five years.

PlayNuk, an interactive elevated struture, adds to Vortex’s Elevations range, while Pico, Alto and Hop provide new tactile elements in the award-winning Water Journey range, scaled for toddlers and preschoolers.

Inspired by mountainside cascades and stepping stones, Pico, Alto and Hop have been developed to stimulate emotional, cognitive, and motor skills. Although aimed at little ones, the elements provide enough interaction to appeal to older siblings, encouraging social play.

Looking to encourage interaction, PlayNuk is a two-deck exploration hub incorporating softer spray features, smaller steps with double handrails, strategically shaded spaces, and age-appropriate games.

Vortex products are distributed by the PlayRope Group in Australia and New Zealand.

Contact 1800 767 529, E: info@playrope.com.au, www.playrope.com.au

Independent live entertainment ticketing firm moshtix has launched a new Facebook Chat Bot system ‘MoshMessenger’ aimed at easing purchasers finding and attending live events.

Claimed as an industry first for the local ticketing market, is, according to moshtix designed to make it the “one-stop shop for event discovery, ticket delivery and support in even more channels.”

Sydney-based moshtix advise that MoshMessenger Bot can deliver tickets straight to a customers’ Facebook Messenger account following a ticket purchase, allowing the purchaser to easily receive, download and store their tickets.

Designed to save customers having to print or find tickets emailed months earlier, the technology also addresses the issue of tickets being lost in junk email folders. MoshMessenger tickets can be scanned directly from the customers phone, speeding up validation and entry times at the door.

Moshtix had also agreed an exclusive event ticketing partnership for its major events with Sydney’s Taronga Conservation Society that will see moshtix provide bespoke ticketing and marketing services for all of Taronga’s major events such as the Twilight at Taronga Concert Series, VIVID Sydney at Taronga Zoo and the New Year’s Eve at Taronga Zoo. Contact 1300 438 849, E: harley@moshtix.com.au, www.moshtix.com.au

Defender Filters - the first product to achieve SPASA Climate Care Certification

Grassports secures multiple wins at 2018 SAPIA awards

Leading sports surface designers and constructors Grassports Australia was a multiple winner at Sports and Play Industry Association (SAPIA) 2018 Industry Awards, winning in three major category awards.

Presented at the SAPIA National Conference, Grassports secured the Innovation Award for its Cricket Wicket Training Facility, the Surfacing of Outdoor Sports Facilities Award for its work at Star of the Sea College, Victoria and the Construction of Sports Facilities Award for its work East Doncaster College, Victoria.

The company was also the runner-up in the Construction of Sports Facilities for its work at ILIM College Doveton, Victoria.

Grassports’ Cricket Wicket Training Facility is a remarkable new product with markings to indicate the type of ball being bowled depending on where the ball bounces.

Contact 03 9792 0622, E: bevans@grassports.com.au, www.grassports.com.au 62 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Neptune Benson’s Defender Ultra Fine Filter has been announced as the first product to be certified under the new industry standardising certification program, the Swimming Pool and Spa Association of Australia Ltd (SPASA) Climate Care Certification - the Australian aquatic industry’s efficiency and sustainability certification program.

The certification sees Defender Filters as the only product in the world with NSF (National Sanitation Foundation), Australian Smart WaterMark and now SPASA Climate Care certification.

Launched earlier this year, SPASA Climate Care certification is an efficiency and sustainability certification program designed to support, protect and promote the way the swimming pool and spa industry operates and strives for best practice sustainable solutions.

By participating in the Climate Care Certification Program, members of SPASA can promote their products, services and installations under an industry approved, environmentally sustainable program.

Recognised internationally, Defender Filters have particular relevance when used in Australia, given the nation’s frequent droughts and issues relating to water supply.

Contact 0407 484 847, www.neptunebenson.com

Products

NovoFit announced as new exclusive distributor for popular Wattbike

Leading commercial equipment supplier NovoFit has been awarded the distribution rights of market favourite indoor cycling brand Wattbike.

Part of a total fitness solution, the world-class Wattbike is versatile enough to test elite athletes and beginners alike, and powerful enough to deliver the most insightful data to coaches and amateur athletes.

After eight years of rigorous testing and following endorsement from British Cycling, the Wattbike was officially launched to cycling fans at the Track Cycling World Championships in 2008.

Unlike other indoor trainers, Wattbike use chains and sprockets in the indoor bikes, to keep the ride sensation as close to the road as possible.

Wattbike have also worked with the world’s best sport scientists and engineers to shape its data in different ways.

This helps to deliver actionable insights to riders in real time, including the unique and patented Polar View technology.

Wattbike’s commitment to users is supported by training courses and resources, as well as all bikes equipped with digital analysis tools to help riders improve their performance via connectivity to wireless technology and apps available on various devices.

Contact 1800 628 824, E: info@novofit.com.au, www.novofit.com.au

New app looks to ease altitude training adoption

Following the recent launch of its altitude training product in the Australian commercial gym market, Box Altitude has introduced a new altitude training app.

The interactive app is multipurpose - both for use by individuals wishing to track their progress and performance gains while training at altitude, and for gyms to be able to moderate their altitude systems easily and efficiently.

Revealed during the recent Australian Sports Technology Week in Melbourne, the Box Altitude App ensures a high quality workout by fine-tuning the relationship between exercise output to oxygen concentration. This clever use of technology is the first of its kind on the market, giving a scientific edge to altitude training.

Contact Rico Rogers of Box Altitude on 0435 857 133, E: rico@boxaltitude.com

PerfectGym adds family management and creche module to client portal

Through continuous innovation to its software platform and its flagship mobile responsive member portal, PerfectGym has added a central family management function that allows parents to add their children to PerfectGym and manage their accounts, payments, enrolments and personal information from one central parent login.

This family management function was designed and implemented in conjunction with the recent release of the Member Portal crèche booking facility that allows facilities to specify crèche daily availability, cost, minimum and max durations, increments of bookings, daily/weekly booking limits and age restrictions, while utilising rules to ensure that correct ratios of carers to children are continuously maintained.

The crèche module allows parents to add their children through the portal, and either purchase crèche memberships, product packs, or one off purchases to make a booking for one or more children with a simple ‘click and book’ method.

The family management function also allows a parent to book multiple children into a crèche through a single login and through a single class enrolment, which lets parents easily and quickly book themselves in for a fitness class or PT, whilst ensuring they can book and enrol their child for crèche during their class.

Being integrated seamlessly with the PerfectGym Automation Centre, means parents will also get email confirmations of bookings, cancellations and any changes to their booking prior to their visit.

Contact 1300 088 922, E: sales@perfectgym.com.au

Seating solutions bring people together

Driving innovation in aluminium seating for outdoor venues for over 30 years, NSW-based BAB Aluminium offer a diverse range from stackable seating for sports clubs to grandstands for schools, councils and pools equestrian venues, theme parks, tourist boats and generally anywhere that aluminium seating is required for spectator seating.

One of the company’s recent successes has been with the BAB Buddy Bench, designed to provide a more inclusive environment in schools and address the issue of children feeling left out and lonely as they navigate the complexities of relationships and play.

Contact 1300 823 125, www.babaluminium.com.au Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 63

Products

Abel continues to expand in Victoria and interstate

Abel Concepts Pty Ltd, home to both the Abel Sports and Abel Flag brands, is continuing to grow both in its home state of Victoria as well as interstate.

This expansion is forcing Abel to again move its head office to new purpose built premises designed to handle the increased work load both businesses are experiencing.

The new Victorian premises, accommodating both offices and factory/warehouse space, are specifically designed for the manufacturing and distributing of lengthy goal posts and flagpoles.

All Abel goal posts and flagpoles are Australian made by their own trained and experienced staff that takes pride in the finished product that appears in stadiums and at sports grounds across Australia.

John Cann, Abel’s General Manager, expects their next move will be the establishing of warehouse facilities in Sydney to cope with the increased demand coming from NSW and Queensland.

Abel Sports is anticipating the winning of a large tender for the supply of goalposts and coaches boxes into the Sydney market that will require this local warehouse.

Recent completed projects have been the supply of goal posts and barrier netting for Evergreen Turf at Ivanhoe Grammar; goal posts and coaches boxes for Hume Turf at Elsternwick Park Oval One and goal posts, barrier netting and cricket netting at Perth’s new Optus Stadium for HG Sports Turf/Brookfield - a highly prestigious project for the company.

Abel’s new address, effective from 1st December 2018, will be: 27 Endeavour Way, Sunshine West VIC 3020.

Other contact details remain as 1300 193 714, E: info@abelsports.com.au, www.abelsports.com.au

New Milon Health Club opens on the Gold Coast

A new gym offering some of the most technologically advanced electronic fitness training equipment in the world has opened at Palm Lake Resort on the Gold Coast.

A centrepiece of an over-50s resort complex, the fully equipped gym quality features German-engineered and designed Milon fitness equipment.

The 12 separate electronic strength and cardio machines used Milon’s personalised smart card technology that automatically adjusts the equipment to each user’s individual anatomy and training program requirements.

Parkequip aquatic playground installation revitalises Liverpool park

Leading park and play equipment supplier Parkequip have shared details of a recent project at Bigge Park in the Western Sydney suburb of Liverpool that has transformed a rundown bowling club into a thriving, family-friendly park.

Part of a $5 million Liverpool City Council project to upgrade the area, the key feature of the park is the zero-depth waterplay zone containing three central attractions: a giant Mega Soaker Bucket that tips large volumes of water onto those below; a range of Water ‘O’s that feature in six round rings, and Cannons that youngsters can use to shoot water across the vicinity.

The equipment has an ocean-inspired atmosphere complemented by large shade sails strung overhead that ensure there are plenty of places for visitors to take refuge from the sun. Sun lounges are also dotted around the surrounding area, providing sufficient seating for families to relax.

Hygiene is ensured with the playground’s water being treated and recycled to commercial swimming pool standards.

The Council developed the facility in part due to Liverpool’s distance from the beach while providing a popular family amenity in an area with many high-rise units.

The project also included versatile smart poles equipped with security cameras, Wi-Fi and speakers to future-proof the park and make it vandal-proof.

Contact 02 9725 5604, E: info@parkequip.com.au, www.parkequip.com.au

Product recall of Zoggs Fogbuster and Lens Cleaner

MCC announces extended Ticketek partnership at MCG

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) has announced that Ticketek Australia will continue as the ticketing services partner for the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), following the outcome of a competitive tender process.

The renewed partnership will ensure patrons continue to receive world’s best practice in ticketing technology and service when accessing tickets for events at the MCG through Australia’s most advanced multi-channel event ticketing and digital marketing company.

Under the new agreement, Ticketek and its parent company, TEG, will seek to attract a number of new major events to the MCG, along with a commitment to ensure increases to ticket transaction fees and charges will remain within annual CPI growth.

64 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018

Swimming products manufacturer Zoggs has issued a product recall for its Fogbuster and Lens Cleaner.

Advising of a “manufacturing defect” that “may cause irritation and a burning sensation of the eye(s),” the recall relates to products sold between February 2018 and May 2018 that has a batch number of 105R on the rear of the outer packaging.

The anti-fog solution for swimming goggles has been recalled

by Zoggs internationally and by Zoggs Australia due to the product containing acetaldehyde and possibly propionaldehyde which will cause irritation to the eyes if not washed from the lenses properly.

Further advice from Zoggs states “consumers with the affected product should return it to the place of purchase for a refund. If you are not aware of the batch number and bought the product during the period of availability, we recommend that you stop using the product immediately.”

Contact 02 9453 2000, zoggs.com.au

SwimDesk provides ongoing information resources for swim schools

Specialist swim school software provider SwimDesk has been providing a range of information resources on swim school management, sharing strategies to help the operators of learnto-swim programs increase their effectiveness.

Recent shares have included Preventing The Winter Drop Off, detailing strategies to keep enrollment numbers up throughout the winter months when there is often a typical drop-off; Seven Ways To Grow Your Swim School, explaining how to improve swim schools customer satisfaction and retention; Four Tips to Streamline School Based Lessons, covering efficiencies in swim school administration and Six Powerful Strategies to Improve your Swim School, on improving swim school performance.

In another post, on Improving Swim School Retention, SwimDesk advise “with competition growing in the swim school industry, retaining swim school students is becoming increasingly important.

“Swim school retention starts with the parent. The parent is the customer and keeping them satisfied is the key to long term retention success. If a parent feels like their child is progressing in their swimming lessons they are likely to continue to invest in their child’s lessons.”

Contact 1300 181 665, E: info@greenedesk.com, www.greenedesk.com.au

Caloundra Indoor Stadium installs new drinking fountain and bottle refill station

In a move to reduce plastic bottle usage while providing fresh drinking water for athletes and spectators, Caloundra Indoor Stadium and Sunshine Coast Council have recently installed a new drinking fountain and bottle refill station at the facility.

The Council believes that drinking water stations are an environmentally-friendly and economical solution for visitors, who can now access water without having to purchase plastic single-use bottled water.

Wanting to provide easily-accessible drinking water stations for more than 1,700 daily users to ensure they are kept hydrated while enjoying the centre’s facilities, the Council contacted CIVIQ to seek a premium water dispensing solution to cater for large numbers of people. The drinking water station needed to be strong, stainless steel vandal-resistant and corrosion resistant to maintain a long service life in the coastal environment.

CIVIQ recommended the Aquafil Hydrobank wall mounted drinking fountain and bottle refill station due to its size and efficiency, allowing up to six people to use the station at a time.

The station is equipped with a triple nozzle feature which consists of three anti-bacterial bottle refill points and three drinking fountains and can be easily accessed by all users.

Contact 1300 600 300, E: sales@civiq.com.au, civiq.com.au

Send your product news to leisure@ausleisure.com.au

Products

Clubware introduces new Member Mobile App

Leading fitness centre management software Clubware is launching an all new Member Mobile App with an array of innovative features.

Designed and developed with valuable feedback from fitness industry users, the App can be independently branded and includes various innovative aspects facilitating easy membership management.

Introducing the App, Clubware CRM Product Manager, Elizabeth Santorelly explains “Clubware is committed to ensuring we are meeting the evolving needs of our valued clients by designing innovative solutions that provide all the tools they need to effectively manage their business – our new Member Mobile App is the latest development to support our clients.

“We believe this new App provides a connected digital experience for members, strengthening the relationship between clubs and their members.”

With the Clubware Mobile App, members can view and manage their membership details, view timetables for their gym and other branches and book and pay for classes.

The App is also customisable for each business’ unique branding, logo and colours, and is available for Android and iOS devices. The Clubware Support team makes it easy for businesses by customising the App for each client, and by managing submissions to the Apple and Google App stores. All member information and updates are synced to the business’ Clubware account.

Contact the Clubware Support Team on 1800 114 777, E: support@clubware.com.au (in Australia) or 09 481 0490, E: support@clubware.co.nz (in New Zealand).

ChronoSoft offers incident management solutions for events, festivals, sport and venues

Aiming to ensure that events and crowded places operate safely and efficiently, ChronoSoft Solutions is the market leading provider of control centre and incident management solutions.

Offering event and incident management software that enhances how spaces respond to crisis as well as daily tasks, the Brisbane-based company’s flagship Chronicler software, streamlines event management procedures, opens up communication between support staff and accurately logs and timestamps all incidents.

Incidents can be reported and logged directly to the system by crews in the field, and the control room is able to see and manage incident management flow and data analysis in real time.

Contact: 07 3063 4080, E: info@chronosoft.com.au, www.chronosoft.com.au Australasian Leisure Management Issue 129 2018 65

Products

Advertisers Index Advertiser

Page No.

AALARA Conference

29

Aflex Inflatables

10

AquaPhysical 15 Astral Pool 5 AUSTSWIM 37 Belgravia Sports

7

Business For Sale

25

Centaman 55 Centaman Entrance Control 43 ClubWare

2

Debit Success

3

Envibe

39

FFA Paysmart 11 Highgate 21 HILLS AV Solutions

49

Hydrocare/Wibit

15

Jonas Leisure

34 & 35

MAPEI 31 Myrtha Pools 47 National Sports Convention 67 Ninja Parc

19

NovoFit 41 Otium Planning Group

12

ParkEquip 25 Perfect Gym

8&9

Rae-Line

56

ROLLER 28 SLE Worldwide

51

Starena Group 33 Swimplex Aquatics/Polin

27

The P.A. People

14

Ticket Rocket 23 Tim Batt Water Solutions

68

VMA Education

17

Waterplay 17 Zelbrite

13

Tasmanian Council uses simple solution to solve pool chlorination issues

The Northern Midlands Council in Central Tasmania has introduced a new solution to solve a chlorination problem at its three swimming pools in Campbell Town, Cressy and Ross, backed by state-of-the-art communications to remote monitor and control the systems.

Having been working with a consultant to look at all aspects of the Campbell Town pool design and the plant, the Council was keen to get away from using chlorine gas in its facilities due to the potential danger and strict occupational health and safety requirements for that type of system.

The Council was also having to spend considerable amounts on regular and detailed training of their staff to handle gas chlorination safely.

In 2017, the Council chose David Payne of Tassie Pool & Spa Pty Ltd in Launceston to assist them, and the result has been the installation of the latest design Pulsar ‘System 140’ dry chlorine briquette feeders at both Campbell Town and Cressy pools.

To provide reliable remote monitoring and control of the pools US made BECSys5ppm pH and free chlorine controllers were also installed, including the new ‘EZConnect’ G’Bit communications cards along with ‘BECSys for Windows’ PC software and the ‘BECSysNow!’ mobile device App. With the controllers connected to the Council network, BECS ‘EZConnect’ enables password protected monitoring and control of each pool’s pH and chlorination levels from any computer on the Council network without the need for IP addresses from the IT department.

‘EZMail’ alarm e-mails are also reliably sent out by the controllers, via the dedicated BECS Technology Server, in the event of any out-of-range readings.

Regular remote monitoring by Payne, or by Council Works Supervisor Damien Wilson, is also possible using the ‘BECSysNow!’ App on their mobile phones, with fully secured access.

They can then decide whether a situation can be handled by Council staff themselves, or whether it may require Payne to visit the site from Launceston.

This feature alone is proving very efficient and is saving both the Council and Tassie Pool & Spa a substantial amount in reduced travel costs and time. Additional information gained from data logging also reinforced recommendations made to the consultant regarding the operation and heating proposals for the Campbell Town pool development.

The popular new design of Pulsar feeders were easily installed into the existing plantrooms and have improved hoppers with a relatively small footprint.

They offer several benefits over both the models they replace and over other types of dry chlorine feeders on the market.

Overall the adjustability that is offered by the new system enables precise fine tuning of the dosing for any size of pool, improving both dosing accuracy and disinfection consistency. Added safety features of the system will further protect operators by shutting off the feeder if the lid to the hopper is opened, or if flow to the venturi booster pump is restricted.

Level sensors help to avoid the risk of flooding of the system and they will be reset once the situation is corrected for smooth operation at all times.

Overall the installations at Campbelltown and Cressy Pools last season have been a great success and Northern Midlands Council are now looking to install the same system at the Ross Pool. Great safety and efficiency improvements with cost savings are being realised by Council at these two sites along with vastly improved monitoring, support and record keeping for the pools from Tassie Pool & Spa using the well proven BECSys controllers and software.

Contact: 0438 889 268, E: timtbws@bigpond.com, www.tbwsaquatic.com.au

23-25 July 2019

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre

SAVE THE DATE

In Conjunction with

The National Sports Convention Community Sport and Recreation Expo 2019 has invested in significantly more space to encourage delegates to have more reasons to visit and stay in the Expo hall, embracing innovative ideas from exhibitors and industry. These include ‘Activation Areas’, workstations, large catering areas, a Sports Club Café, Peak Body Sports Hub and Lounge, coffee lounge, charging stations, meeting rooms and ‘Meet the Experts’ rooms.

To find out more please call Tannia Garces at Interpoint Events on 1300 789 845. www.nationalsportsconvention.com.au

BECSYS EZConnect & EZMail Finally... secure online access made simple, including alarm notification messages!

 Simple  Secure  No Monthly Fees Managing a pool is hard work. Ready for something easy?

Use EZConnect and EZMail for simple and secure access to your BECSys controller • Quickly and easily check the status of your water quality • Receive immediate notification of out-of-range conditions • Perform in-depth analysis of trends and events Setup is simple • No VPNs, router port forwarding, IP addresses or SMTP settings needed And secure • A rigorous multi-layered security approach, including message encryption, puts even the most restrictive IT departments at ease ...which means you get connected without a hassle from your IT department!

For more information contact Tim Batt Water Solutions at 0438-889268 or visit us online at www.tbwsaquatic.com.au