With our upstairs bar complete, our good friends from Epicure on hand with their yummo food, and some willing competitors from MCVB, the mood was set for a great night!

True to DG form, the night didn’t disappoint and it did indeed become apparent that the competitive spirit is alive and well in the offices of MCVB, Epicure and DG Global. 

An epic battle was fought, with honourable mentions going to MCVB’s

Tracey Christian and Epicure’s James Gilham. They put in a hell of a fight, but in the end it was David McCarthy from MCVB and our very own Scott Thompson, who prevailed.

Yes, it is true that Scott spent most of the night umpiring the rounds, though I am told in no uncertain terms, this had no impact whatsoever on the outcome of the game. It was won fair and square!!!

So thanks again to all who made it such a fun night. Stay tuned out there, as this is no doubt the first instalment of many fun times we’ll be reporting from the Ping Pong table!

“ Everyone brings their COURAGE to the North Shore”

JD Haliewa surf school and Broadcast Director Triple Crown surf contest webcast and Filming

I use to wake up early every day to hear the pounding of the ocean 100mt from our back door and wonder if we were going to end up with collateral damage to ourselves or get the wave of our life, luckily no injuries and yes we did get some amazing waves that will never be forgotten, until the next trip anyway.

I began to think where does courage come from and how it comes in many different forms, an example is that we have clients that find the courage to say yes when we have pitched the most out there concept on an event that may shock them, however they get the COURAGE to say yes lets do it !  I too have had the Courage to even suggest the idea or one of the DG team has.

There is courage in starting your own business or booking an act you haven’t seen ( usually advise against that one) creating a different layout to the way you have had the room set up for the last 6 Gala Dinners and on it goes, there is courage in every aspect of business and life.

Recently working on the Australian Open we saw that amazing courage and determination from Nadal & Djokovic which did great things for the game and there are too many stories in every form of sport to go into.

“What Djokovic and Nadal did last night for Tennis can’t be measured.  Take that sort of fight into any walk of life, the possibilities endless”
Ken Sutcliffe Ch 9 Sport tweet

So I guess the philosophy to this story is we all find the courage in sport, business or day to day life, sit back sometime and think about the times you had the courage and I guarantee there will be numerous times as courage is in all of us, some a little more like the big wave surfers on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

If you can do what they do you can do anything in life especially business!!!

MD
Dave Green

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Where does one start when asked about Australian Open 2012. It’s a massive event, the largest in the country actually, so its impossible to describe the entire two weeks as it will take the next twelve months to hear only some of the stories and experiences the four and half thousand strong staff had working on the event.

What I do know, is that each and everyone of those team members dedicated themselves to “event life” for at least two weeks, most longer, to deliver in number terms the most successful Australian Open in history.

680,000 plus punters through the gates, the longest grand slam men’s final in history and the same match delivering the longest Australian Open match in history.

This was my second Australian Open (AO) from the inside. Year one was a learning experience, watch and oversee it roll out, take as many notes as possible. End year one and the list is long – but one of the biggest learning’s I have had in the last twelve months is you cannot change the world overnight, but you can make a difference where it counts and where it is welcomed.

Our process was simple on all accounts – what is the best offering we can give our guests - Assess their needs and wants, develop the offering to be primarily about the guest, align the AO brand, and get the best people to deliver the result.

AO2012 launched in October 2011 we were fortunate enough for the event to receive coverage across the globe and from here we were up and away; there was no turning back…..

I have been lucky enough in the past working with DG global to meet and work with some extraordinarily talented people around the world, hence as we instigated so much change for AO 2012, there was no question to engage these people (including the current DG team) who live “event life” 24/7 to deliver. And deliver they did, by the bucket load. A day at the Australian Open is not standard, it is generally a minimum of 15 hours and you need to tie them together, back to back, for weeks on end. The team needs to be dedicated day in day out, which I believe is something you cannot learn, it’s a passion and dedication inside you that makes you want to be involved and make a difference, particular when the results come.

It’s the tens to hundreds of people involved in producing each event that should be commended. Most of all, it is always a fun time and great laugh working with each of them – particularly when Johnno (Austin) starts telling stories of past tours on the road - I’m sure some of our team are now scarred for life!

For me, AO 2012, will be remembered for all of the above, but there is one experience I will never forget…

2012 provided the opportunity to develop new pre-final entertainment. 100 years of Men’s singles champions gave us the perfect reason to bring to Australia all nine living Australian, Australian Open champions. These are the greats – Rosewall, Laver, Emerson, Newcombe, just to name a few. I love the theatre and this was AO’s moment to provide an emotional theatrical experience. And so a ceremonial show was developed with all nine men. Something I am sure will never be seen again.

The moment I knew what this little show meant was when Frank Sedgman walked off centre court post show in tears and shook my hand followed by Ken Rosewall who gave me a pat on the back and said a simple “thankyou”.

We are in the business of producing shows and experiences and for that small moment and experience in MY life, I am thankful to all who were part of and made Australian Open 2012.