CASE STUDY
The power of authentic and rewarding interactions
Overview
WorkPac, Australia’s largest privately owned workforce services business, wanted to hold its annual Leadership Conference in 2022, after a three-year pause due to the pandemic. The event is an important part of WorkPac’s calendar to recognise and reward its recruitment leaders and high achieving staff.
Location: Crystalbrook Byron Bay over 2.5 days
Attendees: WorkPac employees, and partners, attended from Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and West Australia.
Agenda: Board meeting & dinner, welcome reception, conference, gala dinner and recovery breakfast.
Dates: 28-30th October 2022
Objective
To facilitate the annual WorkPac Board Meeting at a venue away from day-to-day distractions, where the focus could be fully on the business and its strategic goals moving forward. Gathering the board members and key stakeholders before the main conference allowed management to set the tone for the event and share their insights.
The overarching goal of the Leadership Conference was to acknowledge the commitment of high achievers in a unique setting with an exclusive feel. To encourage connection and to maintain engagement, the agenda was designed with a bare minimum of ‘talking head’ presentations. Instead, a more informal format created space for a variety of interactions, the exchange of ideas and hands-on activities.
Challenges
As the conference was postponed due to COVID, the challenge was rebooking a suitable and unique venue with a premium offering in the current tight market. The FCM Meetings & Event team worked to manage client expectations while dealing with limited, high season availability for both venues and suppliers.
While Crystalbrook was secured as an ideal location, it also presented logistical issues.
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The closest airport at Coolangatta was an hour drive away.
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Some delegates arriving from South Australia and West Australia could only fly into Brisbane which was two hours away, so door-to-door private coach transfers were arranged.
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Attendees travelling from across four different daylight-saving time zones, yet needing to arrive at similar times to manage the coach transfers.
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All at a time when domestic flights were still relatively expensive and airline schedules were limited.
Our Approach
FCM Meeting & Events scheduled the full-day board meeting prior to the start of the conference. This gave members dedicated time to focus on the business, strategies, objectives and goals before the other delegates arrived.
To streamline event management, a dedicated registration website was created to capture delegate data and to allow attendees to self-register themselves and their partner.
With their expertise, connections and knowledge, the FCM Meetings & Events team was able to overcome the above logistics challenges. An app was launched six weeks before the conference to efficiently coordinate all travel logistics, manage changes, provide agenda information and to communicate with attendees in a timely manner. 87% of attendees downloaded the app and found it to be a vital source of information and useful for providing notification reminders throughout the event.
Result
The event provided the perfect opportunity for delegates to feel valued for the contribution they’ve made to WorkPac’s culture and success. The FCM Meeting & Events team drew on the iconic Byron Bay location to create an engaging and interactive agenda in a setting that fuelled collaboration.
By easing the formality, the focus was turned to providing a platform for attendees to meet and engage with each other in a meaningful and authentic way. The customised programme incorporated personal downtime, while organised events outside of Crystalbrook embraced local, notable producers and restaurants, including Three Blue Ducks.
Highlights
To complement the theme of personal achievement, the conference guest speaker was John Maclean – an extreme wheelchair athlete, mentor and Olympic medallist. John’s inspirational story of pushing beyond physical and mental barriers to achieve goals and overcome adversity was a standout highlight for all delegates. FCM Meetings & Events also arranged for delegates to receive a copy of his new book to take home. Feedback included:
“John was easily the best speaker that we have had at a conference!”
“Very inspiring – also appreciated the book to be able to take in his story again at my own pace.”
Another highlight was the Big Picture team building activity, bringing fun and creativity to the event, focusing on the importance of planning, communication and time management. Working in small groups, each team was responsible for painting several canvases that were to form part of one larger artwork. For the project to work, the teams needed to share a joint vision of the ‘Big Picture’, to ensure their paintings worked seamlessly with each other. The reward and highlight was seeing all of the paintings joined together, to reveal the final collaborative artwork.
Outcome
Extensive post-event feedback indicated that everyone enjoyed the programme and the break down of the conference into two sessions. Attendee comments included “it was really enjoyable, a good mix of planned events and downtime” and “great content, location and timed well throughout.”
WorkPac event staff appreciated the efficiency and consistency of having access to the same space for the whole event, allowing for the space to be easily refreshed and changed for each session.
By holding the majority of the activities on site at Crystalbrook, attendees enjoyed the opportunity to relax and recharge during breaks in the programme for lunch and between the conference ending and the gala dinner. The cohesive event seamlessly aligned with WorkPac’s objective of valuing, supporting and inspiring their people – as their greatest asset.
This was the best conference that I have attended. The event was well paced, not too busy and had plenty of down time to relax. - WorkPac attendee