Five Ways SMC Can Enhance Your Next Event
When planning events for associations, corporates and gala clients, securing a venue that meets all your logistical needs AND leaves a lasting, positive impression on your guests can be quite a challenge. There are five essential factors that combine to make every event a resounding success: location, great spaces and flexibility, reliable technology, catering and delivery.
The recent International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK) at SMC provides a great example where these five cogs worked in perfect sync to deliver an exceptional event with the precision and finesse of the finest Swiss watch.
1. Location
SMC boasts an enviably central CBD location at 66 Goulburn Street, at the corner of Castlereagh Street, Sydney. The venue’s location stood out when Abelaro Pardo and his colleagues from the University of Sydney’s Associate Professor of the School of Electrical and Information Engineering at Sydney University were looking for the right venue for the LAK conference. The fact SMC is only a 3-minute walk (300 metres) from Museum Station and well serviced by buses made it attractive, and it was the proximity of quality hotels made SMC their first choice in venue selection. SMC connected the conference leaders with its affiliated accommodation partners, which included the nearby hotels including Vibe Hotel Sydney, Travelodge Sydney and the Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney Central. Most delegates chose to stay at Rydges World Square, which meant they were only a few minutes’ walk from the conference venue.
2. Flexible Spaces for Events Of Any Scale
With 350 international, interstate, regional and local delegates arriving for the conference, LAK organisers needed a large, flexible and multi-functional space with state-of the art conferencing facilities to make the event a success. At over 2300sqm spanning four floors, SMC can accommodate many variations in guest count across its 16 fully-accessible event spaces. Gala and award events often call for the grandeur of the Marble Foyer (300 for cocktails), Grand Lodge (tiered 600 seat theatre) and Banquet Hall (600 for cocktails, 400 banquet). Conferences, events and exhibitions can also be accommodated in these spaces as well as the variety of different size rooms. When more flexibility is required, adjoining rooms can be combined or used individually, and can be coupled with smaller meeting rooms and break-out areas to suit desired programming. LAK utilised the entire SMC venue, with plenaries, exhibition space and workshop spaces all exceeding the conference’s extensive technical and operational needs.
3. Forward-Thinking Technology
One of the absolute imperatives for this sizable technology-enhanced learning conference was lightning fast, reliable internet with Wi-Fi access that included multiple delegate hot-spots for its international guests. SMC upgraded its already superior internet capabilities to an enterprise-class system to provide fast upload and download speeds for all delegates who were utilising multiple devices throughout the conference. To allow this, SMC’s supplier surveyed the building and designed access points that would achieve the strongest wi-fi signal. As a result, SMC now provides the best venue internet and wi-fi services in Sydney. As a multi-faceted event, LAK organisers also required simple, wayfinding signage inside the venue for its many conference sessions that included keynotes, breakouts and workshops. The SMC team utilised its excellent in-house digital, directional signage and pre-programed messaging for each session and breakout. This allowed LAK organisers to schedule up-to-the-minute programming and meant seamless transitioning of wayfinding messaging across the venue without any additional costs for design, printing or ad-hoc updates during the conference, all of which saved valuable time and money.
4. Catering Excellence
SMC’s executive chef and on-site kitchen consistently design and deliver delicious, seasonally inspired, innovative food and beverage options for its clients that add to the premium experience. The venue’s event managers are also adept at handling unusual requests and dietary requirements. LAK proved a first for the catering team in that they were asked to supply endless Diet Coke for breakfast for the conference’s large contingent of American delegates. SMC’s Business Development Manager ordered the high volume of Diet Coke especially requested and added extra fridges to accommodate the client’s needs.
5. Highest Standard of Delivery
Five-star service is at the heart of the organisation, making SMC one of Sydney’s premiere conference, convention and exhibition venues. All clients benefit from a dedicated event manager to hand-hold them from making a booking through to a successful event delivery. Clients continually express the value of having a single point of contact when it comes to handling functions of any size, from 20 to 600 delegates. The Learning Analytics and Knowledge conference organisers applauded SMC as "hands down the best venue available in Sydney", and saying they could not fault the SMC staff in the lead-up to the event: “All the staff from SMC should be commended”. Considering the high-tech demands, conference event manager Brooke Fuz also added, "The AV was great and the support was always there when needed. It was the best wi-fi and internet service I have ever experienced. We never had a single complaint about connection. "Organisers agreed the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference was a huge success and hope to bring the event back to SMC in the near future.