August 2009
- The Business of Events
- Celebrate Events Coming Soon
- Greatest Assets
- Regional Spotlight - Wild Ride
- Queensland Events Gold Coast Update
- Asia Pacific Screen Awards Update
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The Business of Events
The new board of Queensland Events Corporation Pty Ltd comprises: Current board members Patrick Vidgen, Deputy Director General Governance and Ipswich Lord Mayor Paul Pisasale will remain on the board to assist with the transition, until further notice. Former CEO of Tourism Queensland and current Chairman of Queensland Tourism Industry Council Stephen Gregg will join the board in January 2010. |
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Celebrate Events Coming Soon - Direct From New York
Growing the reputation of the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art for their ability to secure ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions for Queensland, American Impressionism & Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from The Met offers a memorable experience for both connoisseurs of and newcomers to the period (early 1800’s – early 1900’s). American Impressionism & Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from The Met presents an outstanding opportunity to view 71 paintings by 34 well-known and less-familiar artists that have never before been displayed together and are not likely to be lent again as a group. It is the first co-operative venture between the Metropolitan, the Queensland Art Gallery and Art Exhibitions Australia – but indications are it will not be the last. Leading artists including Impressionists John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam and William Merritt Chase, and Realists John Sloan and William Glackens are each represented in the exhibition by several examples of their work, reflecting their responses to a period of great social development. Adding to the unique nature of this exhibition, a selection of important paintings by Australian artists from the period 1880-1929 are also displayed, providing points of discussion and comparison. Art-lovers have a unique opportunity to study the influence of Whistler and Sargent on Australian artists Tom Roberts and Hugh Ramsay, along with examples of work by artists such as Charles Conder, John Russell, Ethel Carrick-Fox and Rupert Bunny. The exhibition’s key works include light-filled landscapes and seascapes, magnificent portraiture and images that reflect aspects of modern life in the day – leisure, cities, and intimate depictions of women and children. American Impressionism and Realism: A Landmark Exhibition from The Met |
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Greatest Assets
Daphne Pirie (nee Welch) MBE has enjoyed a long and stellar career as an Australian athlete and as a sports administrator. One of eight children – from a family boasting six boys and two girls – Daphne Pirie came to love sport at an early age. By the time Daphne married Mick Pirie in 1958 she had settled into a routine of ‘running in summer, playing hockey in the winter, and working at Whatmore’s Sports store in between.’ The young couple met through the Valley Hockey Club in Brisbane – Daphne had been instrumental in getting the women’s club up and running after its disbandment during WWII. “We got married at the Albert St Methodist Church,” says Daphne. “As we left the chapel all our hockey friends held up a guard of honour of hockey sticks for us to walk under.” The young couple started a manufacturing business on the Gold Coast, and after the birth of their first son Daphne started to develop her career in sports administration. It’s a workout just reading her tally of medals and sporting accomplishments, and is obvious the multiple administrative roles Daphne has held throughout her 76 years would have long ago exhausted a less devoted sports advocate. “I just love it – and I’ve been privileged to have such great opportunities come my way over the years,” says Daphne. Founding President of Womensport Queensland, President of the Gold Coast Sporting Hall of Fame and an active member of the Queensland Academy of Sport, Daphne also holds life memberships with Hockey Australia, Women’s Hockey Australia and Hockey Queensland. A director of Queensland Events Gold Coast and advisory board member of the Queensland Sporting Wheelies, Daphne received an MBE in 1989 for services to hockey and more recently, was honoured by Womensport Queensland in 2006, being granted their inaugural award for ‘Contribution to Sport’. During her busiest days as an athlete in the 1950’s, Daphne held various roles including Captain and Vice Captain of the Queensland and Australian women’s hockey teams, and Queensland Track and Field team. Her multi-disciplinarian sporting skills were later applied to golf, and in 1982 Daphne introduced a Golf Fitness program to elite junior female golfers on the Gold Coast. This benefited the likes of well-known players including Corine Dibnah, Karrie Webb and Rachael Hetherington, who have gone on to become high-earning professional players. “In the early days you were proud to be an amateur – we weren’t allowed to get money or presents,” says Daphne. “We went to Perth for the Hockey Championships, and it took six days to get there by train, and we had to pay for our own ticket,” she says. However Daphne is adamant that times have changed for Australian athletes. “If we want our athletes to be up with the rest of the world, we have to be willing to invest in them,” says Daphne. “The Sydney Olympics in 2000 made the world stand up and take notice of Australia and our athletes, but even though the Hockeyroos (the Australian women’s hockey team) won gold and were unanimously voted ‘Best Australian Team’, they have had difficulty in attracting a significant corporate sponsor since then,” she says. “As a sports administrator you realise how vital the development, remuneration and retention of quality athletes and officials is to ensuring Australia remains internationally competitive. “That’s one of the reasons I love my role with Queensland Events – they have done so well in supporting sports such as triathlon and marathon, enabling our home-grown athletes the opportunity to compete and be recognised on home ground,” she says. Competition and recognition are still part of Daphne’s own personal sporting career. While health setbacks in recent years have seen her ‘slow down’ in the running lane, she says she is ‘itching to get back into training’. A world-ranked Masters Games athlete, Daphne says role such as advisory board member for the Australian University Games really fired up her determination to compete again. “As a sprinter, every time I see a track I just want to get out on it,” she says. “The good thing with Masters Athletics is the older you get the less competition there seems to be!” There’s no doubt this girl’s got a few more medals to win yet. |
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Regional Spotlight
The walk started as a private pilgrimage in 2005 by Rory and his cousin Hague Best. The men were amazed at how quickly the event was embraced by the public, with today’s walkers a diverse group of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, locals and tourists. Rory believes the event appeals for many reasons, including this rare ability to bring together almost all corners of the community in a relaxed setting that encourages conversation and open mindedness. “It’s a non-confrontational way to learn about the Yugambeh language region and the many tales of local Aboriginal characters,” he says. He thinks it is important to hold an event to celebrate an Indigenous man and the local Aboriginal history but is quick to point out this history is a shared one. “White history does not exist in isolation from Aboriginal history,” he says. “I want non-Indigenous people to know about how their community formed and the walk teaches them in an interesting and engaging way.” Talking is a big part of the walk. As Rory explains, “My relatives do it as an excuse to catch up, enjoy nice food and tell big stories. “Walking is a great backdrop for having a yack. “As we tell Drumley’s iconic story, people begin to understand what life was like for Aboriginal people in his area. “In a non-confronting way, people learn about the frontier wars, removal policies and the real impacts it had on families that still live in the area.” Billy Drumley, while a gentle man, was a strict disciplinarian who believed in education. It’s fitting then that this walk is helping a diverse audience learn more about history, culture and each other. This year, a British tourist joined the walk, while a Melbourne group plans their Queensland holiday around the event. A Gold Coast judge joined the walk to interact with Indigenous youth, while a group of Muslims came to learn about community history. Local schools reward gifted and talented students by sending them on the walk while police send ‘kids at risk’ along for a positive experience of ‘hard yakka’. Rory says that last year’s walk included a team, with four children in tow, which travelled more than 2000 kilometres from the Mornington Peninsula in the Gulf of Carpentaria. “They walked barefoot,” Rory says. “And thought it was wickedly cold – they wore jumpers while the rest of us were sweltering in t-shirts.” Messages aside, Rory insists the walk is really about ‘just good fun’. “This is just a straight-out celebration of an ordinary man who left an extraordinary legacy. And it reminds us that strong communities need men and women to stand up tall and act responsibly as Drumley did,” he says. Drumley Walk |
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Queensland Events Gold Coast Update The tourism impact of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon was once again highlighted by the overall entry increase of 2,386 people (11 percent up on last year), the 5,578 entrants from interstate and 1,948 from overseas. More than 15,000 entrants came from outside of the Gold Coast. The full 42.2km Gold Coast Airport Marathon drew a record field of 4,106 runners, the third largest field in Australian marathon history, with 26-year-old Chebor and 32-year-old Shelley breaking the finisher’s tape. Chebor scored a 4 minute 48 second victory over Victorian Shane Nankervis (2:16:46) and New Zealand’s Matt Smith (2:16:51). Nankervis’ second position saw him claim the Oceania Marathon Championship from his Kiwi counterpart. Lauren Shelley’s last-stride win improved on two previous runner-up finishes in this event in 2005 and 2007 and gave her the Oceania Marathon Championship title, while Schmidt finished one place higher than last year with her second placing and the honour of being Queensland Marathon Champion. Earlier in the morning Tanzanian Dickson Marwa (1:02:09) took out the Asics Half Marathon in another thrilling race that saw only seconds separating the first three finishers. In a blanket finish, defending champion Michael Shelley of the Gold Coast was second despite setting a personal best time of 1:02:10 while 2006 race winner Martin Dent of the ACT finished third, also in a personal best of 1:02:16. Maintaining the trend of personal bests, Victoria’s Lisa-Jane Weightman smashed her personal best by well over a minute in winning the women’s Asics Half Marathon in a time of 1:10:42. Brisbane’s Cassie Fien was second (1:12:24) while 2008 Gold Coast Airport Marathon champion Shireen Crumpton of New Zealand was third (1:14:05) over the shorter distance. Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Wheelchair Marathon Champion Kurt Fearnley backed up his favouritism in the Asics Wheelchair Half Marathon with an emphatic win in 45:21. Triple Olympian Lee Troop took out the Southern Cross University 10km Run in 29:28 before immediately heading back to the start line to take up his duty as a 2:24 pace runner in the full marathon which started 15 minutes after his 10km finish. Rising Queensland runner Clare Geraghty won the women’s Southern Cross University 10km Run in an impressive time of 34:25 after taking a year off with injuries that included three back and two foot fractures. In the Queensland Health Junior Dash, Sam Underwood from Burbank (8:19) and Riko Kakihana from Japan (8:42) won the 2.25km race for boys and girls respectively, while Dylan Nankivell from Tannum Sands (12:51) and Brigitte Fischer from Yaroomba (14:17) won the 4km race. Dylan’s win in a blanket finish from Patrick Tiernan was only one second outside the race record. This year’s Corporate Teams Challenge proved a major success with 42 teams eligible for the prizes provided by sponsor MyFun.com.au. The prize for the Largest Team was awarded to Team Health with 628 participants, and they also won the award for Most Kilometres Travelled with a total of 8,535km on the day. In the Fitness Teams Challenge, the Largest Team went to Curves Gold Coast with 150 participants while the Most Kilometres Travelled was 1168.24km by the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre. There were 11 more people inducted into the 20 Year Club this year, taking the total membership to 43. This honour goes to people who have completed 20 of the same event in Gold Coast Airport Marathon history. John Wishart from Peregian Beach also became the first person in Gold Coast Airport Marathon history to have completed 30 Gold Coast Marathons. John finished the 42.2km journey in 4:29:46 to have recorded a total of 1,265km run at the event over the 30 years. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh was happy with her performance finishing the Asics Half Marathon in 2:12:16, while the winner of Tourism Queensland’s ‘Best Job in the World’ Ben Southall from the UK crossed the line in 1:42:56. In more great news, more than $100,000 was raised for charity through the Everyday Hero website including official charities Cancer Council Queensland and Transplant Australia. Marathon entrant James Hines from Melbourne was the leading fundraiser totalling over $10,000 and he finished in a time of 3:39:06. Queensland Events Gold Coast General Manager Cameron Hart praised his team including the 800-plus volunteers, 23,398 participants, thousands of crowd supporters and all the event sponsors for contributing to the best Gold Coast Airport Marathon yet. “The weather, the results, the atmosphere and the general running of the event was fantastic,” said Hart. “I congratulate the race winners who provided so many highlights from the day including the finish of the women’s Gold Coast Airport Marathon, men’s Asics Half Marathon and the boys in the 4km Queensland Health Junior Dash where it came right down to the final few metres. “However the real winners on the day were all the people who embraced the next step and made the start line for one of the events in beautiful Gold Coast weather conditions. “Bring on next year when we will celebrate the 2,500th anniversary of the original marathon with another world-class Gold Coast Airport Marathon.” The 2010 Gold Coast Airport Marathon will be held on Sunday 4 July, and will be staged once again from the Southport Broadwater Parklands. |
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Asia Pacific Screen Awards Update
The competition has seen a 20% increase so far in entries from 2008, a level of growth indicative of the region’s healthy 2008/2009 production slate. Maxine Williamson, Associate Producer of the Awards Competition said, “It is enormously gratifying to see the competition grow each year as awareness continues to develop amongst the film practitioners of Asia-Pacific. “The quality of entries for 2009 is remarkable with heavy-hitters from the Asia-Pacific region represented alongside new and emerging talents combined with official entries from countries that have not previously submitted such as Tajikistan, Mongolia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Yemen and Fiji. “I am particularly pleased to see the strength of the Documentary and Animated Feature categories. We currently have 29 documentary and 12 Animation entries from the region,” Ms Williamson said. Official Submitting Organisations in each country are encouraged to complete the submission process as soon as possible so as not to miss the deadline. Members of the APSA Nominations Council, a distinguished panel of international film industry experts, will arrive in Brisbane, Australia in late September to shortlist up to five nominees in nine award categories with winners being determined by the 2009 International Jury in November and announced at the Awards Ceremony on November 26. The APSAs acclaim, at a global level, the cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the vast Asia-Pacific region in a unique collaboration with CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF–International Federation of Film Producers Associations. In 2009, Awards will be presented for the following categories: Three additional major awards will be presented for outstanding achievement:
*Nominees and nominated films from all award categories are eligible for these prizes to be decided by the APSA Jury. Submission details are available at www.asiapacificscreenawards.com/filmentries FIND OUT WHAT’S ON AND WHERE! www.queenslandevents.com.au/events |
Following the recent appointment of Geoff Dixon as Chairman of Queensland Events Corporation Pty Ltd, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh recently announced a new board for the organisation.
From 30 May – 20 September 2009 Queensland is hosting a landmark exhibition of American paintings on loan from the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This is a never-to-be-repeated opportunity to see up-close treasures usually housed in The Metropolitan – a museum which receives more than five million visitors every year – right here in Queensland.
She was known as ‘the flying redhead’ – a passionate sprinter who by the age of 24 was unbeaten in some 40 open track and field championships throughout Queensland, and had secured a place on the Australian Women’s Hockey team.
The Drumley Walk is not a race or a competition. This three-day trek from Beaudesert to Southport, via Mount Tamborine and Nerang, is more of a celebration, says Rory O’Connor. Each August, Rory leads the 200 or so walkers on the walk through Aboriginal Yugambeh land that commemorates his great uncle, Billy Drumley (1853-1950). Billy, a Yugambeh man, was a local hero and community leader who took the 70-kilometre journey each year to check on his sister and her family. He did it in a day, even into his eighties. These days walkers take three, enjoying some of the state’s most scenic walking terrain, staying in local hotels and enjoying fine food.
On a day with glorious running conditions, 23,398 people greeted the starter’s gun across all events on the program – the 42.2km Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Asics Half Marathon, Southern Cross University 10km Run, Gold Coast Bulletin 5km Challenge and Queensland Health Junior Dash over 4km and 2.25km.
There are just four weeks to go until entries close for the third annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), with at least 50 countries vying for the region’s highest accolade in film. To date, APSA has taken receipt of over 120 film titles with 50 countries represented thus far. More than 200 titles are expected to enter before the cut off date: postmarked 24 August 2009.