ORDINARY MEETING 7 · 2 Cairns Festival Household Response Survey Compass Research B 3 Cairns Festival Feedback Marketing and Communications C ... The above proposal for Cairns Festival

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Agenda – Ordinary Meeting 30 October 2013 - #4129585

ORDINARY MEETING

30 OCTOBER 2013 7

CAIRNS FESTIVAL – 2013 EVALUATION REPORT AND OPTIONS FOR FUTURE MANAGEMENT

Lesley Buckley: 1/60/21-05: #4156907

RECOMMENDATION:

That Council:

a) Receives and notes the attached 2013 Cairns Festival Evaluation Report;b) Approves progressing with 2014 Cairns Festival based on the program

format of the 2013 Festival; andc) Approves the continued use of the Council in-house Festival delivery team

to deliver the 2014 Festival as per the proposed festival schedule as outlined in this report.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The 2013 Cairns Festival Evaluation Report (Attachment 1) is for information purposes, and contains a post-event summary, audience evaluation and demographic data, key performance measurements and forward planning recommendations for the 2014 Cairns Festival.

The evaluative report has been compiled from qualitative and quantitative assessments prepared by interdivisional units of Council (Creative Partnerships and the Cairns Festival Team; Marketing and Communications and Inner Cities Facilities), together with external consultants Compass Research, to evaluate (a) festival attendance; (b) community satisfaction and (c) operational procedures.

The Festival evaluation shows that the Cairns Festival continues to be a much loved community event with the capacity to grow an ever-increasing local and national audience. It is estimated that approximately 82,000 people attended 43 individual events over the nine-day Festival program, with audience participation and sponsor feedback extremely positive and community involvement strong.

The Cairns Festival Team has successfully achieved all goals and performance targets.The transition to a new model for 2013 which now positions the Festival as a traditional, local and community-based celebration has been highly successful. The reduction in festival days from 17 to a nine day program has had limited impact on audience numbers (a 25 percent decrease).

These encouraging factors need to be offset by the fact that sponsorship investment in the Festival has significantly dropped by almost 85 percent since 2012.

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Key learnings with regard to building sponsorship, as well as development issues in media and marketing, clearly identify the need for (a) improved sponsorship management, (b) a comprehensive marketing and communications plan and (c) an adequate budget including sufficient human resources to facilitate continuous improvement.

The budget outcome for the 2013 Festival was:

In line with Council’s need to determine the future management structure of the Cairns Festival, the following report also provides Council with options for the future management of the Festival beyond 2013, as well the advantages and disadvantages of each of the options for consideration.

This report also puts forward the preferred option, which is to continue with the current operational structure, where the Cairns Festival is continued to be managed and delivered internally by Council’s in-house Festival team.

BACKGROUND:

Council is advised that the attached Cairns Festival Evaluation Report (Attachment 1) has been compiled from the following qualitative and quantitative reports.

# Title Who Appendix

1 Cairns Festival Objectives, Performance Measures and Targets

Creative Partnerships A

2 Cairns Festival Household Response Survey Compass Research B

3 Cairns Festival Feedback Marketing and Communications

C

4 Cairns Festival Sponsorship Report Marketing and Communications

D

5 Assessment of Cairns Festival Marketing Marketing and Communications

E

6 Inner City Facilities Events Report Inner City Facilities F

7 Carnival on Collins Eco-footprint Calculation Sustainability and Climate Change

G

8 Assessment of the Paradise on Esplanade Attendance and Operations

Creative Partnerships H

Copies of the above-listed documents are appended to the attached evaluative report for Council’s perusal.

Council is also advised that prior to 2009, the management and operation of the Cairns Festival was outsourced to private event companies. In 2009, Council resolved to manage the Festival internally for the period 2010 to 2013 inclusive.

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During this time there has been significant expansion in the programming, production and promotion, the delivery of which has been achieved with the employment of two full-time staff in the roles of Festival Producer and Administration Officer.

The contracts for these positions end on the 28 February 2014 and 29 November 2013 respectively and Council now needs to determine the future management of the Cairns Festival beyond 2013.

COMMENT:

The attached Cairns Festival Evaluation Report (Attachment 1) shows that the 2013 Cairns Festival successfully delivered a diverse and community engaging festival season. Feedback from audience, participants and sponsors has been extremely positive and community involvement has proved strong for key aspects such as the Grand Parade as well as new events such as Fields of Fire and the Festival Concert.

The transition to a new model for 2013, which now positions the Festival as a traditional, local and community based celebration, has been highly successful. The reduction in festival days from 17 to a nine day program has had limited impact on audience numbers, which have decreased from 2012 by 25 percent.

Although this is encouraging in terms of growth potential, there is a problem in that sponsorship investment in the Festival has significantly dropped by almost 85 percent since 2012.

Key learnings in regard to building sponsorship, as well as development issues in media and marketing, clearly identify the need for (a) improved sponsorship management, (b) a comprehensive marketing and communications plan and (c) an adequate budget including sufficient human resources to facilitate continuous improvement.

Community requests for ‘improvements’ to the Parade, as well as a desire for more entertainment and music across the festival season, point to the need to incorporate new and contemporary performances and activities.

Key Milestones of the 2013 Cairns Festival include:

Approximately 82,000 people attended 43 individual events over the nine day Festival program.Overall 90 per cent of survey respondents were happy with the Festival and 91 per cent had attended between one and five events.Approximately 69 per cent were likely to recommend future Cairns Festival events to friends and/or colleagues.The most popular events were the Grand Parade, Carnival on Collins, Fields of Fire and the Festival Concert, with The Fields of Fire event attracting national media attention.$28,500 in cash support was pledged from local sponsors (with $25,000 received to date and $2,750 invoiced but awaiting payment) as well as an estimated $92,590 in-kind support.Website and Facebook figures represent a tenfold increase on pre-Festival activityThe reduction in Festival days from 17 to a nine-day program of events and activities has had limited impact on audience numbers (a 25 percent decrease).

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2013 Cairns Festival Budget Performance:

The Cairns Festival budget For 2013 Festival can be seen below.

Proposed 2014 Schedule

The below proposed 2014 Cairns Festival schedule identifies the current key events and timeframe for 2014.

The above proposal for Cairns Festival 2014 is to retain a nine-day format commencing on Sat 29 August with the Grand Parade & Fireworks, through until Sunday 7 Sept finishing with Carnival on Collins:

In light of this year’s budget cuts it is proposed that all events, performances and workshops would be concentrated within the festival hub on the Esplanade. This would develop an intensified program that offers a diverse range of centralised activities without diluting the existing budget by trying to program new events at multiple sites which would increase infrastructure and logistical costs.

Sat 30 Aug

Sun 31 Aug

Mon 1 Sep

Tue 2 Sep

Wed 3 Sep

Thu 4 Sep

Fri 5 Sep

Sat 6 Sep

Sun 7 Sep

Esplanade Festival Hub

Grand Parade & Fireworks

Children’s Festival

Food Event

Chalk the Walk

Festival Concert

Cane Fire Event

Carnival on Collins

Esplanart

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Interdepartmental collaboration and partnerships with Creative Partnerships;Marketing and Communications; Inner City Facilities; TANKs Art Centre;Botanical Gardens; and the Civic Theatre is seen as a pivotal element todelivering a vibrant festival.

It is to be noted that CIAF is to be scheduled for 24 – 27 July 2014 and the Amateurs will be scheduled for the 12 – 14 September 2014, therefore neither of these events fall within the proposed Festival dates.

Future Management Options

In line with Council’s need to determine a model for the future management of the Cairns Festival, the following options put forward cases for either retaining the current management arrangement or outsourcing the Festival for a fee-for-service contract.

Option 1 is to continue with the current operational structure, wherein the Cairns Festival is managed and delivered internally by Council’s in-house Festival team.Potential advantages and disadvantages of this model include:

Advantages DisadvantagesThe professional experience and knowledge of the existing staff in event development and delivery.

Overtaxing staff if not resourced appropriately and consequent effects upon delivery of other projects before, during and after the actual event.

Retention of staff expertise and corporate knowledge of the event as well as continuity for the development of relationships with existing and potential new corporate sponsors-stakeholders.

Council does not have the same sponsorship flexibility as an outside contractor because of procurement policies.

Positive PR benefits in terms of the delivery of a successful Council initiative.

Difficult to get sponsorship as businesses see the Festival as a Council activity.

Ability to align outputs with Council’s core business.

Inability to roll over budget, so event budget is at risk if not spent at the appropriate time.

Development of a regional program that doesn’t compete with other activities and events.

The overall slowness of Council in managing staffing issues or processes.

Ability to retain established links across Council and pooling of resources across branches ie Esplanade, Creative Partnerships, Creative Venues, Marketing and Communications.Greater continuity with the new directions set by Council through 2013 Festival.Cost-effective in terms of cost-sharing, shared staff expertise and use of Council- owned equipment.

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Option 2 The second option would use the 2013 event specification to produce tender documentation to outsource delivery of the Festival under a fee-for-service contract.

The process for outsourcing would be undertaken in accordance with Council’s procurement policy which sets out Council’s policy for the acquisition of goods and services and adherence to the “Sound Contracting Principles” as stipulated by the Local Government Act 2009. Potential advantages and disadvantages of this option include:

Advantages DisadvantagesOpportunity to test market response. Risk of an unsuccessful tender process

and consequent loss of time in regard to the preparation of the 2014 Festival.

Potential for more flexibility in negotiating sponsorship deals and partnership arrangements than Council.

Loss of current staff expertise and corporate knowledge of the event.

Potential for less arduous purchasing requirements and more flexibility in delivery process.

Loss of public recognition for Council’scontribution to the Festival. In previous years, Cairns Festival was largely billed as a Pacific Toyota event, even though Council contributed the majority of the funding and presented most of the significant events.

An external organisation with significant experience and networks in delivering festivals may be better placed to pool resources by building on other international festival events.

Potential for less Council control over presentation values.

Potential for Council to save money on staffing and resources.

Potentially less capacity to adapt to unexpected changes or opportunities. Less motivation to link the Festival with Council’s broader strategic objectives.

Conclusion

Option 1The first and preferred option is to continue with the current operational structure, wherein the Cairns Festival is managed and delivered by Council’s in-house Festival team.

This option presents a number of benefits in that it has been tried and tested over the past five years. From 2009 to 2013 inclusive, the internal Festival team has been the successful driver of the Cairns Festival. Therefore, this option is seen to provide greater continuity, with systems and experienced staff in place to produce and deliver the new Festival direction set by Council for 2014.

This management model also presents continuity in the development of relationships with existing and potential corporate sponsors and stakeholders. It also retains the collaborative links and shared resources that have been built across Council units with key partners such as Creative Partnerships, Creative Venues, Marketing and Communications and Inner City Facilities. These partnerships and collaborations have been pivotal to the successful delivery of Cairns Festival.

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Option 2The second option would use the 2013 event specification to produce tender documentation to outsource delivery of the Festival under a fee-for-service contract.

Although the fee-for-service model has the potential to provide cost benefits, the very nature of this kind of arrangement creates elements of risk in that it places full reliance on a sole individual or entity to drive and deliver Council’s current level of excellence as a producer. The benefits of outsourcing the Festival for a fee-for-service contract would be heavily reliant on the capacity and experience of an external provider.

In order to strategically link the Festival with Council’s broader strategic directions, the preferred course of action, irrespective of which model is adopted, would be to facilitate positive momentum for the Festival by maximising links with business and tourism investment.

CONSULTATION:

Creative Partnerships and Cairns Festival Team; Marketing and Communication;Creative Venues;Inner Cities Facilities; andCouncillor Workshops.

CONSIDERATIONS:

Risk Management (including financials):

Cairns Festival Operational budget has been allocated for the 2013 and 2014 Festival season.

Corporate and Operational Plans:

Corporate Plan

The Festival meets the Strategic Goals of Council’s Corporate Plan, specifically Strategic Action 1.3.

Cultural Plan

Strategy 3.3: Implement a bold, progressive events management arrangement, which includes a professional Artistic Director to manage and operate Cairns Festival.

Strategy 8: Develop strong vibrant urban centres that embrace our cultural diversity and continually strive to improve accessibility and safety in the region.

Statutory:

There are no statutory considerations.

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Policy:

Arts and Culture Policy 1:06:23: To be a more vibrant, progressive and collaborative community, working together to achieve greater local, national and international recognition for the unique and culturally diverse artistic excellence of our region and its distinctive, tropical lifestyle.

Sustainability:

Community: The continuation of the current operational structure, wherein the Festivalis managed and delivered internally, will deliver an improved and more accessible Festival program.

Governance and economic management: The Festival has been successfully coordinated internally under this structure since 2009. This arrangement is seen to provide greater continuity with systems and highly experienced staff already in place to deliver the new Festival direction set by Council in 2013.

Options:

Option 1: (Recommended). Continue with the current operational structure, wherein the Cairns Festival is managed and delivered internally by Council’s in-house Festival team;

or

Option 2: Use the 2013 event specification to produce tender documentation to outsource delivery of the Festival under a fee-for-service contract.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment 1: 2013 Cairns Festival Evaluation Report (#4160512)

Lesley BuckleyCultural Planner

Terri Golding-ClarkeTeam Leader Creative Partnerships

Kerrie StillA/General Manager Community Sport and Cultural Services

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Attachment 1: 2013 Cairns Festival Evaluation Report

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Documents

ORDINARY MEETING 7 · 2 Cairns Festival Household Response Survey Compass Research B 3 Cairns Festival Feedback Marketing and Communications C ... The above proposal for Cairns Festival