Her multi-region role was also a learning curve, moving into different regions and venue types, from major arenas and stadiums to convention centres.
“I probably thought an event is an event, and it isn’t,” she says.
“There’s big events and much smaller events. And of course, we know big events really well here. But moving into a Suncorp Stadium or Qudos Bank Arena, for example, was a whole new world.”
Guesdon says the transition was a bit terrifying at the time.
“You don’t know what you don’t know until you’re immersed in it,” she says. “That was probably a big learning curve for me; one of my best learning curves as well but a good opportunity to understand the business across all event and venue types.”
With COVID turning many large venues into vaccination centres, it again offered a different perspective from a venue operations standpoint. “I thought I knew a lot about BCEC operations, and I did, but you learn different things.”
It all led her to the general manager role at BCEC.
“That was probably the most terrifying part, to be very frank, because while there’s some internal focus, predominantly the focus is then external. That’s a whole new world, understanding all the moving parts and how they work together. The effort and the science and the strategy that actually goes into winning events and bringing them to the city, it’s just mind-blowing.”
But it’s a great time for the industry, Guesdon says, with the value of business events being fully recognised and understanding the value and legacy of conferencing, calling it a catalyst for change. Arguably, no event will bring alegacy quite like the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“For Brisbane and by default, Australia, the opportunities that that can bring us as a stage, a city, and a nation.”
Brisbane, she says, was watching the Paris event with a keen eye, leading into preparations.
“One of the first functions that I attended after Andrew Liveris was appointed [Brisbane Organising Committee president], he said, ‘Brisbane, you’ve got a long way to go yet but I’m going to put to you that you’ve got 10 years to go, and you need to think of it in terms of three plus three plus three plus one years.’ So Brisbane is in the third of the first set of three years.
“That’s the foundational stuff. Preparing our mindset, our businesses, what we need to understand, what actions we need to take. I loved him chunking that down to get some perspective for us all because I feel exhausted already,” she says, adding the next three years will offer the strongest opportunities.
“It’s a lot ahead. And of course we run our businesses, very successfully, I might add, but alongside that is all this Olympic opportunity and activity.”
One key target is for the city to have the most accessible and most walkable Games with a surge in improving accessibility not just to BCEC, but beyond.
Olympic Games aside, she says the convention centre is always finding ways to improve and exceed expectations.
“I know that sounds cliche, but we’ve done exceptionally well,” she says, citing a record year since opening, this recent year as its second-best since opening and a repeat event rate of nearly 70 per cent.
“You don’t do that without being consistent and delivering super experiences for everybody,” she says, adding that once a planner visits, they almost always contract to the venue.
“We’ve got this special feel about our city, and that is in our venue. That’s part of the surprise, the way we deliver events. The city’s a really friendly place, and we capitalise on that friendly professionalism, how the city collaborates to wrap a big fat heart around them when they’re here,” she adds.
One of her key reminders, she says, is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, you need to stretch yourself. She adds that looking outside the industry as well as to the younger generation is a great way to keep learning.
“It’s easy not to do because it’s a whole different world. I’m trying hard to open my mind to that because my default is, I grew up in the school of hard knocks, and you eat concrete. So it’s hard to see through or see around, but it’s up to us to lead the way. So, I’m trying really hard to think about that.”
