THIS week we met with industry insiders at the Business 101 Seminar: The Essentials of Live Music, held in Sydney.
With musicians, promoters, nightclub owners, regulators and council officials delivering speeches, attention focused on sustaining and boosting the live music scene in New South Wales.
From a Gig Buddies Sydney perspective, being part of a vibrant Sydney music scene – along with building relationships with relevant stakeholders – is central to the successful delivery of our business model.
L to R: Nathan Farrell, Meg Williams, Emily Collins and Damian Cunningham
With Australia being the 6th biggest consumer of music in the world, with New South Wales home to 32% of Australia’s live pub and music venues (bringing in $390ml to state coffers), helping to get our brand out to the community is part of our ongoing vision.
Additionally, as a not-for-profit organisation that relies on financial handouts, gaining industry insight for future grant submissions and engaging with business leaders will enable us to successfully deliver on our aims.
Away from the thriving local scene, we’re also conscientious of the cost involved in attending a gig and, as a not-for-profit that relies on volunteers and paying gig buddies, we’re keen to explore avenues of potentially cheaper tickets for our service users.
During the night the speakers discussed the importance of building relationships and doing things properly - and in an efficient manner. As per Gig Buddies Sydney protocols, interviewing volunteers and participants, delivering the necessary training and pairing people takes time, but we endeavor to adhere to the words delivered on the night. (News on our first Gig Buddies Sydney pairing will be available in due course).
With follow-up meets penciled in our diary, and with ongoing behind-the-scenes efforts’ from Gig Buddies Sydney CEO, Carol Smail, and project coordinator, Sean Willenberg, we continue in our quest to provide support to people with disabilities – enabling them to be part of Sydney’s live music scene.
Matthew Collins
Gig Buddies Sydney Social Media Coordinator
matt@assistcom.org