Mr Koala from Cairo to Sydney

Mark Gordon | April 13, 2010

Firstly, it is the biggest FIG Congress ever, and it requires precise organisation to fit the overwhelming number of technical papers and events into the allotted time.

FIG2010 is the first “joint venture” between FIG and a local professional organisation (the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute). Organising Committee meetings were challenging due to the time difference between locations of Committee members: from Denmark to New Zealand. The 10 hour time difference meant that FIG Director Markku Villikka was getting to work just as we were knocking off. E-mails would therefore flurry late into the evening, and a midnight finish in Sydney was not uncommon.

It is also the first time that FIG has engaged a professional congress organiser (PCO), and the preparations for FIG2010 could not have proceeded so smoothly without that engagement. However, at the same time as our PCO Tour Hosts merged with Meeting Planners to become arinex, ISA merged with SSI to form SSSI. A major issue with money flow came as ISA was consequently put in voluntary liquidation and its funds frozen. This was only a minor concern to arinex, as their contract was not signed until 2010 and they had been operating for the previous four years on the basis of a smile and a handshake (although I did notice that they always counted their fingers afterwards!).

The GFC also made a difference. As the crisis hit, essential early cash flow through sponsorships dried up as larger companies waited to see which way the world would turn. To their credit, Leica Geosystems (the Titanium Sponsor), ESRI (the Platinum Sponsor) and Trimble (the Gold Sponsor) realised the value of being primarily associated with a Congress of this size. The support of all these organisations – in particular Leica Geosystems – was fundamental to the success for the Congress.

 

Promotion of this Congress was both different and sustained over a four year period. The introduction in Cairo of “Mr Koala” and the distribution of Koala lapel toys and Caramello Koalas were instrumental in the promotion of Sydney as the next Congress venue. Unfortunately those who donned the “Mr Koala” suit said it was an experience they would rather forget as, although happy on the outside, from the inside it was hot, sweaty and stank!

FIG has developed a focus on encouraging young surveyors, and the success of the FIG2010 “Young Ambassadors” Red Shirt Army promotional team prompted FIG to form the Young Surveyors Network. It should be mentioned here that the ranks of the Young Ambassadors also swelled in a way that was originally not anticipated by the (older) members of the organising committee. I threatened to rename them the “Young Rabbits” as five of them all took “time out” to expand their families, but these were all outshone by a sixth Young Ambassador and her “octuplet” birth of puppies. 

Overseas, the Congress was promoted at FIG Working Weeks in Munich, Stockholm, and Hong Kong, as well as regional events in Bali and Hanoi. When we were given a free promotion booth in Bali but had no-one to attend with a week to go, I telephoned Young Ambassador Kate Fairlie to see if she was interested. She sounded very excited about the prospect, to the extent that I had the distinct impression that she had already changed into her bikini by the end of the phone call! Promotion of the Congress at InterGEO 2007 in Munich resulted in an invitation for 3 FIG2010 representatives to attend, fully funded, InterGEO 2009 in Karlsruhe, Germany. This sponsorship provided the last opportunity in Europe to promote the Congress. In return, Congress Director Paul Harcombe presented the InterGEO organiser with a genuine Australian aboriginal boomerang (what a bargain!), on the proviso that the boomerang “returns” to Sydney for FIG2010.

As the Congress drew nearer, the expertise of arinex and the broad and solid experience of FIG in organising major international events shone through. Nevertheless, budgetary difficulties in sponsoring representatives from small island developing nations and problems with Visas for some of the third world members of FIG have proven to be challenging. However, the success of the FIG2010 Congress can be attributed to a diverse international team and their supporters who had their sights set firmly and unwaveringly on a common goal. Well done, team: I am sure that everybody will enjoy your Congress.