ODMA calls for tenders to stage 2017 exhibition in Sydney

It’s now three months since ODMA held its annual general meeting on 11 Novber, but there rain a number of matters that mbers may well consider warrant explanation to th by the outgoing duumvirate consisting of the chief executive officer and the then chairman and now the new duumvirate consisting of the CEO and the new chairman who was elected unopposed at the AGM.Matters that have yet to be explained to ODMA mbers include the CEO’s three months leave of absence; the dands in order for a return to work, which were rejected; the reasons for the resignations of three long-serving directors of the organisation last year, followed by another director’s resignation a short time after being elected to the position at the AGM.Furthermore, there has been no explanation of why it was decided to spend 73 per cent of the organisation’s net worth on a product-reference book, The Eyetalk Reference Guide, without consulting the mbership at large, raising the question of what is the ‘undertaking’ of ODMA to its mbers and whether the purchase of the goodwill of Eyetalk is within the organisation’s undertaking (in its morandum and articles of association) or outside of it. If it is the latter, then issues of corporate governance could arise.Like most companies, ODMA’s morandum and articles give its board of directors wide powers to act on behalf of is mbers; they also bring responsibilities for directors’ actions.But the most intriguing question that rains unanswered is why did the organiser of ODMA2013 and ODMA2015, Expertise Events, refuse to tender for ODMA2017 unless there was a change in the behaviour of ODMA’s governance and overall behaviour? After all, it is not often that such an organiser walks away from further exhibitions after two successful ones, particularly when attendees had given the thumbs up for the organisation and the conduct of both of th.What will no doubt interest ODMA mbers, potential exhibition organisers and, later down the track, attendees will be the costs involved in staging an exhibition at the International Conventional Centre in Sydney versus the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Brisbane, the venue for the successful ODMA 2013 and ODMA2015 exhibitions.Both exhibitions were held in Brisbane because the International Conventional Centre in Sydney was closed for a massive rebuild and extension, with attendees, including an expanded attendance group from throughout Queensland, reporting favourably on the Brisbane venue in post-exhibition surveys in both instances.While the costs associated with hiring the Sydney venue may be known, other costs associated with an exhibition there rain unknown – details of add-on costs for both exhibitors and attendees, such as stand-building, catering on the floor of the exhibition, functions such as the Saturday evening dinner and parking for exhibitors and attendees are not yet known. Parking alone is likely to be 20-50 per cent more than previous rates.Observers say the add-on costs, such as the Saturday evening dinner, could be as much as 50 per cent higher in Sydney than was the case in Brisbane.And they also point to the substantial subsidy from the Queensland government in 2013 and 2015, that will not be provided in New South Wales.