Double The Numbers & Double The Impact
Advertising, marketing and media industry event Cannes in Cairns returned to Tropical North Queensland in May 2023 with a staggering 650 additional delegates, doubling the size of their 2022 event. Building on the success of 2022, the conference and festival of events coincided with National Reconciliation Week and featured indigenous themes and content overlaid into the entire program.
Event organiser, Dan Uglow said Cairns was the perfect destination for a return event as the city offered exceptional convention spaces and new off-site venues. This enabled Cannes in Cairns to cater to an audience that had been to the region previously and loved getting away from the southern cold.
OVERLAYING INDIGENOUS THEMES
A substantial portion of the program content centred around Indigenous affairs and the Voice to Parliament. Local Yidinydi representatives from Minjil provided connection to country, welcoming guests to Cairns/Gimuy. Speakers included Stan Grant, who was connected via video link through the Convention Centre’s state-of-the-art AV and received a standing ovation for his passionate presentation on the importance of Indigenous representation in the media, Tanya Denning-Orman, Director of Indigenous Content at SBS and Jake Thomson, Head of the Aboriginal Health Television Network. Australian Indigenous rapper Nooky, the founder of the inspirational platform We Are Warriors, spoke of the need to put a spotlight on Indigenous role models and elevate successes. Editor-in-chief of Rolling Stone AU/NZ Poppy Reid led a fireside chat with members of the rock band King Stingray.
Spreading the Love
Exploring diverse and unique avenues for fun was essential to the event’s overall success, with Cairns providing opportunities for conference sponsors to create out-of-the-box experiences for large and small gatherings of delegates, including a beach dinner at Nu Nu, the exclusive Cannes in Cairns Yacht with Parisienne DJ Safire, VIP brewery dinner at Hemingway’s, cocktail parties at Crystalbrook Rocco, seafood for days on the iconic Prawn Star and the TikTok takeover of the Cairns Party Bus.
History on Display
The event’s large-scale ‘special’ moment was bringing delegates together for the Pinterest-sponsored ‘Pinchella’ Welcome Party held at the Tanks Arts Centre – a historical venue featuring three WWII oil tanks within the Cairns Botanic Gardens. The evening was transformed into a whimsical neon wonderland catered by local restaurant Nu Nu and featured indigenous foods and entertainment by one of Australia’s coolest bands, King Stingray, who reportedly blew the roof off.
Looking to 2024…
With Cairns locked in for 2024 and expectations that delegate numbers will reach up to 2000 across Asia Pacific, Dan Uglow from The Misfits advised sponsors are already fighting for sponsorship opportunities with many already locked in!
