It Is Night-Time. There Is a Crowd in an Open, City Area. There Are Buildings and a Large

DESCRIPTION: It is night-time. There is a crowd in an open, city area. There are buildings and a large cruise ship. The crowd are cheering and clapping. Some are waving flags. On a large screen in front of them are the New Zealand rugby team. They are wearing their black team jackets and shirts, and have medals around their necks. They are clapping and cheering. There is a member of the rugby team holding a gold trophy and shaking hands with an official man in a suit and tie. He holds the trophy above his head, and there is cheering.

DESCRIPTION: There is a woman with blonde hair standing behind a podium, speaking. The podium has a white, rectangular front, with a logo and words the top left and lower right corners. The woman speaking behind the podium is wearing a black jacket. There is a round, white-coloured logo on the left side of her jacket. On the other side is a circular, yellow badge with the words ‘Be. accessible’ on it. Behind her are grey curtains. Beside her is a computer screen. On the other side of her is a sign language interpreter. She is signing. She has dark blonde hair that is tied back. She is wearing a khaki-coloured top and jacket. Her pants are black.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: An incredibly poignant transformative moment in New Zealand history was captured there by the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: Now, my topic that I've decided to focus on today is the notion of transformation. And that of transformational events. Events that transform lives. Events that transform economies.

DESCRIPTION: There is a photograph of a smiling Nelson Mandela against a white background. Behind him is a flag that is green and yellow. He is wearing a white business shirt with a light purple and pink tie. Over his shirt is a black vest, and over that, he has on a light grey, lightly patterned, plaid jacket. Underneath the photograph is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: Nelson Mandela, the face of apartheid, the face of transformation. What an incredibly courageous leader.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking on stage. The female sign language interpreter is signing beside her.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: What I learned through that whole experience of the Springbok tour - and the fact that several years later, apartheid actually did come to an end, and the fact that Nelson Mandela and others said that events such as the protest and little old New Zealand at the bottom of the world helped to contribute to the social change in a country on the opposite side of the world - people can create transformational events.

DESCRIPTION: There is a photographic scene of a lit-up Sydney city and the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge under a dusk sky. The Sydney Opera House is lit up in a blue light. The Sydney Harbour Bridge has the Olympic Games symbol (five linked circles) lit up in its middle. Underneath the photograph is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

DESCRIPTION: There is a photograph of the Olympic swimming pool with red lane separator ropes. A man is swimming. He has a shaved, bald head, and is wearing a black swimsuit and black goggles. There is another man above him, in the process of diving into the pool. On his left leg, below the knee is missing. He is wearing a sleeveless, black swimsuit that reaches his ankle. He has on goggles with white straps. Underneath the photograph is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: A moment in time that, again, had a transformational effect. Again, perhaps those involved with the Sydney Olympics don't necessarily know the incredible impact, the ripples around the world of an event like that. And it was the place of athletes with disability on the world stage to perform at the highest level.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking on stage. Standing beside her is a new sign language interpreter. He is signing. He has a shaved, bald head. He is wearing grey shirt and black pants.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: The London Olympics perhaps could not have reached the height they reached without the Sydney Olympics having gone ahead of them and led the way.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: Mark presented this model that if we were to really transform the world around us, it wasn't enough just to look at the physical environment. It wasn't enough just to look at the social or the personal. The key was when those three elements come together. And we thought to ourselves what event, what opportunity is going to present itself in New Zealand in the next few years? It had to be rugby. Nothing unites New Zealanders quite like rugby.

DESCRIPTION: There are some images on a white background. At the top left is a yellow-coloured quarter circle with the words ‘Be. quation’ in black text. Underneath that is a wheelchair access symbol in blue, a grey ‘+’, a red heart, a grey ‘+’, a grey ‘8’, a grey ‘+’, and a rugby ball with the underlined word ‘GILBERT’ across it. Underneath is a grey ‘=’, and a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking on stage. The male sign language interpreter is signing beside her.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: You add to that a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity, a little bit of No.8 wire, and the fact that we may not do it in a beautiful way, but we’ll find a way to do it. We’ll problem solve. Innovation, creativity is absolutely key.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: For the first time ever, there was actually a budget that had "accessibility" tagged to it. I had never ever seen that happen before. So we took that money and one of the things we did is come up with the "Be" brand. I could not tell you how powerful a brand could be until I'd gone through this process. I never understood the power of a brand to bring about social change. The brand is really simple. It’s a call to action. Let's Be. accessible.

DESCRIPTION: There are images against a white background. Across the top, in blue text, are the words ‘An access customer is a person who:’. Underneath are six orange circles. The top three orange circles have the words, respectively, ‘Is Deaf or has trouble hearing in noisy places’, ‘Is blind or has difficulty reading small print’, ‘Uses a wheelchair or is unable to walk easily’, in white text. Between these are grey silhouettes of a female with a guide dog, and an elderly person with a walking stick. The bottom three circles have the words, respectively, ‘Finds it difficult to read and understand things’, ‘Is carrying a child or has to manoeuvre a stroller’, ‘Is from a different country with a different language’, in white text. Between these are grey silhouettes of a man walking with his hands in his pocket, and a woman pushing a stroller. At the bottom is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: So what we did is we presented a slightly different lens. And we started to talk about people with access needs. And the reason we did that was we thought, "Well, what if we can start to frame this up in a way that actually everybody can relate to in some form or other?"

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: And so we started to use slightly different language and we started to realise that this was a compelling way of framing that gave people a way to relate to a subject that perhaps otherwise they felt nervous of or frightened of.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking on stage. The male sign language interpreter is signing beside her.

DESCRIPTION: Against a white background, there is a blue semi-circle at the top with the words ‘Access Tourism Facts & Figures’ in white text. Beside it are four silhouettes, a yellow one of a person walking, an orange one of a woman with a guide dog, an aqua-coloured one of a woman pushing a stroller, and a blue one of an elderly woman with a walking stick. Underneath, in point form, are the words ‘Access tourists comprise the world’s largest minority group and this group is increasing in size and influence’, ‘Baby boomers are the highest income earners (and they are retiring, developing impairments, and travelling more)’, ‘Almost half of visitors to NZ are 45 years or older’, ‘Older people tend to travel during off-peak periods’, ‘Leading tourism nations tend to also be leaders in access tourism’, ‘In Australia, 4.2 million people with a disability spend more than AU$4.8 billion every year on tourism and hospitality’. At the bottom is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking on stage. Standing beside her is a new sign language interpreter. She is signing. She has blonde, shoulder-length hair, and is wearing a black, long-sleeved top and a grey skirt. MINNIE BARAGWANATH: We started to talk about accessible tourism and we started to share some of the incredibly compelling stats from around the world. What if we were to really front foot this one and think, "Actually, we want to be a destination of choice. We want the baby boomer dollar". And through that baby boomer dollar, that driver to bring about transformational change, the impact affects an entire society and community around us. It places a different value on something that typically has been enormously undervalued.

DESCRIPTION: Against a white background is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text. Attached underneath that, is a larger, blue circle with the words ‘Be. welcome’ in white text. At the bottom is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: So what is it? What are we actually doing when we go around and work with businesses and work with organisations to help them see this vision of an accessible world?

DESCRIPTION: Against a white background is a blue semi-circle at the top, with the words ‘Be. Welcome Ratings’ in white text. Underneath are five rating scores. To the left of each of the rating images is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text. Beside it are the words ‘Be. Welcome’ and other images and words. To the right of the image are the ratings in five circles. The top circle is coloured white, and has the words ‘just starting’, ‘This organisation is just starting a journey towards being accessible’. Under that is a bronze-coloured circle with the words ‘bronze’, ‘This organisation has made positive steps towards being accessible’. Below that is a silver-coloured circle with the words ‘silver’, ‘This organisation has achieved good levels of accessibility in a number of areas’. Below that is a gold-coloured circle with the words ‘gold’, ‘This organisation has achieved excellent levels of accessibility in a number of areas’. The last circle is in a dark grey colour, and has the words ‘platinum’, ‘This organisation is a model of first class accessibility in almost all areas of its business’. Underneath the ratings is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: And so we developed a whole ratings system from "just starting" through to "platinum". Now, this program is now being adopted across the country and what we are finding is that the businesses who came on board during Rugby World Cup are now coming back to us and saying, "Hey, we got a ‘just starting’, we got a bronze, how do we get to silver? How do we get to gold?"

DESCRIPTION: Against a white background is a yellow semi-circle at the top, with the words ‘Access Economy The path of a dollar in Be.’. Underneath is a yellow circle with a dollar sign inside and the equals sign and a list as follows, ‘$1 = More employees to work in your business. More consumers ready to purchase. Conscious consumers more likely to purchase. New industries emerging. Increase in innovations. More jobs created as a result. A stronger innovation culture in NZ. More children learning at school’. Underneath is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: So what we've started to do also is talk about the ‘yellow dollar’. Why not a yellow dollar? Why not a dollar that is about accessibility and possibility? Why not a dollar that talks to the spending power of access tourists, of baby boomers?

DESCRIPTION: Against a white background, there is a blue semi-circle at the top with the words ‘Be. Results’ in white text. Beside it are four silhouettes, a yellow one of a person walking, an orange one of a woman with a guide dog, an aqua-coloured one of a woman pushing a stroller, and a blue one of an elderly woman with a walking stick. Underneath, in point form, are the words ‘Over 200 businesses assessed’, ‘Of those, half a dozen moved up a rating’, ‘One quarter of the Top 100 large organisations across New Zealand,’, ‘Growing ecosystem of partnerships across private, public and disability sector organisations’, ‘A network of Be. coaches developing accessibility hubs’. Underneath is a yellow circle with the words ‘Be. accessible’ in grey text, and a grey bar with the words ‘Inspiring and enabling a 100% accessible society for all’, ‘www.beaccessible.org.nz’ in white text.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: So it is two years on and businesses around the country are coming on board. We're trying to model a new way of doing this. We're trying to model a non-charitable approach to social change in the access space. We want to retain the fact that there is a value to this whole space.

(APPLAUSE)

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is on stage. Standing beside her is the female sign language interpreter with blond, shoulder-length hair. A man with greying hair walks up on the stage, towards Minnie Baragwanath. He has on glasses, and is holding a notebook and pen. He is wearing a black suit with a dark tie and a light-coloured business shirt. He has a name tag on his right lapel.

DESCRIPTION: Minnie Baragwanath is speaking. She is in a conference hall. There are long, white, vertical blinds behind her, and a set of white double doors at the far end. Behind her are round tables covered with white tablecloth, and grey chairs around the tables. There are pens, paper, and glass cups that are placed upside-down around the tables.

MINNIE BARAGWANATH: Welcome to the Accessible Events Smart Business Forum here in Sydney. I'm Minnie Baragwanath and I'm the Chief Executive of the Be Institute from New Zealand. At the end of my presentation, I encourage you to send in your experiences of accessible events -good, bad, ugly, beautiful, whatever it might be. For me, I think the key is about committing to the notion of access and when we do that, anything is possible.