Interview Questions and Responses

Client: Film and History Association of Australia and New Zealand

Date of interview: 23 September 2005

Present: Monica Caines (HOW EVENTive!), John Henry (FHAANZ)

Why is the conference being staged?

To keep our members updated on the latest research and also to learn about what is happening overseas. It is an excellent networking time for us as we can catch up with who is doing what in the academic world and what new methodologies are around.

Can you tell me what you want to achieve with this conference?

I would suggest you gather current stories and information about our association and perhaps look at who our membership is. We would like to involve all of our members with specific topics in mind including: current directions in film history research, indigenous peoples and film representation, cross-cultural communication in the cinema. We would like a range of interactive workshops, keynote speakers and allow people to present their papers. Through the workshops we would like to highlight the advances we have made here at Flinders University. Making a bit of money wouldn’t be too bad either!

Is this an annual conference?

No, it’s held bi-annually.

Where was the last one held?

2000 in New Zealand.

How many people attended it?

100, we would like to increase that number this year.

What worked successfully for the delegates in that conference?

We did have some trouble with the presentations by the academics as there were too many and some of them went over time. The networking opportunities were very successful as we don’t get to speak to each other all that often.

What type of people attended, demographics etc?

HOW EVENTive! Page 1 Mainly academics who are highly educated and around 40 – 50 years of age. A good mix of male and female.

Do we have a budget?

Yes, it is only at draft stage at present as we are applying for funding. We will need sponsorship to help subsidise the event, I think.

Is there a past budget we can have a look at?

Yes I will fax that to you tomorrow, this will help you look at the fees we charged last time.

Do you have any specific catering ideas for instance; is there a conference dinner?

Yes we have a big dinner but I would also like to have some social functions available for the delegates as a lot of them are here from interstate or overseas and will be looking for things to do. I would also like the Premier of the State to officially open the conference at a special venue.

This will mean I will need to look at the protocol for dealing with the Premier. Are there any cultural sensitivities that I need to know about?

We will have some Americans visiting but at this stage no other nationalities have registered.

HOW EVENTive! Page 2