Mardi Gras ‘close to break even’

Mardi Gras  ‘close to break even’

This year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is expected to come close to breaking even, a vast improvement on last year’s $575,627 loss.

New Mardi Gras (NMG) will also hold an investigation into whether sensitive information was leaked at a board level during the festival season.

NMG co-chair Pete Urmson told the Star Observer it would be premature to speculate on the exact figure.

“We are still working through the final details of the numbers,” Urmson said. “But any loss would be nowhere near what we had last year and we’re working on a number of initiatives to see where we’ve actually landed.”

Urmson refuted speculation that the Harbour Party and the Mardi Gras Party had failed to break even.
“That’s not correct,” Urmson said. “The season broke even and the parties.

“Harbour Party definitely made a profit and … I anticipate that the main Mardi Gras Party would have broken even and if not, we would have come very close to that.”

Urmson said any loss would have come from money expended on the parade and other similar expenses.

“There’s break even and then there’s achieving the ticketing numbers that you want to exceed that to pay for other things such as the parade,” he said.

“Our year on year expenses have been significantly curtailed and I believe we will come very close to a break-even number. If we were over break-even it would be minimal, if we’re under I don’t think it’s going to be a significant miss.”

On the investigation into leaks from the Mardi Gras board, Urmson could not say whether it was already underway or who was carrying it out, but expected “some conclusive answers” over the course of the next four weeks.

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14 responses to “Mardi Gras ‘close to break even’”

  1. @Member B. Yes it was a great Mardi Gras but I just want there to be many more. And I agree that speculation doesn’t help so I wonder why the Chair of Mardi Gras bought up the figures in the first place.

  2. @Sue, don’t forget it was a wonderful Mardi Gras. My concerned friends have done an analysis of the previous annual reports and estimated event numbers (even if not maxxed out) and are comfortable the 2012 Mardi Gras season is safe. Wait till the exact details come out, all this BS speculation helps noone.

  3. I have to agree with some of the above comments, what on earth was the Chair of Mardi Gras doing speaking out on finances when he didn’t have all the facts. I repeat my question and add another one – Did the season make a profit, break even or incur a loss? And this one makes me very concerned – will New Mardi Gras have enough money in the bank to continue into 2012?

  4. The 2 week Mardi Gras season was for me a great success. It was the busiest 2 weeks of gay fun I’ve had for a long time. The only complaint I have as a member is that I have to listen to this BS so soon after such a great Mardi Gras. I don’t want speculation from either side, I will happily wait till the actual numbers are released before starting to bitch.

  5. How can you trust anything New Mardi Gras says?
    The amount of bullshit and marketing spin generated by the organisation is disgraceful.
    You only have to look at the Rihanna lie we were fed on the Foxtel broadcast (not to mention how heavily it was pushed on Facebook the day of the parade and party) to see the deceit is still there.
    Last year similar prelimiary figures estimated a loss of $400K – that ended up closer to $600K. So one can only wonder what the real loss will be this year.
    And, depending on the amount of the loss, will there be enough money to run a program of events next year?
    Kudos to the organisation for this year putting the focus back on the parade – it showed and was appreciated by many.
    But if they want us to take the seriously and get back on board as a community then NMG need to start telling the truth and stop treating its members like they have no real purpose other than to vote in the annual election.
    Oh hang on, that was a complete farce last year as well … Fortunately the Star had the guts to tell us what was going on.
    Let’s hope the Star stays on their case again this year, because I think we can expect another election of fireworks.

  6. MG Chairman Peter Urmson is quoted article: “If we’re under I don’t think it’s going to be a significant miss”. This is yet another example of typical MG spin. Urmson should accept that being “under” by even one penny is significant. After reporting profits of several hundred thousand dollars annually for years, they made a $575,627 loss last year and blamed it on the parade-party split. It was a result almost one million dollars worse than the previous year which had a profit of approximately $400,000. What or who are they going to blame for not making a profit this year since the events were reunited? At a minimum, based on last year’s excuse, they should be back to making a $400,000 profit. Chairman Urmson refers to the expense of the parade as an excuse for a potential loss, however three years ago Nathan Rees as NSW Premier announced the NSW government was funding the parade annually with approximately $400,000. This MG board is clearly unable to manage the finances of MG. They have nothing left to blame for a second year of poor financial performance other than their own poor financial management. Icing on the cake is the “investigation into whether sensitive information was leaked at a board level.” The MG boardroom sounds like the kids are running the playground. The only thing they seem good at is spin, and they aren’t even very good at that. The scurrilous and childish behaviour of these board members prior to their election last year should have been a warning sign of their immature, scattered and self-serving approach to management and governance. Their continuous self-aggrandising Facebook postings throughout the Mardi Gras season are evidence of same.

  7. So according to ONE of the CO-Chairs (Steph Sands where are you?) the 2011 season is close to ‘breaking even’.

    Mr Urmson states that it would be premature to speculate about the exact figure. However he seems happy to proclaim a result without any of that pesky accounting or profit and loss stuff getting in the way. Surely the “initiatives to see where we’ve actually landed” you need to work on Peter are to stop speculating and to let the accountants and the Finance Director do their jobs unhindered by random comments from other Board members in the SSO.

    He then goes on to refute speculation that Harbour and Party made a loss while stating seemingly in the same breath, “I anticipate that the main Mardi Gras party would have broken even and if not, we would have come very close.” Did Party break even Peter or did it make a loss? If you can’t tell then maybe you should be aware of your responsibilities as a Board member and not issue statements in the media which have the potential to be misleading.

    In normal business parlance (and according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission) a profit is made when less money is expended than is generated in income. A loss is when less income is generated than is expended. Break-Even would be where the TOTAL expenditure and the TOTAL income are exactly the same.

    Peter from his statements seems to think that ‘break even’ is when the organisation sells enough tickets to Harbour & Party to cover the costs of Harbour & Party.

    Parade must be factored into the equation to determine if there was a profit or a loss. At approx $400 000 – $500 000, the expense of Parade will have a significant affect on the profitability of the organisation. This is particularly so if the income from Harbour and Party are only enough to cover the costs for Harbour and Party.

    The CEO and the other staff still have to be paid, the Sydney City Council doesn’t provide the premises for nothing and the next source of significant cash is not going to arrive until Sleaze in October (assuming that Sleaze is still on this year).

    Is there enough money in the bank to keep the organisation running between now and October Peter? Can NMG continue to pay Mr Rolik and the other staff until then? Is there any cash laid up for advertising for Sleaze and paying the suppliers for deposits etc for Sleaze.

    I would be extremely surprised if the “year on year expenses have been significantly curtailed” based on the number of paid employees who appeared in the offices this year compared to other years. A paid Parade Artistic Director a paid Parade Producer a paid Assistant to the Parade Producer and a number of paid Marketing staff as well as what appeared to be an increase in paid security guards and other sundry employees.

    Might I suggest Peter that instead of looking at what Board member told what person or persons which pieces of information, that you and the Board focus on looking at how without a Parade Party split this year the organisation looks like making another loss or barely squeaking a profit.

  8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBzzNRVshQ

    Readers – have you all missed (over and above Ron Wilson’s apauling actions) that at 4.10 in the video Peter Urmson admits on video the Monday after that they have made a loss – why so long to them admit it to the people that voted you in Peter???

  9. Parade is not a loss, its an organistaional expense!!!! No parade no Events NSW funding people.
    And any loss, even $1 – after last year is a massive miss by this board. Shame

  10. So Mardi Gras is going to break even that’s great news after last year. But hang on if the parties “break even” that leaves nothing left to run the organisation with. Party profit has always been the key source of revenue. This is a bit confusing as Mr Urmson is also saying here is that “The season broke even” so the major non-income producing events such as Parade have all been covered. But then goes on to say that “any loss would have come from money expended on the parade and other similar expenses”. So did the season break even or run at a Loss?????