NMG: -˜We made a mistake’
New Mardi Gras finally came clean last night about the reasons it decided to split the 2010 parade and party over two weekends.
Confirming the worst kept secret on Oxford St, Steph Sands fronted last night’s annual general meeting question session in the absence of outgoing chair David Imrie to confirm what many had long been aware of -” the organisation -˜made a mistake’.
I’m just going to speak really honestly about what happened because there was a big chain of events, Sands told the 80-strong crowd.
It came to the board’s attention in February that there had been a scheduling error.
It was a genuine mistake. We had signed contracts and the board takes full accountability for the fact that we did not have the appropriate checks and balances in place to ensure those contracts married off against each other. And it was a genuine mistake.
So what we did was we acted responsibly and did what any board would do -” we went and looked at lots of different options that were available to us around the dates that we secured.
So we looked at lots of options. We looked at whether or not we could have an event after the parade. We looked at what it was cost to break the contract with (Entertainment Quarter lessee) Playbill, and we went down lots of different avenues. And then we did send out a survey to our members. We asked lots of questions.
The crowd erupted into dissent, with the majority claiming they had not received any communication from the board or New Mardi Gras seeking input about the possibility of the split.
Members decried the organisation’s decision to put a PR spin on the error rather than come clean about the mistake.
Mardi Gras put this idea out there as a new idea -” there was no admission of a cock-up, member Tim Young told the meeting.
The cock-up was not admitted – in fact it was strenuously denied by Mardi Gras.
Sands told the crowd at the five-hour meeting the board canvassed a number of options before settling on the parade/party split.
The board sat down and we worked out the best way forward – and we acted really responsibly. But instead of saying we made a mistake and put the sponsorship agreements in jeopardy or at risk we sold the benefits of a different type of season,” she said.
We had an agreed communications plan about what the benefits of the season were going to be.
I can’t go into how the mistakes were made because of commercial in confidence, but I can say the board takes full accountability for not checking thoroughly
Let people get on with it.. if you can’t do any better yourself..
This supposed community is degenerating into too many bitch fights.
Mike Smith
Perhaps you should get your facts clear. Lynne O’Brien was Sponsorship manager in 2004. Not as you claim when NMG folded (which is has never done).
Steph Sands shared the co-chair position with Mark Orr, the current President of ACON, and sat on the board with Marcus Bourget when the organisation declared a loss in 2005. The reasons why are well documented in the 2005 Annual Report.
There are many private companies who post losses in a financial year, and their directors remain.
If you believe that neither Mark, Marcus or Steph should not be allowed to be directors of community boards, then what a loss to the community that would have been.
In the private sector any director who oversaw a $300,000 loss would be barred from being a director ever again, yet Steph Sands remains a director of NMG as well as the former sponsorship manager Lynne O’Brien also at the helm when NMG folded.
And they wonder the community has lost faith in the organisation, and they have become so irrelevant.
The party and the parade will be separated next year. That decision can’t be changed, new/old board or not, multiple chairpersons or not. So: are we all going to sit around carping at a distance and watch it fail, or are we going to get involved to whatever extent we can and make it succeed?
Could this perhaps be in any way related to the alleged propensity of the departing chairman to keep all the decisions in his own hands?
The SSO says this was the “worst kept secret on Oxford Street”
It should not have been kept secret, either by the Board or the community newspaper.
The SSO failed its readership on this one.
Editor’s note: Ben, knowing is one thing, being able to prove is another. This is not New Idea you know.
yet another example of how high flyers are out of touch with grass roots gay life these days!
It really is just more spin. Does anyone recall the Joan Rivers incident where NMG said it was an issue with the promoter?
See http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25157681-661,00.html
Well, as was communicated at the AGM, unbeknownst to people that weren’t there, NMG had to refund $30,000 for Joan’s performance debacle in Melbourne. If it wasn’t NMG’s fault, why were they responsible for paying the money back?
Anyonelse picking up on the constant lies and spin that NMG hope people forget with time?
Only time will tell if NMG have learnt any lesson about spin, and taking their members and patrons for fools.
Let’s be clear. Steph Sands came clean last night because there was no alternative. It was the right communication decision, but it was the only palatable one left. But let’s not canonise her for it.
NMG have done a good job of rebranding, rebuilding and marketing all that we know is great about our Mardi Gras. But marketing, particularly within the community, is no replacement for authenticity.
What the mostly re-elected board will have to overcome is a cynicism they’ve created and a goodwill they’ve lost. Next time they send us a survey, will we believe it’s genuine market research? Next time they cry, will we turn and look for the wolf?
(-œUnder the plan a single board member would each be responsible for Parade, Party, Festival, Harbour Party, Sleaze Ball and Fair Day,
So lets get this right -¦going by what was said last night -¦ theres a paid Head Of Events who isresponsible for each of those events listed, theres a CEO who is paid to look after the entire Organisation, including the events listed, then theres a group of volunteers -˜charged’ with organising each event, each group has two co-chairs also responsible for their event, AND THEN theres also a Board Member responsible too?? If theres a Board member responsible, why is NMG paying people to do the job?)
The information you are quoting here Disgruntled, are the words of a journalist reporting something that he has been told by someone he knows. They are not claimed to be the words of the Board nor of any member from the Board. They are an idea; your attack of them suggests that you think that they are a bad idea. Did you raise them last night because if you did I certainly didn’t hear you.
(Last night the Board stated that mistakes were made on contracts because they were -˜afterall busy and only volunteers themselves’ -“ WELL SHOULDN’T THIS TELL THE BOARD to stop playing egotrips and looking after the Events, and leave that to the PROFESSIONAL being paid for it.)
The Board members have only ever acted as -˜Event Sponsors’ and I heard nothing last night nor did I read anything in the article which would suggest that the Board Members start to manage the events. Tony Knight quite clearly stated that he was glad that Katrina Martin was brought into the organisation to carry out those tasks and I hope she does hem properly.
(By their own admissions -“ mistakes were made because the Board was looking in the wrong place.
Create a new Board -“ done by AGM last night. But be a Board, not a group of little overseers.
Mike Smith -“ yes quite right, but really people or otherwise called members, obviously don’t care. If they did, the AGM would have had many more attendances than it did.)
I agree wholeheartedly Disgruntled and I hope that you will give this board all of your support and all of the feedback it needs to make sure it does the best job it can.
Mike – Agreed.
And .. as you stated the question time camne after the elections. What a joke!
Mike, I don’t think your criticism of Alan who was the independent chair is fair (although good on you for putting your name to criticism). I asked some questions, made some comments and spoke against a Board motion and felt I was treated fairly and with courtesy. Actually, I thought he cut us a bit of slack. I certainly didn’t see anyone was treated with -œutter contempt.
Damon, I don’t know about comparing this to the apology for the stolen generations – but it is good that Ms Sands have done what other board members couldn’t.
However, why now? They made the decision not to in order to protect sponsorship agreements, so wont this admission jeopardize that now?
So I’m gathering there’s no possible way to fix this? Mistake or not? What a shame.
They only told the truth because they were forced to. And it happened after the election.
The chair of the meeting treated people with questions with utter contempt.
I’m still not any clearer on what actually caused the mistake …
The integrity shown by Nick Parker and Steph Sands last night in answering the tough questions certainly showed true leadership and should be applauded.
John Howard could never say Sorry. Steph did, in her candidate speech, and then stood and took the hard questions, which she answered right to the edge of any commercially confidential issues.
The members were given the opportunity to instruct the Board regarding the key elements needing consultation before making decisions, and this was, rightly, voted down.
The Board is elected annually and we must put our faith in them to make the right decisions. One mistake does not take away from the incredible talent across all 8 Board members elected last night and we should support them, and our beloved Mardi Gras.
Thank you Steph for having the guts to face the hords, convenient for David Imrie also that he was unable to fullfill his responsibilities. If this year has to see a split then so be it, just mnake sure it’s back on track for next year. Visitors coming from OS like to attend the parade/party and then recover somewhere for a week. Seaprating them is a really bad idea. Oxford st has changed dramatically over the last 10 years as with Newtown. Time to start getting things back to how they were.
Ahhh – the scheduling error is finally admitted to ..
Probably lucky NMG has a few bucks in the bank – they are going to have to spend a lot of money in the lead up to the 2010 season trying to get people to stay in town longer than the average 4 days …
Steph – we admire you for standing up and telling us the truth.
Shame it wasn’t done in the first place …
Steph Sands showed a lot of guts to get up there and not only front the membership on this issue, but tell the truth.
If only this had been done before perhaps the community would have been more understanding.
Well done Steph, you showed us all what being a board member was all about.
About time they told the truth ….