Sydney International Boat Show updates

by Boating Industry Association on 11 Jul 2014 The Sydney International Boat Show will open its doors in three weeks time, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Our occupancy of Cockle Bay has commenced and we will have first access to the interim venue at Glebe Island on Thursday 24 July for our preliminary preparations.

We thank the recreational marine industry for your tremendous support during this period whilst we all get accustomed to a new facility.

Here is an update to bring you up to speed.

For Our Exhibitors

Exhibitor Space

All bookings for the marina have been registered and we are now in the final stages of completing the engineering for the infrastructure. At this stage, no further vessels can be accommodated. As is always the case, enquiries for space are welcome and we will do our utmost to accommodate you if we can.

All available hall space has been allocated to exhibitors and you should have your contracts by now. Like the marina, we welcome your requests, although space is limited.

Ramps at Glebe Island
The modification to the ramps to enter the exhibition halls at Glebe Island has been completed to the specification outlined by the BIA. The rear ramps have been permanently concreted and will not require any temporary infrastructure for the show.

Exhibitor Parking
Also at Glebe Island will be a limited number of exhibitor parking spots during show days at a discounted rate of $22.00. These are single day only rates and they can also be purchased on-line.

Links for these bookings are currently being prepared and will soon be available from the secure exhibitor area of the SIBS web site.

Once these spaces have been consumed, exhibitors can park at Harbourside or Entertainment Parking at Darling Harbour for a special exhibitor rate of $15.00 and catch the free ferry shuttle to Glebe Island. The $15 parking vouchers for Harbourside Parking can also be used by Marina Exhibitors.

For Visitors to the Show

Online tickets are now on sale
Visitors to the show can now purchase their boat show tickets online from the boat show website.

Visitors can purchase any of the following ticket types:

• $ 21.00 - Adults (18 years and over)
• $ 49.00 - Family (2 Adults and 3 Children, 6-17 years)
• $ 13.00 - Children (6-17 years. Free entry 5 years and under)
• $ 30.00 - 2-day Guest Pass (18 years and over)
• $ 40.00 - 3-day Guest Pass (18 years and over)
• $ 15.00 - Aged Pensioners (Must show valid pension card)
• $ 19.00 - Seniors (Must show valid seniors card)

Visitors to the show will be encouraged to pre-purchase their Glebe Island Parking. This can be done from the boat show website as well (bookings opening soon).

Visitor Transport and Parking
FREE ferries will operate non-stop between Darling Harbour and Glebe Island, as will buses from Central Railway Station to Glebe Island.

At the peak, we will have nine ferry movements an hour with vessels having the capacity to hold between 150 and 400 passengers. The travel time will vary depending on the ferry type and capacity. We suggest that for the slowest and largest of vessels, the total time from the commencement of boarding to the last person alighting, it should be no longer than 25 minutes.

We envisage that buses will have a similar time for the transfer, but this will obviously change during any transfers that take place during Sydney peak hour traffic.

On show days:
• Ferries will commence transfers to Glebe Island from Darling Harbour at 8.00 am
• Buses will commence transfers to Glebe Island from Central at 9.00 am
• Last ferry from Glebe Island to Darling Harbour leaves at 9.00 pm
• Last bus from Glebe Island to Central Railway Station leaves at 8.30 pm
The consumer transport guide has been completed and can be found here.

Please note, there are no ferry or bus transfers on show move-in and move-out days.

At Glebe Island, parking will be made available for show visitors in P1 and P2. This can be purchased in advance online.

To assist our visitors better understand the show and how simple it will be to visit, we have engaged Andrew Ettingshausen (ET) and Jessica Watson to act as ambassadors to assist with our messaging. The video is 90 seconds long. Two shorter versions of 50 seconds and 25 seconds have also been produced. Information on how to view and use these videos is detailed further in this email.

All three videos are available for use by all members and exhibitors in your newsletters or any communications you may have.

Media
• Television Sydney – a comprehensive free to air campaign running from 20 July until the end of the show. Over 200 spots will see our message reach 63% of our target audience at least once, and 32% of that audience at least thre times.

• Television Regional – a similar window of exposure will see almost 300 spots air across regional NSW with an emphasis on the north and south coasts, plus the ACT.

• Newspapers – Comprehensive exposure in the newspapers will run in the week leading up to the show. Key metropolitan papers will have ads strategically placed to help deliver show details and drive visitation. The weekend prior to the show (26 July) will also see the annual Sydney Morning Herald Special Boat Show Lift Out.

• Radio – Promotional activity will combine with more than 670 radio spots, commencing the 20 July to remind visitors about the event and stimulate interest. Exposure will be across Fairfax Radio, the Macquarie Network, ARN and the Australian Traffic Network will broadcast live reads alongside their traffic report.

• Out of Home – Large format Billboards expose large volumes of traffic to messages over a month. The boat show has been able to secure excellent large format billboard locations that will carry the boat show message. These will be located at Pacific Highway Artarmon, King Georges Road Beverley Hills, Victoria Road Rozelle, M4 city bound Wentworthville and East and South traffic Sydney Airport. A sixth site in Sutherland has just recently been added to the mix.

• Digital – Exposure across numerous key digital locations selected to target our specific audience. Digital marketing, including Social Media, will play a large part in the effort to deliver detail and assist visitors with ticket purchases and a guide to getting to the show.

• Magazine Advertising – The medium started to deliver the show message earlier in the year and by the time the show arrives, there will have been 62 magazine ads published using a mixture of themed half and full page ads.

Education and Entertainment

Boating Safety Zone
Formerly known as the Marine Precinct, this area located near the front of Hall 1 will remain a vibrant and educational element at the show, where together with Transport for NSW’s office of Maritime Management Centre, and in conjunction with Roads and Maritime and other key organisations, visitors to the show will be able to be guided and have many of their recreational boating questions answered.

MyBoatingLife.com.au Entertainment Precinct
This area located at the rear of Hall 5 will be the centre of non-stop activity and entertainment.

This year’s schedule will feature:

Lisa Blair

There are few sailors that could rival Lisa Blair’s sailing experiences to date, nor her amazing ambitions for the future. Having sailed more than 60,000 nautical miles at sea on numerous vessels and in a host of different events, regattas and races, Lisa is now setting her sights on Antarctica.

Attempting to become the first female to complete a circumnavigation of Antarctica non-stop and unassisted, she has high hopes of also breaking the record set by Russian sailor Fedor Konyukhov of 102 days. Come by and hear about her adventures at the My Boating Life Entertainment Precinct.

Andrew Abrahams
Rowing across the Atlantic Ocean wouldn’t rate highly on the average person’s to-do list, however Andrew Abrahams is not the average person. Andrew, from Adventure4aCure, has achieved this amazing feat representing Australia and raising money for charity. Having completed the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in 57 days, 17 hours, 54 minutes and 20 seconds, finishing seventh overall ahead of five other teams, Andrew will be speaking about his adventure, and the challenges he faced. Don’t miss his presentations daily, as well as seeing his vessel up close.

Fishing Clinic
Fishing is one of Australia’s favourite pastimes and plays a big role in the recreational boating industry. With this in mind, fishermen visiting the show will not be disappointed with some of Australia’s leading fishing experts presenting tips, information and advice.

Industry veterans and celebrities Steve Starling, Tim Simpson, Phil Atkinson and Bruce Schumacher will be presenting on different topics to help you improve your skills and catch more fish! Steve Starling will be educating visitors on the art of lure fishing, Tim Simpson will excite you with exotic fishing destinations, Phil Atkinson will cover rock and beach fishing while Bruce Schumacher will be giving valuable advice on baits. Whether you’re a keen fisherman or a novice wanting to learn more – there is something to suit everybody at the My Boating Life Entertainment Precinct with multiple presentations daily.

Bart Beek
Getting out on the beautiful waterways, whether it be cruising, sailing, racing, swimming, jet-skiing or wakeboarding, builds an appetite. Who better to guide us in the fine culinary arts than Club Marine’s celebrity chef Bart Beek? Trained at the famous Cordon Bleu school in Paris, Bart has worked in some of the finest 5-star restaurants throughout Australia, Hong Kong, the USA and France. The Club Marine extraordinaire will be giving cooking talks and demonstrations throughout the show, so don’t miss the My Boating Life Entertainment Precinct – but beware, Bart’s creations may have your mouth watering.

Musto Fashion Extravaganza
The Musto Fashion Extravaganza will run three times a day, featuring the latest in nautical clothing, delivered in a performance like no other. Upbeat and full of action, the parade will be one not to miss.

Website – www.sydneyboatshow.com.au and how you can help
The Sydney International Boat Show web site is an integral part of the communication plan. The site will assist in many ways. Apart from our visitor communication, we will also have tools to assist both the media and industry.

The web site is evolving on a daily basis, so keep an eye on it for updates.

As previously mentioned, our visitor transport guide is now available and can be downloaded directly from the website. To have a look at the visitor transport guide, click here. Please feel free to share this in your emails and communication.

Our Show ambassadors, Andrew Ettingshausen and Jessica Watson have assisted the show with a number of messages. These can be seen on our YouTube channel. We have three versions of the video:



- 50 second – Cut down version of the 90’ version Click here)
- 20 second – Invitation only Click here)

Our radio ads have also been completed and can be heard here:
• 30 second version 'with Dates' Click here)
• 30 second version 'starts tomorrow' Click here)
• 30 second version 'Hurry closes Monday' Click here)
• 15 second version Click here)

Announcing the Lifejacket Lounge featuring the Glebe Island Beach Barbeque

The customer experience is very important and with the support of Transport for NSW, the show will feature the 'Lifejacket Lounge' featuring the Beach Barbeque.

This area will be located on the Wharf outside of Hall 1 at Glebe Island and will be the first component of the show that visitors will see on their arrival from Darling Harbour.

The Lifejacket Lounge will operate from early morning until late and will be filled with colour, good food and entertainment. The perfect spot to start or end the day. It will also be a great dining location with fantastic views of the harbour and city.

Competition

Visitors to the show will be enticed to enter a competition to win a fantastic Boat Storage Package from Sydney Harbour Boat Storage.

One package worth $10,000 will be drawn for each of the five days of the show. Only visitors to the show can enter the competition. Visitors to the show will be able to enter via the iPad stations that will be located in the foyers of halls 1 and 3, as well as the Dockside Pavilion at the marina entrance in Cockle Bay.

Boat Show Partners and Promotional Partners
Events like the Sydney International Boat Show are made possible because of the industry support, efforts and participation such as yours.

We are also grateful for the support received by those organisations that have joined this year’s show in some way. Our Partner in Safety remains Roads and Maritime who through the office of the Maritime Management Centre within Transport for NSW, remain committed with us to educate our audience that safe boating is good boating.

Our Promotional Partners have also be gracious in providing a little more and something special to make the show a success, they are: Yaffa Marine Group's Australian Sailing + Yachting, Cruising Helmsman, Fishing World and Marine Business; The Sydney Morning Herald, Walcon Marine Australia, Musto, Accor’s IBIS and Novotel Hotels, BoatPoint and BoatSales, Sydney Harbour Boat Storage as well as Channel 7’s Sydney Weekender.