FEA TURE —E TIHAD ST ADIU M


Arecord54,444 watched St Kilda beatGeelong on


July 5, 2009, which still stands as arecordfor an AFL match at Etihad Stadium. And in February 2010, over six nights,185,000 patrons attended three separateAC/DC Concerts. Even its naming rights partnership with the prominent Middle Eastern based airline, Etihad Airways, helps to give the venue an international feel. “We are different and we are proud to be different,”is


the mantra of long serving CEO, Ian Collins AM. Thestadium is vastly busier than most Australian


sports stadia or many of those overseas for that matter. In 2010, Etihad Stadium hosted a record 86 arena events plus 600 functions in its many and varied entertainment spaces.When it is considered thatsome prominentsta- dia host only 30-40 arena events a year, it is a commend- able work load.Nextsummer,the stadium will attract the focus of the cricket world, whenitaccommodates the Melbourne Renegades; one of two Melbourne teams recently announced to make up Cricket Australia’s Twenty/20 Big Bash. Collins has never made any secret about his intention


for the venue and its management to be commercially aggressive:“We are a venue for hire and we meticulously canvas the globe for sporting and entertainment events which suit Melbourne and our venue.” Nowthe team at Etihad Stadium is set to embarkon something different again. In a bid to try and capture some of the smaller to medium sized entertainment events thatare partofthe entertainmentand business events landscape,the stadium has nowshowcased a new‘Intimate Mode’.


Intimate Mode Showcase “Wecoordinateda presentation to prominentfigures in the national entertainmentindustry, giving them an opportunitytooverview whatwehavedone.The feed- back is that they were impressed with what they wit- nessed,”confirmed Collins. At the launch, held on 12 April 2011, Collins welcomed


promoters, event managers, AFL and club representatives, while Australian rock musician, Mark Seymour,performed on a specially prepared stage to showcase the Intimate Mode.Collins commended the staff of the Facilities DepartmentofEtihad Stadium and the companies the team had worked with to bring the initiativetoits current phase of development. Thelaunch revealed the extent of international and local expertise being utilised by the venue, including Terraplas plc (through their local Distrib- utor Jayline (Aust) PtyLtd.), Production Resource Group, HMEHarris, Aurecon Engineering, andTicketmaster:


◆ Terraplas plc (turf protection): created the Terratrak Plus used for the temporary roadway to the stage and around the perimeter of the arena, together with the Terraflor used under the stage and two pads of Terraflor, one in a theatre style set up for concerts and one in banquet style with tables set promoting to the venue functions market. The UK based turf protection company is the world’s leader, as supplier to more than 120 of the elite international venues in North and SouthAmerica, UK and Europe, Russia and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East and Australia


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