Meatstock is aimed at meat and music enthusiasts and for two days in February, 2016, it would be held in Sydney for the first time. Organisers planned to merge competitions, exhibitions and live music to create a unique and unforgettable environment.

Competitions included the A&E Sydney Barbecue Wars, the largest barbecue competition ever held in Australia.

Exhibitors specialising in barbecue equipment would include Weber, Hudson Meats, Everdure and many more.

Live music boasted such names as The Beards, Sahara Beck and Henry Wagons.

The most challenging component of the event was the preparation and serving of the dinner. Over 12,000 meals had to be served and cleared within two hours. Chinese speaking staff were required in order to discuss meal options, which didn’t only include a high-end, alternate-serve menu but also a complex series of options including vegetarian, gluten free, lactose free, nut free and halal. Essentially the client required the equivalent of four function menus to be offered to 4,000 people within the one event.

Communication during the workshop in the Dome, before dinner, was enhanced through the use of one of the largest screens in the Southern Hemisphere.

Dining room preparation was an enormous challenge. Over 65,000 pieces of equipment were sourced to furnish the room. Kitchens were custom built including ovens, hot boxes, heat lamps, plate warmers, trays, pots, pans etc.

Chinese-speaking staff were sourced and peppered throughout the serving team. Other staff, carrying signs to identify themselves as translators, also walked the floor.

The event space was broken up into five areas, each managed by a specific team. This meant Sydney Showground staff were able to break the event down into manageable sections, creating greater efficiencies and results.

Communication during the workshop in the Dome, before dinner, was enhanced through the use of one of the largest screens in the Southern Hemisphere.

Dining room preparation was an enormous challenge. Over 65,000 pieces of equipment were sourced to furnish the room. Kitchens were custom built including ovens, hot boxes, heat lamps, plate warmers, trays, pots, pans etc.

Chinese-speaking staff were sourced and peppered throughout the serving team. Other staff, carrying signs to identify themselves as translators, also walked the floor.

The event space was broken up into five areas, each managed by a specific team. This meant Sydney Showground staff were able to break the event down into manageable sections, creating greater efficiencies and results.

EB Games began its life as a much smaller exhibition in Brisbane hosted in a space of approximately 10,000 square metres. The client identified the opportunity to launch EB Games Expo into the much larger Sydney market by moving to Sydney Showground. A key challenge was to stage the EB Games store managers' conference, 900-person gala dinner and trade show, and then rapidly convert multiple venues for a three-day consumer-focused exhibition. Another challenge was that the event was relatively unknown in the Sydney market, making it difficult to predict attendance levels.

Thanks to a rigorous planning process, our experienced event planners and managers were able to achieve a fast turnaround of the conference, which finished at 4pm on Thursday, into the large-scale consumer exhibition which opened on Friday morning at 8am. Our logistics, floor management and catering teams received extensive briefings to ensure all venues were seamlessly converted, with all conference equipment removed and replaced with catering concessions and ticketing areas. We invested significant resources into planning for the possibility of large crowds at the consumer exhibition, which eventuated on the day. The event has grown into one of the largest consumer exhibitions in Sydney and each year utilises more of Sydney Showgrounds variety of indoor and outdoor venues.