Venues, Stakeholders & Community – Danielle Bleazby, Melbourne Park

This transcript has been transcribed by Riverside.fm, no edits (please excuse any errors)

Sean Callanan (00:01.602)
Very happy to welcome a good mate of mine, Danielle Bleazby. She's the Director of Venues at Melbourne Park. Danielle, welcome to the podcast.

Danielle Bleazby (00:01.945)
Thanks, Sean. Thanks for having me. Good to be here.

Sean Callanan (00:12.384)
Not a problem at all, not a problem at all. You've been on the list for a while and it's good that we were finally able to get a date in the calendar for the chat. I always start by asking people how they got their start in the world of sports. What about yourself? What was your first gig and first foray into the world of sports?

Danielle Bleazby (00:28.447)
So it's just amazing how things happen and those sliding door moments, I think. I always wanted to be in sport. So that was the aim through high school. And I got myself into the course I wanted, which was a commercial degree, but majoring in sport management. And I thought I wanted to be the next Jerry McGuire. And so that was the aim, if you like. And as you get out of uni,

Sean Callanan (00:50.584)
Talk.

Danielle Bleazby (00:57.295)
cast the resume far and wide and applied for a job at Collingwood Football Club, which it's funny now that you think back at it, but it was an event manager job. I had no experience in events, but I just put my hand up for it. And I luckily got a call in and had a great chat with a guy called Anthony Barham, who basically said to me, well, you're not experienced for the role. You haven't got.

and experience. said, I know that, but I wanted to use the opportunity to get in and talk to you. And so he then knew of a role that was potentially coming up at Hawthorn Football Club. They just got a new director of marketing and they were looking for a marketing assistant. So he put me in touch with James Henderson at Hawthorn Football Club. was new director of marketing there, went in for my couple of interviews and was lucky enough to get a marketing assistant role for me.

I'm a Hawthorn supporter. So it was just a dream job. Wasn't in exactly what I wanted to be doing, but it was my start in the sport industry. And then from there, as you know, it's grown into being a lifelong career in events. And that has come from Hawthorn Football Club, where I would do mail outs and promotions and newsletters and all sorts of things, and then started.

Sean Callanan (02:21.196)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (02:23.833)
helping with some of their events and then running some of their events.

Sean Callanan (02:26.67)
And was that something that you sort of naturally progressed to? Like you said, you know, we, people come out of the uni or looking at the sport outside in thinking, Oh, this is what I want to do. Was that initial job, I guess, because of you, when you're a coordinator or assistant, you do a bit of everything. Did you, did you find yourself, you know, uh, being drawn to, you know, running the events or setting things up or, know, getting the end of season event up and running? Was that something you sort of were drawn to?

Danielle Bleazby (02:52.879)
running, was that something you sort of were drawn to? I enjoyed it, definitely. I got a buzz out of it. And actually, you know, my family have grown up throwing events and things like that. my 21st and 18th and that sort of thing were perhaps a more creative than perhaps every, you know, most 21sts, if you like. So I always had a, a, a, a, a, a,

And so, yes, I started just naturally taking on some of those roles, but I still at that stage thought, no, I'm going to get back to what it is that I'm supposed to be doing, which is to be a player agent. it wasn't for, it was a few years down the track that I realized that actually being a player agent really wasn't suitable for my personality. And also actually I was pretty good at this events thing. So.

And I like, I had fun. So why not keep going down that track? And so post Hawthorn you sort of moved more into that event space and sort of really, I guess, learned the craft and learned, you know, get those reps. Yeah. So again, when I was at Hawthorn, was three years at Hawthorn and then a gentleman named Peter Jones from Peter Jones Special Events rang me up. I didn't know who he was. And he asked me to come in for an interview. Somebody had sort of recommended me to him and

Sean Callanan (03:55.586)
And so post-Hawthorne you sort of moved more into that event space and sort of really, I guess, learnt the craft and learnt, you know, get those reps.

Danielle Bleazby (04:22.179)
Honestly, I went in for the interview thinking, you know, this is still not where I want to go in my career. But I went into his office in North Melbourne and he had these amazing pictures of all the events that he had done at, know, a huge marquee on the MCG for the centenary of the AFL and all of these sorts of things. And he did do a lot of sporting events. So it really piqued my interest. And I thought, this is a bit of fun. I'll do it for a few years and then get back to what I was supposed to be doing.

I never got back to what I was supposed to be doing. I just fell in love with it. I started off as an event coordinator there and slowly grew into producing some of the biggest events really in Melbourne. And I was lucky enough to have the AFL as a client as well. So, which- And I mean, guess you've you've shown even just from the first interview and making those connections and making those impressions.

Sean Callanan (04:49.112)
Yep.

Sean Callanan (05:09.078)
And I mean, guess you, mean, already, you know, you've shown even just from your first interview and making those connections and making those impressions to build out your network for that next opportunity. And that's sort of been a bit of a thread in your career, obviously, from the Peter Joe special events, you then, you know, working with the AFL, starting it familiar with people in the AFL, and then moving to the AFL in a role, in a role there in an events role at the AFL.

Danielle Bleazby (05:17.783)
to build out your network for that next opportunity. And that's sort been a bit of a thread in your career, obviously, from Peter Joe's special events. then, you know, working with the AFL, starting it from there with people in the AFL and then moving to the AFL in a role there in an event role at the AFL. Yeah, look, I hugely credit my career to the networks that I've been able to generate. You have to…

In order to have those good networks, you have to do good work and build a reputation and those sorts of things. But Hawthorne was a great grounding for me, for my network. Peter Jones was a great grounding because he worked across so many different industries and sport being a big part of that. So I had a great network there. And then, yes, because of that, was able to get into the AFL job running their events. And then through my 13 years at the AFL,

you build great, great networks. it is something that I would encourage any people trying to get into the industry, whether it's events or sport or whatever, it is so built on relationships and knowing people. is a way to get yourself in. You've got to do good work and you've got to prove yourself. But having those connections is really vital.

Sean Callanan (06:42.028)
And how much important, especially in the AFL, which was still growing at that stage internally from a staff and a headcount point of view, the amount of people is that networking piece important both internally and getting to know everyone in the business and how they all coordinate again, when you're in events, you're sort of working with multiple departments, but then also all the other stakeholders, all the other clubs, all the other, all the other partners and vendors, you know, how important was that for you in your, you know, I guess navigating the AFL world.

Danielle Bleazby (06:43.163)
especially in the AFL, which was still growing at that stage internally from a staff and a head camp point of view, the amount of people is that networking piece important both internally and getting to know everyone in the business and how they all coordinate again, when you're in a bench, you're sort of working with multiple departments, but then also all the other stakeholders, all the other clients, all the other partners and vendors, how important was that for you in your, I guess navigating the AFL world?

Yeah, hugely important. And I think as our world gets more and more complex, it becomes even more important. So when I started the AFL, there 120 people. So you could get around to people pretty quickly. You're all on the one level. You can build relationships really quickly with people and therefore you get things done really quickly. And a lot of it is about building trust and then being able to influence to get the outcomes that you need.

that as you say is also then working with the clubs and so forth. But really at the start it was about actually bringing a lot of the events to be run internally. We were doing a lot of outsourcing. So really just getting the AFL events right. But as we grew and we wanted the industry to get more professional and better at what they did, part of my role was to work with clubs, with venues.

across the nation to improve the matchday experience. So what is it that we are doing that's making fans want to come to not one or two events, but three or four and graduating them through and really understanding what we were doing well and what we weren't doing well. And that is so built on relationships and building the trust because a lot of clubs don't want you coming in and telling them what they should perhaps be doing.

They know their fan bases and so forth, but it was trying to not come in over the top. That's certainly not what my role was. It was about how do I support them? And I think the way that I got some runs on the board there, I sort of created an industry forum for events, people across the AFL industry for them to get to know each other. They all had the same challenges. They could all talk to each other.

Danielle Bleazby (09:04.803)
But then I was also able to understand some of the challenges that they had across the board and be able to come to the table with solutions. So a good example of that was, they all wanted to do special effects, fireworks, et cetera, at their events. was costing them all individually quite a lot of money. So I was able to do a deal across the board for them where we would get some rebates back and it made it a lot more cost effective. put…

all our resources into one company and got some better rates across the board. That's just one example of how you get people on board with the journey around where you're trying to go. And some of your time at the AFL, you were both doing events, then special projects can be anything across the board. there some projects that in your time at the AFL that were memorable, whether they were

Sean Callanan (09:44.64)
And some of your time at the AFL, you were both doing events, but then special projects, which can be anything across the board, where there's some projects that in your time at the AFL that were memorable, whether they were big successes or not, like where actually got some really good lessons.

Danielle Bleazby (10:01.177)
big successes or not, like we actually got some really good lessons. Yeah, absolutely. So 11 years running the events department, then I moved into this innovation role, working out how we could access new customers into the sport. And so one, what I learned there was in events you have timelines. And so that motivates you to get things done and keep moving along.

when you're in sort of special projects and you're actually working on strategy and so forth, you don't necessarily have those timelines. So, and working as a bit of an individual and not a team, I learned about myself, I love a team, but working on your own individually, having to self-motivate and keep yourself accountable and to timelines and so forth. So you just didn't meander and not get anything done. I think a couple of the memorable projects

that I got involved with and Sean, that's when you and I crossed over a fair bit was e-sports. E-sports was becoming a bigger and bigger thing across the world. And we were interested in whether we should play a role in it or not. And if we were to play a role, what that role would be. So we did a lot of work partnering with League of Legends and just understanding the space.

I got the opportunity to go to Germany and Paris for some sort of League of Legends competitions and really understanding how a live audience engaged with it as well as the streaming audience. And then I got to go to the world championship of the League of Legends in South Korea, which was just fascinating. A huge stadium. First time I'd seen.

Sean Callanan (11:45.357)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (11:48.417)
you know, a virtual reality dragon, you know, incorporated into the pre-match entertainment and the hologram. So actually from what I did and Grand Funeral Entertainment and all of that sort of thing was really beneficial, but really just understanding a different audience and how they engage in it. And we were working with Essendon Football Club and the league at the time around how we could get them involved and access a different audience and have the synergies between

know, football and e-sport. So that was really, really interesting, really hard bridge to navigate if you like, because legal edge.

Sean Callanan (12:31.628)
Yeah. I mean, one of the things that, I learned, and like I said, you, you know, we, like you said, we cross paths. I had an illegal legend same at that time, you know, Essendon footy club and Adelaide football club had one. And there was that push pull of his traditional sports marketing. He's, he's what, you know, fans, how fans interact with our sport. He's what data we, you know, we have, and we get, and he's how we commercialize, you know, our fan bases. And it was a real,

Danielle Bleazby (12:47.087)
Here's traditional sports marketing. Here's what, you know, fans, how fans interact with our sport. Here's what data we, you know, we have and we get, and here's how we commercialize, you know, our embassies. And it was a real, I guess, struggle or lot of that tension that Bridge you were talking about to say, you know, what does that look like in the gaming space? know, would commercialize it by selling products in games. And they really hadn't, you know, still haven't figured out.

Sean Callanan (13:01.422)
I guess struggle or a lot of that tension that bridge you were talking about to say, you know, what does that look like in the gaming space where, you know, Riot would commercialize it via selling products in games. And they really hadn't, you know, they'd be contentious. They still haven't figured out what the commercial aspect is for e-sports. so, yeah, definitely learning times, definitely learning projects, you know, being in that e-sports space at that time.

Danielle Bleazby (13:17.113)
what the commercial aspect is for e-sports. so, yeah, definitely learning times, definitely learning projects, you know, being in that e-sports space at that time. Yeah, definitely. And I think the other learning is, you know, for a traditional AFL audience, there wasn't an understanding of how the synergies or how it would fit. If there was a really good AFL…

game, online game that had an audience. That makes a lot more sense to people in their heads because they can understand why you're investing a lot of time and energy in that space. Where it's a totally different game, it sometimes doesn't match up for people in people's heads to understand why we would be going down that path.

Sean Callanan (14:05.728)
Absolutely. I mean, again, and it's, you know, what we've seen, you know, audience extensions, how do you expose your brand to different, different pieces? you know, I still think there's, there's more to explore there. I mean, you know, not for me, the, the AFL was the sign that sort of said we had to draw a line in, in what to do. So when you sort of move back from that and sort of look at that match day and fan experience, stuff, and especially at the AFL, when, you know, Marvel Stadium was

Danielle Bleazby (14:06.217)
I mean, it's what we've seen, the audience extensions, how do you expose your brand to different pieces? I still think there's more to explore there. I the AFL was the sign that sort of said we have to draw a line in what to do. So when you sort of move back from that and sort of look at that match day and fan experience stuff, and especially at the AFL when Marvel Stadium was…

Sean Callanan (14:33.624)
coming back into the fold. What were some of the things that you were always looking at? Because it's a little bit different being at that league level. Like you said, you're trying to smooth things out and sort of do everything, but it's the club's match day and it's the clubs talking to their fans. How did you balance that piece of, where's the AFL? Want to lift the fan experience and bring more people in? But like you said, it's sort of helping the clubs or…

Sean Callanan (15:00.11)
You know lifting that experience, but then also in fact you sort of had the stadium in the mix and it sort of got you into that Into that venue space again

Danielle Bleazby (15:00.527)
Yeah. What I think we did well at that point in time is we were conducting customer research across all the venues. And that was not just about what the venue offered, but it was about what the club was offering on their match day. So you were able to be very data driven around what was working and what wasn't working. You could see

the differences between clubs and also venues. And you're able to then educate the clubs on what was working and what wasn't working and where we might be able to focus. And certainly at that time, what we were seeing was working for some clubs in Port Adelaide with a perfect instigator. This was the rituals, people wanting to feel a sense of belonging and part of something bigger than themselves when they come along. So they don't want to miss.

you know, the singing of the song prior to the start of the game, they're all in their seats and they want to be part of that. That was what was getting people there early and much more engaged and wanting to be part of that bigger picture. So we did a lot of work with clubs around, well, what's your ritual? What do you stand for? What is it that fans can rely on with you? And the challenge there was some clubs might try it for a few weeks and it didn't feel like it was catching on.

And so that would give it up. The key with rituals is you've got to be authentic to you and what you stand for. And it feels very natural and it's often fan led. It's not you telling the fans what to do. But also it takes time to embed that stuff and it just doesn't happen overnight. So you've got to go on the, you know, set your

Sean Callanan (16:35.278)
Yeah.

Sean Callanan (16:41.111)
laid. Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (16:56.879)
your strategy path and then keep with it for a while and not get fickle around it and go, well, we're not seeing results instantly. Let's try something else. is a lot in that. mean, the same, you if you're trying something from a digital space, but especially in that, you know, fan ritual, again, know, rituals, they have longevity and it's like, you know, things that habit doesn't form over seven days, it takes 21 days.

Sean Callanan (17:09.41)
There is lot in that. mean, the same, you if you're trying something from a digital space, but especially in that, you know, fan ritual, like again, know, rituals, they have longevity and it's like, you know, things that a habit doesn't form over seven days, it takes 21 days. And so, you know, to say, we tried this for three weeks and it didn't work. It's like, you know, the whole mix of the people in the crowd might not have been there, you know, for all of those three games. So there is a little bit of how do you, guess,

Danielle Bleazby (17:27.087)
to say, we tried this for three weeks and it didn't work. It's like, well, the whole mix of the people in the crowd might not have been there for all those three games. there is a little bit of how do you, I guess, roll it out, educate the fans on what it is and the why, and embed some of that authenticity in it. And I think that's what Adelaide's done really well with theirs. And then once the fans embrace it, it's like, well, that's just now, that becomes the ritual.

Sean Callanan (17:38.498)
roll it out, educate the fans on what it is and the why, embed some of that authenticity in it. And I think that's what Port Adelaide's done really well with theirs. then once the fans embrace it, it's like, well, that's just now, that becomes the ritual. And it's a really tough balance. And it's a really tough thing for event marketers and people trying to run that event to say, this is what we want to do because yeah, it can come across gimmicky or…

Danielle Bleazby (17:55.151)
It's a really tough balance. It's really tough being for, you know, big marketers and people trying to run that event to say, this is what we want to do because, yeah, you can come across gimmicky. know, this is what we're doing, whereas there will be a generation growing up where there's always fireworks. And this is why we have to get there early. But, you have to have that patience and sort of look at that long game to go, you know, we want that.

Sean Callanan (18:06.686)
This is what we're now doing, whereas there will be a generation growing up where there's always fireworks and there's always this part of, is why we have to get there early. But yeah, you have to have that patience and sort of look at that long game to go, we want that type of experience and we want that to be part of our game day.

Danielle Bleazby (18:24.463)
and we want that to be part of yeah, our game day. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of that, yeah, no, go. No, a lot of that is just, you've got to have champions of it within your fan base as well. So it's not just being pushed by the club, but you've got key people within the key areas, like your cheer squads and so forth that are really going to take hold of it and feel like it comes from them.

Sean Callanan (18:30.006)
And so then, yeah, sorry, go.

Sean Callanan (18:54.766)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, absolutely. So whether it is the cheer squad or making sure, you know, key member groups know about it or, or even that other part now that's there is listening to the to the fan groups that might say, Hey, we're going to do this. know, you see it now on social media, the fan groups want to do something at the certain minute mark to one on one of their players. It's like, well, a good club will one really lean into that, amplify that, let that happen. Because, you know, some of the best, you know, ideas

Danielle Bleazby (18:55.171)
Yeah, absolutely. mean, absolutely. Whether it is the cheer squad or making sure, you know, key member groups know about it or or even that other part now that's there is listening to the to the fan groups that might say, hey, we're going to do this. You you see it now on social media. The fan groups want to do something at the certain minute mark one on one of their players. It's like, well, a good club will one really lead into that, amplify that, let that happen because, you know, some of the best, you know, ideas, you know, will come.

Sean Callanan (19:23.743)
will come from the crowd and will be embraced by the crowd. So if you can have that listening piece, then be engaging those key groups, it works far better.

Danielle Bleazby (19:25.007)
and we'll be embraced by the crowd. So, you know, if you can have that sort of that listening piece, but then engaging those key groups, it works far better. absolutely. And if you, you know, after you said 13 years of the AFL, you left AFL, you flew out of sport, and you went to South Melbourne market, for those who don't know, famous for its dim sims. Yes. But what was it like stepping out of the world of sport for a while? Yeah.

Sean Callanan (19:36.558)
And then for you, after you said 13 years of the AFL, you left AFL, you flew out of sport world and you went to South Melbourne market, for those who don't know, famous for its dim sims. But what was it like stepping out of the world of sport for a little while? And what were some of the things you learned and what were some of the things that were a little bit different because you'd been in the world of sport for so long?

Danielle Bleazby (19:54.031)
And what was some of the things you learned and what were some of the things you learned that were a little bit different because you've been in the world of sport for so long? Yeah, I think I just 13 years at one place, I wanted to learn something different. I wanted to challenge myself. And I did think I'd still remain in sport and entertainment, but this opportunity came up. I am a bit of a foodie and I love South Melbourne market. So it was really interesting to me. And it probably is where my

My main experience in running a venue started to develop because yes, it was a retail venue, but it was a venue that have a lot of the same things that I deal with today. Security, cleaning, customer journey, customer satisfaction, all of those sorts of things. But the things I learned about it, South Melbourne, it was fascinating. I, for the first time, reported into a board.

So that was a really interesting transition for me and how you manage a board and that. so being able to create the strategy for the entire market and those sorts of things were just really fantastic opportunity for me. also, South Melbourne Market is owned by Council, City of Port Phillip. So also getting an insight into how local council works, the politics of it, how you get

initiatives up and how you get residents on site and all those sorts of things. But also then we were hit with COVID four months, five months into my tenure there. So COVID was a really interesting time for the market. I talk about there was there's three categories in the market. There was fresh produce, who were going great guns because everybody had to stay local and they wanted their fresh produce.

They were doing really well. We then had our cafes and restaurants which could do takeaway only. So they were turning up every day, but really feeling the pinch around audiences not coming to them and trying to pivot in any way they possibly could to keep the revenue coming in the door. And then our general merchandisers who were unable to open at all. And so we're sitting at home and I was playing part role counselor by

Sean Callanan (22:18.114)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (22:22.197)
making sure we were ringing them sort of regularly and keeping them engaged and in touch with what we were doing and just checking in on their wellbeing. And I think the greatest lesson for me was just leadership in uncertainty, where you don't know where things are going and how you manage through that. the biggest, you always know this, but the biggest lesson that I learnt was communication, communication, communication.

And we got the traders to a point where they didn't actually need to tune in for Dan Andrews press conferences because they knew the market was going to tell them exactly what they needed to know, what they could do, what they couldn't do. And we were their source of truth. So building that trust with them and we were right on every single press conference and what it was we were able to do. So whilst it was a

Sean Callanan (22:51.544)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (23:19.491)
hugely challenging time. It was a way that I was able to galvanize the market, the entire market community, if you like, together for the one purpose. And yeah, there was a lot of power in that.

Sean Callanan (23:41.804)
I mean, thing is, mean, and I've talked to people who either go from sport into other roles or vice versa. There's still a lot of similarities in AFL. were the overall the league and you were trying to engage and make all the clubs successful. It's exactly the same thing you're talking about the market and stakeholder management relationship, like you said, communication. But also, like you said, it must have been good to be in-house at the venue as opposed to

Danielle Bleazby (23:42.553)
thing is I

Danielle Bleazby (23:48.655)
there's still a lot of similarities in AFL. were the overall the league and you were trying to engage and make all the clubs successful. It's exactly the same thing you're talking about the market and stakeholder management relationship, like you said, communication. But also like I said, it must have been good to be in-house at the venue as opposed to engaging a venue and sort of getting that point of view internally. But it's effectively, know.

Sean Callanan (24:11.118)
you know, engaging a venue and sort of getting that point of view, you know, in internally, but effectively, you know, a market, you know, a football stadium, a multi-purpose stadium, there is still a lot of similarities, a lot of similar levers to pull.

Danielle Bleazby (24:18.933)
football stadium, a multi-purpose stadium, there is still lot of similarities, a lot of similar leaders to football. Absolutely, and we used to, I used to say every market day is like an event day. You've still got all of it, you've got to open the doors at a certain time and you've still got to put on all of those things that go to supporting, opening and running a venue or an event.

So, and read absolutely the stakeholder piece was a huge part of it. And I think, you know, another thing I really learned, I probably always had this in me, but at the market, you can imagine there are people that have been there for 40 years and people who are a fledgling business, just trying to get a little start and everything in between. And from every single background you can think of. So just being able to relate.

Sean Callanan (25:04.291)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (25:15.417)
to different people and understand where they're coming from. It's not about pushing your agenda down people's throats. It's actually about understanding where they're coming from, what they're trying to achieve and how they can connect to our broader strategy or where we're trying to go. So that individual connection for each. And you've got to spend time on that. It just takes time.

Sean Callanan (25:40.012)
Yeah. And so from that, you came back to the world of sport where you are now as director of venues. At the time it was Melbourne Olympic parks and now it's been rebranded as Melbourne park. For those who don't know it's the home of the Australian Open. those who don't know the precinct, it is quite impressive and close to the city. Can you give an explainer of the Melbourne park precinct to the audience?

Danielle Bleazby (25:40.911)
And so from that, you came back to the world of sport where you are now as director of venues at the time was Melbourne Olympic parks. And now it's being rebranded as Melbourne park for those who don't know it's the home of the Australian open. For those who don't know the precinct, it's quite impressive and close to the city. Can you give an explainer of the Melbourne park precinct to the audience?

Yeah, it is actually totally a totally unique precinct around the world. And we're seeing internationally cities trying to do this a little bit more. But we we made the decisions we, you know, people well before me had the foresight to make the decision to build what was Flinders Park at the time, right on the, you know, on the doorstep of the city. And

understanding how that sort of connects in with the city and how easy it is for people to access it. So you're not going 30 minutes, 40 minutes out of town to access a venue and we've got six main venues in the one site. So you've always got, when there's an event on, there's always a hive of activity and so we have everything from AAMI Park, which is our rectangular stadium for 30,000 people.

We then got Rod Laver Arena for 15,000 people where you see the real high profile concerts, but also some sport. had NHL there last year. So it's an incredibly versatile venue. Then we've got John Cain Arena where we've got 10,000 people. Our main stays are basketball and netball, and we love having those seasons, but we also do a lot of concerts, a lot of comedy in those spaces. And then things like

Cirque du Soleil and so forth, which are really exciting. And then we have Margaret Court, which is about 7,500 people. We talk about Margaret Court as being, you know, that starting point for young up and coming artists and also promoters. And we like to think that, you know, they'll start at Margaret Court Arena, but they'll graduate through our bigger venues and grow with us. And then we've got Centerpiece, which is

Danielle Bleazby (28:06.258)
A ballroom for 1400 people does lots of gala dinners, lots of conferences, lots of exhibitions. So I think one of our competitive advantages is having all of those options in the one site. And then if you think about a promoter who's taking huge risk on bringing an artist to a country and touring them around and taking a punt on how many tickets they can sell.

we have the option to flex up or flex down. So if you've booked Margaret Court and all of a sudden it's surprised you and it's gone gangbusters, we can actually graduate you up to John Cain Arena and you can sell another two and a half, 3,000 people. Or likewise, if you've booked Rod Laver and it actually hasn't gone as well, well, we may have the availability in John Cain Arena or Margaret Court to bring it down a bit and still make it feel like a great.

experience but save you some of those costs along the way as well. So that's a huge competitive advantage. But I think the other thing that is great about our site is we are a publicly owned site and we have a huge amount, we're 40 hectares, so we have a huge amount of community space across the site and communities do engage in our space from our

Gosch's Paddock Training Fields to Olympic Park Oval across the road with Collingwood Football Club. And then our biggest expanses of spaces across through Garden Square and so forth. So we are a place for every Victorian to come to and engage with in their own way. And I think that's really special. often talk about

where entertainment, sport and community all combine and cross over. So the Melbourne Park brand came about from Melbourne and Olympic Parks, felt like there was a separation. For those who don't know, we've got a road in between the precinct and Olympic Park is on one side and Melbourne Park is on the other side. And there felt a little bit of a boundary there.

Danielle Bleazby (30:21.067)
Melbourne Park for us is to bring all of those venues under the one umbrella. A lot of people know the individual banners or venues, but they don't understand how it sits in a broader ecosystem. So it's about bringing everybody under the one banner. And our tagline is, you know, where we play, which it just so perfectly hits the note for everything that we do that there, whether it's sport, entertainment or the community coming in.

Sean Callanan (30:41.986)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (30:48.845)
walking their dog or having a run or whatever it might be. It is very much like a retail brand that does connect because I think Melbourne Olympic Park was pretty much a industry term and people in the biz knew that they were all connected but the general public probably didn't. I think having that connected brand does help for the audience and one of the best activations of it is the Australian Open that uses up

Sean Callanan (30:52.608)
It is very much like a retail brand that does connect because I think, you know, Melbourne Olympic Park was pretty much a, you know, industry term and, know, people in the, in the biz knew that they were all connected, but, know, the general public probably, you know, didn't. And so I think, you know, having that connected brand does, you know, does help, you know, for the, for the audience. And, you know, one of the best activations of it is, you know, the Australian open that uses up, you know, a pretty big chunk of the whole.

Danielle Bleazby (31:18.627)
you know, a pretty big chunk of the whole of the whole precinct for the the couple of weeks and and and the way that they use that canvas of the whole precinct is, you is amazing. So like when you were going through that process of one, you know, the ideation of it to say, hey, we want to have this brand that both connects it, you know, continues to amplify Melbourne and the brand of Melbourne, you know.

Sean Callanan (31:20.206)
of the whole precinct for the couple of weeks and the way that they use that canvas of the whole precinct is amazing. like when you were going through that process of one, you know, the ideation of it to say, we want to have this brand that both connects it, you know, continues to amplify Melbourne and the brand of Melbourne. You know, then what were some of the, I guess, the implementation pieces of, you know, what's the brand going to look like? And then where does that brand

Danielle Bleazby (31:43.459)
Then what were some of the, I guess, the implementation pieces of what Springer looked like and then where does that brand fit and sit across the precinct? Yeah, well, I'll shout out to Kath Oakley, who led this project and did bulk of the work and can talk to it much more eloquently than I can. But huge amount of research went into it and that was public research, but also with our major stakeholders. And we've got quite a…

Sean Callanan (31:48.974)
feet and seat across the precinct.

Danielle Bleazby (32:12.367)
a large complex environment of stakeholders, clubs, leagues, state government, promoters, and the public. So a huge amount of consultation around, what is it that we do here? What feels authentically us? What space can we play in and really own? And so ideating through that, we had a number of different brand names.

But everybody instinctively, before we even put those names before them, were talking Melvin Park. Melvin Park, we needed to simplify. It's a bit of a mouthful. So Melvin Park was just the natural name that one threw very, very strongly. And then it was about representing what do we do here. And so the Where We Play tagline.

came in and really naturally sat amongst everything that we do. Then we did a whole lot of playback then to all our stakeholders, our staff, et cetera, to get feedback and so forth. And we could see the excitement that we were generating. So we knew we were on the right track. And then it's about the rollout. How do we roll it out? And a lot of that is those visual elements that we need to put in place.

It's also the hierarchy of the way that we communicate through social media, through our websites, et cetera. you will, the venues still remain the venues because you do attend Rod Laver Arena and you do attend John Cain Arena, but it's more the connective tissue between those venues that Melbourne Park is and brings an element to bring together. So now we start to build that.

Sean Callanan (33:54.061)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (34:07.937)
in the marketplace and that is alongside our venues with some of the exciting content and so forth that we have. But also part of our strategy is actually to use those connective tissues or what we call our non-traditional venues across the site, which is all our outdoor spaces, to start building more and more events that the community can access. So that whole environment has a

Sean Callanan (34:28.044)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (34:36.899)
has a trademark, if you like.

Sean Callanan (34:39.598)
And that's an extension of, I sort of said, the, you know, it's well known that the Australian Open uses that precinct and Grand Slam Oval becomes a real, you know, pop-up bars and different restaurants, sort of to take some of that model and use some of that space for other events. You know, this year, the Grand Prix had a viewing zone, which was, for those who don't know, a couple of kilometers or miles, if I'm talking to my American audience, actually away from the track, but it was a way to…

Danielle Bleazby (34:40.111)
that's an extension of, like I said, the, you know, it's well known that the Australian Open uses that precinct and Grand Slam Oval becomes a real, you know, pop up bars and different restaurants to of take some of that model and use some of that space for other events. The Grand Prix had a viewing zone, which was, for those who don't know, a couple of kilometers or miles, if I'm talking to my American audience, actually away from the track, but it was a way to…

Sean Callanan (35:08.77)
you know, experience F1 without actually, you know, being a tick and being an elbow.

Danielle Bleazby (35:10.218)
experience F1 without actually being in the and being in alpha class? Yeah, so over the last couple of years we've been testing, learning and doing some different things. Some of them are client-led with inquiries that have come in with us and our willingness to sort of jump into it if you like. And part of it is us going out and going, okay, well what is it that we can create in the space that's going to be of interest to people? So we have…

for a number of years now held Run Melbourne, the marathon and the fun run environment that culminates at Melbourne Park. So, you know, that's a really community event. It brings a different audience to our precinct than what we otherwise would be getting as your event goers. We've had the AFL parade start there for the last couple of years and we will continue to build and grow with the AFL about what we do.

The Grand Prix was a great learning, also great initiative for us to start to open up all these amazing spaces that just don't get used enough and bring different audiences in. So that's part of our community aspect, right? Like all of these are free events and so forth. we really came to the table and supported the Grand Prix around how we could make this work and happen. that was a great…

example of bringing the elite to the community and having drivers appear there and meet the fans and to be able to sort of create an environment similar to the track. It's never going to be what the track is, but actually create an opportunity for more people to engage in that sport. And you'll see we will continue to do that. We've got more more inquiries and our aim is to fill out the calendar.

so that every time you come down to Melbourne Park, there is something going on that you can engage in. And if you are coming for an event, then you might come a little earlier and enjoy what else we've got to offer. Or if you're not, you just always know that there's gonna be something at Melbourne Park and why don't we pop down there and see what's going on.

Sean Callanan (37:29.102)
Absolutely. I've been lucky enough to have a bunch of people in the stadium space, whether it Greg Slay at Optus Stadium, Lewis from the MCG, Scott Fitzgerald from Marvel. It's definitely a race to keep upgrading the experience of fans and what fans expect. And it's very much, you know, looking over your shoulder of what the other stadiums and venues are doing both locally and market, but then also, you know, internationally, how do you look and tackle that challenge at Melbourne Park to go, what

Danielle Bleazby (37:30.255)
Absolutely, I've been lucky enough to have a bunch of people in the stadium space, whether it be Greg Slay at Optus Stadium, Lewis from the MCG, Scott Fitzgerald from Marvel. It's definitely a race to keep upgrading the experience for fans and what fans expect. And it's very much looking over your shoulder of what the other stadiums and venues doing both locally and market, but then also internationally. do you look and tackle that challenge at Melbourne Park to go, what?

Sean Callanan (37:58.37)
you know, what are the improvements? What are the things that we do want where they be, you know, security based that have been brought on board or, you know, changes that came via, via COVID, those kinds of things. What, how do you sort of tackle that, that challenge to continually improve your, your venue?

Danielle Bleazby (37:58.765)
you know, what are the improvements, what are the things that we do, whether they be security based that have been brought on board or, you know, changes that came via COVID and those kind of things. How do you sort of tackle that challenge to continually improve your venue? Yeah, so I think we talk about it in phases and we're actually just embarking at the moment on a visioning project, which is actually to think about our space in 20 years time.

and what it is that we think audiences will want in 20 years time. And we're starting to think about our spaces or what we offer as the experience business. We're no longer in the venues business. We're in the experience. And what experiences do we want to be offering in a couple of decades time? Now, we're really conscious that that doesn't paralyse us, if you like. Whilst we're trying to create this longer term vision,

part of that work is actually what is it that we need now in the next three years, in the next five years, in the next 10 years, but how do we make sure that it makes sense and it's not regret spend now that we're just going to tear down in 10 or 20 years time. So we're trying to take that real holistic point of view. We've done a huge amount of research at international venues and what we're seeing, what we're offering over there and what's working well and what's

perhaps is not working so well, but we've made a few changes recently and a lot of venues are starting to do that around your frictionalist beverage bars and so forth. So we opened Arena Bar just before going into the Australian Open at the end of last year. We have seen that bar on its busiest day take 40 % more than what it did in the past. So that was more a bar that was staffed

and you transacted traditionally. Now that is your frictionless, tap and go sort of environment. So those sorts of things, try not to get in the way of customers and giving them that seamless experience. I think what we need to think more and more about is that hyper personalization. And that's from the point of time where,

Danielle Bleazby (40:20.045)
customers are actually researching where they want to go and what they want to do and what they want to book into, and then personalising that the information that goes to them around their journey into the venue, their welcome to the venue, the things that they're going to be interested in engaging in in the venue, you know, the merchandise and the personalisation of that, whether they can pre-order some, you know, a t-shirt that actually has their name on it and those sorts of things.

So starting to think about audiences in a much more segmented way. And we have the challenge, which is not, and Marvel will be feeling this a little bit more, but they do have a whole season of football and then they convert into concerts. We have K-pop one night, heavy metal the next night, Disney on Ice the following day. So we are really conscious of

every demographic that is coming to our venue and what it is that they need, what the pain points are likely to be and how do we get those pain points out of the way and really thinking individually about what is required for every single event. Now that takes a hell of a lot more work but we're being more data driven in that too so we're able to glean the insights, go back to the insights from similar demographics.

in the past and go, well, what is it that they were telling us they wanted?

Sean Callanan (41:46.476)
That was one of the questions I did have and you sort of half answered it of that, that variety of customer, because it's not like the same as, you know, the MCG that has, you know, someone turning up 12 times, they know where they're going, they go into the same seat or the same at Marvel. It's like, this is where I go. Like you do have a little bit of that. You have that with, you know, with AAMI Park and John Cain with, you know, Melbourne United fans or Storm fans going. And so you have that, that type of cadence and knowing how those fans work. But then you also have the person that turns up once, you know, for, for a

Danielle Bleazby (41:47.823)
did have and you sort of half answered of that, that variety of customer, because it's not like the same as, you know, the MCG that has, you know, someone turning up 12 times, they know where they're going, they're going to the same seat or the same at Marvel. It's like, this is where I go. Like you do have a little bit of that. You have that with, you know, with John Cain, you know, Melbourne United fans or Storm fans going. And so you have that, type of cadence and knowing how those fans work. But then you also have the person that turns up once, you know, for a, for a, for a concert or.

Sean Callanan (42:15.768)
for a concert or, you know, they don't know if they're going to Rod Laver or Margaret Court and those kinds of things. So it must both present a challenge, but also that opportunity of how do we make sure that experience is still good for that person that comes three times a year to the person that is very familiar with the site and it's completely different. Do you do some, guess, does having those venues that have that regular cadence and regular fan give you a little space to do a little bit of testing of those kinds of things where you can…

Danielle Bleazby (42:17.487)
You know, they don't know if they're going to Rod Laver or Margaret Court and those kind of things. So it must both present a challenge, but also that opportunity of how do we make sure that experience is still good for the person that comes three times a year to the person that is very familiar with the site and it's completely different. Do do some, guess, does having those venues that have that regular cadence and regular fan give you a little space to do a little bit of testing of those kinds of things where you can…

Sean Callanan (42:44.408)
You know, be testing things in those venues because you have some more regularity of fans.

Danielle Bleazby (42:44.833)
be testing things in those venues because you have some more regularity affairs? Yes and no. Certainly you do with any of our clubs and the regularity. You get to know those audiences and understand what it is that you want to be offering them. And probably our best example that is AAMI Park because whether it's Storm, Melbourne City or Melbourne Victory,

they're a sporting audience. There's slight differences between those audiences, but on the whole, you can offer very similar things, and that's from a food and beverage point of view, but also the way they enter the venue and the way they find their seats and all of those sorts of things. Joan Canarena is a really different one because we are constantly converting from

basketball to concert, to basketball to comedy, to basketball to… But what that does allow us when you do have that changeability is and you have a certain demographic, we can try something and we get instantly the next morning we get the reaction from our audiences. And what we do now is categorize audiences rather than venues and shows.

Sean Callanan (44:09.079)
Okay.

Danielle Bleazby (44:09.679)
So that audience, say it was a John Cain Arena and it was, maybe we might be looking at the basketball and it's very much a family audience, primary school children, et cetera. What's working for them, what's not working for them. And then when we get a Marvel style event at Rod Laver Arena, we can use that same data to help inform us around what that audience is gonna want at Rod Laver Arena.

We're always testing and learning and one of the things we've done, which I think we are fairly unique in this, not completely unique, but we put a fair bit of effort in what are the experiences that we at the venue are offering for our customers over and above what you would normally get. And by that, mean, is it as simple as a photo wall for a Gracie Abrams, who is coming up?

Sean Callanan (44:59.329)
Okay.

Danielle Bleazby (45:06.317)
this weekend and it's a real young audience that just want to engage on their media or is it, you know, we had kiss and we had, you know, fire fountains coming out that people could have photos with and so forth. Or is it that we had ice cube and we had, you know, real old hot it up a car that was going to be of interest to them. So.

We are spending money where we feel like it's going to hit that market. And where we do spend the money, we see the direct response in the research that we get and the satisfaction that, you know, when we put the effort in, we see that those results go up. So we will continue to do more and more of that.

Sean Callanan (45:53.866)
Terrific. As an events person, person working in the industry, I'm sure you view game day far differently to a sports fan. I joke that I went to an NBA playoff game with Stacey McGranah, where we spent more time talking about concession lines and the scoreboard LED than the actual game. When you go to a game, what do you look for? What do you study? What do you look at?

Danielle Bleazby (45:55.983)
As an events person, person working in industry, I'm sure you gained a part differently to a sports fan. I joke, I went to an NBA playoff game with Stacy McGranor, where we spent more time talking about concession lines and the scoreboard LED than the actual game. When you go to a game, what do you do? What do you study? What do you do? I went to a Hawthorn game on the weekend.

Sean Callanan (46:21.859)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (46:22.879)
And I actually did a little bit more upmarket. I am an MCC member. So I went to one of their new dining facilities, really interested in what they're doing, how they're doing it. What we are seeing across the venue is there are definitely markets for different price points. And that was alive and well at the MCG with people being able to spend the additional money for, you know,

for what they perceive as value and adding to their event day experience. So, yes, I was really interested in around what was the menu offering. Very interested as I came to the gates around how they were doing the Evolve technology and the security, wanding and bag checking and all of those sorts of things. Because of my old hat at the AFL, I'm always looking at what the clubs are doing on the ground and what…

activations and so forth and how they're presenting on the screens and that. And I'm seeing great innovations around the stats and the information that's being fed back to you. We always used to talk about at the AFL and in sports still talk about it. How do we get people out of their lounge rooms and make sure that they're getting an experience over and above what you can get on the TV? And part of what the TV can offer is that in-depth

information and reading of trends and so forth. it's starting to do, clubs are doing that a lot better around feeding their fans the information they want to see. Yeah, I'm always interested in how easy it is to connect to on my phone and yeah, and I look at the staff and what they're doing and how they're welcoming people and

Sean Callanan (48:07.425)
Yep.

Danielle Bleazby (48:13.867)
I think no matter where you go, if you have a good experience or a bad experience, you learn from it and you bring it back and you use it.

Sean Callanan (48:19.724)
Yeah. And I think the last couple of times that I have run into you have been on a game day where you are in work mode, whether it's wandering the precinct and doing things. What does your work day look like on a game day? Whether it's a tournament or a concert, what are the things that you're trying to stay on top of or keeping a keen eye on?

Danielle Bleazby (48:22.319)
last couple of times that I have run into you have been on a game day where you are in work, whether it's wandering the precinct and doing things. What does your work day look like on a game day, whether it's a tournament or a concert, what are the things that you're trying to stay on top of or keeping a keen eye on? Yeah, I'm really lucky that I've got a terrific, experienced senior team. And so a lot of people ask me that question and I joke, you know, I don't do anything really. I don't need to do anything.

because the team have got it sorted. Where I play a role, think, is by meandering around and wandering and understanding how people are using our spaces, where we're perhaps a bit clunky and things are not working that well. And often you'll see me taking little notes in my phone to circle back. I'm not going to bother our venue managers whilst they're trying to run an event, but that is…

for that next week and circling back and going, I saw this, we could improve this, we could do this. Whether we're reaching the standards we wanna be reaching, being able to engage with our casual staff and listen to them and what they're telling me because they're the ones who have that one-on-one with every single customer that's coming through the door. So they often give you some great information and advice around how we could be doing things differently and have great ideas.

And then I'm really the escalation point when, you know, something doesn't go quite right. And then it's a matter of how you manage the stakeholders across whatever that incident might be and the communications more broadly up the line, across the line, et cetera. Let the experts, which is my team, deal with the emergency at hand.

and how do I support them, but then get the right communication out to the right people so that everybody feels informed and across what's happening. So yeah.

Sean Callanan (50:24.334)
You sort of spoke about it there where you're right, you're sort of wondering it's not on you know, not on you, you're not out there to fight fires, but how do you, I guess, embolden your staff, whether they be your senior staff or the casual staff to be always, you know, always looking for solutions and fixing solutions and get emboldened to do that, but also, you know, looking to elevate the fan experience. You know, you look at that Disney fan experience and how they're all meant to, their whole role is there to make the experience better. How do you…

Danielle Bleazby (50:43.823)
looking to elevate the band experience. You look at that Disney band experience and how that all makes their whole role is there to make the experience better. How do you set that in bed, that in the culture of Elton John? I think some of it is, I do walk around with team and point out things that I'm seeing that I'd expect to see. I think some of it is we are setting a standard for ourselves and wanting to be continuing.

Sean Callanan (50:53.25)
how do you sort of set that embed that in the culture at Melbourne?

Danielle Bleazby (51:10.681)
to improve and never resting on our laurels. A lot of it is through our customer data. We're getting better and better at getting that feedback. And a good example of that is, I'll talk about where we have a concert with multiple concerts. So Billy Eilish, the first night we will survey and we'll get that information the next morning. And we will put some of the learnings in place for the following night.

So we actually fix it straight away. So there's this real culture that we've created around continuing to get better and near enough is not good enough. And part of that is part of the performance review. One of the things that we talk about in that is our customer experience scores and where we're going well and where we're not going so well. We've got a team that are really motivated by making sure the customer is having the best time.

possible and that's where they get a lot of their reward for what they do. And then yeah, with casual staff, there's a lot of training and so forth that goes in on that. And we were just talking now about, we talked about the Melbourne Park brand. Okay, let's rethink now. Now we've got a new brand. How does that show up in every aspect of what we do in our people, in our welcome signs, in our wayfinding, in

you know, the way in which we move people through our venue, the food and beverage offering, like how does it all speak to the one thing? And I think you've got to continually paint that bigger picture for people and bring it back to also the individual customer and what they're experiencing and the difference you can have. That is great. It just went around the other day.

A radio station here in Melbourne have this great segment called changing tracks and people write in and talk about a moment in their life where things changed and the song that goes with it. And we had somebody only a couple of weeks ago write in and they talk about an experience that they had at Andre Rieu at Rod Laver Arena in 2018. And they still remember that experience. And part of the richness of that experience for them was our staff.

Danielle Bleazby (53:37.037)
and the way that we dealt with some issues that they had and the way that we just sorted it without making a big fuss of it and so forth. now, playing that back to staff to go, this is what good looks like. But also how amazing is that, that seven years later, somebody's ringing a radio station and recalling that as one of their great memories of their life, that we have such a privileged opportunity to

Sean Callanan (53:52.589)
Yeah.

Danielle Bleazby (54:06.159)
play in the space that makes memories for people.

Sean Callanan (54:10.154)
Absolutely. And, know, I could put my hand up and, you know, been to, been to the precinct and had many, many happy times of its way back when with the, when the Melbourne Tigers were playing it, then it was called Flinders Park and, and watching Andrew Gaze and Lanard Copeland do their best to, you know, to, know, that pinch me moment of, of seeing a Gravitas player on the stage of Rod Laver Arena. So like, you know, so those kinds of things are, you know, fond memories and, you know, had plenty of

Danielle Bleazby (54:10.767)
Absolutely, know, I my hand up and you know, been to the precinct and had many, many happy times with it. It's way back when the Melbourne Tigers were playing and then it was called Flinders Park Yes, I remember those days. the Andrew Gaisel and I hope will do their best to, you know, to, you know, that pinch me moment of seeing a Gravitas player on the stage of Rod Laverley. So like, you know, so those kind of things are fond memories and had plenty of fun day at the Australia Open.

Sean Callanan (54:37.006)
a fun day at the Australian Open across the whole precinct. So Danny, I want to thank you for coming on the podcast. I want to get to the sports geek closing five. Do you remember the first sports event you ever attended?

Danielle Bleazby (54:40.431)
across the whole place. So, Danny, I want to thank you for coming on the podcast. I want to get to the sports gig closing call. Yes, okay. Do you remember the first sports event you ever attended? I don't remember the first one, but I know it would have either been a test match, a boxing day test match at the MCG with my dad and his mate Chris Williams, or it would have been an Australian Open Golf tournament. I used to trail along with dad for golf quite a lot. And I remember, you know, putting the

the book out for Greg Norman to sign my autograph book and so forth. So it would have been one or the other, I'm not sure which would have come first. Now one of the things that has, I guess, upgraded over time is the food options at sports events and venues. Do you have a favourite food memory or a go-to food at a sports event? My go-to food at a sports event is very basic. It's a hot dog.

Sean Callanan (55:16.908)
both are excellent. Now one of things that has I guess upgraded over time is the food options at sports events and venues. Do you have a favourite food memory or a go-to food at a sports event?

Sean Callanan (55:38.913)
Okay. Yep.

Danielle Bleazby (55:39.715)
For your American audience, the Australian hot dog is not laden with all the toppings and so forth. It is literally a bread roll and a hot dog and I'll put tomato sauce on it. And I am happy with that. I love the premium dining at times and so forth, but I love nothing better than going with my cap on and a hot dog and sitting down in the seat and being able to yell from the stands and tell the whole family where they should be.

Sean Callanan (55:54.647)
out.

Danielle Bleazby (56:09.487)
kicking the ball. What's the first app you open in the morning? Unfortunately, I'd have to say email, my Outlook app. So what often happens, so we have 500 events a year. I can't get to all of those events. So, but we get an event report very late in the night, often, you know, at midnight, one o'clock in the morning from the team.

Sean Callanan (56:10.998)
Exactly, exactly. What's the first app you open in the morning?

Danielle Bleazby (56:39.727)
So the first thing I want to do is go, how did everything go? And I open up our event reports and just make sure that I'm going into the office knowing exactly what the team have had to deal with the night before.

Sean Callanan (56:56.916)
Absolutely. Is there someone that you follow? Might be someone on social media or an author or a previous colleague that the podcast listeners should follow and why?

Danielle Bleazby (56:58.391)
Is there someone that you follow? be someone on social media or an author or previous colleague that…

Danielle Bleazby (57:07.592)
I actually follow a lot of, so it's not a person as such, I follow lot of venues, obviously, but I think Madison Square Gardens does it really well. And what they do is they make it very artist driven, what they've been able to build is it's an aspiration for artists or athletes to perform at Madison Square Garden. And so that is a moment.

Sean Callanan (57:14.179)
Okay.

Danielle Bleazby (57:35.127)
in their career and then they use that really well across social media. Yeah, so I like looking at those things. The other one that I am starting to listen to quite a few podcasts is Diary of a CEO. So I find that really interesting. so it's not work specific, but it's really how you manage your life and how you get the best out of yourself and you know.

Sean Callanan (57:54.126)
Steven Bartlett.

Danielle Bleazby (58:04.864)
things which I find really interesting.

Sean Callanan (58:08.206)
Absolutely. I saw him live I think last year when he was in Melbourne. Yeah, well worth it.

Danielle Bleazby (58:13.751)
in Melbourne as Yeah, well worth it. Yeah, good. And lastly, you can answer this both personally and then potentially with Melbourne Park Advertising. What social media platform is your MVP? Personally, it's Instagram. So just the tried and true. Yeah, I just I just find it a good way to keep in touch with people and what everybody's doing and so forth. And some of the, you know, the trends and so forth.

Sean Callanan (58:18.176)
And lastly, you can answer this both personally and then potentially with your Melbourne Park hat on. What social media platform is your MVP?

Danielle Bleazby (58:43.663)
And then probably from a work point of view, LinkedIn is the main go-to. That's where you get the news around who's moved to what role and so forth and what new initiatives people are proud of and putting out there and being able to keep up with what's happening in the world. Absolutely. Well, Danielle, I really do appreciate you coming to the podcast. I always ask listeners to you a message to say thank you.

Sean Callanan (58:52.716)
Yep.

Sean Callanan (59:02.122)
Absolutely. Well, Danielle, I really do appreciate you coming on the podcast. I always ask listeners to send you a message and say thank you if you enjoy the podcast as much as I do. What's the best platform or the best way for someone to reach out to connect with you?

Danielle Bleazby (59:10.831)
as much as I do, what's the best platform or best way for someone to reach out to connect with you? Yeah, I think probably through LinkedIn. You search Danielle Bleazby, B-L-E-A-Z-B-Y. And yeah, message me. I'd love to hear from people and be in touch. Well, thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you at a venue soon. I'm sure you will. Thanks, Sean.

Sean Callanan (59:28.834)
Well, thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you at a venue soon.