The annual 2022 Event Planning Workshop for Community Groups hosted by Wattle Range Council has been hailed as a great success by the organisers.

Around 45 attendees representing a range of community across spread across the region participated in the recent conversational style workshop at the Millicent War Memorial Civic and Arts Centre.

The workshop was facilitated by council’s Development Services director Emma Clay.

The format was well received, with a question-and-answer session from the panel and considerable positive engagement from attendees.

Session highlights included things to consider to make your event inclusive, an introduction to the Wattle Range event disability inclusive pack and toolkit for event managers, an explanation of what are our young people up to with the Planet Youth data presentation, a successful event case study of the Millicent Expo outlining the pitfalls, planning and marketing strategies.

Meanwhile, there were questions from the audience about making events safe for event attendees and staff, security and SAPOL assistance, which were also complimented with questions about liquor licencing for events, Responsible Service of Alcohol mandated requirements and harm related to excessive consumption of liquor.

The guest speakers included Sergeant Jade Hill, (Manager Crime Prevention Section, Limestone Coast (South Australian Police), Ben Johns (Manager Liquor and Gambling with Consumer and Businesses Services), Sophie Bourchier (Project Coordinator, Substance Misuse Limestone Coast), Caroline Hill, (Community Development Manager, Wattle Range Council), Tamara North (Tourism Events Coordinator, Wattle Range Council),Tessa Deak, (Purple Orange) and Simone Berry and Darrell Looker (Millicent Expo Organisers and Millicent and Surrounds Health Support Group).