Perth’s Annual WA Chinese New Year Ball

For decades, WACCC has hosted and organised its own ball amongst its many members, niche community and sponsors. Traditionally, celebrations are hosted by their subcommunities, often by their city or province, as well as by Chinese-occupied countries.

However, this year, with thanks to prominent VVIP’s organised by member Sam Lim MP, Perth’s Chinese community voted to come together to celebrate this landmark Lunar New Year calendar event in unison, with the prospect of over 900 guests.

The main event each year is hosted at the Crown Towers Grand Ballroom in connection with WACCC and their partners. This event invites the cream of the crop to speak with politicians, celebrities, CEOs, executives and ambassadors arriving in style. The event showcases local talent, food and drinks, and music that was homegrown in Western Australia and puts Western Australia ‘on the map’.

One of the major themes of the event this year was the theme of unity. Uniting the entire Chinese diaspora for one memorable night to ring in the Year Of The Wood Dragon. It was more than just an event, it was a milestone in cultural relations and a celebration of shared prosperity and friendship between nations. This was very much reflected as this was the first time the Western Australian Chinese Chamber Of Commerce joined forces with Chung Wah and The Australia China Friendship Society for the annual WA Chinese New Year Ball.

This year was the Year of the Wood Dragon. Individuals born under the Dragon sign, encompassing years such as 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, and 2024, embody a magnetic blend of ambition, confidence, and charisma. The year 2024 falls under the element of wood, where individuals who are also wood elements experience prosperity, wisdom and opportunity, as metaphysical energies in flux favour those born of this element.

What Was The Challenge?

As mentioned earlier, the 2024 WA Chinese New Year Ball was a unifying event unlike the Chamber has seen before. With both the Chung Wah Association and the Australia China Friendship Society, the theme of unity was at the forefront of the event and united 900 members of the Chinese Diaspora for one incredible night.

This year proved challenging with the possible attendance of a number of VVIPs, which led to a decision to combine several event events into 1 larger event with an expected 900 paying guests .

Once this was decided, WACCC set up sponsorship for the event to accommodate a budget for more guests. There were to be Major, platinum associations and supporters sponsors for the event, live entertainment from several local Perth Chinese communities, as well as gift bags, invitations and presentations.

How Did We Proceed?

Press Release and Press Conference

We began with a scheduled press conference for the media in November, when the event date was finalised and the relative communities had confirmed that they would be participating in this event.

The intended media parties, including local high-profile Chinese community groups, publications and new media groups, were invited to the official kick-off of the event.

Organising the Sponsors

We endeavoured to organise sponsors for the event that would resonate with the community and would allow for a higher-calibre event in Perth. We communicated with the Golden Group early on in the planning phase and were able to arrange the showcasing of a premium development in the works, in the heart of Perth. A 5-year-long project nearing completion is on the point. We were also in discussion about possible charitable donations and fundraising at the event for charity organisations within the Chinese community.

Planning the Entertainment

We were thinking of hiring entertainers who represent Western Australia and the music and performing arts industry, which has been thriving and producing notable talent over the years. Some of them were APRA Award winners and ARIA winners. We also want to respect the history of Chinese cultural heritage, dating back thousands of years.

We researched and pitched to a number of international and national performers who have connections to WA or were in Western Australia at the time of the ball. As it came to pass, the Wuhan Orchestra was in Perth around the time of the ball, so they were contacted and asked to perform on the night with Chinese operatic singers. Luckily, they were able to accommodate our needs.

Advertising the Event and Promoting The Upcoming Event

One of our recurring difficulties with planning an event of this magnitude is the fact that you are relying on each organiser and partner entity to provide information, visuals and confirmation in a timely manner. It is the nature of business that this is always a challenge, resulting in several projects not being finalised until the day of scheduled release.

Our philosophy for requesting, receiving and managing communication was to show complete understanding for any delays, to maintain an open and friendly line of communication and, of course, to be persistent. After all, the sun will rise and fall whether we receive a final version of a video or high-quality resolution image or not.

Leading Up To The Night

Understandably, many sponsors wished to remain anonymous until the unveiling of the event, as well as many VVIP guests. Because of this, our communication between partners and official representatives was limited to closed channels until such time as their participation wanted to be made public. This also included our special guest for the night, The Hon. Priminister of Australia, a personal guest of MP Sam Lim, Member for Tangney in WA.

As always with events of this nature, there is always a rush of tasks needing to be updated at the last minute, presentation slides needing to be added, videos needing to be re-rendered for final submission and last-minute guest updates needing to be accounted for.
We were awash with communication on the Friday before the event, with a 2-day wait before the event on the following Monday.

We were on hand to provide those last-minute updates in an orderly and efficient manner after anticipating delays and work needing updates. Thankfully, Ignite Search has experience in these types of situations and knows all too well that right before the events, there is always more work to be done.

Ellen from the Ignite Search team was on hand for the City of Perth’s Weekend Luna New Year event and was able to capture key moments to observe certain VVIPs in action close up before the night and observe cultural activities from performers to ascertain ideal video and photography to be captured on the night. Specifically, movements from dancers, lion dancers, dragons and speeches would be included on the night. After all, a little more research is always useful.

Outcomes On The Night

As planned, the Ignite Search team ran our final run-through of the event and troubleshooted how best to communicate with each other to ensure each of the assigned tasks were completed on the night and any last-minute decisions could be negotiated effectively with relevant parties.

Upon arrival, 3 hours before the event was to start, the Ignite Search team assisted in setting up the media wall, the lectern artwork, the table name cards and the gift bags. Once the VVIP guests arrived, we were on hand to guide our assigned photographer to capture the required media as stipulated by our provided shot list. We remained observant of any issues that may arise on the night unforeseen and prepared for any last-minute changes.

We thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the event, from the wine to the glamour of the formal dress attire, the delicious locally sourced food and the unassuming and mesmerising entertainment of the evening.

What We Delivered

Project Management

• 900x Gift Bags
• Website Event Page
• Wrap Up Feedback email to organisers
• Major Sponsors
• Platinum Sponsors
• Entertainment Hire

Web Development

• Blog Post – Press Conference Wrap Up
• Website Event Page
• Sponsorship Application Page
• Blog Post – Announcing The 2024 WA Chinese New Year Ball
• Blog Post – Announcing the major sponsor of the event, Golden Group
• Blog Post – Post Event Wrap Up

Print Marketing

• 1x Lectern signage
• 1x Media Wall
• 1x Pull Up Banner
• 1x Guest name card template

Media Production

• Ball photos
• Set up and Pre-event scheduling
• Official event photography

Digital Design

• Digital signage
• 1x Presentation Slides
• 1x LED screen
• 1x Holding Video
• 1x Silent Auction Slides
• 6x Event Flyers (including Sponsorship, Pricing and Event invites in both Chinese and English translations)

Email Marketing & PR Communications

• 1x Event announcement eDM
• 1x Event Launch eDM
• Press coverage invitation and signage
• Thank you for your attendance eDM

Social Media Marketing

• 22x Social Posts (including sponsor posts)
• 1x Reel
• 15x Event Stories

Post-Event

The ball was not over for the Ignite Search team on Tuesday. While guests slept off a memorable and long night of entertainment and networking, we were busy sending out thank-you emails, event wrap-up feedback documents, blog posts, eDMs and follow-up social media content to thank the guests for their attendance and to highlight the event for all those who, despite showing interest in an event ticket, were unable to attend.