Spotlight on Cargo Hall: Behind the Scenes of an Event

Today we chat to South Wharf Events Food and Beverage Manager, James Wright, for an exclusive look behind the scenes of a large-scale function – specifically, an AIME welcome event held at South Wharf favourite Cargo Hall. Spoiler alert: it takes a lot to pull off an event. 

Picture the last really big birthday you organised, the one where a bunch of things went wrong and you were running late and suddenly your friends were all messaging you at once with questions like ‘is there a dress code?’ and ‘did you want us to bring anything?’ and maybe even ‘I'm bringing a vegan friend, is that cool?’.

Multiply that madness by 100, with a budget to match. That seems to be – at least, from the vantage point of someone who’s perpetually on the ‘receiving end’ of great events – the day-to-day life of a food and beverage manager.

Speaking to South Wharf Events Food & Beverage manager James Wright at 6.30am before 280-guest ‘Charm of the Yarra’ breakfast to kick off AIME, the atmosphere is one of efficiency, mild amounts of stress, and rain.

An event to welcome the hosted buyers attending AIME, the ‘Charm of the Yarra’ was set to be an outdoor breakfast, with a long, long table spanning the edge of South Wharf to take in that titular Yarra charm. Unfortunately, this February morning was turning out to be uncharacteristically cold and rainy.

Outside the sky is still dark, and the beautifully set tables are somewhat defended from the intermittent drizzle by umbrellas. Inside the industrial-chic Cargo Hall, things are a flurry of high-vis vests, mobile tables, ‘detour’ signs and arriving wait staff. A lit-up blue bar and festoon lighting above reminds a visitor that yes, this is a function venue. On the other side of the space, General Manager Brad Dabbs runs through a welcome speech.

"We’re offering people an inside option and an outside option," explains James in between confirming where a crate of juices should be placed, "but now I’m sort of 10 staff short."

Not that a rudely wintry morning is the worst pre-event crisis James has ever had to deal with; a previous job found his team navigating a bride with severe food poisoning (note: acquired at another venue!) towards her wedding the following day – complete with extreme awkwardness and replacement wedding dress.

That sort of on-the-go problem solving and crisis-handling however, seems to be part of the appeal of roles in events – or any role with ‘calm under fire’ as a prerequisite. In fact, James cites "the fact that no two days are ever the same" as his favourite part of the job.

For James – who found himself in event management after working as "pretty much everything" in hospitality, starting as a hotel waiter at the age of 15 – the role of Food and Beverage Manager is something that he didn't expect to be in, but is enjoying immensely now that he's in it. It's also a title that doesn’t really do justice to the scope of the job.

A typical day – of which there are none, really – finds James in the office at South Wharf Events, with two months’ worth of events up on the wall, along with the dates of any huge events on the horizon. The entire sales team is in the office, which means the ops team can pick up on things and check operationally on plans the whole way through. In between building orders (which starts day one of putting an event together) and organising staff, he’ll be tasked with sourcing beverages and specific bits and pieces – say, New Zealand wines – for equally as specific events – say, a ‘New Zealand experience’.

It’s the kind of small-scale tidbits and attention to detail that completely makes sense, yet when named elicit a ‘Oh! Of course!’ response. You wouldn't think about it until someone who deals with it every day points it out to you, like taking your cues from the demographic of an event. More men means more beer is required; a guest list for AIME that largely includes hosted buyers from China means less coffee, more tea.

Jump-cut to the day before an event however, and top priority is dealing with last minute orders after a supplier didn’t deliver in time. The day after is filled with tasks like paying staff, paperwork, and then sorting through new orders and playing catch up in order to stay one week ahead of everything.

Luckily though, having a solid team in the kitchen means the 'food' portion of 'food and beverage manager' is largely taken off James. For an event like AIME's 'Charm of the Yarra', it's pretty much free reign for the Cargo Hall kitchen.

And the menu for the Charm of the Yarra? The Executive Chef put together a grilled vegetable and Victorian oak-smoked cheddar frittata, chive potato rosti, slow-cooked balsamic tomato, beetroot paint, heirloom carrots, twice-cooked pressed pork rasher, chlorophyll oil. 

"It was a beautiful dish, " says James after the event. "So many people commented today that pork belly isn't what you'd normally expect for breakfast, but it was great. She's very creative, very good."

The vibe after the event and during the pack-down is decidedly more relaxed than in the midst of weather-related stress. General Manager Brad is in high spirits, even poking fun at James’s initial wine choice for the next event on the schedule, a cocktail event also for AIME. 

It's a working relationship that from all accounts results in seamless events: Brad and the sales team shooting for the stars with grandiose ideas and concepts, and James injecting a level-headed 'we have these drinks in stock' approach. "It's pretty good," he laughs "We'll meet in the middle with things, and we both get away with coming in on budget."

The consensus after the event? Very positive. Although waiting on the weather put the team behind, it was by a mere "two or so minutes". Which seems ridiculous, doesn't it? James shrugs, "It's the sort of thing that the customer doesn't notice, but that WE notice...we like to have all staff in position before."

That sort of perfectionism though, is surely a good sign for those organising events and putting it in the hands of a team at the venue. Cargo Hall and sister venue Showtime Events Centre have been immensely popular with VenueNow customers over the past year or so, especially for end of year events.

Generally speaking, Cargo Hall is popular with corporates, especially given the space’s proximity to the Melbourne Conference and Events Centre; conferences and cocktail events are naturally popular. Recently however, the team has put together a few cocktail-style conferences – a refreshing move away from the dry, traditional tables and notebooks, to cocktail furniture.

"It’s fantastic, such a good way of keeping people interested – it’s not just the same boring conference you always go to."

And aside from weddings (unsurprisingly "huge" on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) at both Cargo Hall and sister venue Showtime Events Centre, James has noticed a fun trend of late: "We’ve done a couple of day conferences where they’ll do a trivia night afterwards. It seems like everyone loves them at the moment."

So. What would someone in the professional biz of pulling off spectacular events give as their biggest tip to the average Joe planning a celebration?

"Plan ahead; don’t leave anything to the last day. Whatever you can do beforehand, do it. Don’t plan a trip to the supermarket on your last day because something always blows up on the last day and that’s where you spend all your time. Pretty much every event has one, like the rain today. Plan your last day to be for that issue. And if nothing happens then you have a really pleasant day!"

Feel inspired? Time to make your event dreams a reality? Cargo Hall is available to book via VenueNow, with end of year and university ball offers to boot >>