Become an OBM Event Partner
Opportunity to host an event(s) during October Business Month
October Business Month (OBM) is a month-long program of inspirational and educational events designed to support, inspire and grow Territory business. Territory business and industry are invited to host an OBM Partner Event as part of the 2023 program.
OBM Partner Events are independent events delivered by business and industry that form part of the broader calendar of events. Local businesses and organisations are encouraged to get involved to showcase their skills, knowledge and experience to motivate business owners and their employees to connect, learn and be inspired.
Over 125 events were held as part of OBM 2022, across the 5 regional areas of the Territory and featured:
- 8 keynote events featuring high profile keynote speakers and Territory Success Stories
- 117 OBM Partner Events facilitated by 48 OBM Event Partners
- Over 3800 registered attendees.
Registered training organisations, associations, businesses and non-government organisations can participate in the program by hosting an OBM Partner Event.
Scroll down to find out more and register your interest to host an OBM Partner Event.
Get involved
Hosting an OBM Partner Event gives you the opportunity to:
- Raise your organisation’s profile by aligning your brand with OBM
- Create relationships with potential clients and customers
- Demonstrate your support for the Territory business community
The most successful OBM Partner Events in recent years have been:
- Hands on, workshop style events
- Practical events that include tangible takeaways (PowerPoint slides, handouts)
- Inclusive of networking opportunities
- Short sharp events of 1-2 hours duration
- Breakfast or after business hours / evening sessions
- Held at convenient locations with easy and free parking available
To become an OBM Event Partner you must be a Territory Enterprise* and have a current ABN. Your event must not be a sales pitch or contain someone else’s intellectual property.
Operate in the NT
The enterprise is currently engaged in productive activities (i.e.production of goods or delivery of services) within the NT.
Significant permanent presence
The enterprise maintains an office, manufacturing facilities or other permanent base within the NT.
Employing NT residents
The enterprise employs Territorians. An enterprise which relies exclusively on transient, interstate international labour or a fly-in, fly-out workforce will not satisfy this element.
Audience
OBM is open to everyone and is attended by employees and managers of small to large businesses, non-government organisations, not-for-profit organisations and government employees.
Attendees of OBM are busy Territorians who want to use their time efficiently to up-skill and learn something new to assist their own professional development or help grow their business. Key findings from the 2022 evaluation report identified:
- 94% said they learnt something new by attending an event during OBM
- 70% of attendees were female
- 66% were from private sector industries
- 55% worked in small or medium enterprises
- 50% had attended OBM before
- 33% attended OBM to be inspired to improve themselves or their business / career
Marketing
A targeted marketing campaign designed to raise awareness of the program and encourage attendance will be delivered by the department. The focus of the campaign is to direct people to the OBM website, social media and other platforms where they can browse the full program and register for individual events.
The marketing campaign encompasses a variety of mediums including TV, radio, online, print, digital and social media advertising. While the overall campaign provides the opportunity to maximise exposure of OBM Partner Events on the OBM website, we encourage OBM Event Partners to actively market and promote their events through their own networks to maximise participation.
Benefits
OBM provides a platform to showcase your professional services to the Territory business community. The benefits of hosting a partner event include:
- Being a part of the NT’s largest business event giving you the opportunity to market your business, collaborate with other businesses and network with business owners and employees.
- Access to a platform that enables you to showcase your professional services and expertise to a targeted business audience.
- Your event(s) advertised on the online booking platform linked to obm.nt.gov.au and promoted in an electronic mail out to the department's database of subscribers.
- Inclusion in the overall OBM marketing campaign.
- Brand awareness to a Territory wide business audience, including the use of the OBM Partner Event email signature.
- Inclusion in the printed OBM calendar of events which is circulated to NT business and industry and distributed at the official program launch.
Plan your event
Your event must align with one or more of the OBM themes:
Human connection
new
business networks, learning from each other, inspirational stories
Growth
commercialisation,
business models, entrepreneurship, risk management, overcoming adversity
Digital transformation
adopting
technology, cyber security, resilience, digital marketing, disruption, how to
use data
Leadership
immediately
applicable tools, resilience, innovation, inspiration
Workforce
teamwork,
high performance, global worker shortage, doing more with less staff
Strategy and planning
business
writing, short term planning, finance skills, working in/on the business
Ensure your event meets the professional development needs of the Territory business community
Tailor your event to potential attendees who are looking for professional development, business improvement strategies and tools that they can implement immediately. You can consider collaborating with other event partners and/or industry associations to deliver a more powerful or thought provoking event. Potential event formats could include:
- Presentations by well-known or well-regarded speakers
- Workshops that include discussion and activities to maximise learnings
- Panel discussions with Q&A's
Choose a date, time and
come up with a catchy title and engaging description
Ensure you tell potential attendees exactly what to expect from your event and why they need to sign up for your session straight away! Events are best held during the week with breakfast and after work sessions being the most popular.
Set a price
Keep
in mind that the target audience don’t generally
have large funds available to spend on professional development, so keep the price reasonable. The
price should include GST (if applicable), any booking fees and explain inclusions clearly to avoid
confusion.
Get in early to secure your
preferred day/time and theme
All
partner events will be assessed to ensure they align with the intent and key
themes of OBM to provide a variety of events across the
entire month of October. Get in early to secure your preferred date or be
flexible with the date or time of your event to allow the OBM
team to suggest an alternate time in the program to prevent similar events competing with each other.
Express your interest
Register your interest to host an OBM Partner Event through the online Event Partner portal via the link below. All expressions of interest for OBM Partner Events will be considered and assessed by the OBM team. Once your expression of interest has been accepted, you will receive an email to complete the event registration process and finalise your event details.
As an OBM Event Partner, you are able to use the OBM logo to market your event and benefit from the overarching marketing campaign. Approved events finalised by 30 June 2023 will be listed in the printed OBM calendar. Events received after this date will only be advertised on the website. In the event your expression of interest isn't accepted, we will notify you to discuss the opportunity to re-apply if appropriate.
When developing your event, please follow the below guidelines:
- Align your event with the key themes of OBM
- Ensure your event is comparable in cost to similar events and represents value for money
- Consider collaborating with another business or association if you are unable to host an event independently
- Be flexible with your date to ensure the OBM team can plan the program to deliver maximum engagement
Key dates
| Event Partner EOI open | Monday 17 April 2023 |
| Partner event applications close | Friday 12 May 2023 |
| Notification of acceptance of expression of interest | Friday 16 June 2023 |
| Final event details (including confirmed venue, times and event description for publication) and payment due | Friday 30 June 2023 |
| Payment due | Friday 30 June 2023 |
| OBM calendar launch | September 2023 |
Terms and conditions
Fees
A $40 (inc GST) administration fee applies per OBM Partner Event held.
Cancellations
All cancellations must be received in writing and submitted before 30 June 2023 to receive a refund. Cancellations after this date are non-refundable.
Terms and conditions
As an October Business Month Event Partner:
- You must have an active Australian Business Number (ABN).
- You agree to hold the event(s) as described in the expression of interest as an OBM Event Partner.
- You agree that your event(s) will not be aimed at selling your, or any, products or services to attendees.
- You agree to fund and manage all the administrative tasks involved with your event(s), with the exception of the online booking system which will be managed by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade.
- All costs associated with running the OBM Partner Event remain the Event Partner's responsibility.
- You are aware and accept that OBM uses an event management system to manage attendee registration and ticket sales and that you cannot set up an Eventbrite event or similar to take registrations for your event.
- You agree to co-brand all marketing and promotional material associated with your event(s) with official OBM branding guidelines to be provided to all approved Event Partners.
- Your event(s) will be included in the printed OBM calendar of events and website, subject to approval by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade and event details being received by the deadline of 30 June 2023.
- You agree that your event will be listed on the OBM website where attendees can register to attend, which includes receiving payments on your behalf.
- Partner Event details received after 30 June 2023 may not be listed in the printed OBM calendar and will only be listed in the OBM website.
- You agree to display and distribute OBM material supplied to you by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade at your event i.e. displaying an OBM branded PowerPoint slide
- You agree to promote the OBM attendee event evaluation survey at your event(s) for attendees to complete following your event(s).
- You agree to return information on actual attendance at your event(s) via email within five business days of the completion of your event(s) so that the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade can compare actual attendance vs registrations.
- You agree that it is your responsibility to ensure consent for the collection, use and sharing of personal information collected at your event.
- Any revenue from your event will be paid to you after 31 October 2023, following the provision of actual event attendance for all OBM Partner Events to the department.
- The opportunity to host an event is provided on a non-exclusive basis, therefore competitors and other related businesses may also host events that are similar and it is not the responsibility of the department to monitor or manage this.
- The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, apart from promoting the event as relevant, is in no way responsible for your event and will not become involved in disputes related to your event content.
- The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade may decline your event in its absolute discretion.
- Event Partners must seek written approval from the OBM team prior to securing sponsors for an OBM Partner Event.
- The payment of the event fee indicates your acceptance of the OBM partner event Terms and Conditions.
Contact
Kelly Mulligan, OBM Partner Event Coordinator
For support in your region, please contact your local Small Business Champion:
| Alice Springs | Greater Darwin | Katherine | Nhulunbuy | Tennant Creek |
| (08) 8951 8492 | 1800 193 111 | (08) 8973 8103 | (08) 8987 0569 | (08) 8962 4675 |