Bankstown Sports Club invests in partnership with The P.A. People

Bankstown Sports Club promotes their Venue as the fun and entertainment destination of south-west Sydney!  A community focused club offering 65,000+ members a choice of 8 restaurants, 7 bars, 13 event spaces, Australia’s largest indoor children’s play structure Monkey Mania and an exciting line-up of live shows. Right now, they are creating two new restaurants: an Asian Noodle House and a Chocolateria and they’ve almost finished doubling the number of hotel rooms in their Travelodge Bankstown Hotel.  

“We want to take a leadership position in our community and our sphere of influence. We present an evolving offering to meet the current and future needs of a diverse community. That must translate to everything we do; community relations, our staff, catering, entertainment – through to venue amenity and the various operational technologies that service our needs” said Andrew Kelly – General Manager, Bankstown Sports Club.

The P.A. People is known for its 40 year history of audio/AV work in stadiums, theatres, civic buildings, schools, Houses of Worship and transport hubs. Responding to the challenges of a major Sydney Venue, with a rolling upgrade schedule and constant seven day and night operation that serves thousands of patrons, required the Company’s broad range of expertise in high-use, multiple-function venues.

The P.A. People met with senior management at Bankstown Sports to gain an understanding of the over-arching ‘master plan’ scope of what they wanted to achieve.  This exchange gave management a sense of confidence that their business strategy was understood and could be supported.

Jason Klippel, AV Manager for the Club said; “We embarked on a collaborative relationship with The P.A. People system designers – firstly giving them a list of requirements for our basic needs. We asked them to respond with how that might work and how the Brief could be improved upon. From there we worked through a design and integration process to arrive at a solution across three unique system tasks.”

1.The Rainforest 

The challenge was an open, informal seated area and stage, where ‘sound spill’ affected adjacent areas.

“The Club had made various attempts to resolve PA issues in recent years. Customer experience was being compromised at very busy times – with upwards of 1,000 people affected” said Andrew Kelly, General Manager. The Club now has a purpose-built solution that effectively manages audio for an area which has its own performance and patron entertainment function – as well as being the intersection of several access ways and with an open mezzanine above.

2.Theatre Renovation

It started as a simple modification to a room that hadn’t been touched for 30 years; a ‘tables & chairs’ function room. It now provides patrons with a plush-seated theatre experience; and an upgraded PA system. “The biggest component of the room was the PA, to meet customer demand for capability and flexibility; a rock concert one day, a high school speech day the next, then a dance school performance. We were looking for a consultative approach to achieve a solution” said Andrew Kelly.

For ticketed shows, Bankstown Sports needed a solution that met varying hirers need for simplicity and flexibility. Different audio formats mean system settings and room dynamics change. The Theatre (venue) can be a literal theatre at one point, then a multi-camera live broadcast location the next. “We’re dealing with a broad spectrum of users, with varying expertise and knowledge of systems.” said Jason Klippel. “We need to rely on the science behind getting the correct solution, rather than the badge on the front of the speaker box.” The substantial PA solution now installed, provides the performance outcome required by hirers and their artists of enormous variety. “Positive response has been unequivocal” said Andrew Kelly.

3.Function and meeting rooms

The Club had dated systems that weren’t capable of meeting the needs of their clients. This is a professional clientele with customers in commerce, education and government sectors. Technology in their world is constantly evolving and they expect capable, technology-enabled facilities. “Working with The P.A. People, we were able to scope a system that works ‘today and tomorrow’ by providing a high-quality meeting environment” said Andrew Kelly.

Better technology, better service

Guests expect a seamless experience when they stay in a hotel, visit a club, or plan or attend a meeting or special event. Clients and guests not only demand exceptional customer service, they deserve audio and video technology that enhances their experience, offers maximum convenience, directs them where they need to go, informs and impresses.

Andrew Kelly commented; “people take technology for granted and we must meet that expectation. We pride ourselves on positive patron experience and customer service; and we seek to influence everything we can towards that outcome. That’s also why we’re invested in quality audio/AV solutions in partnership with The P.A. People”.

Integration

Designing audio visual and systems that integrate seamlessly into their surrounds and deliver on performance, flexibility and reliability – takes determination, understanding, skill and experience.  The P.A. People aims to keep clients’ functional and operational requirements as the clear driver in our designs and we utilise the most current AV and IT technologies to achieve these requirements. The P.A. People give initial concept briefs and budgets to a client, in lieu of traditional quotes. In collaboration with the client we finesse these concept designs to a detailed scope and finalised cost, before installing and training staff on the new solution.

The P.A. People has in-house staff that operate and maintain AV systems in large entertainment venues.  As such, we have a good understanding that it is not only the initial cost of sale that will impact a return on investment, but ongoing reliability and maintenance outlay.  Bankstown Sports understood this all too well and appreciated our experience and advice in recommending a more expensive initial solution that would meet performance demands and reduce maintenance cost in the life-time of that system.

A connected venue

Bankstown Sports Club has an expanded vision and a resulting continuous improvement agenda. Inevitably this means ongoing assessment of systems that serve the Club and its Members. Creating a larger AV network within the Venue is on their radar; a more integrated AV-enabled capability, rather than stand-alone systems in various locations. “We must serve today’s needs and tomorrow’s” said Jason Klippel.

Additional systems description:

1. Rainforest:  JBL VRX 932 + VRX918 speaker system

2. Theatre: Bose RoomMatch® Speaker Systems: 4 modules l/R, 2 modules C, 4 x 218 subs front-fill, Bose PowerMatch® amplification
3. Meeting Rooms: Screen Technics Screens, NEC Projection, AMX Control, Kramer Digital Video switching, BSS Audio Processing.