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PROFILE
Pavel Chromy was completing his law degree in Prague, in his native Czech Republic, when he
decided to help his brother out in his event management company while looking for law work.
To his surprise, he found that he enjoyed this type of work much more than the law and stayed
on for five years, writes HARTLEY HENDERSON.
From law studies
to event management
M
r Chromy then moved to Aus-
tralia in 2005 to be with his
girlfriend Nicole, who is now
his wife, and established Event Marquees.
He now has over 20 years experience in
the event management and marquee hire
industry and estimates that he has been
involved in over 5,000 events.
Today Event Marquees provides a com-
plete marquee hire solution with a compre-
hensive range of marquees and accessories
including flooring, staging, tables and chairs,
umbrellas, picket fencing, heating and cool-
ing, lighting, and AV equipment.
The geographical area covered by the
company in New South Wales in-
cludes
Sydney,
Central
Coast, Hunter Valley,
Newcastle,
Blue
Mountains
and
the
Southern
highlands, as well as Canberra, and even
events in countries such as Vanuatu, Fiji and
New Zealand.
Mr Chromy says the company does a
wide range of events including weddings,
private events, corporate events, and
branding activation events.
“We predominantly do larger corporate
events and weddings that are typically for
100 to over 200 people, and we assist with
the whole package, not just the hiring of
the marquee,” he said.
“When we started we only had enough
equipment to do one 100 person event.
These days we have two warehouses full of
marquees and accessories and do over 500
events per year.
“Major events that we have
been involved with in-
clude Colgate
product
launching, Prince Charles’ visit to Sydney,
Sydney Listen Out Festival, Sydney V8 Su-
percars 500 and Bathurst V8 Supercars 1000,
and the Sydney Mardi Gras,” he said.
According to Mr Chromy, the main
trend is towards personalisation, whether
it’s a corporate event or a wedding. “These
days people want an event that is individual
and matches their personality or their com-
pany’s brand,” he told
Events + Equipment
.
“Clients are looking for new and contem-
porary trends. Everyone is on the internet,
so they know what is possible and we try
to make sure that the latest concepts and
trends are available here in Australia.
“We look forward to European trends, so
I spend time in Europe every year seeing
what the next big things are and import-
ing them to Event Marquees. This year we
introduced Brandable Dome marquees and
cannot keep up with the demand,” he said.
Planning and managing
Mr Chromy says a lot of considerations
are necessary to ensure that the company’s
obligations in areas such as health, safety
and insurance are met when planning and
managing events.
“We have a safe methods work
statement and provide liability
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EVENTS & EQUIPMENT
| WINTER 2017