General News
17 July, 2024
Rodeo CEO responds to criticism: Q&A with Natalie Flecker
Following the cancellation of two events in 2024, the Isa Rodeo boss sat down to respond to the community's concerns.
Social media lit up last week as news spread that this year’s Mount Isa Rodeo Ball had been cancelled. Much of the vitriol was directed at the CEO of Isa Rodeo, Natalie Flecker. On Saturday, she sat down with North West Weekly editor Matt Nicholls to answer some of the questions and criticism directed at her and this year’s event ...
MN: Firstly, the question that everyone wants to know – is the rodeo definitely going ahead?
NF: Yes. Absolutely. So we’re starting the build at Buchanan Park on Monday, which is really exciting. Containers start being unpacked and marquees start being built, flags start going up and I think the excitement around town starts to lift in this period of all of that happening.
Nominations opened yesterday and they’ve been really strong; for the first day of nominations it’s a really good sign that all of our cowboys and cowgirls are ready to make their trip to Mount Isa.
It’s been a difficult year, not just for Isa Rodeo but for a lot of events. You had to cancel Road to Rodeo and then last week you announced the cancellation of the ball. How tough were those decisions?
They’re really tough. We never want to cancel events and unfortunately this year has been the worst for events in my 11 years that I’ve been in this role. We didn’t even cancel during COVID. So for us to have to make those decisions, it’s certainly not ones that I personally take lightly, but they’re made because it’s in the best interest of the organisation to make sure that our major event in August gets the best opportunity to go ahead.
Some of the criticism about the cancellation of the ball was that perhaps the tickets and the ball had not been promoted that well. Do you concede that potentially the rodeo could have done more to promote the tickets and the ball itself?
You know we could speculate every which way as to why the tickets to the ball didn’t get sold.
It’s a really much-loved event, the rodeo ball. It kicks off our rodeo week. Typically we’ve had anywhere from 300 to 600 people purchase those tickets, so again, for me to have to make that decision so close out is really difficult for me.
Not having the Community Quest entrants certainly hurts the ball because that was considered the grand finale for those participants. You can’t make people nominate but do you think the rodeo needs to be more proactive in encouraging people? Do you need to put more effort into getting that back up and running?
Absolutely, and we are working on a strategy of what that looks like. We have certainly gone ahead with the Rodeo Ball in previous years without having Community Quest entrants, so we didn’t think it was going to be an issue this year.
We know that it’s a really big driver of community awareness for local charities and it sets the event calendar for Mount Isa. It also helps a lot of other regional events with their fundraising, where they get the Community Quest entrants to go and volunteer.
So the focus has been, even before the cancellation, that we really want to invigorate that Community Quest so that people do want to come back on board.
We’re hoping that we can announce entrants in September, which will then lead back to the rodeo arena ball being back in the arena next year.
Do you think Road to Rodeo is finished or do you think you might try and revive that?
Again, that’s something for us to look at after this event.
The concept is certainly not dead in the water to us. Road to Rodeo for us was supposed to be that community event – one day, not all of the infrastructure and everything that comes in – to make it more of a community event at a community price point.
But we have two of those now with the Great Northern Rodeo Series and we think that’s a wonderful vehicle for the community and we want to support Mark Thompson and his crew ... we don’t want to come in over the top of that.
I’m not sure how online you are but even I was disturbed by some of the Facebook comments that were directed towards you and members of the board. As someone who was born in Mount Isa and grew up here, how did some of those comments make you feel?
You know, they’re people’s opinions and people are allowed to have their opinion ...
(Interview was paused briefly as Natalie composed herself)
I didn’t want to get upset but yeah, it hurts and I really only want the best for Mount Isa and for the event.
Your purview is to deliver a world-class event, which is something you have achieved. But you also need to find the balance between keeping locals happy and getting people to come from all over to enjoy it. How difficult is that?
It is a balance and I think from the feedback we’ve had this year, there’s some re-evaluating for us as an organisation to do.
And we’re happy to do that.
Every year we have a look at the event and determine what worked, what didn’t work, what we can do to make things better or what we need to change.
Is it fair to say you think there will be changes next year?
At the forefront of our minds is wanting to keep the tickets as you know affordable as possible while still delivering a world-class event that people are proud of.
I want the community of Mount Isa to be as proud of this event as I am. I want them to love it. I want them to feel like they own it. And when people come into their city, I want them to be boasting about how grateful they are to have this world-class event on their doorstep that they support and love.
But there’s work for us to do for that to keep happening.
Are you concerned that locals might boycott the event?
I hope not. I hope that once everything starts going up, the excitement starts building in the city, people start arriving and they have a look at what they get for their ticket, that they still come through the gates and they still support this iconic event.
There is a board which sets the agenda and one of the criticisms is that there are only one or two local residents on the board. Is that an issue for the rodeo?
The board is made up of a mixed group of people that bring skills to the table. We need to be a skills-based board and coupled with that is that all of our board members have a connection with Mount Isa.
So while they may not reside here, they have all either lived here, had businesses here, or been involved in Mount Isa for a significant amount of time. So they understand the fabric of Mount Isa and they also bring a skill set.
We’ve got, business owners, finance experts, legal ... we’ve got, someone that is involved in major events and has been involved in major events across the world.
It’s also made up of people that have been involved in Rotary. Judy Boone’s a tireless volunteer for Rotary. So we’re still keeping elements of all of those things.
Would you consider having a Mount Isa community advisory board or a local committee?
Everything’s on the table to consider. I don’t have all the answers and I never pretend to have the answers. We just make the best decisions we can for the best interest of the event and the community.
One of the talking points a couple of months ago was the Mount Isa City Council’s decision to not provide cash sponsorship to the rodeo, although it did decide to support the Indigenous Rodeo Championships. How did that make you feel when the decision didn’t go your way?
Mount Isa City Council actually came on board with more sponsorship for us this year than they have in the past. So we’re really grateful for the sponsorship and the support that we get from Mount Isa City Council.
They haven’t sponsored the Indigenous Rodeo in the past, so to be able to get them to now support what is an award-winning event, that’s a positive.
Helping us with the cost of Buchanan Park helps us keep the ticket prices low. Imagine if we had that extra $100,000 (in-kind sponsorship) on top of what we have to spend on our bottom line!
I was torn because I felt like it came across as a negative story when really it shouldn’t have.
It was actually a really positive story in terms of their commitment to the event and wanting to see it move ahead.
I want to talk about the Indigenous Rodeo. It’s been a great success and it was a great idea. I mean, I have an opinion on what night it should be on ...
Everyone has an opinion on that, we know that for sure!
Does it look like it’s moving towards being its own standalone event?
When we first did it in the first year I don’t think any of us really knew what it was going to look like. But you’re right, it certainly is looking like it could be a standalone event.
That’s the hope and the dream.
At the moment the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo is supporting the Indigenous Rodeo but I didn’t know that the Indigenous Rodeo was going to be as special as it is.
It really has such a different look and feel to it on that Thursday night compared to the rodeo that happens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And it’s incredible that you can say that when they are side by side.
But the cultural element of what we’ve introduced to that is really special and it’s something that we’ll continue to build on.
This is my personal opinion and I’m happy to put this on the record, but the reason why I don’t like it on Thursday night is because it clashes with the Mailman Express at the race club, which means it doesn’t put all the attention on the great Indigenous participants in the rodeo – I’d like to see them have their own standalone night.
I agree with you and we want to make sure it’s celebrated at the same level as the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo. To do that at this stage, because it doesn’t have enough funding, we need to incorporate it with the Isa Rodeo. But again, after the event, we’re working on a strategy for what it looks like.
We would love for it to be standing on its own two feet within the next three to five years because it needs that growth.
We know that it’s almost growing out where it is on the Thursday night so it’s becoming more of a pressure point for us to actually decide what we’re going to do.
On a positive note, despite some of the negativity, the rodeo is still a massive economic driver for the city. It benefits the accommodation providers, the cafes, the restaurants, the retail sector ... everyone benefits from rodeo week. Do you think that is sometimes forgotten by the locals? I mean the local average mum and dad who work at the mines or in a school don’t necessarily see the economic benefit but the shops that they go to throughout the year probably stay afloat because of the benefit of rodeo week and this busy period.
More than $7 million is generated directly into Mount Isa by the rodeo events happening year on year and we continue to grow that. So while they may not feel like they see it all the time, if it wasn’t here anymore, you would absolutely notice it.
More than a million dollars of our budget is spent locally in Mount Isa.
One of the things that has changed is that the rodeo used to rely on a lot of organisations and clubs for its workforce, but it’s fair to say those volunteers don’t exist at the same level anymore. How difficult is it to find the workers?
It’s a challenging landscape, because we’ve got to balance what the fundamental reason the Rodeo was started – which was to help our community.
So we’re trying to do as much of that as we can while delivering a globally recognised event.
We’ve locked in 14 local community groups that we’re working with this year.
We’re still looking for more so there’s still opportunities for people and community groups who want to work with us and want to get some much-needed fundraising money to partner with us to be able to deliver the event.
Don’t forget that anybody that volunteers only has to do a four-hour shift and they get their ticket for free. You don’t even have to pay for your ticket as long as you give us four hours helping with the event – there are a range of jobs for all abilities – so the more people that come along and be a part of the event the better off it will be.