Evocities calls for project management expertise

Work on luring people from Sydney to regional inland cities starts today, with the Evocities partnership calling for project managers to tender for a major new campaign.

The Evocities partnership, which includes Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga, is rolling out a campaign to promote the advantages of living, working and investing in these inland cities to Sydneysiders.

The Evocities campaign, which is expected to begin in October 2009, secured $1.2M Australian Government Funding in July 2009. In addition, each local council will contribute $40,000 annually to the project.

The project management role being advertised from today will focus on developing and delivering the campaign, which will raise awareness of the opportunities regional cities offer, according to Evocities Steering Committee Chair, Ms Lyn Russell.

"Project management is crucial in ensuring the campaign delivers maximum return on investment and effort within the Sydney marketplace, informing as wide an audience as possible that inland regional cities are vibrant progressive centres with excellent job prospects and a great lifestyle," said Ms Russell, who is also Wagga Wagga City Council General Manager.

AlburyCity Mayor, Patricia Gould, said it was rewarding to have reached a stage where the first work on the project could begin.

"After a long wait, and a lot of determination to bring this project to fruition, this is an exciting time for each of the member Councils," she said.

"I am sure, as all the Evocities are, this project will attract a great deal of quality interest and we look forward to seeing the results."

The 'Evo' in the Evocities branding is short for 'energy', 'vision' and 'opportunity'.

Evocities background:

The Evocities partnership was formed in 2005 between Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

Wagga Wagga City Council is the administrator of the project with each council contributing $40,000 towards the project each year for three years. A number of high profile private partners will also participate financially in the project with Country Energy, McN TV Network and the Commonwealth Bank confirmed as early project sponsors.

Evocities are defined as clean and green, vibrant, dynamic, innovative, professional, accessible and globally linked.

Previous research undertaken as part of the Evocities project has found:

• Moving to a regional "city", as opposed to "the country" would provide an easier pathway for people looking to relocate from a metropolitan environment.
• 28% of the survey participants had considered relocating out of Sydney.
• The most appealing areas that would be considered for relocation were coastal NSW (31%) and inland NSW (24%).
• The main conditions required to change in order for participants to consider relocation were employment [29%], financial incentives [11%] and facilities in the area [9%].