The QUT Urban Country Music Festival would not be what it is today without a lot of blood sweat and tears not to mention passion and enthusiasm. The people with this enthusiasm are the heart and soul of the festival, The Festival Team, a group of nine event hardened and slightly silly individuals who work year round to bring you four days of country fun. They have a wealth of knowledge and vast range of experience and here is a snapshot of the people behind the scenes.
Joycee (Event Coordinator)
The driving force behind the team is our fearless leader Joycee. Born in the Mother Country, Joycee saw the light at 13 and moved to Australia. Following several hitchhiking trips around Europe, Joycee has worked for the Council in some way shape or form for the past 20 years. The 2000 Olympic Torch Relay saw her jump head first into events from where she has never looked back. She has been involved in the festival from its humble beginnings and her extensive research, dedication and community spirit is greatly responsible for it being the iconic event that it is today.
Strangely, Joycee has always preferred sports to music but she has attempted (somewhat ordinarily) to play the guitar and sing in a choir. With those aspirations now pushed aside, Joycee’s music talents lay purely in running the country music festival. Keep an eye out for her over the weekend, she’ll be in the pink hat retaining her Tough as Nails title at the Urban Blaze.
Mary-Clare (Event Officer)
Being the youngest and the shortest member on the team doesn't seem to worry MC in the slightest. Admittedly not the biggest country music fan in the office, she will confess to owning a pair of well-worn RM Williams boots. But country music is growing on MC as she heads into her fourth Urban Country Music Festival - she has even taken up clogging but is not planning on auditioning for 'So You Think You Can Dance' any time soon!
Coming from a festival background in Brisbane, MC has coordinated events including Riverfestival, Paniyiri Greek Festival and RegattaFest. Over the past three Urban Country Music Festival’s MC has coordinated the Busking Competition, Talent Search, Bacon Racin' and her major highlight - bringing the country to the city at the Queen Street Mall promotion. However, planning for the 2008 Beaut Ute Show may steal this title.
Brett (Event Officer)
Being the only guy in a team of women can be difficult at times for Brett. Only being recognised for his brawn and not his brain, he is often called upon for lifting and fixing things. He's a solid unit, dedicated to everything country!
On a serious note, he grew up in Caboolture and has seen the area change immensely over the years. His working life has been '5 star' all the way, planning many large events in well-known function venues and hotels in Brisbane. He then took time out from events and moved to Japan. Here he travelled this amazing country and taught kids to say things like "G'day Mate" and "Ow are ya?" and introduce them to everything Aussie.
This will be Brett's second Urban Country and he plans to make everything bigger and better than last year. He is dedicated to all things going on in Town Square, including food and market stalls, rides, the bacon racin' and of course lifting and fixing things. He hopes to see you around the traps at this years festival. Stop and lend him a hand.
Kelli (Event Officer)
Joining us in June 2007 Kelli has yet to have a full Urban Country experience, although she did manage a ride in the lead ute in the 2007 ute parade.
Kelli lives and breathes music and has been a festival lover since she could walk. Four years in London resulted in her spending every last well earned pence on festival and concert tickets. 5 days of dancing in the mud at the Glastonbury Festival with 150,000 other smelly people has been described as the best days of her life. She also managed to organise a few events herself while she was in London.
Moving back to Brisbane in 2004 to organise conferences was definitely not her cup of tea and she is thrilled to finally have a job where she can put her dancing shoes back on.
Colleen (Event Support Officer)
Colleen is quite possibly the most passionate country music fan in Australia. She has been involved in the festival since the first year and is greatly involved in developing new talent in the industry.
Working in the events office and organising the festival is a dream come true for Colleen. In her own words…"my learning curve to date resembles that of Mt Kosciusko! It is a privilege to have met, and been mentored by, some of the key players in the country music industry and I look forward to a long and rewarding career with the events team." One day we will learn to bottle Colleen’s enthusiasm and retire on the profits.
Raelene (Finance Officer)
Our latest edition to the festival team is Raelene. Lured from Customer Service to greener pastures by the excitement of events, Raelene is a fantastic score for the festival team and we are thrilled to have her. An average day in the office for Raelene involves, in no particular order... 1, make sure we have enough money to run the festival, 2, organise the fun and social life of the events team and 3, keep the rest of the events team sane. Needless to say, where would we be without Raelene?
Catriona (Vollunteer Coordinator)
The festival would not be possible without our amazing crew of 60 volunteers affectionately known as Dusty’s Team. And Dusty's Team would not be possible without the amazing Cat. Breezing into the office every morning with style and grace, Cat is our Volunteer Coordinator and manages this task with ease.
Cat is from an Arts Background and has been involved in many productions and events throughout Brisbane. A performer of sorts, she is skilled at juggling her social life, family and all of our volunteers.
Donna (Event Administration Officer)
Donna also loves all things country! She came on board in 2006 as an Administration Officer and enjoyed working with the team so much she decided to volunteer over the festival weekend. Since then Donna has gone from strength to strength and now, in addition to being the lifeline for the Events Officers, organises the Bush Poetry Competition, Urban Diversion Dance Program and Bush Balladeers.
Donna's interest in Art has led her to liaise with the Old Fire Station Gallery and QUT on the administration side of the People’s Choice Art Competition. Donna is a quiet achiever and brings a wave of calm to the office.
Natalie (Administration Officer)
Natalie was thrown boots and all into the festival when she joined us 3 weeks before the 2007 event. Originally coming on board for another event, we liked her so much we convinced her to stay. She is the left side of the events team’s brain and her creativity has raised the standard of our displays and promotions. She is integral to the running of the team and, if you see something laminated at the festival, there’s a good chance Natalie did it.
