As an award-winning travel and event management company, TAG has made their mark in booking travel for some of the biggest names and productions on the planet. With offices all over the globe, January marked yet another massive feat for the company – this time, in the land down under.
The saying goes, “Time flies when you are having fun,” which explains why ten years since the opening of TAG’s first Australian office passed by in the blink of an eye. A decade after launching in the Southern Hemisphere, TAG has expanded to five offices across the Australia Pacific (APAC) region, and they brought everyone together for one night to celebrate their enormous accomplishments.
Officially known as the APAC 10-Year Celebration, the party brought out all the magic that is TAG, quite literally. In addition to the now more than 100 staff members, TAG leadership flew in from near and far to experience the vibrant energy of the night with suppliers, clients, magicians and a fantastic Drag QueenMC. It was the perfect opportunity for everyone to reconnect through laughing, dancing and remembering where TAG APAC once began.
Looking back on ten years of operation, the APAC teams experienced an inevitable amount of change, growth and opportunities to improve each and every day. Through expansion, TAG APAC has built lasting relationships with clients in a global capacity. These offices have made a lasting impact on many fantastic projects, including: Thirteen Lives, Spiderhead, La Brea, Ticket to Paradise, Young Rock S1 & 2, Dancing with the Stars, The Amazing Race and an endless amount of others.
We caught up with some of TAG APAC’s leadership to reminisce on the past and dream up the future
We asked Shane Barr, Alli Pratt and Alexe Wallace to look back at their time with TAG and paint a picture of how far they’ve come as a team. Here’s what they had to say.
Shane Barr
Managing Director
How long have you been with TAG?
I was there when we opened it in Australia 10 years ago. Sometimes it just feels like 40 years and other times, just days.😉
Favourite project you’ve been part of / worked on? Why?
I enjoy opening operations in new territories. Thus far, I have helped open brick-and-mortar offices in Australia and Singapore. New Zealand is in progress, as well as a business entity in Hong Kong. I love introducing new cultures and countries to TAG’s services.
Biggest challenge in the past 10 years? How did you / TAG overcome? OR Biggest learning opportunity in the past 10 years?
In my opinion, the biggest challenge was COVID, as one would expect. It was extra challenging because of some strategic plays we made. TAG APAC actually grew over COVID, when the rest of the world was shrinking; that made it extra hard from a resourcing standpoint. The biggest learning opportunity was to not have any knee-jerk responses to COVID. If we had stood down the whole workforce, as was happening in most places around the globe in the travel world, we would have missed the opportunity to grow. I’m so glad we waited and assessed the government support packages.
Where would you like to see TAG in 10 years?
I would like to see TAG opening more offices around the region– Indonesia, Japan and India all spring to mind with potential. The number of staff doesn’t really matter to me as long as we are able to provide the trademark TAG service. In addition, I would like to see TAG working on more large-scale sporting events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, as well as Rugby and Football World Cups. I think we now have the resources and experience to deliver these large-scale, one-off events.
Alli Pratt
Head of Entertainment Strategy
How long have you been with TAG?
This is my second stint at TAG. I worked way back in the olden days (around 28 years ago) in the UK office. I loved it but my visa ran out, so I came back home sulking. Luckily, I stayed in contact with everyone at TAG so when Shane and I saw a hole in the market we begged them to open here. It’s wonderful to say I’ve now been here the full 10 years in APAC!
Favourite project you’ve been part of / worked on? Why?
Besides actually getting the company up and running (including Singapore), I have enjoyed helping to launch the Production team in APAC. We started with one client and two staff. We now have around 30 clients, and it is a massive part of the APAC make-up today. We love seeing TAG in the credits of a feature film.
Biggest challenge in the past 10 years? How did you / TAG overcome? OR Biggest learning opportunity in the past 10 years?
Obviously and without a doubt, COVID has been our biggest challenge. I presume most companies would say that. We were able to move our focus onto Production department, as all productions in Australia could go ahead if they developed an effective COVID plan. During that crazy time, we were trying to get endless American actors and production folks into Australia to film. We were able to keep our staff employed by re-training our Events and Touring departments on productions. I think we are probably one of the only agencies to have grown during the COVID lockdowns; not only did we grow, but we tripled in size through it all. We came out on the other side five times the size we were pre-COVID – which is a remarkable feat.
Where would you like to see TAG in 10 years?
I would love for TAG to keep growing; I think new offices in Perth and Brisbane, domestically, would be great. From an international scope, Canada and South Africa would be brilliant markets, especially in Production. Hey, let’s take over the world!
Alexe Wallace
Special Projects Manager
How long have you been with TAG?
I’ve been with TAG just over five years.
Favourite project you’ve been part of / worked on? Why?
There is enormous satisfaction on every tour and event that I’ve worked on – otherwise, I’d be in a different job! A particularly interesting project was when I was roped into helping our Events team work on an incredible installation activation event. It was held across three days in the heart of Sydney city. The public stood in line for more than four hours just to experience this installation (and get free product at the end). It was SO impressive to have seen what the TAG creative team came up with and how brilliantly it was executed. I also LOVED working on the APAC 10 Year Celebration. Bringing the company together after COVID was pretty special and having the entire Global Executive team here for the first time ever was a real treat.
Biggest challenge in the past 10 years? How did you / TAG overcome? OR Biggest learning opportunity in the past 10 years?
The biggest challenge was keeping staff happy, motivated and made to feel safe during COVID when everything was so uncertain and terrifying.
Where would you like to see TAG APAC in 10 years?
It would be great to expand into New Zealand and have a full team there!
To follow what TAG accomplishes in the next 10 years, visit the TAG website.
TAG Ten-year celebration photos by: Khoa Nguyen @kwa.jpeg