2020 ABIA Gala Event Cancelled

7^th September 2020

PRESS RELEASE

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT RELATING TO THE 2020 ABIA GALA EVENT

The 2020 Australian Beauty Industry Awards which include the Australian Make Up Industry Awards gala event, which was due to be held on 6^th December in Sydney, will sadly, not be going ahead as planned and all tickets purchased will of course be fully refunded.

When the government gave events the go ahead a few months ago, we were very excited and have worked hard behind the scenes to create an environment that was safe, and would allow us to provide the celebration, entertainment and extravagant gala that the ABIA is known and loved for.

Unfortunately, our commitment has not been matched with a practicality that will allow us to deliver a premium event to the industry; meaning that we have been forced to cancel the ABIA gala night. We are not prepared to put our guests through unnecessary cost and inconvenience, offer a less than stellar event and have the genuine prospect of last-minute cancellation,

This difficult decision has been made bearing in mind the following:-

• Queensland and WA Borders are closed and most likely will remain closed until at least end October 2020, if not longer.
• Self-Isolation and Quarantine is still being imposed on visitors from some states during interstate travel
• Heavy restrictions still remain in Victoria
• Sadly, we cannot predict further lockdowns between now and the event date.
• While The Star, Sydney does have a COVID safe plan, social distancing and 4sq m rules remain, meaning we can only offer tables of 4 and these must be spread out throughout the venue.
• Currently gathering numbers are restricted to 150 and this may not be lifted in time for the event.
• There would be no pre-drinks event allowed and all guests must remain seated at all times.
• Close contact which would include presentation of trophies would need to be limited
• No dancing is allowed
• There would be no official after party

Most importantly, we believe that by taking everything into consideration, we are unable to deliver an event worthy of our respected name and ticket cost, not to mention keeping everyone safe and have guests from all over Australia attend.

So, instead, now for the good news…

WE ARE GOING LIVE!

SAVE THE DATE – SUNDAY 18^TH OCTOBER 2020 – 7PM

We don’t want you to have to wait any longer to find out the winners of the 2020 ABIA. So, we will be hosting the ABIA’s and AMIA’s Online, which will be Streamed Live across all of our Social Media Platforms simultaneously.

Our most valued sponsors will still announce the winners at this Online event, and we encourage finalists to plan their own parties to watch together, dress up, have a few cocktails and enjoy the night as best they can!

After the event, we will be sending all winners their trophies, social tiles, press releases etc. and ask that they all film their own acceptance speech and send to us, so that we can post their thank-you messages as we always do for everyone to see and share on our you tube channel and social media platforms.

All winners will also receive coverage in upcoming editions of BEAUTY BIZ Magazine.

Additionally, as an added extra this year and moving forward, we have contracted the services of well known Branding and Communications experts, Lily Blue Communications, and under the guidance of owner Jo Coles, we bring a new prize to all winners to help them come out of these challenging times, which will include:-

• One 30-minute PR Mentorship Zoom session per winner to give valuable and personalised PR advice and direction and
• One personalised press release per winner and recommendation of local press and digital opportunities for winners to follow up.

We have taken this decision very seriously, investigated all options and have looked at how we can best deliver our events where all those involved including entrants, sponsors, judges and supporters all have the best results and outcomes possible both in 2020 and moving forward into the future.

We can’t wait to finally announce our 2020 winners, offer them a new and valuable PR prize, and then look ahead to an incredible 2021 with the ABIA, incorporating the AMIA, due to be held as usual on the last night of Beauty Expo Australia, in August, in Sydney.

Thank you and best regards to you all, in safety and in health

Linda Woodhead

Publisher and owner, mocha Publishing