The power of momentum

Regular readers of The Inside Word might have worked out that I often like to start a blog post with a political truism.  This blog is no different, and the political adage this week is a simple one:  “The trend is your friend!”

Usually, it’s offered as advice to nervous MPs or candidates who are desperately scanning opinion polls and the comments section of on-line news stories for some clue as to what will happen to them on election day.  The advice is good. It means don’t over-analyse a single piece of information, but rather look at who has the momentum.

Today, however, I’m not talking about politics.  I’m talking about a growing sense that Queensland, and particularly Brisbane, are on the verge of stepping out of the shadows of Australia’s two larger cities.

There was some symbolism when the Brisbane Lions held the AFL trophy aloft on the Melbourne Cricket Ground two weeks ago, after a thumping win over Sydney – the biggest brother humbled by the little one, and the second-biggest not even in the contest.

Earlier this week I was in Sydney for a client event, and I was talking with a prominent Melbournian about his recent visit to Brisbane.  “Brisbane has so much going for it,” he told me. “Brisbane people are so optimistic. The city just has a great feeling about it.  Every time I go there, I think ‘why do I live in Melbourne?’.”

Now, I’m not suggesting that two unrelated incidents are definitive proof that Brisbane’s time in the sun is here.  But the trend is your friend.

Brisbane will become the Olympic city in a bit more than three years.  Yes, you read that correctly.  A bit more than three years.

While our Games are, of course, taking place in 2032, the Olympic flame will be extinguished in Los Angeles on August 27, 2028.  So from that date, Brisbane will officially be the Host City.

And while the Brisbane Games have been dogged by the same controversies and political buck-passing that features in every Games, much of that will likely fade once the State Election is completed and which ever side is in government sets what will be the final plan.

What won’t fade is the sense among most Queenslanders that we want to put on a special event, and be proud of our efforts on the world stage.  There is a feeling in the business community that we are on the cusp of something very big and – importantly – that we can do a spectacular job, just as we always have with major international events.

We’re getting a sense of that here at the SAS Group.  Certainly there’s heightened activity among our clients (old and new) related to the election and the widespread expectation of a change in government.

But I think it’s more than that.  There’s also a sense that the next decade is Brisbane’s decade.  Becoming the Olympic City in 2028 won’t just bring us a sports event.  It will bring us global attention on a scale we’ve never experienced before.

And that in turn will bring business opportunities that the city and state would not be able to unlock without those five magic rings.

It’s starting already.  We are seeing it here, and many of our friends and business contacts are seeing the same.  It’s still building, and there’s a long way to go.  But the trend is your friend.