Jurassic Lounge is a Big Winner

  • Author(s)
    Ingrid Potts
  • Category
    At the Museum
  • Published
    20 January 2012
  • Read time
    2 minutes

Walking into one of the coolest awards ceremonies on the Sydney social calendar wasn’t on my mind when I took a job at the Australian Museum. Believe it or not there was a time when the word ‘museum’ was associated with only school excursions and German tourists!

Yet there I was at fabulous FBi’s SMAC (Sydney Music, Arts & Culture) Awards last night waiting anxiously, fingers crossed, to hear the words ‘Jurassic Lounge’ after the words ‘And the winner is…’. Luckily for my nerves our category was the first to be announced and well of course we won!

To win a SMAC – an FBi SMAC!! – is an incredibly big deal. Our nominated category of ‘remixing the city’ had some heavy contenders and the definition of the award itself (event, person or team who’ve creatively used, created or recreated a physical space, location or landmark in this city, making it a creative destination) is enough to bring on a sweat for even the most seasoned event planner!

From the beginning, Jurassic Lounge was an appealing recipe: put a pop up bar in a quirky venue, throw in some up and coming visual artists and musicians, et voila! But, like all things it evolved, and it became so much more than that simple formula. I was one of the lucky ones to be involved from day one and am proud to say its concept has become a pioneer event for museums both nationally and internationally.

I’ll try not to brag (too much) but its fantastic to get this kind of recognition for our hard work. Standing, trophy and wine in hand, after the awards ceremony in the company of some equally hardworking colleagues (from The Australian Museum as well as the Festivalists) we reminisced about the highs, favourites, lows, stresses and future plans – let me tell you now, Jurassic Lounge isn’t slowing down any time soon!

UPDATE: Jurassic Lounge is back from Tuesday the 28th of August 2012!