Behind the Scenes of Sexpo with General Manager Tracey Browning

Q: Prior to managing Sexpo, what type of work were you doing?
A: Marketing and Sponsorship in the sports arena. I have a sport background.

Q: What personally interested you in working for Sexpo Australia?
A: I thought it would be fun, exciting and VERY different!

Q: What type of responsibilities do you have in your role as General Manager?
A: I manage a team of 3 full time and a cast of hundreds of suppliers, contractors, promotional staff at each show. I am also responsible for the marketing, advertising and of course the financials of the show.

Q: You have been working for Sexpo Australia since 2001. In this 12-year period, how has attendance rates changed? Is it increasing every year?
A: Yes this will be my 13th year at Sexpo – a long time! The biggest change I’ve noticed is the amount of female attendees is slightly higher than the males! It’s a great thing that females feel good about coming long. Crowds have increased over the years’ as we have become much more mainstream and more widely accepted in the community.

Q: How has the event itself changed and developed over time?
A: We evolved into a ‘couples’ show and our target market are couples. There is something here for everyone at Sexpo. We are also running shows in South Africa and hope to get some European shows up and running the in the near future.

Q: What attraction receives the most attention? (Most popular > least popular?)
A: Most popular

is DEFINITELY our World Famous Amatuer Strip on Friday and Saturday nights. HILARIOUS! Least popular is probably the overpriced food and drink at the venues we hold the show in!

Q: Why is Sexpo not being held at Darling Harbour in Sydney after this year? Is it finishing all together or is it moving? If so, why?
A: The NSW Government are pulling the building down and totally rebuilding. It will take them three years and we will be going back to The Hordern Pavilion and the Royal Hall of Industries at Entertainment Quarter (formerly Fox Studios) where we held many successful events in the past.

Q: How do you define a positive result at the end of the day? What is your main satisfaction (aim)?
A: We provide people with the latest sexual health information that they may not be able to find elsewhere. We also have educational Sex Seminars with professional experienced relationship experts who regularly pack out the seminars – there is no charge for these). Finally we take the opportunity to support various charities in the last three years we have raised around 50,000 for the McGrath Foundation, we have supported Beyond Blue and Movember. We also support the give complimentary space to Non profit organisations such as the AIDS council and Anti Cancer council. Sexpo recently appointed Donald Turton as Sexpo’s Ambassador for the disabled and he travels the country with us and invites all disabled groups in the community to the show to find about the latest developments in information for them. We are very proud of our achievements within the community.

Q: Are there ever any issues with security on the day?
A: Sometimes there are the occasional people that get carried away and there is the occasional eviction like any other large event. But in general because our patrons are so happy – they are really well behaved!