Speedwell was started in 1997 by two brothers who thought that the Internet was going to be a big thing and they were right. They started the company as Brisbane’s first pure web consultancy. In 2004 Speedwell changed hands and between 2005 and 2008 grew to be 21 staff. In November, due to continuing growth Speedwell will be moving from the Stanley St. offices in East Brisbane to a new building in Brunswick St. in the Fortitude Valley giving room for up to 45 staff.

Example of a cluster based on Sydney. Credit: Simeon King, thetrophyroom.org / anagramstudio I am currently writing an entry for another project on clusters and the recent changes of Brisbane area such as Fortitude Valley. Could you explain to us in further detail the reason for this move?

 Basically it comes down to size. We literally cannot fit anyone else into this building. In terms of client growth, Speedwell had a couple of significant clients back in 2006, but 2 or 3 major clients occupied a very big portion of our revenue and we identified that as a risk. We went to market and acquired some additional significant clients including Dominos, Suncorp, Queensland Rail, Brisbane International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and more .  To service these clients, we needed to grow. We soon outgrew our building and needed to upsize. The reason we chose Fortitude Valley as a location was due to its central location in relation to public transport.  Being committed to reducing our greenhouse gases, we saw the valley as an opportunity to increase our staff's transport choices.  At this stage it looks like three quarters of our staff will be utilising public transport, personal exertion transport (bikes, walking, jogging) or a combination to get to work in the valley.  This has great outcomes including reduction of greenhouse gases, personal fitness, and the health and wellbeing of our staff and the environment.

BIFF and the SFF- could you explain to us your involvement with these festivals?

Brisbane International Film Festival came to us wanting a ticketing system that they could use, so we wrote one from scratch. We partnered with BIFF to evolve that to make it better each year. Sydney Film Festival had always used Ticketek for their ticketing system but wanted to evolve to a system that they could control the content and the ticketing component. BIFF actually introduced us to SIFF and we secured them as a client.

Festivals might be using a few different ticketing outlets Oztix, Qtix, box office. Is there a chance it could merge into one?

It could very easily be rolled out. Well not very easily, but it could definitely facilitate ie Brisbane Festival or a stand-alone theatre etc. Its more a question of the organisation deciding  to move forward and control their own destiny. We are actually taking a portion of it at the moment and using it to do ticketing for a promotional one-off concert that’s being run - a beverage company that’s hired a popular band and  are using the ticketing  mechanism for that. It will include barcodes on the tickets, scanners at the door of the venue and a web service to establish whether the ticket is valid or not.

So I have this question on tips on developing long terms partnerships with clients, is that something that you’d comment on?

We lose very few clients. We ask our clients “What are your business goals? What do you want to achieve?”. Sales generation might be the desired outcome and then we find an appropriate use of technology. Biggest tip is to gain understanding of their business and work on assisting them to meet their business goals.

What services, associations, groups, and awards are you involved in?

AIMIA Awards, Q400, Deloitte Technology Awards. In terms of resources we are a member of Queensland .NET.

Speedwell is involved with Enterprise Connect services as well? Could you tell us a bit more about this involvement? (See previous entry about Enterprise Connect // Creative Industries Innovation Centre write-up)

We're trying to establish exactly how we are leveraging our new building and the opportunity for growth,  so Enterprise Connect came along at a good time for us.  The initial attraction was the fact that we they were working with businesses in our industry and our size. Because we  are  currently going  through a strategic planning  process , the idea of having third party engage us on those topics and  give us recommendations  is  a great opportunity . There is also opportunity to obtain funding to assist us in implementing their recommendations.

We are only in the initial stages of the process (about 3 weeks into it at the time of the interview). We’ll get together and discuss recommendations down the track. It’s a good opportunity to focus on our business and look internally.

Thanks Brett!

Creative industries Sydney cluster image credit: Simeon King, thetrophyroom.org / anagramstudio

Similar links on BCI: Ulysseys: Transformation Through Design, Tips for website managers, website designers, etc, Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Behind the Scenes with Valiant Hire (and their event simulation software), Enterprise Connect // Creative Industries Innovation Centre, Public Sphere #3: Australian ICT and Creative Industries Development, Creative Industries and the City Pt 1.