New CEO For Sydney’s Night Time Industries Association

Sydney’s Night Time Industries Association has announced public affairs professional Mick Gibb as its chief executive officer.

He began his new role this month.

NTIA Chair Justine Baker said the association was searching for a CEO who could drive advocacy and member engagement.

“This is an incredibly important time for the sector as we rebuild,” Baker said.

“We still have much to do to firstly get our industries back to pre-pandemic strength and then to create a sustainable, diverse and exciting night-time ecosystem.

“I’m looking forward to working with Mick and our members to champion the night.”

Gibb’s public affairs experience included NSW politics and the financial services and technology sectors.

Most recently, he led external relations for publicly listed Australian HRtech firm ELMO Software.

Gibb noted the night time industries have shown incredible ingenuity, resilience and determination to persevere through lockouts, lockdowns and over regulation.

“There’s an enormous opportunity for Australia to unlock the huge economic benefits that come from a strong, sustainable and resilient night time economy,” he acknowledged.

As the Sydney night time economy fires up, NTIA has been working on a number of initiatives.

One is the creation of the Youth Advisory Group of under-30-year-olds.

“This group has bold ideas of what the night time experience should look like and will serve as a powerful voice for the NTIA and our members,” Gibb said.

Last December, in partnership with the Sydney of City, NTIA launched the Let’s Hear It campaign to start a conversation between venues and residents about noise levels and keep everyone happy and allow Sydney to thrive.

In March the association partnered with Sydney Fringe for a NITA Recovery Brunch with 80 executives from the hospitality, entertainment and tourism sectors to discuss how consumer behaviour has changed post-Covid and the growth of localism calls for new business models and strategies.

An action plan was developed from that meeting, with input from the arts, music, hospitality, policy, accommodation, festivals, tourism, associations, beverage, government, property and media sectors.

“The NTIA is uniquely positioned to champion the entire night time industries ecosystem,” Gibb said.

“Key to realising the power and potential of the night time economy is having a collective voice for the many and varied players that make the night time economy what it is.

“There has been a lot of support and commitment from across the aisles of government to realise the potential of the night time economy,” he added.