The Bali-based head of DG Events says he’s a realist when it comes to long-term survival.
David Green believes he’s put about 500,000 university students through their graduation over the past 25 years, but not as a financial benefactor or in an academic capacity.
For the past 25 years, Mr Green’s events company, DG Global, has counted the state’s largest tertiary institution – Curtin University – among its clients.
The long-running relationship goes back to the very beginning for DG Global, which was founded in 1999 by Perth-born, now Bali-based Mr Green.
“My first customers were Master Builders Western Australia, for their awards, and Curtin University graduations,” Mr Green said.
“Funnily enough, we’re bumping in today, twenty-five years later, doing the grads; those events have got bigger and bigger and bigger. They are huge.
“There are fireworks, a food truck festival and live music after it; it’s a massive-scale production and show.
“I think it’s probably the best graduation ceremony in the country.”
The relationship with Curtin has been a cornerstone of DG Global’s longevity, and a measure of success for an operator who has tended to do things his way.
Over the years, the business has run events for more than 350 clients worldwide, combining its event services with connections to a large talent pool that include high-profile Australian artists and MCs.
Clients include Ronald McDonald House, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Nando’s, Autobahn and Mars Wrigley.
But the reminders of his Curtin connection are everywhere, according to Mr Green, especially on his return to Perth.
In conversation with Business News on a recent visit, he recounted an interaction with an Australian immigration official that took a surprising turn.
“Maybe I’m a suspect looking fella,” Mr Green said with a laugh.
“The immigration officer when I landed in Perth yesterday pulled me aside and asked me what I was doing in town.
“I told them I was here to see the first graduations of the weekend, and their face lit up. [They said], ‘Oh! I graduated there’, they started talking about the fireworks and the day.”
The conversational Mr Green has many stories of this ilk.
It’s evident Curtin’s graduations are a source of pride, as the largest recurring events DG Global hosts in Perth.
That relationship could come to an end this year, however, when the Curtin contract goes out to tender.
“I will submit [a tender], but I’m a realist,” he said.
“Nothing lasts forever, but twenty-five years has been a great long haul with them.
“If they do decide that they want change, then so be it.”
DG Global previously ran graduations for Victoria’s Deakin University, among others, but that came to an end after 15 years when the process was brought in-house as a budgetary move.
Budgets are a common constraint in the events space, particularly on the east coast where the money is not flowing as readily as in the mining-fuelled economy in Western Australia.
“Everyone’s struggling,” Mr Green said.
“People talk about individual cost of living and all that sort of stuff, but I think big business is suffering as well.
“Perth is expensive, and so is Australia.”
DG Global’s experience goes well beyond the university circuit, and the post-pandemic workflow has been steady as the world has returned to in-face interactions.
Mr Green described himself as a dreamer with a passion for creating experiences rather than promoting them. “I went and chased my dreams and passions,” he said.
He is still chasing, 25 years on.
Origins
The Australian university graduation circuit is a long way from Mr Green’s wild start in the world of events, aged 18, as the manager of Perth band New Device.
“They were a group of boys out of John Curtin High,” he said.
“We’re talking same era as Spy vs Spy. We were off to be rich and famous; a Bedford band’s Spinal Tap moment.
“That was my first foray into national touring, working hard and trying as best we could to make a buck and do gigs.
“It all kind of fell over when we had five blokes living in a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney.”
A short-lived venture into venue booking followed, before a move to Melbourne and a formal entry into the world of events.
Mr Green’s early work included a role on Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, where he claims to have been responsible for an “inflatable pig in a bed”, which flew above attendees as the band played.
“We did East Fremantle Oval back in the day, and the pig went flat,” Mr Green said.
“We had to try keep it up in the air.”
In this world, he rubbed shoulders with stars including George Michael, AC/DC, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger.
In 1988, Mr Green was back in Perth at Burswood theatre and dome, working on events including the Hopman Cup.
In the 1990s, Mr Green joined forces with Brad Mellen to found Green Mellen International: a successful foray into event promotion before the duo parted ways in a move the former said was driven by his desire to run a more creative business.
Mr Mellen recently sold his namesake event business to Live Nation. The pair are no longer in contact.
“Brad and I probably haven’t spoken since [we parted ways],” Mr Green said.
“But he taught me a lot, and I’m grateful for that. I hold no malice with him, and he’s gone on to be very, very successful.”
DG Global was formed a year ahead of Mellen Events and has been running ever since.
A 2007 Business News 40under40 winner, Mr Green is still running, too, albeit at a steadier pace than in his chaotic early years on the east coast.
Now based in Bali, Mr Green’s daily routine is more early mornings than late nights these days.
Embracing life at a slower pace, he has built a team of local events staff and is focused on growing DG Global’s Asian footprint.
“I see a big opportunity there,” Mr Green said of the Indonesian island.
“The conference and convention facilities there are world class; better than Australia.
“The culture is different, too. I have a passion for the Balinese people, to train them and to get them up to speed.
“It’s a culture that’s very different to our culture.”
