Nicole Vaughan
April 16, 2023

International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia Provides Reunions and a vision of a Brave. New, World

After a couple of years of lockdowns, cancelled events and postponed get-togethers, Australia’s community and stakeholder engagement professionals were chomping at the bit to head to Melbourne for the IAP2 Australia Conference last week, among them Spatial Media’s Nicole Vaughan and Dan Cain.

After a couple of years of lockdowns, cancelled events and postponed get-togethers, Australia’s community and stakeholder engagement professionals were chomping at the bit to head to Melbourne for the IAP2 Australia Conference last week, among them Spatial Media’s Nicole Vaughan and Dan Cain.


With a conference theme of 'Brave. New. World’ we caught up with Nicole to hear more about the conference and the key takeaways.


“After a couple of years of missing out on events, it was fantastic to be back at a major conference where we could connect with peers, catch up with clients and learn about the latest trends, themes and technologies supporting community and stakeholder engagement. At IAP2 the mood across the conference was one of happy reunion as we reconnected after a hiatus of a few years.”


“The conference had many highlights for me as we connected with new people, sharing what we do and how we support community engagement from our exhibition stand. As well as that, the great questions and curiosity that shone through during the panel presentation I was fortunate to be part of.”


“I particularly liked the conference’s theme of Brave. New. World. and the key takeaway for me – there were many – was that there is a huge appetite to push the boundaries of what technology can do to support community engagement and provide consumers, communities and clients with the opportunity to bring stakeholder engagement to life like never before.”


“This was supported by an increasingly strong trend to focus on diversity and inclusion to bring in typically unengaged groups to the public participation realm, something Spatial Media is passionate about as we support the conference theme through what we deliver in visualising the future world. We're here to help drive engagement outcomes and create excitement for the future going beyond standard websites and PDFs to bring stakeholders on the journey combining high-quality communication, interactive media, and cutting-edge technology,” said Nicole

from our clients

Spatial are my go-to for solutions

Spatial are my go-to for solutions nobody has dreamt up yet! They have an incredible knack for combining tomorrows tech solutions with creativity, intuitive UX and analytics. The results are engaging interfaces that are impactful and ultimately bridge the gap between project and stakeholders.
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Kate kernaghan, company director, factotum communications

They’re responsive, innovative, and easy to work with

The team at Spatial Media were great to work with. They workshopped ideas quickly, resolved issues efficiently, and maintained clear, consistent communication throughout the project. Their collaborative approach made the entire process easier. They’re responsive, innovative, and easy to work with.
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Suzanne Hall, Communications & Marketing Manager, Visy Recycling

It was a pleasure to work with everyone

Spatial Media masterfully brought our CETO wave energy technology to life and provided a glimpse into how we're harnessing the immense power of the ocean to create clean, renewable electricity. Thank you to Spatial Media - Visual Engagement Solutions for their incredible work on this animation!
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Brighid Jay, Chief Commercial Officer, Carnegie Clean Energy

Show you mean business when it comes it engagement

Spatial Media are a perfect project partner. Their innovation and quality of their work is exceptional. The digital engagement assets they create are not only visually stunning but also highly effective in communicating our vision to our stakeholders. The attention to detail and dedication to excellence is consistent across every project. Embedding them in our projects has brought numerous benefits and we constantly look at ways we can integrate them and their work across all project teams. Their expertise in creating interactive engagement portals, 3D renders, animations, and modelling has greatly enhanced our ability to engage with our stakeholders. Their innovative approach and tools have added significant value to the engagement offering that John Holland have. Including the Spatial Media team shows you mean business when it comes it engagement. The professionalism and responsiveness are unmatched and the quality of work prove time and time again why they are the best in the business.
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Vesna Newman

From day one, Spatial Media grasped exactly what we needed

From day one, Spatial Media grasped exactly what we needed: a simple, interactive way for our community to stay up to date on local works. Their team was easy to work with, highly responsive, and open to every adjustment we requested. The end result exceeded our expectations.
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Chris Ashton, Lismore City Council

They take the time to truly understand your project

Spatial Media are great to work with. They take the time to truly understand your project and communications objectives, deliver on time and to budget, and are flexible and responsive to project uncertainties. The quality of outputs is brilliant too.
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Simon Bendall, Director, Traverse ENvironmental NZ

Spatial quickly understood our overall objectives

We have an energy project that proved difficult for our stakeholders to comprehend. Spatial quickly understood our overall objectives and then worked closely with us to produce a stunning production that met our brief. We now have a valuable tool to use that provides clarity to our stakeholders and community about our project.
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David Burt, Communications and Community Relations Lead, Latrobe Valley, EnergyAustralia