As a Queenslander living in Sydney, my tolerance for ocean temperatures below 20 degrees is minimal. Which means whenever I hear about the famous Winter Solstice Nude Swim in Hobart – water temperature around 11 degrees – I can only shake my head in disbelief.
And If I was compiling a list of events likely to become uber popular, this would certainly rank towards the bottom.
But what would I know?
In 2024, a record breaking 3,000 hardy souls braved a Hobart winter to plunge into the River Derwent, sans swimmers, a handy increase on the 230 or so who did the same thing in 2013.
(Our own intrepid adventurer Peita Diamantidis did the swim this year. She tells me she is still trying to warm back up!).
The swim of course is part of the broader Dark Mofo Winter Festival that now takes place in Hobart every year, the genesis of which was a very big problem faced by local tourism operators. Tassie traditionally struggled to lure ‘mainlanders’ down during the winter months. Why go to Hobart when you could get cheapish flights to somewhere warmer like the Gold Coast?
The solution to the problem was to turn a weakness into a strength, leveraging the creative weirdness of the MONA vibe to stage a citywide festival.
Its events include large-scale art installations, experimental performances, live music, and culinary experiences, often pushing boundaries to challenge and engage audiences. Iconic highlights (aside from the Solstice Swim) include the Winter Feast, and awe-inspiring light shows. Dark Mofo attracts thousands of visitors each year, transforming Hobart into a hub of creative expression and cultural intrigue, and importantly seeing occupancy rates at hotels remain strong.
Interestingly, while the 2024 version of Dark Mofo was more muted, a full program has already been announced for 2025, with local businesses, sponsors, and the Tasmanian Government realising the power of the event as an economic contributor but also a branding exercise for the whole state of Tasmania.
Of course the story of Dark Mofo has many parallels – SXSW (started small in Austin, but now with a global presence), Burning Man and Coachella being some of the best-known examples of events that started small and ‘niche’ and have now become phenomena in their own right.
Our ALPD Day was born from a problem and is now an industry mainstay
I write this a couple of days after our latest Ensombl All Licensee Professional Development Day, and while it seems bold to make a comparison with the previously mentioned mega events, there are certainly some parallels.
The ALPD Day was itself born from a problem – that being the challenges of smaller and boutique licensees being able to access CPD in a cost effective and time-efficient manner.
It started as a virtual only event with around 1,000 attendees, and has now blossomed into a twice-yearly mainstay of the advice landscape, with a rock-solid base of 2,000 registered attendees each event, and the ability to attend in-person (which always sells out).
We’ve now held 6 ALPD Days, and it’s become an event that almost has its own identity – one that is strong enough to hold up in the face of many competing events.
I think the reasons for its popularity are numerous, but they probably distil down to the fact that the day solves problems for adviser – both in terms of the access to CPD, but also in the nature of the content itself, always carefully curated to address the issues our 9,300 platform members are discussing each day.
Perhaps this is why one adviser rated our most recent event “The best professional development event I have attended in 16 years”.
Even the nature of the day itself defies conventional thinking. 10 CPD hours in a single day is a bit of a marathon, but – just like those willing to take a midwinter dip in Tassie –the number of advisers who stick with us for the whole day just keeps growing.
The position of the ALPD Day as the largest single day event dedicated entirely to adviser professional development is now firmly established, which has translated into widespread support from corporate partners, and we are certainly grateful to all of them for helping bring the day to life.
ALPD Day 7 – our May 2025 event – is almost fully supported already, but there are still presenting slots available. If you want to be part of an iconic industry event, and deliver your message to well over 1,000 advice professionals, just reach out, we’d love to chat.
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