MICKEY MOUSE made an appearance at the annual conference of Clubs NSW last week. The legendary Disney character popped up as part of a presentation from Rob Morton, an executive with the Disney Institute, the management consultancy arm of the international entertainment giant. Mr Morton was one of two keynote speakers at the four-day conference held on the Gold Coast. The other main drawcard was the demographer and KPMG partner Bernard Salt,who has been commissioned by the clubs industry to write a report on its future, taking into account changing demographics and ''the rise of the moral consumer''.
The speech covered how ''the Australian consumer behaviour and palate is being subjected to more Asian influences''. Delegates were also able to hear how they could learn from the Disney experience. Mr Morton has worked for Disney for more than 30 years after starting as ''an attractions host at Pirates of the Caribbean within the Magic Kingdom''. But one of the main topics of conversation at the conference was the federal government's push to introduce mandatory precommitment for gaming machines, bitterly opposed by the industry. The comedian Jean Kitson was hired as the chair, while for $59 a head, delegates could brunch with Ita Buttrose, who talked about her media career.