Event company that was to bring Reese Witherspoon to Australia for motivational talks collapses into voluntary liquidation
An event company that had sold tickets to a series of motivational seminars with actress Reese Witherspoon has collapsed into voluntary liquidation. Stanley Morgan Accountants were appointed as external managers to the The Simpatico Connection Pty Ltd, organisers of the Simpatico Connection Conference, this afternoon. The Simpatico Connection had been selling tickets to its conference […]
An event company that had sold tickets to a series of motivational seminars with actress Reese Witherspoon has collapsed into voluntary liquidation.
Stanley Morgan Accountants were appointed as external managers to the The Simpatico Connection Pty Ltd, organisers of the Simpatico Connection Conference, this afternoon.
The Simpatico Connection had been selling tickets to its conference with Witherspoon for up to $2500 a piece.
For a price tag of $1997, attendees could purchase the “The Delegate” package to the July event, which included the two-day seminar, meals and drinks.
An extra $500 secured attendees preferred seating, an invitation to a VIP reception and a photo with the Hollywood star.
However, the event, which was reportedly targeted at businesswomen in “leadership roles”, was mysteriously cancelled on Wednesday, according to Fairfax.
Reese Witherspoon promoted the event on her Facebook page in May.
Brendan Nixon, director of Stanley Morgan Accountants, told SmartCompany this afternoon it is too early to tell what led to the company entering voluntary liquidation and this will be something the voluntary liquidators examine over the next few weeks.
Nixon says he is not in a position to comment on why the conference was cancelled or The Simpatico Connection’s trading history.
Nixon says Stanley Morgan Accountants will contact all creditors of the company, including ticket holders to the event, “as a matter of priority”, adding that any ticket holders who are not contacted by Stanley Morgan Accountants by post within the next fortnight should contact the firm directly.
“We will be collecting the company’s books and records and commence our analysis as part of our investigations, consistent with our responsibilities under the Corporations Act,” Nixon says.
“We will be convening a meeting of creditors over the next few weeks.”
In a statement posted on The Simpatico Connection website earlier this week, the organisers said they are unable to proceed with the event “due to issues within our organisation”.
The Simpatico Connection said in the same statement that ticket purchasers would receive refunds and the company would make a donation to its charity partner, Save The Children, “in the spirit of the event”.
The company apologised to Witherspoon and to its other speakers, including Naomi Simon, Elize Hattin, Lisa Lockland-Bell, Vicki Webster and Alice Haemmerle.
SmartCompany contacted The Simpatico Connection for further comment and was directed to the statement published on the company’s website.
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
