CASE STUDY
Common Ground
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What happens when you put sixty people who shape an industry at one table, and ask them what their choices add up to?
60
Guests at one table
10
Years as a Certified B Corp
6
Partner organisations
2
Conversations between courses
Built together, on Gadigal Land
AV1, in partnership with Botanic Gardens of Sydney, Laissez-Faire Catering, Simply Seated, B Lab Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Bowerbird Collective, brought together clients, partners and friends who believe business can be a force for good, and who have spent years developing what
this looks like in practice.
The evening also marked ten years since AV1 became a Certified B Corporation, one part of a longer story about the people, ideas and different perspectives that shape how we all choose to work.
One long table. One evening. Two conversations that examined the purpose behind our work.
- Event
Common Ground - Attendees
Events industry clients and partners - Venue
The Calyx - Date
22 September 2026
Different perspectives. Shared values.
Common ground is what you look for when the people at the table think differently. So we built the
evening to make that literal.
Guests arrived at 5.30pm to connect before Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor delivered a purposeful Welcome to Country.
Standout moments across the night included:
-
Simone Slattery of the Bowerbird Collective leading guests into the dining room with a roving violin performance
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One continuous, figure-of-eight table by Simply Seated
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A plant-based menu from Laissez-Faire, designed around seasonal produce and minimal waste
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Lighting and production by AV1 that moved with the evening, setting atmosphere and holding focus through every conversation and performance
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Jars of honey from hives in the Royal Botanic Garden, waiting for guests on the way out
A plant-based table
The menu was plant-based by default, with guests able to add fish or meat when they registered, so the choice was theirs from the start.
Laissez-Faire built the evening around seasonal produce: smoky flamed cauliflower with pickled eschalot and avocado spring green oil to open, a green apple sorbet between courses, then a charred eggplant steak over silky cauliflower purée, served alongside Murray Cod with saffron velouté and sous vide Margra lamb rump. Dessert was an Earth Sphere of white chocolate mousse, raspberry and vanilla sponge.
Guests drank The Calyx Spritz, built on lemon myrtle and Davidson plum, and wines from Mt Yengo, Australia's first Indigenous-owned winery.
Setting the atmosphere
AV1 led concept and production for the evening. Lighting was designed to move with the night: warm and open as guests arrived, drawing inward around the table for each conversation, then lifting again for the final performance. The intent throughout was an atmosphere that supported the room and the people in it.
Two conversations, between courses
Both were facilitated by Angie Farrugia, Director of Communications and Engagement at B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
People, Place & Purpose
After entrée, the table turned to what responsibility comes with creating experiences for others. John Siemon, Director of Horticulture and Living Collections at Botanic Gardens of Sydney, spoke with Deanna Varga about the choices behind the food and the place, and the care that goes on out of sight.
What It Takes
After main, the question became what B Corp certification actually demands of a business. Keith Wootton, AV1's Founder and Director, spoke with Mark Rochford of The Frank Wild Company on what changed along the way and how certification shapes the work you take on.
Bowerbird Collective: Music for the natural world
Simone Slattery and Anthony Albrecht create multimedia work that tells conservation stories, with more than 350 concerts across Australia, the UK and North America and multiple ARIA chart-topping albums for threatened species.
The evening concluded with a 15-minute performance by the duo, closing the night the way it opened: with music written for the natural world.
Premium partnerships, shared purpose
Common Ground came to life with six partners:
- AV1 - Concept and production
- The Calyx, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney - Setting and horticultural perspective
- Laissez-Faire Catering - Catering partner
- Simply Seated - Furniture and styling
- B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand - Conversation partner
- Bowerbird Collective - Live music
The client perspective
I was completely transfixed by the Bowerbird Collective. Arvo Pärt is one of my favourites, and to hear his music performed so beautifully (and an old favourite, Lark Ascending), in such wonderful company and in such a setting, was a huge treat.
Zoë Hart, Head of Corporate Partnerships, MCA Australia
What's Next?
Ten years of certification asks a business what it is prepared to do differently. Common Ground asked the same question of an industry, around one table, and the answers are still travelling.
That is the point of a ripple: the moment, and everywhere it goes afterwards.
Watch: Common Ground
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