The Power 50: Sharlene Harris

Sharlene Harris bought her first hotel before finishing university in the early ‘80s, going on to manage more than 20 venues and eventually joining ALH Group as the Victorian Entertainment Manager. Harris is now the National Entertainment Manager, overseeing entertainment at over 300 venues and outdoor events like Hotter Than Hell, Sea N Sound and more.

2019 saw more than 1200 ticketed events featuring over 300 acts for Harris and her team, resulting in nearly 500,000 attendees around the country. Among those were successful events from artists like Amy Shark, San Cisco, Eskimo Joe, Busby Marou, Alex Lahey, Vanessa Amorosi, Client Liaison and more. 

It wasn’t all music though, with comedy tours from Isaac Butterfield and Kevin Bloody Wilson also proving popular. The Hotter Than Hell event grew with its second year too, expanding to include Dunsborough in Western Australia for the first time, as well as returning to Victoria, Queensland, South Australia with Magic Dirt, Spiderbait, Jebediah, Killing Heidi and more on the line-up.

"For me, every year we add more diversity into the entertainment offering with success, is a good year. This was certainly one of those years. We really love how much comedy has grown over the last two years in particular - we can all use a laugh, right! I love the fact that we had Shihad, You Am I and Jebediah out traversing the ‘burbs as well as Holy Holy, DZ Deathrays, Vera Blue getting out to the regionals. The regional communities really benefit from this activity and it helps forge strong connections between punters and acts."