We’re delighted to have Lynne Schinella returning for a third year to facilitate the AACB’s 30th Conference in 2019.

A sought after business speaker and conference facilitator, Lynne is a familiar face to many in the business events industry, having run her own award winning conference and incentive company for 10 years, before she tired of tying tiny bows on tiny things at midnight.

But working with incentives gave her great insight into successful teams and cultures, so when Lynne established Ripe Learning in 2001, it was natural her work had a strong message of understanding and celebrating our differences. She is the Creator of the RIPE Personality Profiling System and author of Bite Me! and other do’s and don’ts of dealing with our differences.

Lynne’s real gift as a facilitator is in her practical down to earth approach, her relaxed conversational style and a talent for making the complex simple and relevant. She knows our jargon, she understands our challenges.

And her passion for service, forged in five star hotels and refined in business events makes Lynne the perfect MC to help weave our theme this year : Customer Experience: Laneways to Success.

Michael is President of Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) and Chief Executive Officer at the Canberra Convention Bureau (CCB) joining the organisation in October 2015.

Michael joined CCB from Canada, most recently as Executive Director for Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island, a not-for-profit membership based organisation representing the Province for Marketing, Sales and Product Development. Previous roles encompassed hotel sales, operations and food and beverage in hotel brands that include Delta Hotels & Resorts, IHG, Marriott, Renaissance and Fairmont, in Canada, Australia and the UK.

Michael has more than 25 years of industry experience including tourism education with an MBA from the University of Guelph (2006) and previous studies in Tourism at Ryde TAFE (1994). Michael’s MBA major paper studied the impact mega events such as the Olympics have on the host cities lodging sector and tourism infrastructure.

Prior to commencing his role at CCB, Michael was part of the Executive with the Destination Marketing Association of Canada (DMAC) and has also held several marketing, industry and curriculum advisory roles.

Penny Lion joined Tourism Australia as Head of Business Events in 2010 before becoming Executive General Manager, Events, in August 2016. Her extensive experience in the events sector includes strategy, marketing, sales, operations, as well as stakeholder management roles and spans more than 25 years working on trade, consumer and corporate events.

As Executive General Manager, Events, Penny is responsible for leading Tourism Australia’s specialist Business Events and Industry Event teams. The Business Events team is responsible for delivering targeted marketing communications and trade programs to promote Australia internationally as a business events destination whilst the Industry Events team is responsible for delivering a wide range of events to showcase Australia’s leisure tourism offering.

Tourism Australia’s industry events include the Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE), which attracts more than 2,000 international and Australian tourism industry delegates annually, as well as the Corroboree events for frontline retail travel sellers. These events, held in Australia and in key international markets, provide the Australian tourism industry with a platform to promote their experiences and products to qualified travel sellers.

Prior to joining Tourism Australia Penny was with Flight Centre Limited’s niche events agency CiEvents, where she held various senior roles. Penny started with CiEvents in 2000 as Director of Product after a decade of senior management roles across a number of events agencies. She quickly rose to the position of General Manager of Operations and then became CiEvents Director of Sales in 2004, introducing a successful sales and marketing strategy that grew client retention and new business.

In 2006, Penny was asked to establish the CiEvents brand in the UK, growing the business from one person to a team of 20 and securing a strong presence in this highly competitive market. Penny returned to Australia in 2010 and joined Tourism Australia in October of that year.

Portia is Head of Client Services at Roy Morgan. Portia and her team work with clients to deliver insights that can help change their business. Using Roy Morgan proprietary data Single Source & Helix Personas, as well as custom research, she helps clients understand who their customers are and how this compares to their competitors, their target market and the Australian population.

Portia joined Roy Morgan Research in 2008. Portia has worked with a range of clients across various sectors – from travel to finance to media. Between January 2011 and August 2013, Portia ran Roy Morgan’s US operations in Princeton, New Jersey where she focussed on advertising research and growing Roy Morgan’s US presence. Prior to joining Roy Morgan, she was a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills in their equity capital markets and M&A team.

Portia completed her Bachelor of Commerce/Law (Hons) at the University of Melbourne and her MBA at NYU Stern School of Business.

Arinex with offices in four Australian cities provides solutions for associations, governments and corporate organisations - as a PCO, DMC, Housing Bureau, delegate services, event and technical production Company and a global leader in conference technology.
Roslyn has been Co-Chair of the INCON Group an international PCO Partnership, a member of the Asia Pacific Starwood MICE Advisory Board, a director of the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA), a Council member of the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) and is a past President of the Rotary Club of Sydney. Roslyn is a past President of Meetings and Events Australia and has served on a number of Boards including, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), the Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau and the South Australian Tourism Commission.
Roslyn is the recipient of 2019 IMEX Paul Flackett Academy Award; 2018 ICCA Inspirational Woman; 2013 awarded with the AIME/Reed Industry Person of the Year Award; 2008 Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) Outstanding Contribution by an individual; 2001 the New South Wales Tourism Awards for Business Excellence for outstanding contribution to NSW Tourism by an individual; Federal Tourism Minister’s Special Award for outstanding contribution by an individual (1997) and the Australia Day 1999 the Medal of the Order of Australia in the general Division.

Married to Angelo Bonanno, they have two adult children and one grandchild. Her interests are golf, good food with a good red wine and their farm retreat just outside Sydney.

Peter King joined the award-winning Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) as Chief Executive in 2012, after a succession of Executive roles in multi-national companies across a variety of different industry sectors in Australia and Asia.

MCEC hosts more than 1,300 events annually, attracting 5 million visitors and generating over $1billion worth of economic benefit annually to the Victorian economy.

Peter sits on a number of Australian industry Boards and has extensive experience in running major events and large venues. He also sits on the Global Board of the International Association of Convention Centre’s (AIPC) along with the National Sports Museum which is housed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Shahnaz Bakhshay has spent over 14 years with TFE Hotels, giving her unparalleled expertise as the company’s Director of Sales, Australia and New Zealand. In this time, she has built a high-performance sales team, spanning Travel Partnership, Corporate/Government and Leisure, using her strong mentoring and leadership skills.

A personable, charismatic and versatile individual with a consistent record of achievement, Shahnaz is passionate about forming strong, lasting partnerships with clients. Her experience spans 25 years of professional sales and management for brands including Stamford, Sheraton and PK Holdings Limited, where she has been involved in sales and revenue strategy, maximising business opportunities and outcomes and ensuring the brand is always one step ahead of competitors. Most recently, her skills and expertise have led Shahnaz to be invited to join the prestigious ATEC Board for six months.

Kathryn McPherson is a Lead Facilitator and Coordinator at the Culture Group. Delivering Dialogue in the Dark workshops for the past two years, Kathryn has been given a rare insight into the challenges that organisations face in regards to communication, working as a team and inclusivity. This completely immersive experience allows participants to have an uninterrupted and unique experience that gives participants the time to reflect on their own behaviours and use problem solving skills that they would otherwise not be utilised in the modern world

With over 25 years’ experience in marketing major brands across multiple industry sectors (both corporate and NFP), Charlie Spendlove now holds the enviable position of stewarding the marketing of Australia’s Most Trusted Charity brand. In four years she has grown the media profile of Guide Dogs Victoria from 15 million to over 184 million, championed the transformation of the organisation to a client centric culture and in turn extended the organisation’s reputation as a heritage brand to a brand of spirit and innovation.

Charlie is a passionate advocate for the power of purposefully designed accessible customer experiences to achieve sustainable growth and happy, loyal customers. A strong proponent and designer of public education initiatives, Charlie has also overseen award winning Guide Dogs Australia’s Dialogue in the Dark social enterprise; utilising the initiative as a platform for social change in Australia.

Mike is a destination and convention bureau specialist with 30 years’ experience in the industry. He oversees GainingEdge's destination development, business development and in-market sales representation programmes and has consulted in Australia, Africa, China, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Middle East, Thailand, South Korea, Serbia, South Africa, UK & USA. Major consulting projects led by Mike include the establishment and development of MYCEB, Malaysia’s first national convention bureau and the Japan global MICE cities development programme.
Mike served as General Manager Sales & Marketing for the Melbourne Convention & Visitors Bureau. He also worked in senior marketing roles with Tourism Australia helping establish their presence in the Asia market and overseeing travel trade development in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He was also instrumental in the development of AIME as the Asia Pacific's largest business events trade show and the world’s first BestCities Global Alliance. Mike is also a past Victorian Chair and National President of Meetings and Events of Australia.
Mike brings extensive knowledge and experience of the business events (MICE) industry, especially within the Asia Pacific region. He has an excellent understanding of the business events market undertaking senior consulting roles in sales and business development, strategy development, bidding, product development, association development and market assessment studies.

Beverley Williamson is the General Manager, Sales with Melbourne Convention Bureau. Since Beverley joined MCB in 2007 she has held the positions of Senior Bid Manager; Associate Director Convention Sales and Director Bids and PCO Partnerships. Before joining MCB, Beverley held positions with Freehills (Melbourne) as Event Manager; Fox Events (Melbourne) as Director of Events; and Martlet Conferences and Exhibitions (United Kingdom) as Event Manager.
Bev is a Senior Executive with verifiable year-after-year success within a rapidly changing international environment. She is a strategic thought leader who excels in combining big picture thinking with articulate execution. She has extensive experience in international bidding, sales and business development strategies and is highly successful in building relationships with C-level decision makers. Her skill set includes government relations, member engagement, stakeholder management, budget planning and management, event legacies, commercial partnership opportunities, not for profit expertise, business growth, strategy development, revenue generation and national and international business development.
Beverley holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Tourism Management from the University of Brighton, United Kingdom.

Andrew Westacott is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation (AGPC), a position he has occupied since February 2011. Andrew commenced at AGPC in 2006 as the General Manager, Operations before later being appointed Deputy CEO. He was appointed as CEO in February 2011.

Prior to commencing at the AGPC, Andrew started his professional life as a chemical engineering project manager before taking up senior positions in logistics, procurement and supply chain management with MasterFoods Australia New Zealand and Uncle Ben’s of Australia. He then moved into major events in 2005 and played a key part in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games as Group Manager for Venue Delivery and Capital Projects.

He has a love of sport and sporting events and is committed to showcasing Melbourne and Victoria to the world through the Formula 1® Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Josie Brown joined Tennis Australia in September 2018 to help grow the organisation’s customer focus and insights driven decision-making while expanding their brand presence across the globe.

Josie brings more than 20 years’ experience in the digital marketing arena to this new executive role which sees her responsible for the overall execution of all marketing and brand strategies as well as ensuring Tennis Australia is at the forefront of data-aware decision making.

Prior to joining Tennis Australia, Josie held the position as Director of Digital, APAC at J Walter Thompson, Josie has been responsible for driving significant digital growth for several international clients by becoming more consumer centric businesses. In 2011, she worked at Procter and Gamble as well as ninemsn and Lufthansa.

She has a track record of delivering proven business success as a result of digital marketing initiatives across a broad range of brands and organisations around the world. Josie, is an effective leader of business transformation, changing organisational culture and performance to grow in digital marketing.

Jim Louderback is among the most respected figures in digital media with a 20-year history of leadership at the intersection of publishing and technology. Currently, Jim is a Venture Partner at seed investment firm Social Starts, Editorial Director of Vidcon and consults with a variety of top tech and media companies on strategy, tactics and implementation.

Throughout his career, Jim has earned a reputation as a visionary who excels at leading startups, growth businesses and turnarounds. His most well-known role was that of CEO of Revision3, where he helped drive a 20x increase in viewers and a 12x increase in revenue beginning in 2007. In 2012, Jim sold the company to Discovery Communications where he remained as General Manager, transforming the group into Discovery Digital Networks. Prior to Revision3, He was Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media’s Consumer group and Editor in Chief of many of the publisher’s titles including PC Magazine.

Jim is a recognized thought leader and sought-after speaker who has participated in countless industry events including Collision, The Video Marketing Summit, Digital Leaders San Francisco, Reel Online Video Marketing Summit and more. He is based in San Francisco, CA.

Peter Jones is one of Australia’s leading event producers, who has been creating special events for over 25 years.

Based in Melbourne, Peter and his team have been the recipient of over 35 Meetings & Events Industry Awards over the last 25 years, including induction into the Hall of Fame in two separate categories – Special Event Organiser and Public Event of the Year.

In 2010 Peter was awarded the International Special Events Society Michael Milburn Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2012 he was presented with the Outstanding Contribution Award by the Meetings and Events Industry. In 2016 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Event Awards and he also received a Certificate of Commendation from the Lord Mayor for 25 years of outstanding service to the major events industry in Melbourne at The Melbourne Awards.

Last year he was appointed a Member in the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours for significant service to the tourism and hospitality sector, particularly through event management, as an advisor, and to the community.

He has continually dedicated a great deal of time to representing and supporting the industry at many levels. He recently stepped down as Chairman of the Victoria Events Industry Council and as a member of the Victoria Tourism Industry Council. He was also a board member of Destination Melbourne, past President of the Melbourne chapter of the International Special Events Society and on the Tourism Australia Business Events Advisory Panel.

Melissa’s career has been mostly in tourism and events.

More recently Melissa has spent the last 4 years in senior roles in the association sector. Firstly at Engineers Australia where she was responsible for one of the country’s largest portfolios of association conferences and events and now at AusIMM (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy) where her focus is building new relationships and deeper connections with key stakeholders in the mining sector - industry, government, universities, media and kindred bodies. As General Manager of Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships an important part of her role at the peak body for resources professionals is developing new events to connect with target audiences, present the brand and amplify specific messages.

Melissa enjoyed more than 8 years at the Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) and feels very fortunate to have worked in such an exciting sector and with amazing colleagues and industry peers. During her time at MCB Melissa had the privilege of many opportunities and worked across roles in membership, business development, bidding and industry and government relations.

Today Melissa is a champion for the work of CVBs and better appreciates the perspectives of associations when bidding for conferences and hosting events. In her spare time Melissa is attempting to complete a MBA…

Sarah is the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director at Pitney Bowes and Project Manager for the Software & Data Business. Whilst managing an executives schedule and requirements, Sarah specializes in Events Management, Office Relocation and is extremely passionate about Culture and Engagement and leads the internal Employee Engagement Program.

With over a decade experience in the Executive / Personal assistant world within the Finance, Professional Services, Technology industry and working with sporting entrepreneurs, Sarah will share her experience in the evolution of an EA and how you can position yourself as an events guru without outsourcing a pricey third party.

With extensive experience in the incentive, meetings and tourism industries, Marie’s passion for understanding the customer’s needs has helped build success in the highly-competitive worlds of business events, communications and advertising.

Marie is an executive director of Solterbeck Events, an award-winning MICE company. Crafting insight-rich incentive travel programs, conferences and events, Solterbeck works to deliver rewarding and memorable experiences to help its clients drive business results, increase brand loyalty and motivate their people to perform at their best.

A former senior executive of major communication agencies in Australia and New Zealand, Marie was a member of the M&C Saatchi worldwide board, a regional partner of Publicis Mojo, and has worked closely with tourism bodies in both countries.

Marie is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and in that role is Chair of the People and Culture Committee. Marie is also a non-executive director of the Indigenous Art Code, whose role is to support the ethical trading of indigenous art.

Maurice and data go together like burgers and fries. Sure, you can enjoy them separately but when together, they are perfection. When Maurice & data are together they enjoy connecting and welding unexpected attributes to uncover consumer truths and activate brand stories. Also, they love long walks on the beach. He started his career at Nielsen where he was part of the team that launched the first US household-level consumer segmentation. While at Nielsen, he created PRIZM-TV, a consumer segmentation system based on of TV viewing behaviours and lifestyles. Maurice has been working towards realizing the promises of 1-to-1 marketing before 1-to-1 marketing was cool. He has delivered both data-fuelled creative for P&G, BMW, Campbell’s Arnott’s, Pernod Ricard & Virgin Australia and data-driven solutions for Samsung, Tourism Australia & Woolworths. Maurice has snatched a few awards including 2013 Mashies Finalist, 2014 Effie Finalist - Dawn Saves Wildlife, 2014 Silver Addy, NY Dawn: The Big Picture. He has been a guest speaker at various conferences and a guest lecturer at IPA Ad School, Sydney.

The Connected Marketing Agency is committed to helping brands better connect with people through Truth. Connection. Wonder. With diverse expertise in data, strategy, creative, media, and tech, we work across capabilities and continents to make better connections and achieve ambitious outcomes through ideas that excite, provoke and inspire. Curious and fully transparent, we are always examining real human behaviour to create authentic connections between brands and consumers, clients and partners, and ideas and outcomes. We have 3,500 employees across 22 countries and 34 offices, with an extended network via Publicis Media of over 23,500 employees present in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Katlynn began working at Simpleview in 2013 and serves as one of the company’s CRM Training Managers. Her responsibilities include demoing and training customers on new database functionality, conducting webinar sessions for clients and creating training materials. Katlynn received a Training Certificate from ATD Education, is a Certified Simpleview Master and recently completed courses in Adult Learning

Formerly a Simpleview Account Manager, Katlynn is quite used to and thoroughly enjoys travel. She likes discovering first-hand “the destinations our clients are so passionate about." When she’s not training or in the office, she revels in outdoor adventures, from camping and hiking to archery, soccer, and dirt-biking.

With over 20-years of senior executive experience inside some of Australia’s most prominent companies, (including the Qantas Group, Tourism Australia, BHP and Medibank Private), Simon is a leader in corporate, regulatory, government and public affairs. He has headed Corporate Communication functions inside two ASX listed companies and led Corporate Affairs Departments for companies across a diversity of sectors including resources, private health, aviation and tourism.

Simon has made a particular impact in his roles within Australia’s visitor economy. A former senior manager at a regional airline, he was executive Head of Corporate Relations and a member of the start up executive for Jetstar Airways for 7 ½ years during its formative development from 2004 and subsequent rapid growth as a major domestic and international airline group.

He became an Executive GM for Corporate Affairs and Strategy at Tourism Australia during 2011 overseeing TA’s China Strategy and the successful implementation of Tourism 2020 during his almost two-years in this role.

After senior executive positions held at Orica Limited and BHP, as Vice President of Group Communications, he became CEO of a national agricultural export body for two years to the end of 2018.

Today he is Strategy Director at the 50-year old national business, brand and communications advisory firm, Royce.

In August this year Simon was appointed as Executive Director of the Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC), enthusiastically marking his return to Australian tourism policy and advocacy.

He continues to retain his tenure at Royce as a Director.

He has tertiary qualifications in Asian Studies and Communications and lives in Melbourne with his wife and three children.

Michelle Crowley oversees regional brand development, content outreach and innovation as PCMA’s first Chief Growth & Innovation Officer. She is responsible for regional and revenue development in the Americas, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. In addition, Crowley is responsible for education and product development.

She leads PCMA’s global growth strategy by evaluating and identifying how the organization can deliver value to its members through new and existing business models, education programs and new products.

Crowley began her career at PCMA and continues to work with global travel brands, build strategic relationships and partnerships with key markets, and design year-round engagement campaigns. She has held various positions at PCMA including Vice President for Global Growth and Business Transformation.

Crowley is 2019 MBA graduate of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She received her bachelor’s degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Nikkita is well accomplished in association healthcare and social welfare conferences and successfully managed the complex program for the 18th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas in 2016. As Senior Conference Operations Manager, Nikkita evokes creativity amongst our staff to advocate positive client experiences whilst supporting development of staff career paths. Since joining Arinex in 2009, Nikkita has developed expertise to better connect software programmers and infrastructure managers with conference operations. This unique skill combination continues to engineer new innovations in event management solutions for our clients.

Experienced Account Manager with a demonstrated history of working as an IT technology business partner, in software as a service, information services, education, events and media industry. Skilled in Sales, Project Management, Presentation Skills, Management, Account Management, and Business Negotiation. Strong Government experience, and communications/negotiations professional who holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education P-12.

Harris Meitanis is an experienced entertainment and events industry professional based in Sydney, Australia. Harris graduated with Honours in Law from the prestigious University of Hertfordshire (UK) in 1995 and The University of Technology Sydney in 1999 before being admitted as a legal practitioner in 2000. After an initial stint working within the UK Music Industry, he came back to Australia in 2002 and set up the entertainment division of Consolidated Lawyers. From 2004 onwards, he moved onto launching his own recording studio, record label, publishing company, talent agency and event company whilst continuing to consult for some of Australia’s most loved celebrities. With an entrepreneurial drive and game-changing vision, Harris founded the successful agency Apples & Pears Entertainment in 1999 to provide high-end entertainment to the private and corporate sector.

In 2010, Harris then founded A.P.E Events which has since opened offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore & Hong Kong. His invaluable experience in events and especially in celebrity talent procurement led to the initial conception and development of A.C.T.A (Associated Celebrity Talent App) – which gave birth to a suite of platforms/apps and technological breakthroughs set to disrupt the global event and entertainment industries that together form ‘The Event Ecosystem.’

Mark Anderson has a diverse and very important role at the Melbourne Cricket Club.

As club manager, he is responsible for overseeing a membership database of 130,000 members and 225,000 waiting list candidates and the successful operation of the MCC Members Reserve at the MCG on event days, ensuring that all members and their guests have a satisfying experience. It is a position he has held for the past 20 years, part of a 30-year stint in the club’s administration.

Mark also manages a team responsible for the staging of more than 50 club functions each year, and is more than a dab hand as master of ceremonies. He manages member rules, regulations disciplinary matters and the administration of the MCC’s cricket teams, as well as overseeing the club’s 13 sporting sections and six special interest groups.

He also regularly performs the role of Venue Manager on MCG match days, working closely with the event, security and police teams in overseeing the smooth and safe operation the ground.

An MCC member for more than 28 years, Mark was a long-time MCC cricketer at various grades of the Premier Cricket competition, including more than 300 games and several premierships as captain. He is a passionate Melbourne FC supporter, still yearning to see a Demons flag at the home of football.

Tanya is the Director, Membership & Engagement and a dedicated advocate for the biotechnology community since joining AusBiotech over a decade ago. Tanya works closely with AusBiotech’s 3,000 members to support industry development and connections across the life science sector.
Prior to joining AusBiotech, Tanya has worked in corporate roles for large multinational organisations in the hospitality and automotive industry and a large orthodontic practice as a nurse.
Tanya has an undergraduate degree in social sciences, double major in social sciences and marketing with a minor media. Tanya is currently completing her master in marketing.

As the General Manager, Events for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) I am responsible for a breadth of significant College events providing educational and networking opportunities for Emergency Physicians across Australia and New Zealand.

My Bachelor of Business and International Tourism degree from James Cook University provided me with the knowledge and foundation to work both locally and internationally developing my skills across a range of fields, including tourism, education and most recently with ACEM, a specialist medical college.
My 10 years experience in the industry has provided me with many opportunities to develop. I continue to educate myself through professional development to challenge myself and to give me the tools to inspire and mentor others.

Working closely with the ACEM Board, the President, senior Directors and fellows, myself and the ACEM events team coordinate, manage and deliver events ranging in size and scope from yearly Scientific Meetings attended by more than 1000 delegates to state based workshops and events.

Away from the office I have a strong passion for travel, fitness and adventure. I try to maintain a healthy work-life balance to enable me to give 100% to the pursuits I engage in whether it be work or home life.

Adam Sacks is the founder and President of Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics company dedicated to quantitatively-based consulting to the travel sector. Over the past twenty-two years, Adam has worked with hundreds of destinations, industry associations, and companies around the world in the areas of opportunity and risk assessments, policy analysis, and economic impact.

Adam’s work has provided the foundation for billions of dollars in capital investment decisions by hotel companies, developers, and investors. Destination marketing organisations around the world rely on Tourism Economics data and scenario models to inform global marketing investment allocations.

Adam also supports trade associations in the aviation, hotel, and broader travel arena with forecasts widely considered to be an industry standard. And by examining the economic merits of travel facilitation, taxation, and tourism promotion initiatives, Adam’s work has influenced local, regional, and national government policies.

He is an authority on measuring the economic impact of visitor activity and has analyzed the impacts of cruising, gaming, timeshare, hotels, new attractions and destination marketing.

Adam regularly presents to corporate strategic planning teams on the threats and opportunities facing their businesses and is a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Travel & Tourism Advisory Board.

Deanna Varga is a business events professional with 25 years’ experience in revenue generation and strategy for destination marketing organisations (Tourism Australia), convention bureaux (BE Sydney), global hotels (Accor) and cultural attractions including Australian, National Maritime Museum, The Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney Living Museums and Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences).

She is the founder of Mayvin Global, a boutique consultancy that specialises in commercial and revenue generation solutions for business events within the not for profit and government sectors. In addition, Deanna and her agency has expertise in tourism, the arts and working with Small to Medium Enterprise.

In 2019, Deanna was awarded one of only 10 Global Scholarships to attend the PCMA Convening Leaders Conference in Pittsburgh.

Deanna is highly skilled in developing commercial solutions for her clients, some of which have included, the Association of Australian Convention Bureaux, Northern Territory Convention Bureau and Business Events Sarawak. Other clients have included arts sector conferences - Communicating the Museum and Culture Business.

Deanna is an active board member of Transport Heritage NSW, and an Editorial Advisory Board Member of Biz Events Asia and previously on the board of Business Events Sydney and Dress for Success Sydney.

Deanna has an MBA from MGSM and a Bachelor of Arts (Tourism Management) from UTS. In 2018, she was appointed to the teaching panel of the International College of Management, Sydney where she currently lectures on business events.

Carmel is an Associate Professor at the UTS Business School located just down the road from ICC Sydney. She is a Research Associate of the Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM) and the director of event management programs at the University of Technology Sydney. Carmel’s research projects have included triple bottom line event evaluation for the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, evaluation of the Parkes Elvis Festival for Parkes Shire Council, the series of Beyond Tourism Benefits studies for Business Events Sydney, economic and social value of live music venues for Sydney Entertainment Centre, expenditure studies for Business Events Sydney, and conference legacy projects for Seoul Convention Bureau, Tourism Toronto and Durban KwaZulu-Natal. Currently she is working with Associate Professor Deborah Edwards and an international panel of esteemed academics on the JMIC Case Study project.

Deborah joined the UTS Business School in 2006. Prior to pursuing an academic career Deborah worked extensively in the hospitality and hotel sectors in Australia and overseas. Deborah has been the principle investigator for a number of large industry studies in the areas of business events impacts, tourists' spatial movements, sustainable tourism management, and urban precinct management and development. Her partners have included inter alia, Business Events Sydney, ICC Sydney, Destination New South Wales, and the City of Melbourne. Her extensive industry experience underpins her philosophy as a researcher and drives her to deliver academic research that is co-produced with and communicated to, industry and relevant partners in a meaningful way. Deborah views industry liaison as integral to delivering applied research that assists industry to meet desired objectives.

Catherine Basterfield is the Chief Executive Officer of the Phillip Island Nature Parks. Catherine commenced her career with the Nature Parks in 2009 as Financial Controller, going on to become the Operations Manager before being appointed CEO in 2017.
During this time she has developed a comprehensive understanding of the organisation and has played a significant role in its many achievements.
Catherine grew up in the Bass Coast region and has a strong personal connection to Phillip Island and a passion for the natural environment.
Prior to joining the Nature Parks, Catherine held roles at KPMG Australia in the auditing field, where she gained her qualification as a Chartered Accountant and at Bupa in the United Kingdom in the financial management field.

With successful business entrepreneurship and 25 years of hospitality experience in his career portfolio as a luxury-tier hospitality executive, John’s philosophy, principles and practices have been garnered working for renowned hotel chains such as The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott International, in Asia Pacific, The Caribbean and the United States of America.

Passionate about his craft and his team, this enthusiastic and results-oriented leader has taken quality service to world-class where he recently led The Darling Hotel & Spa in Sydney, honoured to be the first Sydney hotel to be awarded a prestigious Forbes Five-Star rating in the global luxury travel sector for outstanding, iconic and virtually flawless service and facilities.

Professional in developing strategic overarching hospitality roadmap for Tourism, Customer experience and integration of Hotel Chadstone at Chadstone - The Fashion Capital for Vicinity Centres, commercial towers and retail shopping experiences.

Lara has worked at Melbourne & Olympic Parks (M&OP) leading the Premier Events & Experiences department for 5 years. M&OP, home to the Australian Open is Melbourne’s home of sports and entertainment. Comprising Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne Arena, AAMI Park and Centrepiece at Melbourne Park which is currently under construction. Hosting over 800 event days a year and welcoming more than 2.5million guests through the gates, M&OP has undergone significant transformations over the past 10 years. Currently in Stage 3 of the Melbourne Park Redevelopment, Centrepiece at Melbourne Park is set to enhance the Melbourne Business Events Landscape.

Lara has led the design concepts and is currently developing and leading the Sales, Brand and Marketing strategy for the events centre. Over the past 2 years, Lara has been an integral part of the design development and now construction of Centrepiece at Melbourne Park, ensuring that the venue that is delivered is ahead of the trends. Engaging key customers and stakeholders along the journey, Lara has incorporated a customer first strategy into Centrepiece which will guarantee that the venue has longevity and leaves lasting impressions on customers and guests alike.

In addition to Centrepiece, Lara is leading the redesign and development of the corporate experience at Rod Laver Arena. This includes the design and construction of Superboxes, Corporate suites and other enhancements for our VIP guests, ensuring that the end product predicts the future of the client experience and customer expectations in this ever evolving landscape.

Prior to M&OP, Lara has worked across Hotels, Venues, restaurant and Bars in almost every state in Australia – spanning across sales, operations and people management.

Rod has worked with administrative, survey and big data for over 30 years and with tourism data for over 20 years. He currently manages Tourism Research Australia’s datasets, including the International and National Visitor Surveys.

He has been involved in a large number of projects involving global distribution, mobile phone, social media and transaction data. He recently undertook a project with the CSIRO’s Data61 looking at the usefulness of complementary data sources for use in tourism, and works closely with other government agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the broader research community as part of TRA’s continuous improvement program.

Currently the Vice Chair of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for tourism statistics, Rod is also a member of various committees and work groups with a focus on improving data and data governance.

In the past decade, Christian has helped shape the digital marketing landscape, especially within the tourism industry for data-driven marketing and economic development. Previous to his role with the Outdoria Group, he started and ran his own forward-thinking video production company in Adelaide, where he was selected for two key accelerator programs, run by both Business SA and Flinders University.

Now, Christian looks after operations and sales in Australia for the Outdoria Group which manages five international tourism brands and around 30 apps and websites. He has played a critical role within shaping the Visitor Economy Dashboards and Reports that are leading the way in tourism data today.

Shannon joined Destination Gold Coast six years ago, managing the Business Event team across all sales and marketing activities. Shannon has worked in the travel and tourism industry for over 25 years, and has held positions in sales and marketing, account management and operations with organisations such as Ansett, Flight Centre, Hertz, BreakFree and roamfree.com.

Shannon has a Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Marketing and Human Resource Management. In 2018, Shannon was awarded the AACB staff scholarship.

Lynn brings 28 year’s industry experience to the association relations portfolio. She works closely with association leaders, developing new directions and innovative association events. Lynn has far-reaching networks within the industry, fostering relationships across the many levels of academia, medical and association leadership in Australia, the Asia Pacific and Europe. Lynn is proactively engaged with the Business Development activities for MCI along with remaining involved with our key clients once the Business is won in an account Director role.

Her career has always been aligned to the Association sector commencing with 15 years at Hilton, moving into destination marketing at BESydney before taking on the role of Director at the Northern Territory Convention Bureau (NTCB) then landing in the world of PCO. Her passion for sustainability developed during her time at the NTCB where she directed the funds allocated for “give always” at the annual road show in a donation for the Purple House in Alice Springs.

MCI Globally has been the sustainable event partner for over 800 of the world’s leading events about sustainability, biodiversity and energy. With MCI’s continued expansion comes the opportunity and obligation of having a positive impact on our world. As a company with a global and local reach, we have the means to accelerate change and to promote a more sustainable and inclusive society. Through the three pillars at the core of our business, People, Planet, Profit, we are committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our goal is to encourage an active culture of care and responsibility, backed up by concrete actions.

In April, MCI Australia was awarded the MCI Global Community Engagement Award for creating the best culture of giving back to the community. “A great achievement by our local team for their passion, commitment and contribution to creating a sustainable planet, a sustainable society, and a sustainable work culture.”

Executive Chef, Peter Haycroft joined Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in October 2015.
Peter’s commitment to support Victorian producers is a passion he shares with the MCEC kitchen team, heading up 40 chefs and 120 kitchen assistants to create the venue’s award-winning dishes in-house using the best seasonal and local ingredients.
Peter drives the development of the MCEC food philosophy, culinary development, culinary training program, sustainability management and food safety management programs.
Peter’s innovative approach has led to the recognition of MCEC’s kitchen team in a number of industry awards globally.

Graz van Egmond commenced as CEO of the Banksia Foundation in 1998. Originally startong her career in the Biochemistry Laboratories of St Vincent’s Hospital. Graz soon transitioned to the tourism industry where she spend eight years within Public Relations at Tourism Australia, before moving across to the Melbourne Tourism Authority and creating the Asia Pacific Incentives Meeting Expo (AIME). Graz also spent time at Telstra where she managed a number of programs including the Telstra Small Business Awards before inaugurating the Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

Dean Chadwick is Chief Marketing Officer of Velocity Frequent Flyer, the successful loyalty program of the Virgin Australia Group.

Dean is leading the transformation to become a world class platform business within Velocity using his global knowledge of loyalty, digital, CRM and strategy gained over a 25 year period.

Prior to this role he spent many years in various general management roles across the globe for American Express gaining a deep understanding of financial services, payments, product development and delivering a transformative innovation agenda.

He describes himself as a marketing technologist dedicated to creating great customer experiences.

Beginning on the Australian Swimming Team at just 13, Nicole Livingstone will go down in history as one of Australia’s most successful female backstrokers.

With an international sporting career spanning 12 years, Nicole’s achievements include three medals from three Olympic appearances; 6 gold, 2 silver and a bronze from three Commonwealth Games and competing in six Pan Pacific Championships, winning 4 gold 2 silver and 1 bronze medals. She also broke a world record in the 200m backstroke (short course) in 1992.

Nicole placed her name in the record books with the longest winning sequence of any Australian swimmer in history at the national titles winning ten consecutive 100m backstroke titles between 1987 and 1996, a record still unbroken today.

Upon retiring from swimming, Nicole began a long career in media in a variety of roles
– from sports commentary at events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games to hosting big name shows - ‘Wide World of Sports’, ‘Any Given Sunday’ and ‘The Project’.

A great ambassador for Australian sport, Nicole has received many awards during her career outside of the pool. These include the Medal of the Order of Australia, the Australian Sports Medal and she is also a member of the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll.

In 2016, Nicole was historically voted into ‘The Carbine Club’ as one of two first ever females to be admitted and was announced by the Victorian Government as Chair of the Victorian Institute of Sport.

In 2017 Nicole was one of the first two women to be welcomed into The Carbine Club, breaking the club's 55 year old tradition of being men only.

Nicole juggles many commitments, as a mother of three, an expert sports commentator and host, as a board member of Swimming Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee and Deputy Chair of VicHealth and as CEO of AFL's Women's Football.

Nicole along with her sister Karen Livingstone founded Ovarian Cancer Australia, after their mother passed away from the disease.

She is now the Patron of the organisation.