Big Cheese: Robyn Gardner, Queensland Manager / Senior Conference Manager, GEMS Event Management

Big Cheese: Robyn Gardner, Queensland Manager / Senior Conference Manager, GEMS Event Management

The great thing about my job is … taking an event from concept all the way through to completion. There is a huge amount of satisfaction onsite when you get to see everything coming together and the attendees all taking something out of it.

The challenge for industry is … educating clients on the value of a professional conference organiser.

My greatest achievement is … being the youngest person to complete a MEA Event Manager Accreditation.

I try to relax by … performing aerial acrobatics while hanging from giant pieces of fabric attached to the ceiling.

I don’t understand why … it always takes twice as long for the last Tim Tam to go as it did for the rest of the packet to disappear.

My favourite venue is … the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

I’ve always wanted to travel to … Cuba, it will be like travelling back in time to a different world, hopefully I’ll make it there next year.

I am scared to death of … sleeping through my alarm and missing an early morning flight.

I can’t live without … music, I think life should come with an inbuilt soundtrack.

I really wish I had … a winning lottery ticket so I could travel the world.

If I could invite four people to a dinner party, they’d be … Holly Ransom, Chuck Palahniuk, Billy Joel and my dad (he’s a massive Billy Joel fan).

For anyone starting out in the industry one piece of advice I’d give would be …. I wish that someone had explained the value of networking to me earlier in my career. My biggest piece of advice is to go to as many networking events as possible. When you walk in the door ditch anyone you’ve come with and get out and meet new people. You won’t find any value in networking events if you spend all night talking to the person you came with, and who knows someone you meet at the event might have the perfect solution for you, might be able to intorduce you to someone you haven’t been able to get access to, or they could even be your next boss.

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