Business Events Industry Aotearoa postpones 45th Annual Conference

Business Events Industry Aotearoa postpones 45th Annual Conference

Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA)’s 45th Annual Conference in Hawke’s Bay will be postponed until 2022.

BEIA chief executive Lisa Hopkins and Tourism Hawke’s Bay CEO Hamish Saxtonsaid in a joint statement that risks associated with the current COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the continued lockdowns in Auckland and Waikato, and the uncertainty around travel restrictions necessitated this difficult decision.

“It was important to both organisations that we delivered on several key objectives,” Hopkins said.

“Firstly, to provide an opportunity for our business events community to come together after what has been a torrid two years. Secondly, to enable Hawke’s Bay Tourism to showcase their wonderful region.

“And finally, it was to provide thought-provoking content, which supported our theme of ‘BEing Bold, Brave and Ready’.

“We look forward to returning to the Hawke’s Bay region in 2022. The teams are working on new dates right now and these will be announced soon.”

The conference was scheduled from 1 to 3 November. All delegates who have registered and paid for the conference will receive a full refund.

BEIA’s annual general meeting will still go ahead online, and a date for this will be confirmed shortly.

In good news for BEIA, the industry body has partnered with the Professional Conference Management Association to award PCMA Digital Events Strategist (DES) Certification scholarships to several of its New Zealand members.

The recipients are Kate Blewett (Avenues Event Management), Drew Matheson (Conferences and Events Ltd), Tara Daly (The Conference Company), Jake Eastwood (Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre), and Amy van Eerden (Auaha).

The online program includes live sessions with experts, and each graduate receives a globally recognised DES Certificate.

Nicky Tilsley, member relationship manager at BEIA, said graduates of the course become global experts at connecting people to brands, ideas and opportunities through business events in a digital world.

“This has been an exciting opportunity to gift five members with scholarships for the PCMA DES Certification,” she said.

“Each scholarship is worth US$895 ($1,219) each, and we were thrilled with the level of interest from our members. It was extremely difficult deciding on who would receive them.”


Featured image source: BEIA/Smoke Photography

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