26 February, 2019

Inaugural Business of Events conference exceeds expectations

Last week, The Business of Events conference, themed ‘Powering Growth’, took place at the Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, Sydney.

The inaugural event was a great success, living up to its promise of being unlike any other conference in the industry.

The conference covered key topics including international events; creating engagement; data security and business risk; and sales and marketing. Attendees walked away with invaluable insights and knowledge on the future of the events industry.

Opening the event was former White House Director of Events and conference MC, Laura Schwartz, who started by saying; “Events are about creating an atmosphere for people to share challenges and search for solutions – while they eat, drink and succeed.”

Following Laura’s opening address was the first-panel session, ‘The Business of Making an Australian Event an International Success’, where she was joined by six industry stalwarts and experts to explore the changing role of the events industry and how this impacts the future of events.

The panel also delved into the importance of building communities and looking to the future, setting the tone for the rest of the conference.

‘Industry Growth and the Big Picture’ presented by Craig James, Chief Economist, CommSec, gave attendees an overview of the global and domestic economic outlook, raising the question of how this will impact the events industry. Last year the global economy grew 3.7 per cent and this year the forecast is 3 per cent. This will likely impact company’s expenditure and may impact event sponsorship budgets, and companies wanting to hold events.

Attendees were empowered and encouraged to voice their opinions with presenters, opening the floor to conversations that are typically hard to have in the events industry, but need to happen.

Mitchell Turner, Hotel Manager, Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney, said he learnt a lot from the two days.

“The structure, thought process, and execution of this event was cleverly considered and very professional. As a hotelier I understand how events should be run and have a keen eye for detail, and the event overall appeared seamless with lots of delegate engagement throughout.

“The content and quality of the speakers was very impressive with CEOs and relevant associations of the events industry in attendance sharing their expertise. Overall the event was extremely insightful, enjoyable and a true reflection of Exhibition and Trade Fairs’ understanding of what is needed by the industry and by their clientele,” said Turner.

Gary Daly, Managing Director of conference organiser, Exhibitions and Trade Fairs, said the hard conversations need to happen.

“The events industry has changed, it’s all about growth and adapting, what we have been able to do is acknowledge these changes and actually provide some key insights into the global events landscape. The Business of Events presenters led fantastic discussions around the challenges and issues faced in the international marketplace. We’ve had great feedback and the conference was a success,” said Daly.

The Business of Events exceeded expectations and delivered the next ‘must attend’ conference in the events industry.

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