By Joyce DiMascio
At the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) Awards for Excellence ceremony last night Libbie Ray and Juston Presuda, co-owners of Connected Event Group, and Helen Mantellato of the International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney were named the industry’s 2020 Unsung Heroes.
The Richard Geddes Young Achiever Award went to Alysia McAuliffe from Reed Exhibitions Australia.
Only two awards categories were presented for the year due to the impact of Covid on the industry’s ability to hold events.
The awards ceremony was preceded by the CEO Forum and Annual General Meeting and held at ICC Sydney as a hybrid event. The AGM saw the election of Libbie Ray of Connected Event Group and Elissa Duke from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) for the first time, boosting the number of women on the Board by 50 per cent. President of the EEAA, Spiro Anemogiannis, said the organisation will end the year in sound financial position. He did call on the industry to form one peak body to help strengthen the voice of the business events sector.
Stay tuned for more news from the EEAA.