Thirty-two winners were announced at Le Montage in Sydney last night in what the co-chairs of the judging panel said was a closely contested year for the Australian Event Awards.
The winners were selected from 85 national nominees – both events and companies – some of which were nominated in multiple categories.
AIME won Best Exhibition or Trade Show for the third straight year, while a conference claimed Australian Event of the Year, with the AIATSIS Summit winning Best Congress or Conference for 500 delegates or over and going on to be named the pinnacle of the public event winners in the best event categories.
AIME’s show director, Silke Calder said she was “truly thrilled” with the trade show’s win.
“We are especially delighted to receive this fantastic award for the third year in a row.
“Recognition from the Australian Event Awards & Symposium, which fosters continued excellence, innovation and unity across the industry, is a huge honour.”
The other business events which triumphed on the night were the AWS Summit Sydney, organised by Imagination, which won Best Brand Event, Blackbird’s startup festival, Sunrise Australia 2024, which won Navarra Best Corporate Event, with The Tides Creative Production contributing, and the Volvo Car Australia Retailer Business Conference and Awards of Excellence 2024, organised by EWM which won Best Congress or Conference with fewer than 500 delegates.
Meanwhile, Sydney-based Laissez-faire Catering won Caterer of the Year, Nectar Creative Communications won PCO of the Year, while Alive Events Agency won Corporate Event Management Company of the Year.
Across the fully spectrum of the industry, it was Canberra event management and placemaking company, Dionysus, which has just five staff, that took home the most awards of the night.
Lunar New Year Canberra 2024, which Dionysus organised, triumphed in Best Small Event, before the company won Small Event Management Company of the Year followed by Event Management Company of the Year, beating the winners of the other three event management categories.
Other big winners of the night were Alice Springs event, Parrtjima – A festival in Light, which won both Best Regional Event and Best Tourism Event, Artists in Motion, which won Best Achievement in Design for their work on Dream Circus at Luna Park Sydney and Best Export for their international work and TDC, which won Production Company of the Year and the headline category of Supplier of the Year.
With many major events and high-profile companies amongst the nominees, the two co-chairs of the judging panel, Brenda LaPorte and Peter Rix, said it was a difficult year to judge.
“This year was particularly tough to judge,” said LaPorte.
“We had several categories that really and truly came down to the wire and took us some time to agree on who would win.
“So, when we say it’s an achievement just to make it to national nominee status, we really mean it. And even if you didn’t leave with a trophy tonight, you may have been incredibly close. All nominees should be very proud of their work.
“It’s great to see winners coming from right across the country – from coast to coast and central Australia too.”
Rix echoed LaPorte’s sentiments and congratulated all of the winners.
“Competition was tough, the work entered was pretty incredible across all the nominees and you should be proud to be going home with a trophy.”
“The spectrum of winners tonight across public events and business events and all the amazing suppliers who help organisers bring their visions to life is such a testament to the skill and creativity that exists within our industry here in Australia.”
LaPorte was also the recipient of a surprise Lifetime Achievement Award last night, for her contribution to major and sporting events.
As previously announced, the founder of PCO Arinex, Roslyn McLeod, also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to the business events industry.
See the full list of winners for 2024 here.
