The panel of leaders will comprise Tourism Australia’s head of Business Events Australia, Robin Mack, Tourism New Zealand’s global manager for business events, Penelope Ryan, and Anthony Ryan, CEO of Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA).
ABC personality Adam Spencer will moderate the conversation as the trio explore their agencies’ roles in working with industry to bring international events to Australia and New Zealand and to expand domestic events into the broader geographic region.
“As Australian events increasingly look offshore, PCOs are being courted by destinations worldwide,” said PCOA councillor, Karen Sainsbury.
“Gaining insights from organisations closer to home, about the benefits of retaining events in Australia and New Zealand will be highly valuable information to share with my clients.”
The panel will run as a concurrent session during the PCOA Conference, on Monday December 2 at The Star Brisbane, part of the new Queen’s Wharf development.
“PCOA is thrilled to collaborate with these senior leaders, many of whom are our valued partners, fostering mutual learning and growth,” said PCOA president, Barry Neame.
“During the 2024 conference, following the panel discussion, we will further explore these topics at our Solutions Summit, engaging with other bureaus and government bodies present in the room to discuss how we can continue strengthening the local events landscape.”
The PCOA conference will cover a wide variety of other topics aimed at all career levels of professional conference organisers, from early career to business owners. Topics on the program include marketing, cyber security, event risk, event bidding, workforce, diversity and AV.
