During the AIME Leaders Forum, hosted by the Australian Business Events Association, BESydney’s CEO and the executive chair of GainingEdge received the first ever accolades from The Iceberg Excellence Awards for Advocacy of the Business & Professional Events Sector.
Founded in 2017, The Iceberg is an international platform which heroes stories which demonstrate the value of business events to the world. The Iceberg is presented by the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) and has broad support across the industry.
“Lyn has been at the vanguard of research, data and storytelling in our sector,” said founder of The Iceberg, James Latham, of BESydney’s Lewis-Smith.
“Working with her colleagues from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Lyn has built the pillars of advocacy that have advanced the narrative of the business events sector beyond its consumption economy,” he said.
Lewis-Smith spearheaded research with Carmel Foley from UTS to start quantifying the beyond tourism benefits of business events more than a decade ago. Foley’s work has spread around the world since, including a current project with ChristchurchNZ and Tourism New Zealand across the Tasman.
“No-one has devoted more to policy engagement than Gary,” said Latham of Grimmer, who previously headed up Melbourne Convention Bureau before founding GainingEdge.
“His understanding of business and professional events as drivers of governments’ social, economic and societal agendas and goals has enabled the sector to be recognised as a change agent, and not just a travel agent.”
Through GainingEdge, which consults with destinations around the world on business events, Grimmer has also worked on a variety of legacy measurement projects which have shown the broader impact of business events beyond the spend they bring to their host destinations.
“Lyn and Gary’s achievements serve as an inspiration for others in the industry to continue championing the broader benefits of business events, ensuring their lasting impact on communities and economies worldwide,” said Latham.
