As our 20th MEA Conference will be a very vibrant memory as you read this issue, we look forward to reporting on all our news from the conference in the next issue. This leaves me to say an enormous thank you to one and all for all the efforts, support, hospitality and friendships that have gone into this milestone conference.
To our sponsors, we could not have done it without you. To our committees, Tasmania and Australia wide, you made it all happen. I salute you all. It has been a wonderful experience chairing our industry conference.
Hotel Grand Chancellor
Staging Connections
Li’tya Spa Products
Ovations International
mice.net magazine
Celebrity Speakers
Expohire Exhibitions & Events
Federal Group Tasmania
Rosehill Gardens Event Centre
Tasmanian Convention Bureau SILVER
Andrew Taylor Management
Balloon Magic
Michael Bullock Productions
Drysdale Institute Tasmania
Eventpix
The Henry Jones Art Hotel
Hobart Historic Tours
Island Entertainment
ICMS Australasia
Meadowbank Estate
Mercure Hobart
Sabre Corporate Development
Scenovia
Tassielink Coaches
Virgin Blue
Wrest Point Tasmania
The Old Woolstore Apartment Hotel
Great to catch up with everyone at AIME and what a busy few days it turned out to be – tinged with sadness as we learnt of the passing on the Sunday of our dear friend and colleague Ruth Ellis. It was befitting that we had all gathered in Melbourne, Ruth’s home town and even at MECC where Ruth worked for a time as director of sales and marketing. She would have liked that.
Cleaning out some files recently I came across an article written in the late 90’s about e-mails which contained some predictions. Reading it now I had to smile and groan at the same time -
• We will become overrun by e-mail and there will be a backlash against e-mail marketing.
• People will start and end personal relationships with e-mail.
• In a PWC survey an overwhelming majority of people preferred an internet connection on a desert island over books, radio and television.
There were others of course but I thought these were the most interesting (and scary!).
E-mail has overrun our lives and I am sure is responsible for the manic pace at which we all now take for granted. There have been sightings of people reading e-mails in church, at the hairdressers, crossing a busy intersection and in the delivery room of a hospital’s obstetrics ward.
I know of one organisation that has introduced “no e-mail Friday” which means you actually have to get out of your chair and go and have a face to face chat with a colleague – just like old times! I think this is a great idea and should become commonplace – a bit like casual Friday.
Mike Williams – past President of MEA and 15 years at MCVB (a great innings in anyone’s book) – has ventured into the world of consultancy and I wish him all the best for the future and, of course, we look forward to welcoming you as our newest MEA member (the application form is in the mail).
There are a few opportunities for MEA members from around the country to get together in the next couple of months – IMEX in Frankfurt and the new look Sydney on Sale - AEE in Sydney in May. Look forward to catching up then.
Apologies for the brevity of my column this edition however I have to get back to my e-mails!
The following member has recently attained Accredited Meetings Manager status (AMM):
Joanne Mahoney Leading Edge Conferences
The following members have recently attained MEA Associate-Fellow status (AFMEA):
James Keane Video Plus Pty Ltd
Michelle Monaghan Waldron Smith Management
Fiona Parr Coastal Productions
Donald Ainsworth Promaco Conventions Pty Ltd
Emily Jerome Adelaide Expo Hire Pty Ltd
Paul McKay National Museum of Australia
Melinda Kibukamusoke National Museum of Australia
David McCarthy Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau
Cathryn Hendrickson Canberra Convention Bureau
Over the past year I have been asked by many members why MEA needs to make money and to make a profit, if in fact MEA is a “Not for Profit Organisation”?
My answer has typically been, “we are Not for Profit, but we are also Not for Loss”. In the early days of my position as CEO I believed that there may be a handful of members who did not fully realise our structure, however as time has passed, I have been asked this question more and more, and believe it timely to explain the structure.
MEA is a national, independent not for profit organisation dedicated to fostering professionalism and excellence in all aspects of meetings management. It also promotes the value and effectiveness of meetings as an important high-yield sector of business travel and tourism. MEA offers professional development programs, accreditation, and recognition, disseminates information, provides a forum for its members to discuss current issues, and represents the industry to government. Importantly, Meetings & Events Australia creates a business to business (B2B) community. MEA’s vision is excellence in meetings, conventions and business events. MEA’s mission is to benefit our members by promoting the growth of, and excellence in, the meetings, conventions and business events industry.
At MEA we clearly understand our charter, vision and mission, and are resolutely focussed on it, as it drives absolutely everything that we do. We also try very hard to measure the impact and outcomes of what we do, to ensure that we are working within these parameters.
MEA is a Not for Profit Organisation but this does not mean that we are not running a business. In fact, we run a very professional business in a highly ethical and credible manner, to provide a first-class service to our members and to protect our members’ interests in the business.
At MEA we receive no government funding, we are an industry association, and rely on member contributions, and member and non member support of our products and services to run our association. This is one of the reasons why we are forever evaluating what we do, with the view to improving our service to members, in order to maintain their membership. Clearly this would not be possible if we did not have the financial and voluntary support of our membership to do so.
In servicing our member needs, we must also evaluate and prioritise the needs and requirements of each sector of our membership. We do this through our business and strategic planning, to ensure that all sectors are included and believe they receive value for their support to the association. Therefore whilst we are “Not for Profit” we are “Not for Loss” as we need to ensure that we offer solid specialised product, be it in professional development, networking, lobbying, the conference, awards, accreditation and more, at the same time as maintaining MEA as a viable and on-going organisation. If we do make a profit in any given year, it is then sensibly considered how this profit can be reinvested back into the industry through initiatives awaiting attention on our business plan.
Currently at MEA we have only 13 paid employees Australia-wide to ensure that our charter, mission and vision are carried out. We run a very tight ship as this is not a lot of staff for the expected outcomes. Our volunteer committees are fundamental to the running of our association and we value and recognise their talents and we understand that these talents will lead to our continued organisational success. For our association to be effective, and to drive our strategic initiatives, we must utilise the skills and experience available to us at all times.
I take this opportunity to thank our volunteer committees for their commitment to MEA.
For further information about MEA’s structure and how you could be involved please call your local MEA Branch at your convenience.
The exciting and arduous task of applying for Registered Training Organisation (RTO) accreditation continues at MEA.
As we work towards the final stages of application, we continue to have many interested members contact us to obtain more information about the benefits of RTO accreditation to themselves, MEA and the industry. Any feedback, questions or concerns from members are most welcome.
To date the MEA professional development program, regardless of excellent content and quality of presenter, has not articulated into any nationally recognised qualification. As MEA believes that employers are now more discerning about how they spend their training dollar and would prefer to see their budget allocated to the building of qualifications, accreditation as a registered training organisation (RTO) would ensure that MEA remains the training provider of choice for industry personnel. MEA view RTO registration as merely an adjunct to what has been done successfully for many years.
A registered training organisation is an organisation delivering professional development that is registered with the government so that it is able to issue Australian qualification framework courses in the vocational education and training sector and to deliver and/or assess associated training.
The application for RTO status involves a stringent government audit of our physical and human resources as well as an audit of all training materials and assessment tools to be used. All MEA education and training programs will need to have undergone relevant and updated re-writes to ensure currency and validity.
As an RTO, MEA’s target market for formal training sessions would be mature aged personnel who have worked their way through the ranks, without any formal qualification, and would like to have this type of recognition for their personal and career goals.
In the first instance as an RTO, Meetings & Events Australia plan to deliver many of the units of competency (‘subjects’) contained in the Diploma of Event Management and Certificate IV in Tourism (Sales & Marketing).
MEA will not deliver any training that we do not feel fits within our expertise and intend to partner with those organisations that can bridge these gaps. MEA’s point of difference will be our ability to impart industry specific knowledge from the experts who have, and are continuing to work within the industry.
MEA will also provide RPL (recognition of prior learning) opportunities for selected units of competence within these national qualifications, to enable those personnel with relevant and substantial industry experience to gain credit for their knowledge without the necessity of training room attendance.
 Accreditation as an RTO will enable MEA members to attend highly valuable sessions, as they have always done, with upgraded content and delivery. An added benefit would be the opportunity to be assessed on their competency in this subject in order to gain a Statement of Attainment and therefore credit towards a national qualification. The member can elect to be assessed or not assessed, dependant on their personal and career objectives.
Unfortunately MEA is unable to provide this enhanced education and training experience without a small additional cost. The future cost of MEA programs should be compared to those of other RTO’s, and in doing so you will note MEA’s markedly generous pricing structure.
For further information on MEA’s training schedule, contact your nearest MEA state office, the MEA National office or visit the MEA website.
Meetings & Events Australia is preparing an exciting, stimulating and informative seminar program for the Australian Events Expo to be held at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre on May 16 and 17, 2007. The seminar program will complement the exhibition of more than 300 business event exhibitors from around Australia offering event planners information and advice on accommodation, catering, venues, entertainment, logistics and attractions. The seminars will be very reasonably priced and earn MEA Professional Development points which can be used by MEA members towards industry recognition or accreditation. For more information on MEA’s accreditation program visit www.meetingsevents.com.au/accreditation.
Some of the topics and speakers you’ll experience at AEE: Michael Moore, the Summit Restaurant’s culinary master on the do’s and don’ts of catering for your event; Leila Fiedler of Destination Marketing Services on finding the destination best suited to your event and Tao de Haas, social ecologist, psychotherapist and executive coach who specialises in people skills, communication, management and leadership and is renowned for his passionate, inspiring and entertaining teaching methods.
Qantas has announced it will operate four non-stop weekly return services between Australia and Queenstown for the New Zealand ski season.
Qantas group general manager sales and distribution, Rob Gurney, said in addition to the year-round Sydney - Queenstown service, two return services would operate from Sydney as well as one each from Melbourne and Brisbane.
“Qantas has served Queenstown since 2002 when we began ski season services from both Sydney and Brisbane,” Mr Gurney said.
“Flights from Sydney were increased to three times a week in 2005 and last year we added a direct Melbourne service. These seasonal services reflect the continued popularity of the surrounding ski fields to Australians and provide a huge boost to the Queenstown economy.”
In response to the success of RSVP Sydney last year, the team at Single Market Events has launched RSVP Melbourne 07 (May 9-10 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre).
RSVP is the premier event for corporate event and party organisers and RSVP Sydney attracts more than 4500 event organisers over two days. RSVP Melbourne has been launched in response to the feedback from Melbourne event organisers who needed their own show to network, source new products, meet suppliers and get inspiration for their forthcoming events. Many people who organise events within organisations don’t have ‘event’ in their job titles, but RSVP caters for people who organise all events large or small, whether it’s a lunch for six or a launch for 6000. MEA will have a stand at both RSVP Melbourne and RSVP Sydney. For information or to register for free tickets to the RSVP events log on to: www.rsvpevent.com.au
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