PCO ASSOCIATION
PCO ASSOCIATION
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Looking to the future
The Professional Conference Organisers Association challenged the events industry to embrace the changing nature of events and conferences at their 10 th annual conference held at the end of 2017 at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre .
PCO Association president Barry Neame said Jan Tonkin ’ s presentation Global Industry Update was one of the conference highlights .
“ As the meetings world continues to change at pace , PCOs are inundated with new ideas on meeting design , learning styles , the latest tech tools and predictions of the ‘ next big thing ’,” Neame said .
“ Jan ’ s presentation focused on how we can keep up with current shifts , and how to decide where we should invest our time and energy . Only by getting this right can we deliver true value for our clients – and keep our own businesses relevant for the future .”
Program director Peta Moore said the already overwhelming positive delegate feedback from the 440 attendees would contribute to developing a platform for the 2018 conference program .
Another highlight was South Australian event company All Occasions Group being given the President ’ s Award . Managing director Anne- Marie Quinn accepted the award on behalf of the company which was rewarded for its efforts in managing South Australia ’ s largest ever business event , the 68th International Astronautical Congress ( IAC ).
“ It was an honour and a privilege to receive this award and to be acknowledged by our peers for our contribution to the meetings industry ,” Quinn said . “ As we all know , there are many times when event management is a thankless task , so to receive this President ’ s Award from Barry was both surprising and delightful . It just goes to show that the PCOA is very professional and supportive of the great work and contribution of its members to the business events and meetings industry .
“ At 4472 delegates , IAC was not only the largest congress to be held in Adelaide but also one of the largest ever in IAC ’ s history . IAC stretched all of us personally
30 Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 6 , 2017 www . cimmagazine . com