4
5
Sea World and Gold Coast Business
Events entertained delegates at
the PCOA networking event with
a fun filled night jam packed with
entertainment including a children’s
choir, dolphin show, monorail DJ, side
show alley, Kombie van photo booth,
variety of stage entertainment and an
amazing array of food and beverage,
capped off with a fireworks display.
1 Students from Martin and Griffith
University gained valuable experience
as volunteers. 2 Jan Tonkin delivering
her keynote speech. 3 Barry Neame
and Anne-Marie Quinn receiving the
President's Award. 4 Gavin Walters
and Megan Peters from International
Productions. 5 (L-R) Caroline Duveau
(Sea World) Barry Neame and Anna
Case (Gold Coast Tourism).
and organisationally. We rose to the
challenge and delivered a stunning event,
the largest in AOG’s 19-year history.”
Platinum sponsor International Productions
worked closely with the PCOA and Gold
Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre
teams to make the PCOA Conference
such a great success. The Gold Coast
Conference and Exhibition Centre provided
a 27-metre ultra-wide screen that allowed
for multi-projection of dynamic content that
enhanced the overall delegate experience
across all aspects of the conference.
For a second year running the PCOA
continued to actively support the efforts of
students studying events to develop their
skills hands on.
A group of mature and very capable Martin
and Griffith University students, based in
Brisbane and the Gold Coast, embraced the
opportunity to work for three days at the
PCOA Conference.
“It was such an amazing conference,”
said Kate Huang, from Griffith University.
“I am amazed by the application of the
technology from the self-check-in system,
the conference app, to all kinds of stage
facilities. I learnt so much from the
design of the program. Every session was
connected. The first session reminded
us that we were facing a changing
environment, and the following sessions
taught the latest trends and how to keep
up. I really learnt so much.”
Huang says they were assigned all kinds
of tasks to enable them to see the whole
picture of the conference.
“We were encouraged to engage in the
conference from interacting with the
delegates, speakers, attend different
workshops and sessions where valuable
knowledge was shared with us,” she said.
“If you need any volunteers in the future,
please let me know. I would so love to
volunteer again.”
Susan Thompson, Martin program
manager – tourism and events, says the
students learnt a lot just by observing the
management team in their roles.
“It is all very well to ‘teach’ conference
organisation in the classroom, but it only
becomes a skill when theory becomes
practice, and what better place to
practice than as a volunteer at the PCOA
Conference,” she said.
“The access to speakers, sponsors,
exhibitors, PCO executives and conference
venue staff and AV technicians all adds to
the students’ knowledge base and opens
their eyes to the complexities of an event
and the value of professional relationship
building, so the networking opportunities
were also invaluable.”
www.cimmagazine.com Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 6, 2017 31