Business Events Week is back in Melbourne

BUSINESS Events Week is being staged in Melbourne next week to promote the value and continued development of Australia’s business events industry.

Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) chief executive officer, Karen Bolinger said the inaugural Business Events Week took place in February 2013 and featured a week-long program of activities that illustrated the fundamental value of business events to the nation’s economy, knowledge base and tourism industry.

This year’s event will run all next week in Melbourne, with its central event being the Asia-Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo (AIME) at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Ms Bolinger also announced that Australian Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb is the official ambassador for Business Events Week 2014.

“Conferences span the entire business and knowledge sectors, providing a major platform to collaborate, innovate and educate,” Ms Bolinger said.

“The scientific community in particular is a major beneficiary of the legacies produced by conferences and who better to convey the significance of this than our Chief Scientist.

“Professor Chubb has provided a major contribution to our country and was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for service to higher education, including research and development policy and to the facilitation of a knowledge-based global economy.

“At the Melbourne Convention Bureau, we advocate that along with developing knowledge and research, business events are pivotal in terms of driving the economy and tourism sector.

“To put this into context, by 2020 the value of business events to the Australian economy will rise to $31 billion.

“In addition, business events create a positive flow on effect for small to medium businesses. In Victoria alone, between 2009 to 2013 delegate spend during MCB-secured business events is estimated at $100 million on hotels, $46 million on air travel, $23 million on sightseeing and tours, and $50 million on retail,” Ms Bolinger said.

“The significance of business events to the nation, and the jobs they provide, presents a strong argument for the ongoing investment into the industry.”

Professor Chubb said he was proud to be involved in Business Events Week.

“The long term economic benefits of business events are extremely valuable and varied; from attracting inward investment and generating knowledge economy jobs to securing research funding for academic institutions,” Prof. Chubb said.

“I am a firm believer in what business events can do to support the development of the research and knowledge sectors and am honoured to be involved in driving awareness via Business Events Week.”

AIME, from February 18-19, is now in its 22nd year of showcasing the best Australian, Asia-Pacific and international destinations, products and services to the meetings incentives, conventions and exhibitions markets..

Also confirmed to take place during the week is the annual Associations Forum CEO Symposium, where 100 to 120 senior decision makers from domestic and Asia-Pacific not-for-profit organisations will take part in business sessions, as well as a networking and social program.

Business Events Week will also see the return of Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre’s Open House – a public event showcasing innovation in the business events space. Open House will feature addresses from CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering chief, Cathy Foley; Cato Brand Partners chairman, Ken Cato; and ABC Television advertising and marketing program The Gruen Transfer’s Todd Sampson.

 

More than 60 events have been locked in for Business Events Week, with new additions to the calendar including Convergence 2014: The Promise of Precision Medicine on February 19.  

A half day event which is open to the public, Convergence 2014 brings together medical researchers, computer scientists, mathematicians, engineers and doctors to help transform healthcare. The philosophy behind Convergence is that collectively, healthcare can progress beyond standardised, one-size-fits-all medicines and medical treatments towards those that target specific types of patients.

 

The key note speaker for the event will be San Francisco’s University of California vice chancellor for research, executive vice dean of the School of Medicine and professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology, Keith Yamamoto.

 

http://www.melbournecb.com.au/

 

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