Association Educational Program (Sydney): Innovative Profitable Events

Do you know how to design and manage events to meet the constantly changing needs of members, stakeholders, sponsors and exhibitors? 

Attendees will benefit from: 

• Developing industry networks for the future; 
• Discovering the latest industry trends and how they may influence your events; 
• Examining key strategies to build your event attendance;
• Discussing innovative event formats and how this can powerfully increase attendee engagement at your events;
• Discussing how education and technology can be leveraged to add impact to your events; 
• The opportunity to hear from industry leaders; and 
• Ensuring you are evolving to meet the changing needs of your audience 

The Presenters 

	Irina Aristova, Communications Officer, Osteopathy Australia Over the last 11 years Irina has been responsible for Public Relations and Communications in medium-sized through to large Tier-1 organisations in the field of IT&T, non-for-profit professional associations and education both in Australia and Europe. Currently she manages communications and PR at Osteopathy Australia, a peak body representing the interests of osteopaths, osteopathy as a profession and consumer's right to access osteopathic services. Osteopathy Australia represents 90% of osteopaths. Irina has a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Marketing, and certified by Chartered Institute of Public Relations in the UK. She’s passionate about communications, promotion, media relations, social media and delivering the right message to the right audience.
	Kirsty Blades, National Manager - Events, Australian Water Association  Why do I love events? Because events, when done right, can deliver extraordinary business outcomes for organisations and individuals. Starting my career in the financial services sector I managed large events and incentives in Australia and overseas. From there, I felt a pull towards the not for profit sector and got my first taste of this sector at Clean Up Australia, delivering one of the largest volunteer events in the country. This led to more work in the not for profit and Association sector and specifically agriculture, where for twelve years I was able to deliver outstanding events for farmers and to promote farmers. At the same time, I was delivering bespoke Corporate Social Responsibility events around the globe as part of large international conferences for 500+ people. Now my energies are focused on the Australian water sector and bringing my passion and precision to an national Association.
	Michelle Blicavs, Chief Executive Officer, IAP2 Australasia  Michelle has 20 years management experience, 15 years in the transport industry and 5 years in the community services sector. Passionate about seeing strong governance culture in organisations, Michelle also spent 5 years as a management consultant working with small businesses in the Illawarra before taking on her current role as CEO for The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Australasia. IAP2 promotes community engagement around the world and the Australasian Association has the largest global membership.
	Sara Gonzalez, Marketing Director, Redback Conferencing  Sara has over eight years’ experience within the online collaboration and managed events space. Her role as Marketing Manager at Redback has provided her with insights into the Australian Conferencing Landscape and how we can all connect, communicate and collaborate more effectively. Having started her career in a sales role at Arkadin Global Conferencing, Sara has consulted with a number of SME and Global organisations on how to improve engagement and decrease expenditure through the use of online meetings and events. Today, Sara is responsible for enhancing Redback’s position as Australasia’s fastest growing conferencing provider as well as managing core partnerships.
	Nicolette Hughes, Director - Conference and International Events, ASFA - The Voice of Super Nicolette Hughes has over 20 years’ experience in organising national and international events throughout Asia-Pacific, all within not for profit businesses and associations. Nicolette currently is the Director Conference and International Events for the Association of Superannuation Funds (ASFA), a national association representing superannuation funds, trustees and through them, the members of funds. Since joining ASFA in 2004, Nicolette has enjoyed various senior event roles demonstrating success in developing sponsorship, member engagement and loyalty programs, strategic partnerships. She has been Project Director on various complex event projects with teams of up to 60 staff and volunteers, as well as led teams delivering 100+ events annually. Nicolette has also over 15 years being part of leadership teams reporting directly to the CEO in a number of associations where she is strategic and influential as a leader shaping the organisation’s future.