Australian attendees at the 2015 AuSAE Leadership Symposium in New Zealand not only benefited from the ‘Building Sustainable Futures’ programme; they put the thinking into practice, building bridges with their New Zealand association counterparts for future cooperation and collaboration.

Tourism New Zealand flew 11 Australian and Australasian association executives to the Symposium in Wellington in October for a busy education and networking programme – with the added incentive of a tailored familiarisation trip.

Helen Bambry, Tourism New Zealand’s Business Events Manager - Australia, says: “We went to the AuSAE database and asked who would like to experience New Zealand as a destination. We had 67 responses for 11 spots. As well as exploring first-hand what New Zealand can offer in terms of events, this opportunity allowed these association organisers to connect with like-minded or sister organisations in New Zealand and start having talks about potential joint conferences.

“Air New Zealand supported us with flights and we worked with the local convention bureaux on tailored itineraries. Six went to Auckland, four stayed in Wellington and one went to Dunedin. Aligning with the AuSAE Leadership Symposium meant it was much easier for people to justify their attendance, having that concrete educational return on their time out of the office.”

One attendee, Marilena Salvo, Senior Executive Officer for the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases Inc, was following up on ASID’s plans to conduct its Annual Scientific Meeting in Dunedin. Her tailored trip took in key hotels and venues as well as a visit to the Dunedin Public Hospital.

“The trip was very useful as it gave me the opportunity to attend a quality conference targeted at associations managers such as myself. I got a few good ideas out of it and made or renewed valuable connections,” Salvo says. “The famil after the Symposium was extremely useful. This is a turning point for our conferences in New Zealand, as the conference will be held in a new New Zealand destination (Dunedin) and will mark the 40th anniversary of the Society. The support I received from Tourism New Zealand and the Dunedin Convention Bureau allowed me to visit key venues and support the conference convenor in a way that would not have been possible, if I had not been able to visit the city in person. The trip has paved the way to a smoother conference organising and a higher profile promotion of the 2016 event.”

Dr Joanne Ramadge, CEO & Company Secretary of the Australian Diabetes Educators Association, undertook a familiarisation trip to Auckland post-Symposium. A busy programme of site visits also included time with key personnel from Auckland Convention Bureau and the Auckland Diabetes Centre to discuss her association’s plans to hold a joint event with a New Zealand partner in 2017.

“It was more than I expected and had a lot of value, not just meeting a range of people whom I feel I can connect with when planning an event in New Zealand, but also being able to assess the feasibility of organising an event in New Zealand. I had not realised it will be so easy,” she says. “I also met with colleagues in Wellington and Auckland, which reduced our email traffic considerably. You can do so much more face-to-face and we agreed on actions to follow-up to get a joint event organised.

“There is great support for holding an event in New Zealand and I am not sure many people in my position realise that. I have committed to a return trip as this visit just whetted my appetite to see more of New Zealand. It is so close and yet I have not taken the time to visit. This trip made me realise it is very easy to do and well worth it.”

Tourism New Zealand’s Bambry says the initial interest in attending showed an increasing appetite in Australian-based associations to see what collaborative opportunities were available in New Zealand. “We had a very positive response from the participants who attended this event. We will offer more educational activities in future, and would like to hear from any other associations keen to take up the opportunity.”

For further information about Tourism New Zealand please visit www.businessevents.newzealand.com