From the CEO

With Hobart 2007 just around the corner, there is so much happening in order to provide for you a well balanced social program as well as an educational program with well planned content. To be able to hear and learn from the experiences of Bernard Salt, Andrew Wilkie, Yossi Ghinsberg and Dr Michael Hewitt-Gleeson and Professor Noel Lindsay and so many more in the space of a few days is awe inspiring.

This year as a first MEA will be web-casting a number of our conference educational programs, some to be archived for future web and pod casting and some to be available straight after the conference. Therefore if you find yourself in a position of “choice” – they are all so good who do I go to? – or find that a session is booked out, as a paying delegate you will be provided with a free download of the session on availability.

Category Forums (SIGs)
As you are aware MEA hold the Category Forums just before the commencement of the National Conference. We have much interest this year with the number swelling in many groups. In going through the registrations I noticed a number of members may have accidentally registered in the incorrect group for the sector of our industry that they work in, therefore it may be a good idea that you check that you are actually attending the forum most relevant to your current industry sector. Our Category Forum are to discuss issues that are effecting the sector, and if you do not work within a particular sector and attend the forum, you may not receive the output or provide the input required for the success.

Category Forums this year are at a number of venues that will be well advertised at the conference, and Agendas available on the day. For your information our Category Forum groups are:

• In House Meeting Planners ·
• AV and Staging
• Exhibitions
• Venues
• Convention Bureaux
• Special Events Management
• Meetings Managers

I look forward to meeting and re-acquainting myself with those of you who are attending Hobart 2007, which I have little doubt will be an outstanding success.

For those of you that cannot attend – can you believe I have just proof read the first advertisement for Alice Springs 2008, and you may like to keep that in the back of your mind! Webcasts and Podcasts of Hobart 2007 will also be available to you after the conference at a minimal cost.