New Boss for Business Events Sydney

Ms. Lyn-Lewis-Smith has been appointed as acting chief executive officer of Business Events Sydney, taking over the reins from long-term CEO, Jon Hutchison.

Ms Lewis-Smith takes on this role, in addition to her responsibilities as COO, after more than eight years at BESydney.

She is chair of the Future Convention Cities Initiative and Marketing Group for the Australian Association of Convention Bureaux. She also sits on the steering committee for the Australian Association Project and is part of The Incentive Association Committee of Management.

Two Large Business events come to Sydney

Recent Major Sydney Event Bid wins:

Sydney International Breast Cancer Congress (SIBCC)

Date: October 2012
Delegates: 1,400 delegates over 4 days
Estimated value: $3.7 million

The Westmead Breast Cancer Institute, headed by a Business Events Sydney (BESydney) Ambassador, will host this event.

This lead came as a result of discussions with a BESydney Ambassador in 2010. The discussions identified a need to create a World Cancer Forum. The aim was to create an umbrella event that would include different cancer-related conference, and engage a number of different Australasian and International Groups working in the field.

BESydney investigated conferences that could be combined or be held concurrently, and facilitated introductions that brought several potential interest groups to the table.

The SIBCC will be a multidisciplinary conference bringing together Australian health professionals and international registrants. Groups that have shown interest in the 2012 event include: BreastSurg ANZ, the Australasian Society for Breast Disease, the Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, Cancer Australia, the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia and the McGrath Foundation.

The SIBCC has also successfully attracted the 8th International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN), a conference held since 1997 and coordinated by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI). Day two of the conference will be planned with the ICSN and is to include the issues of epidemiology, screening and the world burden of breast disease. NCI is interested in Australia as a platform for engaging Asian countries.

In addition, Breast Cancer Network Australia (a consumer focus group) will be holding a concurrent consumer conference on the last two days of the congress, with one combined plenary session on Friday afternoon, 26 October.

The congress will be held during Breast Cancer Awareness Month from Tuesday 23 to Friday 26 October 2012 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

BESydney will continue to assist arinex, the PCO, to maximise exposure of the event.

24th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) 2013

Date: 2013
Delegates: 800 delegates over 3 days
Estimated value: $2.2 million

Arabidopsis is a small plant that belongs to the Brassicaceae (mustard or crucifer) family. This plant, due to its small size, rapid life cycle, small simple genome, prolific seed production and the availability of numerous mutations, has become the focus of a genome project to understand the biology of a flowering plant at the molecular level.

The client advised in 2009 that the event was scheduled for Australia in 2013, with the host city yet to be confirmed.

In early 2010, Business Events Sydney (BESydney) identified an academic based in the University of Sydney who communicated to the local committee that she is supportive of the event coming to Sydney.

BESydney met with the client in Canberra putting Sydney's case forward, detailing the destination benefits such as attracting international delegates, direct flights and a range of venue options. This information was provided to the client for deliberation at their committee meeting.

Sally Jay, the appointed PCO announced that the Conference will be held in Sydney at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.

If you are seeking accommodation for either of the two above business events, Metro Hotels offer various nearby accommodation options.

Business Events Sydney Ambassador Program Achieves the Next Milestone

Business Events Sydney (BESydney) Ambassador Program reaches another milestone, now with 52 Ambassadors onboard. Launched in September 2009 with 22 Ambassadors, the program brings together a group of prominent people from a range of fields, who are passionate about promoting Sydney to the rest of the world.

At the annual dinner event held on Tuesday at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, BESydney officially welcomed 16 new Ambassadors to the program. The BESydney Ambassador Program is endorsed and supported by the NSW Government. .

"BESydney recognises the instrumental role that our Ambassadors play in attracting business events to Sydney and New South Wales. This program is aimed at galvanising the professional expertise and networks of our Ambassadors to unearth and attract world leading business events to the State," said Mr Jon Hutchison, Chief Executive Officer of BESydney.

The annual recognition event was also attended by key government representatives and industry leaders.

In his address to the dinner audience, Dr Richard Sheldrake, Director General of Industry & Investment NSW said, "Business events play an important role to support the government's strategies to drive economic growth through alignment with NSW industry sector capabilities and expertise."

He added, "You as the Ambassadors of the business events industry in Sydney play a significant part in the growth of the business events industry, providing the crucial connections and intelligence between government, the business events industry and your respective professional networks."

Professor Alan Cooper OAM from the Royal North Shore Hospital, honoured on Tuesday night said that hosting a major specialised event "Can bring substantial benefits to your organisation, one of which is to put your work on the world stage to demonstrate the stature of your profession and in the process generate greater awareness within your industry and from government."

Professor Cooper went on to say that with the right level of support and good delegate marketing a conference can yield significant returns.

"The financial legacy from the World Congress on Dermatology held in Sydney in 1997 enabled us to set up a Foundation which continues to support dermatology research, distributing up to $300,000 a year."

The BESydney Ambassador Program extends beyond the shores of Australia to include 6 professionals from overseas - 3 from Asia, 2 from Europe and 1 from North America.

"We expect to grow our international network of Ambassadors to broaden our reach to harness greater opportunities for the State," said Mr Hutchison.

Still four months to go to the end of the financial year, BESydney has secured 49 national and international business events, expected to generate $125.3 million to the economy in the future. This is a significant 78% increase from the same time last year.

BESydney recently announced over $7 billion in infrastructure spending has been committed for Sydney in the next five years. These new developments will be the catalyst to a new level of collaboration, focused on bringing new business, new people and new ideas to the gateway of the Asia Pacific region, Sydney.

"With 52 high profile and dedicated Ambassadors working alongside us, we will be aiming to reach even greater heights. To date, we have a robust pipeline of 111 events lined up till 2017, expected to produce $427 million economic value," added Mr Hutchison.

BESydney Ambassadors are opinion leaders in their fields, recognised for their professional achievements and enthusiasm in their support for Sydney as a business events destination.

Mr Hutchison said the benefits from business events extend beyond tourism contribution of room nights and immediate expenditure.

"Business events bring influential thought leaders together to discuss and share ideas, stimulating knowledge expansion and investment opportunities. These are the perfect platforms to showcase Sydney's physical assets, support trade, drive innovation, and enhance Sydney's profile in the business, professional and scientific world."

View the profiles of BESydney Ambassadors and photos of Tuesday's dinner event.
High resolution of photos can be downloaded here.
View "A Scoping Study of Business Events - Beyond Tourism Benefits"

Get Sydney Accommodation at Metro Hotels
 
(Source: TravMedia.com 3rd March 2011)