Symposium Sessions

Australian Event Symposium 2025

Date: Monday 13 – Wednesday 15 October 2025

Venue: Pacific Bay Resort, Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
Time: 8:30am – 5:00pm
Dress: Business

Sessions:

• Plenary
• Business Events
• Operations
• Marketing
• Public Events

PLENARY SESSIONS

The Synergy Between Events and Regional Tourism

Events help contribute to the growth of the local region through media exposure, attracting future visitation, providing opportunities for the local community to contribute towards the event and an opportunity for visitors to experience the best the region has to offer.
Festivals, food and wine events, exhibitions, conferences, corporate events have the potential to venture outside of capital cities but what can they do to ensure it’s beneficial for them?
The key is to build a strong relationship between the Destination and the Event and work together to ensure there is benefit for both parties. So where do you start? What do you look for?
This session will delve into the relationship from both sides and how to maximise the collaboration to benefit everyone.

Skills and Outcomes:

• How to change the perception of your city / region to make it a top-of-mind travel destination
• How to identify suitable events to bring to your region to aide in the change of perception of the region
• How to work with events to bring them to your region and meet the needs of both parties
• What destinations are looking for when bringing events to the region
• What events are looking for when choosing the destination
• How both destinations and events can work together to achieve desired outcomes
• What funding opportunities exist

Challenges: Rising Cost of Living vs the Need for Events and Entertainment for Wellbeing

The arts play a big role in people’s happiness and wellbeing but as the cost of living rises, what do events, curators, programming teams, designers and the like need to look at, to continue to encourage attendance, keep it accessible and not go backwards?

Skills and Outcomes:

• Where are we at now, and what strategies can be implemented to relieve cost pressures, remain successful and priced accessibly to the current market
• Engaging the support of local community, businesses and suppliers
• Understand the buying behaviour of your target market
• Collaboration with the industry, suppliers and government

---

BUSINESS SESSIONS

The Cohesive Bind Between Exhibitions and Conferences

Exhibitions and Conferences complement each other – the Conference providing exhibitors with a direct, interactive market of attendees and the Exhibition, a centralised location of all the latest products, technology and services flooding the marketplace.
How do you set your exhibition apart from the rest? The key is to be on top of the latest trends, know your market – what do they want to know and what do they expect to see in the exhibition?

Skills and Outcomes:

• Explore the option of revamping or adding an exhibition to your conference or event
• How to sell the idea of an exhibition to your client
• How to increase revenue from the exhibition, traffic to the exhibition and meet the needs and expectations of your stakeholders

What’s Hot and What’s Not in the World of Talent and Conference Design

In today’s rapidly evolving event landscape, staying ahead of trends is key to creating impactful and memorable conferences. This session will dive deep into what’s currently driving innovation in talent and conference design, as well as what’s beginning to lose relevance. From the rise of hybrid experiences to the growing importance of inclusivity and diversity, we’ll explore how conferences are shifting to better engage audiences and deliver value. We’ll also highlight outdated approaches that no longer resonate with modern attendees, and discuss how to refresh your event strategy to align with the latest best practices. Expect actionable insights on the latest tech, design strategies, and talent engagement models, ensuring you leave with fresh ideas to elevate your next conference.

Skills and Outcomes:

• Breakthrough talent and entertainment ideas (showcraft)
• How to turn a seemingly standard conference brief from a client into something special (case study based)
• Actionable insights on the latest tech, design strategies and talent engagement models
• Ensuring delegates leave with fresh ideas to elevate their next event

Speaker:

• David Green, DGGlobal

---

OPERATIONS SESSIONS

Crowded Places: Industry Update on Current Threat Level for Events and Responsibilities

Australia’s current National Terrorism Threat Level is “probable”. Following the December 2024 vehicle attack on the Magdeburg Christmas Market in Germany, what should we be doing to safeguard the event participants at outdoor events?

Skills and Outcomes:

• Understanding the threat level and what this means for your event
• Identifying the weak points in your event
• Steps you can take to protect your event participants

Speaker:

• Craig Sheridan APM, Sheridan Consulting Group

Red tape, conflicts of interest and contradictory Rules – Event regulation by Local Government

This post graduate research investigated the regulation by local government in the New South Wales Hunter Region of events outside formal, purpose-built physical infrastructure, whether the land or water is under private or public control or ownership. It found that LGAs have many rules, practices, regulations, definitions, community expectations and contradictions and favour events on Council-owned or controlled locations. These actions are based on beliefs that any event has community benefits and whilst adverse impacts are overlooked due to the that temporariness of the event. Local government needs a better approach to the planning for and regulation of events. The outcome should be a more democratic, consistent and transparent event regulation system rather than accepting the nuances of public servant decision-making as a foregone conclusion.

Skills and Outcomes:

• Local government needs to coordinate all the events in its jurisdiction
• Events policy needs to be transparent about how impacts are measured pre and post events
• Local government must resolve its conflict of interest as a regulator, provider, sponsor and owner/operator of venues
• There must be consistent approaches for event regulations between local government

Speaker:

• Garry O’Dell, University of Newcastle

---

MARKETING SESSIONS

The Value of Public Relations and Communications: Transparency and Accountability in Crisis Management

Even the best laid plans can come into question – the event has been perfectly planned, everything has fallen into place, but have you planned for the unforeseen, the unexpected? Crisis management is an essential piece of the event planning puzzle. From communication through various channels, to staff trained in safely and effectively managing the attendees and the site – every second in that moment is crucial to successfully navigating the crisis at hand.

Skills and Outcomes:

• Identifying the risks and potential issues
• Preparing your communication plan
• Preparing the contingency plans
• Identifying the lines of communication and action plans for event staff and volunteers
• How to put your plan into play
• Reputation protection

Speakers:

• Stephanie Cassimatis, Pink Caviar Events

---

PUBLIC EVENTS SESSIONS

The Importance of Festivals in Australia’s Culture

Festivals are one of the biggest assets to Australia’s community and culture. They provide access to the arts, provide significant social and economic benefits and support the local community.
But in this uncertain time of financial constraints, the loss of festivals is supressing the arts, the innovation from the creative minds and diversity in the offering available to the community.
So what can we do to overcome the uncertainty? How do we encourage the community to get behind the festivals and support them more than before?
Speakers:

• Harry Barry, North Coast Hotel Group

Building Unity: Australian Multicultural Events

Multicultural events can be seen as bridges between communities – enabling people to share their traditions, cuisine, stories of their homeland and an opportunity for others to ensconce themselves in a different cultural setting. These events build stronger communities, inspire creativity and innovation, and demonstrate inclusivity.
Skills and Outcomes:

• How to incorporate the celebration of different cultures into your event
• Benefits of cultural diversity in events
• How to engage with the local community for engagement and inclusion

---

Want to get Involved?

We welcome input from the industry – if there’s a topic you’d like to see on the program, or you’d like to contribute through presentation of a session, get in touch with us: [email protected]