The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia’s (EEAA) Young Stars Program celebrated five years of mentoring leaders of the global exhibition and event industry at Luna Park yesterday.
In 2012, Luna Park hosted a special Young Stars and Leaders Table with guest leaders from The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) – CEO Kai Hattendorf and regional manager for Asia/Pacific Mark Cochrane.
The EEAA community of young leaders gathered to learn about global trends, opportunities and issues and their impact on the Australasian business event industry, and discuss their particular challenges and perspectives.
EEAA chief executive Joyce DiMascio said it was a privilege to provide an opportunity for the next generation of leaders in the industry to engage with these esteemed leaders on the milestone fifth birthday of the programme. “The EEAA and UFI share a commitment to developing our future exhibition and event industry leaders and promoting the diverse and exciting career opportunities in our sector. We thank Kai Hattendorf and Mark Cochrane for contributing their time and expertise to the EEAA Young Stars Program during their time here in Sydney.
“Giving access to leaders is at the heart of our mentoring work through this important EEAA initiative. How fitting to have these two global leaders as our dinner guests for the fifth birthday,” DiMascio added.
“We are very committed to promoting careers in our sector and showing the range of career paths that can be pursued. Tonight, we have given our younger Members a very special experience in meeting with Kai Hattendorf and Mark Cochrane, two outstanding leaders with extraordinary careers.”
UFI CEO Kai Hattendorf reinforced the importance of programs such as this to helping to build a sustainable future for the industry.
“We congratulate EEAA for helping to develop the careers of young people in our sector. Initiatives like the Young Stars program are key to ensuring we identify, nurture and retain talent that will drive the future of our industry, and we at UFI are always happy to support these.” Hattendorf said.
The EEAA also thanked Luna Park for generously supporting the event. “Returning to this venue to celebrate five successful years of the program is both a bonus to the night’s festivities and an important opportunity to showcase yet another great business event location in this city to our international guests,” she said.
Hattendorf and Cochrane are visiting Sydney to connect with the Australasian business community. Over their three-day programme, they will meet with industry and Government leaders, visit some of Sydney’s key venues and hear about their development plans.
They will also meet with EEAA Members and the wider business event community via EEAA-led events, including tonight’s Young Stars and Leaders Table, and tomorrow’s Political Insiders lunch and ‘State of the Industry’ address.
