Australia's EEAA Young Stars Committee to host virtual meeting exchange

The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) Young Stars Committee will be hosting a virtual meeting exchange with 100 younger members of the business events community on "the key issues and challenges facing workers aged under 30".

The session has been designed by the EEAA Young Stars Committee who have invited their peers to come together to ‘Meet, Share and Engage’ on a range of topics affecting their careers and wellbeing.

The virtual meetup will be led by the EEAA Young Stars Committee co-chairs, Kay Badakhsh and Roslyn Du Plooy, along with the committee members. Jo-Anne Kelleway (pictured), CEO of Info Salons Group, and Claudia Sagripanti, EEAA chief executive, will facilitate the session and provide advice.

Sagripanti said: “The EEAA recognised that the younger members of the industry were at very high risk of losing sight of their career pathway, their livelihood, their emotional well-being and in many cases their commitment to stay in the industry."

In July, the association launched The Young Stars Pathways Programme to provide a range of tools to assist young talent in developing skills to facilitate career progression and has been piloting a group coaching programme featuring senior managers from among the senior membership.

The first session featured Jo-Anne Kelleway and covered the skills required to operate in the ‘new normal’ business events landscape. The second was held by Rodney Cox, managing director at Delaro, and covered communication and conflict management skills.

Two more sessions are scheduled to run this year with Joyce DiMascio, strategic marketing consultant, covering the art of networking and Christine Kotsis, senior business development manager at Harry the Hirer, providing advice on how to create and manage personal branding.

The EEAA Young Stars Pathways Mentoring Programme will be formally launched in 2021 and open to all members of the Association aged under 30.

Sagripanti added: “We have been working closely with our Young Stars community since the onset of Covid-19 to ensure this sector of the business events workforce is supported and that their knowledge and skills are retained into the future.” 

The virtual event will broadcast live on 21 October. The event is free of charge to all EEAA Young Stars members and non-members. To register, click here.