Time

Subject

Room

8:30 am - Open all day

Registration Open

Goldfields Foyer

8:30 am

Tea and coffee on arrival

ABEA Village

09:00 -

10:00

Andrew Crook

Jono Whyman

Ruby Lucas

Adam Mortimer

For Emerging Leaders, brought to you by the Emerging Leaders Council

Global Experience Makers: A Career Fireside with SXSW Sydney & WXO

Step inside the world of global experience design in this exclusive fireside session featuring leaders from SXSW Sydney and the World Experience Organization. Designed especially for Emerging Leaders, this conversation explores what goes into creating world-class events and the diverse career pathways that support them.

You’ll hear from Jono (Co-Managing Director, SXSW Sydney), Ruby (Project Management Lead, SXSW Sydney) and Adam (Head of Experience Design, Designteam; Global Council, WXO) as they unpack the systems, strategies and creative thinking behind major festivals and brand experiences. Together, they’ll share candid insights on career growth, pivotal learning moments, mentorship, and the skills the next generation needs to thrive in an evolving experience economy.

Blending behind-the-scenes perspectives with practical professional development advice, this session is designed to inspire, challenge and equip emerging professionals to build long, fulfilling careers in events, creativity and experience design.

ABEA Village

In the Plenary Room

10:00

Djirri Djirri

The only Wurundjeri female dance group, who share their culture through song, dance, and language to welcome guests to Country.

Goldfields Theatre

SPONSORED BY MCEC

10:00 - 10:40

Tracey Spicer AM

Opening and Welcome

Goldfields Theatre

SPONSORED BY ODE MANAGEMENT

10:40 - 11:40

Holly Ransom

Holly advises Fortune 500 companies, governments, elite sporting teams and trailblazing brands. She also co-founded Energy Disruptors Conference, named Canada’s number 1 conference, 2 years running.

Goldfields Theatre

11:40 - 12:10

Morning Tea

ABEA Village

Special Focus Sessions SPONSORED BY

12:10 -

1:10

CEO Session (Invite Only)

Join two of Australia’s most influential voices in leadership, Tracey Spicer and Holly Ransom. ABEA Chair, Peter King, will guide a fireside chat on the topic of AI, exploring insights on the future of work, leadership, and other areas of change created by this huge technological innovation. This will be a candid conversation, under Chatham House rules, which will also explore the challenges and opportunities AI is creating for Australia’s business events executives.

12:10 -

1:10

Jess Zickar

Lorelle Chittick

Dianne Leedham

Scott Walker

Melinda Watt

Stronger together: Building a Sustainable and Competitive Events Ecosystem

Discover how collaboration can transform sustainability into a competitive advantage. This panel unites industry leaders to share strategies for building a stronger, greener business events future.

Eureka Room 1

12:10 -

1:10

Daniel Tjan

Ryf Quail

The Next Era of Intelligent Event Planning

Discover how AI is transforming event planning from automation to true collaboration. See Coplanner in action as it redefines creativity, efficiency, and decision-making in the next era of intelligent events.

Courtyard Room

12:10 -

1:10

Stephanie Martin

Michael Heyward

Yona Heyward

Learn how your venue stacks up!

A hands-on benchmarking workshop revealing where you lead, where you lag, and how to grow smarter.

Eureka Room 2

12:10 -

1:10

Jakki Govan

Nicole Tingey

Sales today looks nothing like it used to

A fun, interactive session, shifting buyer behaviour and new generational values are changing the way we sell — and how to turn everyday conversations into opportunity.

Goldfields Theatre

12:10 -

1:10

Adam Mortimer 

Chaos to Connection: Designing Experiences for Success

Explore how to turn creative chaos into purposeful design in this dynamic session on the new era of experiences. With global insights, practical frameworks, and an award-winning case study, discover what’s changed, what endures, and how to craft moments that truly connect and last.

Eureka Room 3

1:10 -

2:00

Lunch

ABEA Village

Industry Pillar Stream

These focused sessions bring together peers from across the business events industry to discuss shared issues, challenges and opportunities, exchange learnings, and strengthen collaboration.

2:00 -

3:00

Matt Pearce

Organisers - An informal, solutions-driven forum where organisers can bring ideas and raise industry challenges. Connect with peers to unpack common issues, share practical strategies, and explore new ways to deliver smarter, more impactful business events.

Eureka Room 1

2:00 -

3:00

Brooke Campbell

Rebecca McCaig

Bureaux - A collaborative and conversational session for destination and convention bureaux to share insights, knowledge, and exchange ideas. The session will focus on networking and growing our counterpart connections.

Bring your experience, openness and ideas to the table to share and learn amongst peers and colleagues.

Courtyard Room

2:00 -

3:00

Damien Gaffney

Bea Tomlin

Suppliers & WHS/Risk - The events industry runs on tight turnarounds, high-risk environments, and teams who make the impossible happen. But too often, suppliers and venues are caught between client demands, operational pressures, and inconsistent safety expectations, and venues themselves are under pressure to set conditions that organisers must meet as well as regulatory requirements, which then cascades straight down to the people delivering the work.

This session brings suppliers, venues and organisers together to talk openly about what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to change. We’ll unpack the real-world pressure points: unclear comms, unrealistic timelines, inconsistent documentation, last-minute changes, and the push–pull between “get it done” and “do it safely.”

Together, we’ll share practical strategies that can lift safety, clarity, and efficiency across the entire industry, not just on paper, but on the ground where it matters.

If you’ve ever thought, “There has to be a better way to work together,” this is your chance to help shape it.

Eureka Room 2

2:00 -

3:00

Lauren Milsop

Venues - A candid, collaborative discussion for venue professionals to share insights, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of event spaces. Together, we’ll explore smarter operations, sustainability practices, client collaboration, and ways to enhance the overall delegate experience. This session will also focus on identifying shared challenges facing all venues — such as managing diverse dietary requirements, balancing client expectations, and navigating pricing variations — with the goal of finding areas where alignment could lead to meaningful industry standards and collective progress.

Goldfields Theatre

3:00 -

3:30

Afternoon Tea

ABEA Village

Plenary Session

3:30 -

5:00

Nigel Collin

The Elephant Room: Partnering with Impact

Bringing every tribe of the business events ecosystem, venues, suppliers, producers, and bureaus, into one room, The Elephant Room turns shared challenges into real solutions. This interactive session unpacks the friction points across the sector and explores how genuine partnerships, grounded in trust and empathy, can move us beyond “talking collaboration” to living it.

Through fast-paced cross-tribe discussions, participants will step into each other’s shoes to tackle real-world challenges, uncover new insights, and co-create actions that strengthen our collective impact.

Goldfields Theatre

5:00 -

5:10

Melissa Brown

Recap and Prepare delegates to launch into sessions on Day 2.

Goldfields Theatre

5:10

End of the Day

6:30

Australian Business Events Awards

An evening of recognition and celebration, honouring outstanding achievements within the business events industry.

The gala dinner MC is Faustina 'Fuzzy' Agolley, who will not only manage the formal proceedings for the evening, she will also be our entertainment following the dinner as a talented DJ.

Sovereign Room

SPONSORED BY SAXTON