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Melissa Brown

Chief Executive Officer, ABEA

Melissa Brown is the inaugural CEO of the Australian Business Events Association. She is a business development and marketing specialist with over 20 years of experience driving results for multinationals, not-for-profits, SMEs, and start-ups across industries and geographies, including the UK, USA, and Hong Kong. She has worked with leading organisations such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce in London, Australian Associated Press, Telstra and Talent International.

Brown holds key advisory roles, including being a member of the ACCI Tourism Committee; a Tourism SWAG Member for Service and Creative Skills Australia (SaCSA); an Advisory Panellist for Curtin University Tourism, Hospitality, Events Discipline & Tourism Research Cluster; and on the Advisory Committee for the Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel Employment and Skills Platform Project (eeger). The latter, funded by Austrade and managed by Accommodation Australia. She is also a Global Ambassador for the University of Technology, Sydney.

Melissa is passionate about aligning sales, marketing, brand, and product strategies to drive growth. Her ability to manage diverse stakeholders makes her a dynamic advocate for the business events industry.

Other speakers

Panellist

Briar Harte

Accessible design expert and VCET Accessibility Advisory Committee Member

Panellist

Rohan Astley

Chief Strategy and Governance Officer, VCET

Panellist

Arnie Bax

Business Development Manager, Travellers Aid

Speaker

Nigel Collin

Innovation and leadership advisor and speaker

Hannah Drewett

Business Development Manager, Arinex

Special Interest Group

Ruby Lucas

Project Management Lead - SXSW Sydney