The Association of Australian Convention Bureaux (AACB) has awarded the 2011 IMEX-AACB Vin Barron Award for Australian Bureaux staff to Melissa Reilly, an account executive with the Convention Bureau.
This award, co-sponsored by IMEX and Qantas, is designed to foster career development and encourage excellence in the future leaders environment of Australia’s convention bureaux. The prize was renamed in 2008 in honour of Vin Barron, ex-CEO of Tasmania’s Convention Bureau.
As the AACB winner, Melissa Reilly has been treated to return air travel to Frankfurt with Qantas Airways, luxury accommodation in Frankfurt, a generous cash allowance for expenses and free attendance at IMEX 2011. She will also be presenting her thoughts on her winning paper “Resiliency – Why is it important for the Business Events Industry, and what skills does ‘Gen Y’ need to deal with it?” at the IMEX-MPI Future Leaders Forum.
Officially announced at the IMEX Gala Dinner and awarded by IMEX Chairman, Ray Bloom, Melissa shared her enthusiasm on the win: “I’m so excited to be at IMEX. It is a fabulous opportunity to witness the global business events industry in action and having the chance to meet with and listen to such a dynamic group of field experts is something I never dreamed I would have the opportunity to do so early in my career.”
“Melissa was a clear winner in a strong field contending the 2011 prize,” said AACB’s Executive Director, Mike Cannon. “Our judges were particularly impressed with her energy and excellent grasp of marketing and communications and in particular, her lateral views and demonstration of future leadership capabilities.”
