Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB), Karen Bolinger, has today announced a restructure of the former Marketing and Communications department, and the Business Development and Convention Sales department.
“In line with MCVB’s new Strategic Business Plan and commitment to improving our stakeholder engagement, the organisation’s Marketing and Communications department has been restructured and will now operate under a new title; Commercial Partnerships,” said Ms Bolinger.
“The new Commercial Partnerships department will be responsible for marketing, communications, strategic alliances, membership, the Melbourne Meetings + Events Service (MM+ES) and events, including the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo (AIME).
“It is with great pleasure I announce that Edwina San, formerly MCVB’s Director International Incentives, has accepted the position of General Manager Commercial Partnerships and will head the new department, and Jon Malpas, formerly MCVB’s Senior Manager Events and Marketing Services, will report to Ms San in the position of Associate Director Partnerships and Events.
“Rebecca Elliott, MCVB’s Communications Manager, will take over the management of marketing, in addition to communications, and will also report into Ms San.”
Ms San has been with the organisation for six years and founded the International Incentive department, and brings to her new role a wealth of experience in partnership engagement and marketing. Ms San’s experience spans over 20 years in senior management positions in the hotel, travel, wellness and FMCG industries working in Europe, USA and Asia, and prior to joining MCVB was Vice President of Sales and Marketing Asia-Pacific for a US-based hotel chain.
Mr Malpas has been with MCVB for four years and has been the force in ensuring AIME remains the premier trade show in the region for the meetings and incentives industry. Mr Malpas has more than eight years’ experience within the business events industry, including event and exhibition management and stakeholder relationships.
“In the Business Development and Convention Sales department, Julia Swanson has been promoted to General Manager Business Development and Bidding, and in line with the new Strategic Business Plan this department will now include a dedicated research team headed up by Danielle Ramirez as Associate Director Research.”
Ms Swanson has been with MCVB since 2010, and has extensive experience in business events, sales, business development, public relations, sponsorship, marketing and sales delivery in the hospitality industry.
Ms Ramirez joined MCVB in October 2007, and in her role as Research Manager, has lead major MCVB research initiatives, including the Melbourne Convention Delegate Study 2010 and Melbourne’s Green Credentials Report.
Ms Bolinger said MCVB’s new strategic direction identifies a clear vision and mission to continue to surpass its targets and ensure Melbourne and regional Victoria remain competitive in the business events industry on a global stage.
“These structural changes are in line with achieving our organisational objectives and will play a major role in contributing to MCVB’s success moving forward. I have every faith in our team here at MCVB and congratulate these staff on their new appointments.”
The changes took effect 1 July 2012.
