Inaugural Australian Events Expo a great success!!
The organisers of the Australian Events Expo in Sydney on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 May 2007, say that literally thousands of visitors attended the inaugural event at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, to see what was new from around the country in corporate events.
The expo was Sydney’s first truly national show for the business events sector with over 160 exhibitors representing destinations, venues, entertainers and attractions, in fact ‘anything events related’ from throughout Australia.
Compared with the show’s predecessor, Sydney on Sale, the number of visitors to AEE was greatly exceeded on the first morning and the number of exhibitors was also higher than in 2006.
Based on the initial feedback from our exhibitors, the organsiers say that exhibitors were impressed with the quality of visitor they were able to meet face to face with; including many new and potential clients they had not ever spoken with previously.
Ms Patricia Chan, General Manager – Sales for Expo Hire (Aust) said, “We were inundated with queries from visitors right from the start of the morning and even had an event booked with us before lunch time! “The show certainly hit on the right events target market…we certainly look forward to exhibiting again next year”.
Among the show’s highlights was TASTE – Live Theatre Kitchen, the Showtime 
Stage and PAMPER [Pictured left] with TASTE featuring live cooking demonstrations throughout both days advising numerous visitors on the best options for event catering and team building.
The Showtime Stage had a varied selection of entertainers performing to a full crowd at every time slot, with the attractions highly popular and the interest surrounding these attractions kept the hall buzzing throughout the two days.
Additionally, the networking event at the conclusion of day one was a sell out and the combined effort of David Grant Special Events, Staging Connections and Doltone House made for a spectacular evening.
The night was a dazzling affair with extraordinary and continuous entertainment along with sumptuous food and beverages.
A very successful seminar program was co-ordinated by MEA and offered a variety of relevant topics for anyone at any level working in the events industry.
A hosted buyer program also consisted of 40 qualified buyers from around Australia, New Zealand and Asia, including buyers from China and Hong Kong for the first time and a gala dinner was held to welcome them to Sydney along with a pre-scheduled appointment program with exhibitors.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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