Students play key role at international conference
Students from Flinders University have been getting firsthand experience this week of managing an international conference in Adelaide’s CBD.
Sixty-five tourism event studies students are playing host to dozens of delegates from nine countries, as well as from across Australia, during the sixth biennial Global Events Congress (GEC), in association with the Australian Event Symposium.
The GEC is an internationally significant meeting for event and experience design, management and marketing academics, researchers and practitioners, and has previously been held in in Australia (Brisbane), Malaysia, China, the UK and Norway.
It is sponsored by Events South Australia, the events arm of the South Australian Tourism Commission, and Flinders University, and will cover areas including event design and management, food, wine and sports events, event tourism, event safety and risk management.
The Flinders students are part of a designated event management team which has worked throughout the year to ensure this year’s GEC is the biggest and best yet.
Among them is Event Manager Shannan Morphett, who will have her hands full ensuring everything runs smoothly over four days, two venues and a field trip to McLaren Vale.
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Ms Morphett, who is in the second year of her degree at Flinders, said it was a daunting challenge but one that she looked forward to learning from.
“It has been a lot of work arranging everything for the delegates, which is a really great, hands-on way of learning about events management,” Ms Morphett said.
“I’ve had to arrange flights and itineraries, including small but important details like making sure delegates get the right seats and meals, and have transport to their accommodation.
“Once the event starts, I will be at the event from 7am to 7pm every day working with the other students to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“This will give us the kind of knowledge and experience of running a major event that we just couldn’t get from a textbook or in the classroom.”
Flinders University’s Associate Professor Steve Brown, who is overseeing the event, said it was an incredible example of Work Integrated Learning that gave students firsthand experience while also connecting them with key academic and tourism industry contacts.
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“A key function of the event studies programs at Flinders is to develop those qualities that make our graduates ‘industry ready’,” Mr Brown said.
“Working on real-world projects alongside industry professionals and, in the case of the Congress, event specialists, researchers and academics, is an invaluable opportunity for our students.”
Events South Australia General Manager Hitaf Rasheed said South Australia staged world-class events and festivals, with this week’s conference set to increase understanding of how local events and audiences work.
“I’m sure the knowledge shared through this gathering will reinforce the value of events and festivals to our state – and inspire plenty of creative ideas along the way,” Ms Rasheed said.
“Students’ new energy, combined with their deep understanding of why events work the way they do, helps ensure the events industry here in South Australia, and globally, remains strong, innovative and sustainable.”
The broad themes for the Congress are event and experience design; the value of festivals and events; event studies and education; and Innovations and trends in future research
Keynote speakers include Nathan Shedroff, who is the chair of the ground-breaking MBA in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, CA; Associate Professor Ian Yeoman, a Tourism Futurologist from the University of Victoria University of Wellington; the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Artistic Director, Douglas Gautier; Dr Judith Mair, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Event and Festival Management and Flinders University’s Professor of Creative Arts Julian Meyrick, who leads the Australian Research Council funded Cultural Value Research Project: ‘Laboratory Adelaide’.
A range of social activities planned include a welcome reception by Adelaide’s Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood, a conference dinner at the National Wine Centre and a post conference tour in the McLaren Vale wine region.
More information on the event can be found here.
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