The Association of Australian Convention Bureaux has awarded Business Events Geelong with its Innovation Award.

The accolade recognises new innovations which represent a significant transformation to bureau operations, technology and/or to the product pipeline.

Bureaux competing for the award were to give a TEDx style presentation at the Annual Conference.

BEGeelong focused their presentation on the execution of the brand new event concept, ‘The Mystery Dinner’. This innovative concept was designed to change the perceptions of Melbourne based event organisers that Geelong and The Bellarine region really isn’t that far from Melbourne CBD.

AACB CEO Andrew Hiebl said, “The AACB celebrates all forms of innovation. Not just big disruptive changes, but the small improvements that make a big difference relative to that bureau or destination.”

“Presenting on innovation in front of your competition can be an intimidating challenge. Business Events Geelong gave an impressive presentation showing that regional Australia is embracing risk to capture more of the high yielding business events market.”

Mr Mark Day, Business Events Geelong, Convention Bureau Manager said, it was extremely rewarding to receive recognition for The Mystery Dinner.

“The flow on effects from hosting a large group of event planners has spread far and wide across regional operator businesses” said Mr Day “We would like to thank the sponsors of the award, AACB and Simpleview who gave us the opportunity to reflect on the innovative activity BEGeelong has undergone over the last 12 months”

Business Events Geelong is the Convention Bureau to Geelong and The Bellarine, assisting meeting and conference organisers to source venues and suppliers for their next corporate event.