The Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia (EEAA) celebrated the industry’s brightest stars last night at an awards ceremony held at Melbourne Museum (29 November).
There were 64 nominees across 15 categories as well as two new awards – The Best Innovation in Event Tech and a new award for the Unsung Hero of the industry.
The entries were reviewed by a 39-strong panel of judges, which included the chief executive of The Global Association of the exhibition Industry (UFI), Kai Hattendorf alongside many other industry experts both from Australia and overseas.
The awards ceremony was a significant one for the EEAA, as the association itself was also celebrating its 25th birthday.
Addressing the crowd on stage last night (29 November 2017), EEAA chief executive Joyce DiMascio called the night a special one for the industry.
“Many of the people in the room have worked together for 25 years or more, so this is a special night for you all.”
“What I love about the EEAA is this great close community of people who have to work together in order to delivery great outcomes.”
She also made special mention of Malu Barrios (Unsung Hero) and Jo-Anne Kelleway (President’s Award) on their wins.
“Our industry has many talented people – men and women who have dedicated years of service to our sector. Tonight we honour two stand-out women whose contribution is unequalled. They are exemplary role models and most deserving winners.”
“Tonight we honour two stand-out women whose contribution is unequalled. They are exemplary role models and most deserving winners.”
Ms Barrios was recognised for her service over the past four decades. Most recently, she played a critical role in supporting the exhibition industry through the challenging three years at the temporary exhibition centre at Glebe Island. She has since transitioned many of those clients to the new ICC Sydney where she has also played a critical role in re-establishing their shows at the new venue.
Meanwhile, Jo-Anne was one of the Association’s first and youngest board members and has been tireless in her commitment to the Association over the past 25 years.
The 2017 Awards for excellence winners are as follows:
Best Consumer Show over 10,000sqm
Talk2 Media and Events – Good Food and Wine Show Sydney 2017 (winner)
Best Trade Show over 10,000sqm
Reed Exhibitions Australia – Reed Gift Fairs Sydney February 2017 (winner)
Best Supplier Team – Event
ExpoNet – 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (winner)
Exhibit Systems – Gartner Symposium / ITxpo 2016 (highly commended)
Best Supplier Team – Services or Products
Expo Direct (winner)
Harry the Hirer (highly commended)
Best Association Event
Reed Exhibitions Australia – PAX Australia 2016 for Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (winner)
Visual Connections Australia – PacPrint2017/Visual Impact (highly commended)
Best New Product or Service
ICC Sydney – Feeding Your Performance (Winner)
Ungerboeck Softwater International – Exhibitor service Centre (highly Commended)
Best Venue Team
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre – Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress 2016
Best Innovation in Event Tech
Info Salons for Konduko NFC Engagement Platform (winner)
Most Outstanding Marketing Campaign
Talk2 Media and Events – Good Food and Wine Show Sydney 2017 (winner)
Exhibitions and Trade Fairs – AUSPACK 2017 (highly commended)
Richard Geddes Young Achiever
Craig Mather, Ungerboeck Software International (Winner)
Unsung Hero Award
Malu Barrios, ICC Sydney (Winner)
Best Trade Show under 10,000sqm
XPO Exhibitions – BuildNZ | Designex and the National Safety Show (winner)
Best New Show
ESL Australia – Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2017 (winner)
Best Custom Stand
Exhibit Systems – Cisco at Cisco Live! 2017 (winner)
Best Show Team
ESL Australia – Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2017 (winner)
Best Show
Reed Exhibitions Australia – Reed Gift Fairs Sydney February 2017 (winner)
Trevor Riddell President’s Award
Jo-anne Kelleway, Info Salons (winner)
