Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) has announced that its 2022 annual conference, Evolve, will be held on 29 and 30 June this year, at Sofitel Melbourne On Collins.

The Melbourne Convention Bureau will be a major sponsor of the event, which will kick off with a welcome function on the evening of Wednesday 29 June, ahead of the conference and dinner the next day.

MEA intentionally chose these dates as forecasts suggest Australia will be better positioned then, so people can plan forward with more confidence.

The registration portal and event program will be released in the coming weeks, but MEA wanted to announce the date now in order to allow intended delegates, sponsors and exhibitors to plan ahead.

“We hope that our early public commitment to lead by example and proceed with our conference will give rise and reassurance to the market and sector at a time when it’s most needed,” MEA chief executive officer Peter McDonald said.

While an Awards dinner is traditionally coupled with Evolve, MEA has made the decision to not hold the awards program, which chairman Michael Firman said was in the best interests of the program’s integrity as well as award recipients.

“The Board is confident that whilst regrettable, its decision to abstain from holding an awards program in 2022 is right and in the best interests of the program’s integrity, and past and future winners,” Firman said.

“The capacity to deliver events around Australia last year was hindered by the realities experienced in managing the COVID pandemic. Our hope is that the environment will improve to being one that supports an abundance of events this year that will in turn underwrite a keenly contested Awards program in 2023.”