FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Perth Convention Bureau (PCB) Aspire Program concluded for the year with the Aspire Awards Ceremony, held on the morning of Wednesday 6th June at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over fifty applications and eleven awards available, there was strong competition to secure the opportunity of professional development funding to attend and attract conferences to Western Australia. 

City of Perth (COP) sponsors the Aspire Awards City of Perth Convention Scholarship. COP continues to recognise the importance of business tourism and its role in underpinning the development of the city’s accommodation and venue infrastructure. PCB CEO, Paul Beeson commented “the program has been responsible for contributing more than 110 million dollars in delegate spend to the WA economy. The program profiles the State’s broad expertise and knowledge base in a wide range of sectors”.

Sally Male, the winner of the 2018 City of Perth Convention Scholarship is the Chair in Engineering Education at The University of Western Australia, a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a member of the Higher Education Research & Development Society of Australasia. The City of Perth Convention Scholarship will assist Sally to attend the Research and Engineering Education Symposium (REES) 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa. This biennial conference is organised by the Research in Engineering Education Network, of which Sally is a Governing Board Member. With PCB’s support Sally plans to bid for Perth to host a combined Research and Engineering Education Symposium (REES) and the Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE) Conference in 2021.

Other winners included: Esther Irvine (The Esther Foundation) winner of the City of Mandurah Convention Scholarship; Nicole Haberley (Reach for Life) winner of Giving West Scholarship; Dr Amy Finlay-Jones (Telethon Kids Institute) winner of the Telethon Kids Institute Conference Award; Paige McNeil (Western Australian Primary Principals Association) winner of the Australian Institute of Management WA Conference Award; and the University Professional Development Award Winners; Ferry Jie and Dr Justine Dandy (Edith Cowan University), Dr Polychronis Koutsakis (Murdoch University), Vincent Wallace and Dr Peter Mark (The University of Western Australia), and Dr Ahmed Abu-Siada (Curtin University)

Held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday 6th June the Awards were presented by Master of Ceremonies, Karen Tighe and winning applicants and finalists joined a number of prestigious guests including The Hon. Paul Papalia CSC MLA, Minister for Tourism and the City of Perth Chair of Commissioners Eric Lumsden to celebrate the winners’ achievements. The event was supported by Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, AV Partners, West Australian Newspapers and The Scene Team.

This program is entering its 20th year and the Perth Convention Bureau welcomes interested applicants for 2019 to contact Sophia Okeby, Communications Manager aspire@pcb.com.au  or visit website www.pcb.com.au/aspire. Applications for 2019 will open September 2018.

ENDS 

Funded by the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA and by the City of Perth, the Perth Convention Bureau drives the business events sector in Perth and Western Australia by securing large, high yield conference events and marketing the City and State as a premium conference and corporate incentive destination.

 

Pictured below: The 2018 Aspire Award Winners with The Hon Paul Papalia CSC MLA - Minister for Tourism, Kevin Skipworth,Chairman Perth Convention Bureau and Paul Beeson, CEO Perth Convention Bureau. 

Aspire Winners 2018

Aspire Winners 2018