The Power of Conferences: Stories of serendipity, innovation and driving social change

Deborah Edwards is an Associate Professor in the Business School, University of Technology Sydney. She is a Research Associate of the Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM). With a wide interest in a variety of areas including business events, visitor experiences and tourism sustainability, she has published extensively. Her previous collaborative books include Innovation Networks for Sustainable Tourism: Case studies and cross-case analysis (2012), Understanding the Sustainable Development of Tourism (2010), City Spaces – Tourist Places: Urban Tourism Precincts (2008), and Innovation for Sustainable Tourism: International Case Studies (2008). Her industry experience underpins her philosophy as a researcher and she views industry liaison as integral to delivering applied research that assists industry to meet desired objectives.

Carmel Foley is a Research Associate of the Australian Centre for Event Management (ACEM) and the director of event management programs at the University of Technology Sydney where she is an Associate Professor in the Business School. Carmel’s research projects have included triple bottom line event evaluation for the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, evaluation of the Parkes Elvis Festival for Parkes Shire Council, the series of Beyond Tourism Benefits studies for Business Events Sydney, economic and social value of live music venues for Sydney Entertainment Centre, expenditure studies for Business Events Sydney, and conference legacy projects for Seoul Convention Bureau, Tourism Toronto and Durban KwaZulu-Natal. Carmel Foley and Deborah Edwards are currently working on an international project with the Joint Meetings Industry Council to redefine the value proposition of the global business events industry.

Cheryl Malone is an award-winning professional writer and communicator and the founder of Wordswotwork where she specialises in corporate histories, life stories, funding and award submissions, mass communication and marketing. She has taught at both University of Technology Sydney and Griffith University in the areas of journalism, public writing, events, sport and tourism.