It has been absolutely fabulous catching up with so many EAs right across the country these last few months.

We have also met so many new members and our ‘Red Dot’ system (placing a red dot on the name badge of people who are attending for the first time) is continually making it easier for these members to come along to our events and be looked after from those existing members. We realise it can be quite daunting to attend an event for the first time on your own and it can feel quite intimidating, so the dots just make sure you are never left alone and you will have many of the members introducing themselves to you throughout the evening.

We started the year off in Sydney aboard the P&O Cruises vessel ‘Pacific Eden’ on 13 February and what a stunning ship it is. It is so geared for those corporate conferences and incentives for your staff members and with the new selection of food and beverage outlets and 5 star restaurants it is certainly one to consider when planning your next conference! With their new 2, 3 and even 4 day cruises, it couldn’t be more ideal. It really is a one stop shop with all conference venues, AV, F&B, team building activities, entertainment and accommodation all included in the ticketed price!

Our thanks to P&O Cruises for their hospitality showcasing all that this amazing new ship has to offer and for the delectable 3 course meal and beverages. Also, thank you to all those EA members who were able to join us for a wonderful afternoon on board.

We were next in Perth at the annual EAN Conference & Expo and celebrated a fabulous Networking Evening on the 15 February at Crown Perth. It was a pleasure to have so many EA Delegates and Visitors join us for the evening and we were all entertained by Mario – the ‘almost’ magnificent magician, compliments of Big Sky Entertainment.

The Expo was a great success with so many EAs connecting with both local and interstate suppliers and learning about new products available with the WA region. We thank you all for your support and a big congratulations to all those lucky prize winners from the two days (announced in our previous newsletter).

Next, on 2 March in Sydney was our event hosted by our NSW & QLD partner Fink Group, at Otto Restaurant, one of several iconic restaurants owned or managed by Fink including, Quay, Bennelong, The Bridge Room, Firedoor, Otto in Brisbane and also Beach Byron Bay.

Fink was a previous partner of EAN and we are delighted to have them back on board and be able to showcase these amazing venues for you to consider for your next event or restaurant booking.

It was an absolute pleasure to have John Fink along at the event to tell us a little more about his restaurants along with Graham Ackling who is the General Manager of Otto. Our thanks also to the Fink Team who outshone themselves with probably some of the best food and beverages we have ever had at an EAN Networking event!

Congratulations also to all those lucky door prize winners on the night:

Joycelin Giacomin - Custom Fleet, who won the $350 Otto Voucher

Fiona Sharp - Telstra, won a $350 Bennelong Voucher

Kate Upson - Washington H Soul Pattinson & Co, won the $450 Quay Voucher

Pamela Quin - JB Were and Donna Flynn both won sparkling wine from QBT

Angelika Flynn - Stocklands, won a Luna Park Family Pass

Thank you to all those Partners for donating those prizes and thank you again to Fink Group for being our fabulous hosts on the night!

Melbourne was our next event hosted by our National Partner QBT on 9 March and we all went underwater at The Fish Bowl at Melbourne Aquarium. What a stunning, serene venue with majestical sting rays and fish floating by as we merrily caught up with each other.

QBT supports EAN right across the country and if you have not had a chance to see how they differ from other travel companies, then be sure to take a look at their website and to contact them directly for a chat via the EAN website.

The tunes of the 3-piece band playing in the background only enhanced the evening with everyone enjoying the wonderful food and beverages for all. It was a pleasure to have Kathie Larkin and Mathew Counsel there from QBT and their team as well as Angela Grant from Virgin Australia.

The EA guests were delighted to find out that one of the major prizes organised by QBT was 2 Virgin Australia domestic return flights from Melbourne to anywhere on the Virgin Domestic network including New Zealand, Fiji, Bali or Vanuatu. This was won by Monique De Pasquale from Myer. Congratulations to you and enjoy your trip…

We also had 2 lots of Double Passes to the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival Runway Show on the following Saturday and these passes were won by Heidi Triegaardt - Oak Financial and Deanna Mills - SMEC.

Etihad Stadium also provided a prize with 3 guests winning vouchers for 4 tickets each to any game at Etihad Stadium, these winners were, Angela Minahan - Firbank Grammar, Jillian Harrington - ANZ and Lalindra Delgoda from NAB.

Prizes didn’t stop there with QBT providing 3 bottles of Moet won by, Wendy Tucker - Crown, Margaret Miller - Phosphagenics and Maxine Stevenson from ANZ.

Congratulations to all our winners and a huge thank you for the hospitality shown by QBT.

The EAN Sydney Congress kicked off on the 15 March and the day was completed with a Networking event within the EAN Exhibition at our new abode within Luna Park – The Big Top! We saw over 80 businesses come together to showcase their products and services to all those EA Delegates and Visitors.

Luna Park was the sponsor for the event and everyone had a fantastic evening listening to the tunes provided by Chenard Entertainment including vocalist Laura Stitt, winner of the Australia’s Got Talent competition in 2013 plus international Saxophonist and DJ, Paul Chenard. We were also entertained by Beat The Streets Boys who were fabulous!

Our thanks to all those EAs who came along to the conference and who visited the expo over the two days. Also to the many EAs who came along to the networking event to meet so many of the suppliers first-hand during the event.

Congratulations also to our many prize winners during the event and our thanks to all our Sponsors, Exhibitors and Partners involved.

The sun shone for our event in Canberra hosted by our National Partner TFE Hotels at Hotel Kurrajong Canberra on 21 March. It was such a pleasure to be in such an iconic hotel and enjoying the company of so many local EAs. TFE certainly showed us a good time with a fabulous section of their terrace dedicated for our event and a wonderful selection of canapes and even PIMS for the ladies. You could even try your hand at quoits!

We were also lucky enough to receive a tour of the hotel and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and hearing a little more about its rich history.

It was wonderful to have both Tonia Kreft, Associate Director of Sales at TFE and Alex Tibetts the Executive Assistant Manager at Hotel Kurrajong both with us on the evening and of course their fabulous teams.

TFE were kind enough to donate a night’s accommodation at a TFE Hotel of choice in Australia, New Zealand or Europe and congratulations goes to Karen Elliott from Arena who was the lucky winner!

Our thanks also to QBT for donating a bottle of Moet and their lucky winner was Rita Coopman from Australian National University.

Thank you to both TFE and Hotel Kurrajong, it was a wonderful night and we look forward to catching up with the Canberra EAs again very soon.

Brisbane put on a fabulous evening as we celebrated on 23 March with our Queensland Partner Fink Group at the newly opened Otto Restaurant – and what a night we had!

There was a bustling energetic bunch of fabulous EAs who were as excited as me to see first-hand this stunning restaurant and experience some of the world class food that they produce and their gracious hospitality.

This is truly a little hidden gem that will be well utilised by those in attendance and those that they let the secret out to – if you don’t know about this restaurant, then you need to go and visit!! It overlooks the Brisbane River from the 4th floor at 480 Queen Street and has several function areas and a private dining room.

We were delighted to also celebrate a member travelling from Toowoomba just to attend the evening, one member who had just moved from Sydney and one with a birthday to boot!

Fink Group were extremely generous with their lucky door prizes and our congratulations goes to the following:

Hayley Lockyer won a $350 Otto Dining Voucher together with 1 night’s accommodation at Rydges South Bank.

Jodie Hutt from Queensland Treasury Corp won a Spa voucher valued at $195 from Dome Spa Retreat at Brisbane Marriott.

Kylene Thompson won a Gift Hamper from Fink Group

Our thanks also to QBT who supplied two bottles of sparkling wine and the winners were Alicia Tops from Rio Tinto and Sal Dunlop from Hand Heart Pocket.

I know I speak for everyone in attendance when I again say a very big thank you to Fink Group and Otto Restaurant for a spectacular evening.

Thank you also to all our fabulous EAs who attended all these events around the country. We enjoyed catching up with you all and look forward to being in your state again very soon.

The EAN Team