Member spotlight: Emma Bowyer, CEO, ICMS Australasia

By Board Chair, Vanessa Green

In the first of a new series, I’m excited to be putting MEA members in the spotlight, sharing their knowledge and some of what they’ve gained throughout their membership. We’ll be approaching members at various stages of their career and look forward to hearing their insights on being an effective events professional and the benefits they get from MEA.

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Emma Bowyer from ICMS, one of MEA’s longest standing members. This is what she had to say….

How long have you been a MEA member?

The ICMS Australasia late-Chairman Bryan Holliday was the inaugural President of MEA, so I’m fairly confident ICMS have been MEA members since day dot. Membership benefits are wide and varied - from industry networking to professional development through to State and National Awards. In recent years, the Young MEA initiatives have been great to see.

Which MEA event has stood out for you?

The National Conference has always been my favourite MEA event. It’s the crème de la crème of industry in attendance, doing great business and learning from each other and qualified speakers. This year, the strength of the program was a highlight. In past years, one of the conference formats was “Minders, Finders and Grinders” and really captured the diverse nature of our industry perfectly.

Are there any key highlights from your time as a MEA member?

Winning seven national awards this year across a variety of individual and event categories is pretty hard to top. It’s the first time we’ve ever walked out of an awards ceremony with a box!

What's the most memorable event you've ever run?

We’ve delivered over 350 events in the past 10 years alone, with an average size of over 1,000 delegates so there are so many corporate memories. I now know years by event acronyms! Just some of the events that stand out include hosting over 6,000 delegates for a World Parks Congress to running events for the UN and FBI (where even the sniffer dogs had ID), to the little ones making big impacts in fields of obscure science and medicine.

But the most recent memorable one has to be the World Mining Congress, held in 2023. Most of the planning was done during COVID, there was a heightened security and government presence and personally raising over $7million of sponsorship point just how incredibly challenging an event it was. Hosting over 4000 of the top mining executives from around the world, coming together for the first-time ever in Australia, given our mining heritage, was a privilege. Also being able to create and run special events with one of the best budgets made it pretty impressive. The combination of a great budget, supportive client and engaged team meant it was an event where we could demonstrate the best thinking from ICMS Australasia.

What's your favourite thing about working in events?

The people! It’s being part of a tribe that makes a social and economic difference. And you get to work with some incredibly talented individuals.

What are your biggest professional challenges? How does MEA membership help you with these challenges?  

80% of the expenses of my business relate to staff. Being able to use MEA as a platform for education and training helps ICMS to nurture our talent. The MEA learning and development resources are unparalleled in the industry in my view.

What would you include at an event if budget was no issue?

Content is king, so I’ll always champion selecting a ‘no-expense spared’ speaker. Programs with great content and speakers lead to increased delegate and stakeholder engagement, generating better budgets for future events.

What’s your top tip for event success? 

Teamwork. A champion team will always beat a team of champions. Surround yourself with the best people and trust them to do their job.

Stay tuned for more member stories

Thanks Emma, for sharing your experiences and being such an engaged MEA member. To connect with members like Emma, keep attending MEA events and generously sharing your stories as event professionals. If you would like to share your story, please get in touch. Together, we’re creating a stronger, more creative and resilient meeting and events industry.