Rhona is the owner operator of Solution RED and has a very strong background in event support within the hospitality and venue environment, Rhona played a major role in the induction of audio visual services into hotels in Victoria and around Australia during the early 1990's.   

In 2001 Rhona made the decision to open her own Audio Visual and Theming company and in 2008 opened new offices in both Sydney and on the Gold Coast.

Rhona holds positions on three boards one of which is MEA National and although her business life is extremely busy she still finds time to mentor and coach those that are entering the meetings and events industry.

Ruth's world of conferencing spans over thirty years and, during this time, she and a number of others have worked to grow the meetings and events industry to what it is today. She has been associated with MEA since the mid eighties and has been part of all the name changes to the Association.

She has worked over a wide range of conference areas throughout this time and has tended to specialize in the medical, scientific, technical, educational and pharmaceutical sectors. She has had the opportunity to manage and work on some of the largest medical meetings to be brought to Australia .

Ruth is an Accredited Meetings Manager, and has worked with MEA to establish industry accreditation and to encourage others towards achieving Meetings Management Accreditation and Associate Fellowship.

Ruth has served on the NSW and National Boards and is now Vice Chair of the National Board of Directors. She is also a Board Member of the Tasmanian Convention and Visitors Bureau and a member of the mice.net Advisory Board.

Michael is Part Owner and General Manager of Adelaide Expo Hire, the largest and most experienced exhibition company in South Australia servicing the Meetings & Events Industry. In 2005 Adelaide Expo Hire became the only exhibition company in Australia to have been inducted into MEA's Hall of Fame.

Michael joined the MEA (SA) Branch Committee in 2001 and was elected MEA (SA) Chairman in 2002-2004. He was again elected Chairman in February 2006 (following the resignation of the Chairman at the time) until November 2006. During the years as MEA (SA) Chairman he also served on MEA National Council. Michael has also taken on the role as the Local Host Chair for the MEA 2009 Conference to be held in Adelaide .

Michael has an accounting background and prior to joining Adelaide Expo Hire (where he has been for 8 years) worked for two large Australian companies in accounting roles.

Simon Baggs is the founder and CEO of Lateral Marketing & Management, which for the past 12 years has been producing upscale lifestyle events, meetings and corporate events for multinationals and prestigious brands. Lateral produces 170 events across Australia each year.

Simon is the author of ‘Extraordinary Events,' published in 2006, focusing on events as a relationship marketing tool.

Prior to founding Lateral, Simon was the Director of Marketing of the ATP, the worldwide governing body of men's tennis and Director of Marketing of Tourism NSW.

Simon serves on the National Board of ASMA, the peak Australian sponsorship industry association, and is a past ASMA National President.

Phil is owner and director of Convention Wise, a conference management company based in Hobart.

Phil 's previous career highlight was in education as Head of Humanities and Business Studies in an independent girls' school. He is an experienced teacher of geography, tourism and outdoor education. He has travelled widely, managing a small Swiss ski field village and course directing for the Outward Bound School in North Carolina. 

He was a member of the National Council of the Australian College of Educators for 4 years, and a board member of the Tasmanian Sail Training Association. He has a Master of Educational Studies from the University of Tasmania . Phil is an Associate Fellow of Meetings Events Australia, and State Chair of MEA Tasmania.