Organisers

Producers, Managers
and Convenors

NSW Visitor Economy Forum at ICC Sydney

The high-yield opportunity: business events and corporate travel! Business events and corporate travel attract high-yield domestic and international visitors who, on average, spend more than leisure travellers on accommodation, food, services and experiences during their trips.

The Complexities of Getting Paid by Bronwen Largier

An investigation into whether professional conference organisers’ payment structures need to change – particularly in the context of the pandemic – delves into an under-discussed area touching on a myriad of issues faced by our service-based, pop-up, one-shot-to-get-it-right business.

Inside Cornerstone Events: From colleagues to business partners- Published by micenet; written by Joyce DiMascio

Karen Sainsbury and Natalie Brumniach have been partners in Cornerstone Events for over a decade now and have amassed literally a world of experience as PCOs.

They started out as colleagues at Novotel Twin Waters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in the 1990s. Back then, they said one day they would run their own business and make ethical practices and transparency the foundation of the way they would work.

PCOA20 IS A WRAP

As 2020 draws to an end, we’d like to reflect on our conference held just a week or two ago.  It was critical to PCOA that we ensured we held a conference in this challenging year, to give our industry the opportunity to connect, to engage and provide a knowledge forum to continue our professional development.

Why it pays to choose a certified event management company

Karen Sainsbury, a PCO Association councillor and managing director of Cornerstone Events, shares why a certified event management company can make all the difference for your conference or meeting.

You no doubt know that not every event management company in business is a certified one – there is no barrier to anyone setting up a business. However, there is a significant difference between those that have undertaken a certification process and those who simply open their doors and start operating.

Australia tourism is back to business as usual

MEMBERS of the Professional Conference Organisers Association are being urged to reach out to their international contacts with a loud and clear message – ‘Australia tourism is back to business as usual’.
PCOA councillor Karen Sainsbury has made the call after attending, on behalf of the association, a tourism forum called by Minister Simon Birmingham and Austrade in the wake of the bushfire crisis.

Eye Opening Experiences

Inez Kharouni – “I enjoy the diversity of my role, which allows me to experience and be trained within different parts of events on a day to day basis” I was given the opportunity to complete an internship with Cornerstone Events whilst undertaking my university degree.  During this semester, I realised that the events industry was where I wanted to pursue…

Karen Sainsbury from Cornerstone shares why Accreditation does matter

Over the coming months the PCO Association will continue to profile one of the association’s Certified Event Companies (CEC) by way of a Q & A. In this interview Karen Sainsbury from Cornerstone answers our questions on what it means to be a Certified Event Company (CEC) with the PCO Association. Cornerstone are current members of both nationally recognised industry…