The Australian Business Events Association (ABEA) is pleased to announce the board appointment of Colette Baini to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. 

Colette Baini is the Founder and CEO of The Conference Room and Australia Conferences & Incentives, a globally recognised, multi-award-winning full-service business event agency.  

She is renowned for innovative design of incentive travel, conferences, special events, and destination management across Australia.   

Peter King, Chair of ABEA, said: “We warmly welcome Colette Baini to the ABEA Board. She represents an important perspective of our industry. Colette is very well regarded and brings enormous expertise experience and passion.  

“As we celebrate our second anniversary, ABEA continues to enjoy strong interest and active participation from all sectors of the industry.  

“The calibre of talent across our chapters, pillars, and special interest groups is truly impressive, and many industry professionals are eager to contribute their time to the ongoing development of our industry.” 

In response to member feedback, ABEA has recently merged the Supplier Pillar with the WH&S and Risk Management Special Interest Groups, recognising the overlap in their areas of focus. Damien Gaffney has been appointed Chair of this combined group. 

Further appointments include Dan Morahan as Chair of the Queensland Chapter, Hannah Von Bibra as Chair of Victoria, and Jessie Rayson who steps into the role of Chair for Northern Territory, following her previous position as Vice-Chair. For the Special Interest Groups Jessica Zicker will lead Sustainability, Toni McAllister is the Chair for Education, Skills & Pathways to Industry, and Andrew Cook, Emerging Leaders. 

All chairs lead a team of people and deliver a combination of events, information, resources and networking. The chairs will provide updates on their respective committee initiatives at the upcoming ABEA Conference, 3-5 December 2025 in Melbourne. 

More information is available at www.abea.org.au