The board of MEA has announced that the association is to be wound up.
The board announced the decision in a letter to members this morning.
“It is with deep sadness and a profound sense of gratitude that we share with you the news that Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) will be closing after 50 years of service to the Australian events industry.
Despite increased member engagement, growing ticket sales, strong award entries, and the introduction of exciting new education offerings, MEA is no longer in a financial position to continue operations. The Board has therefore made the difficult but necessary decision to appoint an administrator today.
This decision does not reflect a lack of passion or dedication from our community. In recent months, we have seen a surge of interest in our initiatives, including the upcoming 2025 National Conference, our refreshed education short courses, professional development webinars and the celebration of MEA’s 50th anniversary – a milestone that represents five decades of connection, collaboration, and professional development.
However, despite this momentum, we have been unable to secure the significant cash sponsorship required to sustain MEA’s activities. Historically, MEA has relied on the generous support of sponsors and government partners to help us keep membership accessible for small businesses, individual professionals, and larger corporate clients alike. In recent years, funding and sponsorship from state and federal government agencies and bureaus have been withdrawn, and our core base of SME and corporate members, also facing tighter margins, have been unable to bridge the gap.
While sponsorship interest for events like the MEA National Conference and Awards remains strong, much of the support offered has been in-kind services, rather than the essential cash contributions needed to maintain operations.
This challenge reflects broader pressures across the events sector, with rising operational costs and reduced external support impacting many organisations. The emergence of new industry bodies, such as the Australian Business Events Association (ABEA), has also led some traditional supporters, including convention centres and government agencies, to redirect funding away from MEA.
After five decades of supporting, representing, and celebrating Australia’s vibrant events community, this is a moment of both reflection and gratitude. MEA has helped shape the careers of thousands of professionals, delivered nationally recognised education through our RTO, and championed excellence through the MEA Mentor Program and our long-standing awards and industry events.
We thank each and every member, sponsor, partner, and colleague who has contributed to MEA’s journey. Your support has meant everything.
As we close this chapter, we do so with pride in MEA’s legacy and confidence that the events industry in Australia will continue to thrive through the passion, creativity, and professionalism of its people.”
Dear MEA Board,
As the Founding President and later International President of the International Live Events Association, I feel deep sadness at the news of MEA’s closure.
Regardless of which organization we aligned with, our shared mission has always been to support, educate, and uplift both seasoned professionals and the next generation of event leaders. These organizations have been the backbone of our industry, fostering both professional excellence and lifelong friendships.
I recall a similarly difficult moment years ago when I had to advise our ISES Sydney Chapter chairs, Scott Bellingham and Gian Blundo, to close our Sydney chapter. That day was filled with sorrow, much like today as we bid farewell to MEA.
MEA has been a prestigious institution, and while its official lights may be dimming, its legacy will continue to shine through the professionals it has shaped and the community it has built. The friendships, knowledge, and opportunities it fostered will not disappear. When one door closes, another might open.
Wishing the MEA Board every success going forward.
Warmest Regards
Lena Malouf AIFD CSEP
Sydney, Australia
A sad day indeed. As an industry we should be cohesive not fragmented. Why oh why couldn’t we have one body for the greater good of our industry ( Meetings and Events Australia) divided into sub groups depending on your interest, Incentives, Exhibitions, etc? One voice to government. We have ourselves to blame…
Although it’s been a long time since I was a member of MEA I couldn’t agree more that the fragmentation of professional associations linked to the meetings industry in particular has damaged the reputation and operational status that MEA once brought to the industry. I hope that something positive and ANZ- based arises from the ashes.
And there you have the sad state of Australia where we fail to ‘associate’. It seems to go hand in hand with philanthropic giving as a percentage of GDP, the United States typically well outpaces Australia, with the US at around 2.1% compared to Australia’s 0.81%, according to Philanthropy Australia.
Through Covid it was obvious that the music, entertainment and events industry could not organise to speak with one voice, and so we ended with ham-fisted support like “RISE” which rewarded multinational music promotors with massive grants for tours by things like Guns and Roses. God knows how many of us slaved away with RISE applications – I sure did. Mine met all the criteria – regional, original music, seventeen other touch points but I could not find an indigenous disabled participant, so maybe that’s why I didn’t get a grant.
But you could not know – you sent in your application, that required confirmation of venue, artist and production availabilities, a developed marketing plan, and at least a weeks solid work. And you waited. And then you parsed the happy list, $70,000 for a folk concert somewhere, $800,000 for The Gunners, $10,000 for an exhibition, $97,500 for six weeks of ‘supported multicultural music concerts’ at a venue, and so on. And on.
You’d think our industry COULD have associated and MADE APPROPRIATE NOISES to redesign a process so obviously milky obscure into something that – MAYBE – should have paid people like me and the countless others submitting almost compliant applications, for their time.
How bad must it have been for the Town Clerk at ‘Sometown’ to continually advise availabilities of the town hall to RISE wannabe’s? It took a lot of persistence to get the planning into the application, for a project that just didn’t get a tick. Like so many others.
You’d think AGAIN, after 50 years, the big players could gather and lean in to support MEA – no matter whatever or whenever it did anything that missed a mark. No organisation or association can please all the people, but when the people coalesce and repel each other, it really is a mirror of Australian culture.
Working all sides of journalism I am always appalled, amazed and dismayed by our instinctive business secrecy, selfishness and that old ‘arms crossed’ cynicism. We are our own worst enemies, people.
Well said Julius!