CIM NEWS MAGAZINE Issue 8 2016 | Page 4

PUBLISHER’S WORD Fun and games W hat the Trump! 2016 has been a mixed year to say the least. Things started off fairly normally and then it just got plain weird. First cab off the rank was Brexit. Although the UK really has no idea what the ramifications of leaving Europe are, they took the plunge anyway. The events industry in the short term seems to be benefitting, with a crashing pound prompting overseas planners to lock in events at bargain prices. How long that silver lining lasts is anyone’s guess. And then came the 800lbs gorilla of the US elections. With just about everyone blindsided by the result we have all been playing catch-up since The Donald was promoted to CEO of the USA. Again we are dealing with the unknown, but as Donald Rumsfeld once said – there are known unknowns and then there are unknown unknowns. We are in the later I fear. I was invited to speak at the recent ICCA Congress in Kuching, and fell into the fear camp when it came to Trump. Some of the other speakers were more sanguine about the next four years but I don’t share their optimism. I think we can all agree that with a nine-year-old at the wheel of the world’s largest economy, anything can happen. I was brought up in the industry and have seen it prosper through thick and thin, and have no doubt that we will come out of this okay. But as far as forecasts for 2017 go, my crystal ball is in pieces when I dropped it in shock the morning after the election. Let’s just expect the unexpected. Published in Australia by Creative Head Media Pty Ltd Suite 202, 80-84 Chandos Street, St Leonards 2065 P.O. Box 189, St Leonards 1590 ACN 147 436 280 ISSN 1039-1029 Website: www.cimmagazine.com PUBLISHER Alexandra Yeomans MANAGING EDITOR  Sheridan Randall JOURNALIST  Brittney Levinson ACCOUNT MANAGER Jon Van Daal DESIGN/PRODUCTION MANAGER Bin Zhou PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR John Gungon SALES & DIGITAL CO-ORDINATOR Grissel Ritchie ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT Kate Wilcox HEAD OFFICE – SYDNEY [phone] Creative Head Media Pty Ltd Fax: [phone] Email: [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS 1 yr $49; 2 yrs $86; 3 yrs $129 (inc. GST) Alexandra Yeomans, Publisher THIS ISSUE’S TOP STORY While the spotlight is often stolen by the Melbourne Sydney rivalry, South Australia has quietly risen to take the cake as Australia’s best State or Territory for events, led by its capital city, Adelaide. See the full story on page 10. 4   Convention & Incentive Marketing, Issue 8, 2016    www.cimmagazine.com Copyright © 2016 Print Post Approved PP100008072 Opinions expressed by the contributors in this magazine are not the opinion of CIM. Letters to the editor are subject to editing. Nielsen Media Research July 2004 Readership 57,936 monthly Exclusive official publication for the PCO Association AMAA, CAB Total Distribution Audit 15,121 March 2016