PROFESSIONAL conference organiser ICMSA is expanding its operations from its homebase of Australia by opening an office in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Karen Hamilton, who has been working in the New Zealand business events sector for the past 16 years, has taken up new role of director New Zealand.
She will join ICMSA owner and managing director, Emma Bowyer, and fellow directors at the company’s first directors’ meeting in 2023 in Christchurch in late March.
Bowyer said it had been a long-held goal for the company to move beyond Australia and, with confirmed future business in New Zealand, now was the right time.
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“In recent years we have been approached by our clients – particularly associations – to manage their events in New Zealand,” Bowyer said. “With a dedicated New Zealand office that now becomes more realistic.
“The opening of Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, the Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre coming online this year, and excitement building for SkyCity’s New Zealand International Convention Centre bodes well for a strong business pipeline.”
ICMSA has already been confirmed as PCO for the Australasian Polymer Conference in New Zealand in 2024 and the 62nd Annual Meeting of the International Forensic Toxicologists in Auckland in 2025. Bowyer said further opportunities were on the way.
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ChristchurchNZ head of business events, Megan Crum, welcomed ICMS Australasia’s choice of Ōtautahi Christchurch as its New Zealand base.
“The arrival of ICMSA here brings a new level of high-profile event opportunities and boosts Christchurch’s reputation as a fantastic place not only to host business events but also to do business.”
Karen Hamilton, said she was thrilled to be heading up ICMSA in New Zealand. “I have had a long association with ICMSA and am looking forward to embarking on this new chapter,” Hamilton said.
