About us

Jan is the founder of The Conference Company and a longtime leader and advocate for the Australasian conference industry. She is responsible for budget monitoring, risk assessment, contingency planning and overseeing service delivery for our clients.

Jan is Chair of the Education Taskforce at the UK-based International Association of Professional Congress Organisers, where she served as President from 2016-2018. She teaches throughout Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and is a regular speaker at international conferences.

Stephen has been with us for over 11 years and is one of our senior team, with significant experience managing international meetings in Australasia and the US. With almost 20 years’ experience in the region, he is active in consultancy and leadership within the Asia Pacific industry.

Stephen feels privileged to lead an outstanding team of conference staff delivering superb meetings. He still loves to get hands-on with meeting planning and design, sharing his enthusiasm for technology and the other innovations making today’s conferences more engaging and accessible than ever.

As General Manager, James has a key role in our strategic planning and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. With his strong affinity for technology and systems, James is our in-house technical expert and troubleshooter.

Prior to joining us 10 years ago, James spent many years in business process and operations management with multinational investment banks and law firms overseas. He brings a highly valued range of people and project management skills to our team.

Zoe is our finance team lead, overseeing our rigorous financial management, planning and reporting processes. Her training in the Deloitte offices of Wellington, Boston and London has seen her work with international organisations around the world.  Zoe has also worked for PwC and various private and government entities in Auckland. Zoe loves the variety of the work she does and the people she meets through The Conference Company.  Zoe holds a BCom, DipGrad from the University of Otago and is a Chartered Accountant with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ).  

With 20 years in meeting planning behind her, Theresa is one of our most highly experienced conference managers. She loves the diverse range of people she meets in her role, the variety packed into every day and the pleasure of creating great memories for participants.

Theresa builds solid relationships with clients and suppliers, who appreciate her attention to detail and her open, honest and responsive communication style. A strong background in hospitality includes roles as General Manager of the prestigious Dunedin Club and Convention Services Manager at Sheraton Auckland.

Katrina has worked in conferencing for 13 years, nine of them with us, planning and delivering a diverse range of national and international meetings. She enjoys the satisfaction of helping bring a client’s vision to life and delivering beyond their expectations. Our clients love the way she makes the process easy for them, with her proactive, service-focused approach and eye for detail.

Katrina herself has a long-held interest in higher learning, with a history of tertiary teaching and research, and an academic focus on health psychology and business studies.

Ben began his career as a Communications Intern for the Centre for Policy Development. He then spent 5 years at Century Venues where he co-ordinated a myriad of events, including concerts, corporate events, stand-up comedy, live theatre, festivals, film shoots, workshops and expos. Ben joined our Sydney team in 2018 as a Conference Co-ordinator, before moving into the role of Conference Manager.

Ben enjoys getting to know his clients to understand and deliver the unique goals they have for their events. He finds being involved in the communication and sharing of academic research extremely satisfying having himself a tertiary education and research background in the biological sciences.

Chris first joined us as a Delegate Services and Conference Co-ordinator, before moving into the role of Conference Manager. Originally from the UK, Chris spent several years at AJ Hackett Bungy in Queenstown, managing the company’s onsite venue and growing its conference and incentive business.

Chris has been described as ‘fantastic’ and ‘a huge asset for us’ by clients who appreciate his hard work, high standards and personal approach to service. His good all-round knowledge of various roles and sectors within the industry makes him a huge asset to us, too.

With 13 years in the industry, Jodi has deep expertise in planning and executing a diverse range of events, from association conferences and exhibitions to fundraisers for non-profits. She finds being closely involved with a project from first concept all the way through to delivery extremely satisfying.

Jodi is skilled at building solid, trusted relationships with the broad range of people her role brings her in touch with. Our clients love her friendliness and professionalism, her ability to get the job done, and the willing way she takes a load off their shoulders.

Kim’s wide-ranging career began with 10 years in the international and local financial markets. She then spent more than a decade in the not-for-profit sector, where project and event management and Executive Director roles honed her skill at optimising the bottom line.

Kim brings strong commercial acumen, excellent organisation and great leadership skills to her role. She enjoys building strong relationships with clients, who say it’s a privilege to work with her, and that the job she and her team do is ‘absolutely amazing’. One told us recently, ‘She’s Wonder Woman!’

Nihal is a talented sponsorship and exhibition sales and relationship manager who delivers consistently excellent results for our clients. He leads a specialist team with an outstanding reputation in the market for fairness, communication and impeccable service delivery. Many of these satisfied investors return to work with us year after year.

Before joining us, Nihal worked in the competitive events market in Dubai. Our clients benefit from his brilliant negotiating and research skills, and his ability to engage with people from diverse professions and groups.

Clare joined TCC in 2006 whilst on her OE (overseas experience) in New Zealand and hasn’t left TCC or NZ. Over the last 14 years she has been involved across a wide range of our events, conferences and awards. She has worked in varying roles and is currently our Delegate Services & Awards Manager. She has in-depth knowledge of the ‘back of house’ and is adept at taking on roles as needed. She is the in-house consultant for our Event Management Software.

Originally from Ireland, her archaeology background has taught Clare to be infinitely patient, meticulously careful and she brings to the table excellent analytical and IT skills. Clare has a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College, Dublin.

After 26 years with The Conference Company, Jane is the mainstay of our onsite delivery service. She leads the team who welcome delegates, answer queries and generally take care of guests over the course of the event.

Jane is consistently praised for exemplary customer service – she’s been described by more than a few clients as ‘totally wonderful’ – and trains her team to the same exacting level. She welcomes the fast pace and constant challenges of onsite work. After all these years she still loves her role and the way it continues to change as conferencing itself changes.

Sarah has worked with The Conference Company for over 20 years in varying roles with the last 8 years as Sponsorship and Exhibition Co-ordinator.

Sarah’s proficiency and willingness to go the extra mile to ensure all needs are met is highly valued by conference sponsors and exhibitors. She is proud of the strong relationships she has built up over the years and passionate about enabling the sponsors and exhibitors to maximise the return on their investment.