In four short weeks the VMA will welcome our class of 2019 to the 26th edition of the Venue Management School.
As one of the core education programs of the VMA, the Venue Management School, which also encompasses the VMA Leadership Institute, is the only industry run school of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. With the school designed by today’s leaders for tomorrow’s leaders, it also provides the opportunity to gain an Australian Diploma qualification. The internationally recognised school has been a turning point in the careers of nearly 1000 industry professionals over the last 25 years. The VMS combines the ultimate venue industry networking experience with a two-year program featuring workshops, discussions and presentations to explore 35 topics essential to the venue industry.
From humble beginnings in 1994 the VMA’s Venue Management School has grown from an initial student intake of less than 30 to now exceeding over 100 each year. As the brainchild of a group of passionate venue industry professionals associated with the VMA, the VMS was originally conceived to ensure that those already with industry experience and knowledge were passing that along to our next generation of venue management professionals. The inaugural Chair of the VMS, Gareth James (past VMA President and Honorary Life Member) reflected on “the comradery that existed within the profession from those early days and the very strong desire to pass along that knowledge” as a key motivation behind introducing the School. One of the core strengths of the School, and what makes the VMS the ultimate industry education experience, is the amazing team of instructors that give up their time voluntarily each and every year to come back to School to give back to the next generation.
Many of our early students have gone on to be long term instructors at the School. This in most part is due to what they believe has been the significant and career changing experience that comes with attending VMS as a student. Acknowledged as the only venue industry run school of its kind in the Australia and Asia-Pacific region the School has gained the reputation as a world class education facility in the venue management space. With its unique program that has been designed by the industry, and for the industry, the program is delivered by senior industry experts who are passionate about our industry and about developing the industry leaders of the future. VMA Chief Executive, Michael Brierley, noted “As a residential program the School offers students the opportunity to learn from the best and develop and connect with other venue professionals from across the region. Imagine being able to sit down with a Senior Executive of a major venue at breakfast and engage with them as they freely share their knowledge and experience. There is no other education experience in our industry that allows the opportunity for such intimate career defining networks to be developed”.
Enrolments for the 2019 Venue management School are filling fast – to secure one of the last available places check out vma.org.au/enrol-now or contact the VMA HQ on 1300 001 VMA.