he Perth Convention Bureau (PCB) Aspire Program concluded for the year with the Aspire Awards Ceremony, held on the morning of Thursday 1^st June at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. With over sixty applications and only ten awards available, including the inaugural Australian Institute of Management WA Conference Award, there was incredibly strong competition among all applicants wanting to secure the opportunity to receive professional development funding to attend and attract conferences to Western Australia.

City of Perth (COP) is a founding member of PCB and continues to be a major stakeholder and sponsor of the Aspire Awards City of Perth Convention Scholarship. COP continues to recognise the importance of business tourism and its role in underpinning the development of the city’s accommodation and venue infrastructure. PCB CEO, Paul Beeson commented “the program has been responsible for contributing more than 100 million dollars to the WA economy as well as playing a key role in securing conferences that have and will continue to contribute to advancing the State’s broad expertise and knowledge in a wide range of industries”.

Rebecca Tolstoy, the winner of the City of Perth Convention Scholarship is the Chairman of the Path of Hope Foundation. In 2012, Rebecca founded the Path of Hope Foundation, a joint venture between the Rotary Club of Perth and Salvation Army WA. The Path of Hope Foundation mission is to provide resources and assistance to women who are vulnerable to, or currently experiencing domestic violence. The City of Perth Convention Scholarship will assist with travel to the Rotary International Conference in June 2017 in Atlanta, USA with the ultimate mission of securing a significant conference for Perth, in collaboration with the United Nations, Salvation Army and Rotary International.

Other winners include: Dr Caroline Nilson (Murdoch University) winner of the City of Mandurah Convention Scholarship; Dr Simon Allen (Shark Bay Dolphin Research Alliance – The University of Western Australia) winner of Giving West Scholarship; Dr Shelley Gorman (Telethon Kids Institute) winner of the Telethon Kids Institute Conference Award; Wilson Casado (Visagio Australia) winner of the inaugural Australian Institute of Management WA Conference Award; and the University Professional Development Award Winners, Tracey Lee Edwards and Karen McDavitt (Edith Cowan University), Dr Margaret Sealey (Murdoch University), Brock Delfante (The University of Western Australia), and Dr Katarina Miljkovic (Curtin University)

Held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday 1^st June the Awards were presented by Master of Ceremonies, Karen Tighe, and winning applicants and finalists joined a number of prestigious guests including The Hon. Paul Papalia CSC MLA, Minister for Tourism and the City of Perth Councillor Janet Davidson OAM to celebrate the winners’ achievements. The event was supported by Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, AV Partners, West Australian Newspapers and The Scene Team.