Industry partnerships reap rich rewards for students

2012 ICCI scholarship winner, Alison Bottcher

The School of International Business prides itself on its close links with industry partners. These links feed into teaching materials and help students to excel, both in their studies and in the world of employment.

This was illustrated recently through two important partnerships formed in the Event Management area; one with the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA), and the other with iVvy Pty Ltd (introduced this year by Martin Robertson). Both partnerships have directly benefited students undertaking the BH3421 Business Events unit, as part of the Event Management specialisation, and given further benefit to the high-achievers in the unit.

ICCA sponsor a yearly scholarship giving students an opportunity to attend their prestigious Annual Congress, wherever it is held in the world that year. This is the third year the Scholarship is being offered; last year, the Congress was in Leipzig, Germany.

Attended by leading practitioners from around the world, the Congress discusses, deliberates and finds responses to the issues affecting the organisation, the transportation and the accommodation of international meetings and events. This year’s scholarship award winner, Alison Bottcher, who is in the second year of her Law and Event Management program, will be attending the conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Not only is Alison going to enjoy an amazing opportunity to network with representatives from around the world, she will also be representing Victoria University’s School of International Business throughout. Follow Alison’s travels and experiences, and congratulate her on her success by following her blog.

Alison said of her scholarship; 'It’s a brilliant opportunity. I am very happy to receive the scholarship, and really looking forward to learning from experts from around the world. Going to Puerto Rico is, well, really exciting too!'

Alison is also receiving the Certificate ‘Introduction to iVvy Event Management software’.  iVvy produce state-of-the-art cloud based event management software which the school uses in its event management units.This year, BHO3421 Business Events students had have the opportunity to gain professional certification through successful completion of exercises using the software. Congratulations to all those students who received a certificate this year!

Gillian Essery, Alison Bottcher, Olga Junek (lecturer), Martin Robertson (lecturer and coordinator of the Business Events unit ) and Colin Drake (lecturer and coordinator of the event specialism area), Anastasia Keras and Olivia Dal Bo.

Twenty of the 137 students who enrolled on the unit this year managed to gain a special 'Certificate of Excellence'. As this was only given to those who successfully completed 100% of the work correctly, they should be particularly proud of their work. Three of these students - Olivia Dal Bo, Gillian Essery, and Anastasia Keras - who received this certificate of excellence were also the very close runners-up in receiving the ICCA Scholarship.

In other news from International Business staff, Martin Robertson, Olga Junek and Leonie Lockstone-Binney had their article 'Is this for real? Authentic learning for the challenging events environment' published this month in the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism 12 (3), p225-241