Mentors
Derek Shepherd
Derek Shepherd is a sales and marketing professional with an extensive background in the aviation, hospitality and tourism industries.
He has been employed for over 30 years at a senior/executive management level with a number of high profile international companies including, Ansett Australia, Hayman Island Resort, Flag International and Qantas.
Derek's involvement in the Victorian tourism industry includes:
- Director - Tourism Alliance Victoria
- Chair - Great Ocean Road Marketing Inc
- Member - Hanging Rock Development Advisory Committee
- Member - Tourism Macedon Ranges Inc
- Immediate Past Chair - Daylesford & Macedon Ranges Tourism Inc
He is the immediate past Chairman of Daylesford and The Macedon Ranges Tourism Inc (Jigsaw Campaign Committee), and a member of the Hanging Rock Development Advisory Committee.
He currently operates a tourism and hospitality advisory business.
Glenn Warren
Glenn is currently one of the Directors of Grampians Adventure Services. Established in 1989 Grampians Adventure Services is now a multi-site operation located in the Grampians National Park and South West Victoria. Grampians Adventure Services has won many tourism awards including being inducted into the Victorian Tourism Hall of Fame in 2004, the Australian Tourism Awards 2003 -2004 and numerous local awards. Through the company’s customer focus and achievements new and returning customers have come to recognise and trust Grampians Adventure Services as one of Victoria’s and Australia’s leading adventure companies.
On a sustained diet of chocolate, Glenn is still very active in the tourism industry. Apart from still being a very much hands on activity instructor, he is in high demand as a guest presenter throughout Victoria.
Tom Smith
Tom Smith is on the Board of Tourism Alliance Victoria, which was formed in mid-2004 from a merger of the Country Victoria Tourism Council (CVTC) and the Victorian Tourism Operators Association. Mr Smith was formerly Chairman of the CVTC.
Mr Smith was first appointed to Tourism Victoria’s Board in 1995. He was reappointed in 1997, 1998, and 2000 and again in April 2003. Mr Smith is a member of Tourism Victoria ’s Human Resources Committee.
Helen Hardwick
Helen is Program Manager Destination Management with the City of Melbourne. Helen and her team are responsible for tourism policy and strategy, tourism research, the sustainable tourism program, and providing advice on the city’s visitor services network and infrastructure.
Helen has worked in tourism and travel for 14 years, in both the public and private sectors. Prior to working for the City of Melbourne, she worked for the South Australian Tourism Commission as the Ecotourism and Product Development Manager and as the Commercial Projects Manager at Traveland.
The City of Melbourne is a previous Victorian Tourism Awards winner – for the City Ambassadors Program and the Melbourne Visitor Centre.
Helen has been a judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards (2004), the Chair of the Victorian Judging Panel (2005), a mentor (2006 and 2007) and a judge of the Australian Tourism Awards (2005, 2006 and 2007). Helen is currently the Deputy Chair of the Victorian Tourism Awards Mentor Panel (2008).
Bill Callan
Bill Callan is currently the State Manager, Victoria for EBM Insurance Brokers, the tenth largest insurance broker in Australia and one of the largest privately owned insurance brokers in the country.
Bill has worked in the Insurance industry for 24 years both in National and international organizations. This included a secondment to London, broking international business into Lloyds and the London insurance market.
Prior to Bill joining EBM Insurance Brokers last year Bill had been heavily involved in the Tourism sector, from an insurance perspective, through his involvement with Tourism Alliance Victoria (and previously VTOA). Over this time Bill had seen the effects Insurance had had on the viability of the Tourism industry and has provided briefings to industry and Government on how they should adapt to the changing insurance market and the importance of best practice. In conjunction with Industry he was also involved in providing insurers with assistance and advice in support of their case to Government for Tort reform.
In 2002 the Victorian Government provided a “rescue plan” to Adventure Tourism operators who were having difficulty in either obtaining insurance or obtaining insurance at a viable cost. Bill had a significant involvement in the negotiations of this arrangement as well as the administration.
Bill is a previous judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards.
Wendy Jones
Wendy is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Keep Australia Beautiful (Victoria). Wendy Jones was previously Chief Executive Officer of Restaurant & Catering Victoria the peak industry body for restaurants, cafes and caterers for the past five years.
Wendy spent nearly ten years involved in the tourism and hospitality industry in Darwin where she had involvement both at a strategic level and as a participant in the tourism awards in the Northern Territory guiding Tourism Training NT to consecutive Brolga Awards.
She returned to operate her own hotel in regional Victoria some eight and a half years ago prior to being approached to join Restaurant & Catering Victoria as their Interim CEO. Some five years later she is still passionate about her role and the industry.
A background in human resource management complements her industry background and she retains a special passion for what makes the people side of the industry tick. This is Wendy's third year as a judge of the Victorian tourism awards something she considers to be both an enormous responsibility and privilege.
Wendy is a previous judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards.
Tom Stafford
Tom Stafford has an extensive history in the hospitality industry and is currently the Tourism Services Manager for VECCI. He recently completed a three year stint with The Ascott Group, including two years in Singapore as Senior Manager HR, overseeing global organisation development for the company.
Previously Tom was HR and Training Manager for Quest Apartments. He originally commenced his career in his parents guesthouse, 'The Hermitage' in Narbethong, whilst studying teaching. After a short time in the classroom Tom decided to enter the hospitality industry working for the Grand Hyatt. He then worked for a range of training providers in the private and state sector before spending time at Tourism Training Victoria where he was active in the development of national competency standards and accreditation within Victoria. Tom ran the Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association for a number of years prior to moving to Quest.
He has been active in the industry, currently sitting on a number of Boards and believes strongly in the strength of the industry through participation.
Tom is a previous judge of the Victorian Tourism Awards.
Julie Busch - General Manager, Prahran Market
Julie Busch has worked for more than 20 years in Queensland , South Australia and Victoria in retail property, development and leasing, management and marketing. Before her move to focus on development of food retail, Julie worked for Melbourne Central and Coles Myer. She was a member of the Melbourne Central retail team who were recipients of a number of Tourism Awards.
Julie holds tertiary qualifications in Arts, Journalism and Psychology together with Property and Shopping Centre Management. She is the past chair of retail committee for Property Council of Victoria.
Michelle Campbell - Director Minc Communications
Michelle Campbell has had a strong association with the Victorian Tourism Awards for the past three years. She was responsible for submissions for The Mansion Hotel that resulted in the three successive wins and a Hall of Fame award. Michelle has also been a presenter at awards briefing seminars.
Michelle established her own marketing communications company, Minc, in February 2004 and specialises in PR, advertising, events, direct marketing and promotional solutions for premium lifestyle brands. Her major clients include The Mansion Hotel at Werribee Park, Shadowfax Winery and the Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award.
Prior to Minc, Michelle worked in senior marketing roles for The Mansion Hotel, Shadowfax Winery, Georges, the Sportsgirl Sportscraft Group, Coles Myer and Grand Hyatt Melbourne.
Throughout her career, Michelle has achieved exceptional results in all areas of marketing communications, working with very small budgets, and her individual efforts have been paramount in the successes of the businesses she has represented.
Meg Law
Meg has worked in the fields of marketing, promotions, media and tourism for the past 11 years and has had extensive experience in writing and entering submissions in the Victorian Tourism Awards, winning 5 x State Awards and 1 x National Award.
A former journalist and newsreader on radio, Meg is currently Marketing Manager at Geelong Grammar School, after making a recent sea-change from Melbourne to Jan Juc. Before this recent change, Meg was Marketing Manager for Hallmark Cards Australia where she was responsible for promoting and marketing over 45 worldwide licenses including Disney, Mattel, Warner Bros and Marvel.
Prior to this, Meg worked in Marketing at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne for over 3.5 years and was heavily involved in the creation of the tourism award-winning Children’s Garden and the Australian Garden. Prior to this Meg worked in public relations for various local councils throughout Victoria and before this was working in the radio industry for 4 years.
Meg remains actively involved in the tourism industry and is keen to share her passion for writing award submissions with other entrants.
Sara Jones
Sara Jones has over 18 years experience in marketing, communications, media, promotions, public relations and business development. Most of her roles have been with non-profit organisations so she understands the difficulties of working with limited staffing and financial resources.
In her past position as the Marketing & Development Manager with the Koorie Heritage Trust, Sara gained extensive experience in writing and entering winning awards submissions, including:
-2004 Victorian Tourism Award Minister’s Encouragement Award
-2005 Victorian Tourism Award in the category of Indigenous Tourism
-2006 Victorian Tourism Award in the category of Indigenous Tourism
-2007 Victorian Tourism Award in the category of Indigenous Tourism (Hall of Fame)
-2007 Australian Tourism Awards (Highly Commended)
-2005 Reconciliation Australia’s BHP Billiton Inaugural National Award for Indigenous Governance
-2006 Gnunkai National Indigenous Tourism Award for best tourist organisation
Sara is currently a Board Member of the Backpacker Operators Association of Victoria (BOAV) and was also a Board Member of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA) until recently. Sara was a judge of the 2007 HMAA Awards (Hotel Motel & Accommodation Association) and the 2007 Melbourne Airport Developing Tourism Leaders Awards.
Sara is now keeping busy in her exciting new role as General Manager of both Australian Aboriginal Management Solutions (AAMS) and Black Olive Productions. AAMS is a unique consultancy offering business solutions for Aboriginal and non-Indigenous businesses in tourism, marketing, business development, cultural interpretation, Traditional Owner cultural liaison and policy review. Black Olive Productions features the culinary talents of Australia’s most acclaimed Aboriginal chef and television presenter Mark “The Black” Olive and offers unique Indigenous catering, a product range of Indigenous herbs and spices and appearances by Mark at tourism events, chef’s tables and launches.
Carine Bourcier
Carine Bourcier has over 15 years experience in marketing, business development, promotions, public relations and training in the Events, Tourism and Travel Industry in Australia and abroad. Her career history spans from international tour companies to Australian Inbound tourism to Business and Sports Event marketing and business development.
Carine is currently Manager – Aquisitions and Development for the prestigious Victorian Major Events Company, after making a recent move, after almost six years at the multi award winning Regional Tourism Association of Geelong Otway Tourism.
In her past position as the Business Events Manager with Geelong Otway Tourism, besides developing a leading Business Events Unit for the region, Carine gained extensive experience in writing and entering winning award submissions, including:
* 2004 Victorian Tourism Award for Meetings and Business Tourism
* 2004 Australian Tourism Award for Meetings and Business Tourism
* 2006 Victorian Tourism Award for Meetings and Business Tourism
* 2006 Australian Tourism Awards for Meetings and Business Tourism
* 2007 Victorian Tourism Award for Meetings and Business Tourism
* 2007 Australian Tourism Awards for Meetings and Business Tourism
Throughout Carine’s career, as a result of her efforts, she has achieved exceptional success for the various businesses that she has represented.
Carine is an active and enthusiastic member of the Victorian Tourism and Events industry, is a board member on a number of industry committees and believes strongly in working co-operatively for the benefit of the entire industry and the value of the Tourism Awards as an integral business development tool for a business.
Professor Brian King
Brian has been Director of the Making VU Program within the Division of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Institutional Services) at Victoria University since April 2007. Making VU is a major strategic repositioning leading to the University’s centenary year in 2016. Brian was previously Head of the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing (from 1998 to 2007). He is a Visiting Professor at AILUN University in Sardinia, Italy.
Brian has extensive tourism management experience and maintains his industry involvements at board level (Western Melbourne Tourism) and was a judge in the Australian Tourism Awards (2006-7). He has consulted to international development agencies in the areas of tourism marketing and human resource development.
He has authored several books including Creating Island Resorts, Tourism Marketing in Australia and Asia-Pacific Tourism. Regional Planning, Co-operation and Development. He is currently Chair of the International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE). He co-ordinated ABC Radio’s Tourism in the Asia-Pacific Region series.
Brian is Founding and Current Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Tourism, Culture and Communication and is an elected fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism.
