The 2023 Asia Pacific Fuel Industry Forum (APFIF) will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre between 4-6 September 2023. This two-day event boasts a new format commencing with a formal Welcome function for all delegates and sponsors on the night of Monday, 4 September and concluding with an inaugural National Awards Dinner on the night of Wednesday, 6 September 2023.
In recognition of the growing importance of the Convenience dimension of the fuel retailing industry, the 2023 APFIF will be conducted in tandem with the inaugural Convenience 360 Expo – an event designed to showcase the various stakeholders of the wider convenience and small format retail industry in Australia. This ‘Trade Fair’ style event is being delivered by Convenience World and will run over three days commencing on 5 September 2023 and concluding on 7 September 2023.
“The concurrent conduct of these two events – the APFIF and Convenience 360 – provides a unique opportunity for the conduct of a new landmark industry event that is two events in one”, said ACAPMA CEO Mark McKenzie.
“The teams at Convenience World and ACAPMA are working together closely to realise the potential synergies of conducting these events concurrently in a way that maximises value for attendees through a combination of a comprehensive conference program and an expo-style trade event”, Convenience World Managing Director Amy Harvey.
But it is not all work. The new format will include a formal welcome reception on the night of 4 September 2023, a conference breakfast on Day 1 of the APFIF and two networking dinner events. The first of these is the APFIF ‘Festival of Food’ style dinner. Organised with our supplier partners, the event will provide a ‘food hall ‘style setting with relaxed seating and some quality entertainment.
“The Festival of Food event on the first day is principally designed to provide an opportunity for delegates to kick back in a relaxed setting and network with others as they see fit”, said Mark.
The second is a formal gala dinner at the end of Day 2. Developed along the same format as the 2022 APFIF conference dinner in Adelaide, the 2023 event will also be used to ‘quietly recognise’ those businesses – P&C retailers, fuel distributors and suppliers. These National Industry Awards will seek to identify the businesses that we judge to be ‘living the contemporary values’ of a modern and progressive P&C industry in Australia (further information about these inaugural annual awards will be provided over the next two months).
“ACAPMA and Convenience World have been discussing the concept of a National Awards Program for several years”, said Amy.
“While we recognise that the P&C industry – especially the fuel industry – like to keep their heads down, we believe there is a genuine opportunity to ‘quietly recognise’ outstanding businesses in a critical services industry that generates over $100B in annual revenue and employs more than 65,000 Australians”, said Amy.
Work is continuing on the finalisation of the 2023 APFIF Conference Programme with a view to releasing the final conference programme in April 2023.
Feedback received from the 2022 event was very positive and much of this has been used to reframe the conference to provide an opportunity for a deep dive in six key areas via the conduct of six concurrent industry sessions. These sessions build on the well-established contractor workshop with the addition of a new Transport Distributor forum and four specialist industry sessions (new technologies, compliance, convenience innovation, and sustainability).
“In short, if you haven’t been to our APFI Forum in a while – or have never been at all – this is the year to join us,” said Mark.
The sponsorship prospectus for the 2023 Event – which includes an overview of the format of the event – has been released and can be downloaded at https://apfiforum.com/sponsorship.
Sponsors wishing to make inquiries about participation in the 2023 APFIF Forum should contact Julianne Young (ACAPMA Membership and Marketing Manager) by emailing julianney@acapma.com.au .
Similarly, businesses wishing to participate in the Convenience 360 Expo should contact Mel Mackie by emailing mel.mackie@retailmedia.com.
ACAPMA
Source: https://acapmag.com.au/2023/02/the-2023-apfif-event/.
