PEOPLE

Synergy’s transformation

journey accelerates

Leading exhibition and event organiser, Synergy Business Events, is proud to announce the directorship appointment of Phetogo Kubheka who will join Director Martina Komane and Managing Director Tiisetso Tau on the company’s executive team.

“Phetogo Kubheka’s appointment is testimony to the incredible value she brings to the company. Despite her young age, she is a natural leader and has risen to every opportunity that has come her way," says Tau.

"Synergy Business Events has always had a succession plan to nurture up-and-coming talent – and specifically black female talent – to take up executive posts and make their mark in the MICE space. We look forward to seeing how she will take on her new role and help our business grow and thrive into the future.”

Kubheka’s 15-year career path is rich with MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) experience, having worked across its value chain. Her previous positions exposed her to the inner workings of conferences, corporate events, exhibitions, incentives and venue hire and marketing. However, she has always returned to her first passion – exhibitions and events.

In this space, she has taken on roles like International Shows Manager and Foreign Pavilion Manager for prominent trade shows such as WTM London, ITB Berlin and Asia, IMEX Frankfurt, and EMITT Istanbul. It was here that she honed her organisational brilliance and impressive skills for relationship management.

After being head hunted to join Synergy Business Events in 2017 as Sales Manager, Kubheka was quickly promoted to Account Manager, followed by Head of Operations. During this time, she worked on key accounts such as South African Tourism’s two trade exhibitions, and this is where her abilities shone brightest. She sold out the 2018 Meetings Africa and Africa’s Travel Indaba in a third of the time each of the shows normally require, while also exceeding Africa’s Travel Indaba’s previous year’s exhibitor numbers by 10%. These exceptional achievements were acknowledged with a Top 40 Women in MICE Award that same year.

“I am humbled by the promotion and excited for my new role that gives me the opportunity to contribute to the direction and growth of the company. I am grateful to have been under the mentorship of Tiisetso Tau, who has paved the way for those who are to come after him and ensured a strong foundation had been laid in transforming the industry,” says Kubheka.

Driving transformation is integral

Driving transformation is integral to how Synergy Business Events operates. Since its inception in 2010, and under Tau’s guidance, the business has evolved from a majority white-owned and managed joint venture called Scan On Show, to now being 100% black owned and run, with a proud level 1 B-BBEE achievement. “I’d like to give my thanks to Justin Hawes for stepping down as director and giving Kubheka this opportunity,” says Tau. “Succession planning

was always our intention from the very beginning, with a long-term view to transformation through mentorship and creating opportunities for the next generation. It has been a ten-year journey to get here, and I am immensely proud of our achievements, but this is only the beginning. We need more Kubheka’s of the world to step up.”

He adds that his plan is to grow Kubheka into the position of managing director in the next three to five years.

Kubheka has also taken on the task of mentoring and coaching within her team. The company culture of knowledge sharing, enrichment and growth has helped Synergy Business Events consistently uphold its values of service excellence.

Repeatedly proven its capabilities for managing high-profile events

While blazing a trail for what authentic black economic empowerment can look like, the company has also grown aggressively and repeatedly proven its capabilities for managing high-profile events. Its portfolio includes the World Congress on Healthy Ageing 2015, Meetings Africa 2018-2020, Africa’s Travel Indaba 2018-2019, GovTech 2019, Lilizela Tourism Awards 2019 and the Comrades Marathon Expo 2020.

More recently, Synergy Business Events has expanded its footprint into Africa, having just signed an MOU with Rwanda Convention Bureau to manage the African Coffee & Tea Expo 2021 in Kigali.

“Despite the disruption that the COVID pandemic has had, and continues to have, on our sector, we are optimistic about the future. The African market is hungry to reopen, and we are ready to reignite the MICE industry,” Tau adds.

For more information, please contact Tiisetso Tau on +27 11 476 5104 or ttau@synergybe.co.za. You can also visit synergybe.co.za.

Phetogo Kubheka, recently appointed director at Synergy Business Events.

Synergy Business Events has been a trusted partner in local and international events and exhibitions since 2010. Our extensive experience with a highly skilled team extends across some of the biggest exhibitions and events in Africa, including Comrades Marathon Expo (2020) GovTech (2019), The Lilizela Tourism Awards (2019), and newly secured Africa’s Coffee and Tea Expo.

Our commitment and continuous growth have managed to establish Synergy Business Events in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) Industry. As a proud Level 1 BBBEE Company, we boost credentials of having hosted some of the country’s largest events and exhibitions.

Our ability as an organization allows for us to be scalable and provide best of breed technological platforms for our events. This includes an integration of physical and virtual events through social media and meeting platforms.

The 2020 COVID pandemic has meant that we provide our clients with business events solutions to meet the new way of managing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.