icc sydney team

GEOFF DONAGHY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

In addition to his role at ICC Sydney, Geoff is Group Director of Convention Centres (Asia Pacific) for ASM Global and the Immediate Past-President of the Brussels based International Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) and is their representative on peak global body, the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC).

Geoff’s extensive experience in the business events industry was born from his airline and hotel industry experience. He headed the Cairns region’s successful tourism and convention bureau for five years before managing the 1996 opening of the Cairns Convention Centre, which was acknowledged as the “World’s Best Congress Centre” in AIPC’s 2004 and 2014 APEX Awards.

Geoff served five years as Chairman of the Business Events Council of Australia, where he steered greater government recognition for the industry. Geoff has been awarded the Australia Centenary Medal by the Federal Government, the Australian industry’s Outstanding Contribution Award, and the Joint Meeting Industry Council's Global Power and Profile Award.

Geoff’s rich industry experience and reach across the globe underpins his steady leadership of the ICC Sydney team and a world class venue featuring best practice services and client focused people.

ADAM MATHER-BROWN

GENERAL MANAGER

With a career in the convention and exhibitions industry spanning more than 30 years, Adam’s enthusiasm shines through his every interaction.

Specialising in pre-opening and opening phases, Adam played a pivotal part in delivering the revitalised Darling Harbour precinct and opening of ICC Sydney in December 2016 which has changed the face of the city for generations to come.

With exceptional attention to detail in delivering the best international practice and standards, Adam is known for his ability to think laterally with absolute consideration for the local environment.

He is equally passionate about maximising the flow on benefits of ICC Sydney's operations to reach a broad section of the community as he is about upholding Sydney's reputation as a world class business events destination on the world stage.

Adam has a keen interest in leadership and talent development, working with ICC Sydney's current and future leaders to hone their skills and reach their individual aspirations.

For Adam, ICC Sydney was a natural next step in an esteemed career that has seen his involvement in opening some of the world's top convention centres including the Durban International Convention Centre, Cape Town International Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, and most recently, the Qatar National Convention Centre.

BEVERLEY PARKER

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Beverley brings a wealth of industry experience to ICC Sydney developed through global exposure to the corporate, conference, incentive, leisure, inbound and exhibition sectors.
 
In her role as Director of Business Development, Beverley oversees the venue’s business development strategy. She is a renowned event professional who has attracted some of the world’s most prestigious business events and conferences to ICC Sydney, establishing partnerships across Australia and the world including North Asia, North America and Europe.
 
She has played a pivotal role in establishing ICC Sydney’s reputation on the global stage since its opening in December 2016, successfully building the venue’s international and national event pipeline before its doors were officially opened. The venue’s track record for welcoming clients back on repeat business is a further endorsement of her leadership.
 
Prior to joining ICC Sydney, Beverley was the Director of Sales and Marketing with the former Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and has held senior executive roles with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Accor Asia Pacific.
 
Having worked with some of the country’s most well regarded brands, Beverley has an innate ability to establish and nurture strong relationships, working collaboratively towards successful outcomes time and time again.
 
She is an inspiring leader with the proven ability to forge and sustain high performance teams, mentoring her staff and taking pride in their success and career development.
 
Beverley is passionate about promoting Sydney as a world class business events destination and lives and breathes all the city has to offer.
 
 

SAMANTHA GLASS

DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND COMMUNICATION

A founding member of ICC Sydney’s leadership team, Sam developed the communications and marketing strategies that have resulted in establishing one of the business events industry’s strongest brands. 

Story-telling, building emotional connection and strong stakeholder engagement have been core to ICC Sydney’s successful brand development throughout its pre-opening, launch and operational phases.

Sam steered the venue to major communication accolades including Best Business to Business Campaign at the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) National Golden Target Awards, PR Asia B2B Campaign of the Year and contributed to ICC Sydney’s 25 awards in its first year of operation.

Prior to joining ICC Sydney, Sam’s communication and corporate affairs track record, both domestically and internationally, included working with The GPT Group, Weber Shandwick and Warner Brothers. 

A passionate brand ambassador, Sam is delighted to be a part of ICC Sydney’s world class team in delivering extraordinary experiences for clients and patrons. 
 

LYNELL PECK

DIRECTOR OF CULINARY SERVICES

ICC Sydney’s Director of Culinary Services, Lynell Peck is an industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in hospitality and event management at leading venues.
 
Lynell leads a team of more than 500 people to deliver an extraordinary culinary experience at ICC Sydney. She has set new culinary standards across the board with ICC Sydney’s presentation, imagination and product sourcing, including an emphasis on collaborating with an extensive network of NSW-based food and beverage suppliers and producers.
 
Lynell is deeply passionate about innovation, creativity in business and collaboration as a pathway to achieving excellence. Her current focus is ensuring ICC Sydney grows its reputation as a world class event precinct and maintains, and further enhances, its status as one the world’s most successful major convention, exhibition and live entertainment venues.

The exceptional service and commitment displayed by Lynell and her teams has been recognised through numerous accolades including, NSW Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence 2018 Sydney Metropolitan Function/Convention Centre Caterer.

Prior to joining ICC Sydney, Lynell spent 17 years of her career with Australian Turf Club Ltd across a variety of senior operational leadership roles. Earlier in her career, Lynell held senior food and beverage management roles with a range of international 5star hotels including the Park Lane Hotel (now Sheraton on the Park) and previous to this, she worked with the Regent International Hotel Group in Australia, America and New Zealand.
 

MALU BARRIOS

DIRECTOR OF EVENT SERVICES

Malu Barrios has spent over 20 years at Director level in the events industry; developing and implementing venue management strategies across a variety of major convention centres and event venues throughout Australia.
 
She is a seasoned ASM Global executive, having successfully launched three of the global venue management group’s facilities prior to undertaking her current role of Director of Event Services at ICC Sydney.
 
Malu previously held the position of Events Director of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, General Manager of the Darwin Convention Centre, and General Manager of Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island, where she ensured the seamless transition of events from the interim facility to ICC Sydney.
 
Malu was an instrumental member of the ICC Sydney opening team and has since overseen the delivery thousands of world class events since it’s opening in December 2016.
 
In her role as Director of Event Service, Malu oversees the teams involved in ICC Sydney’s event planning, event operations, customer service and live events. Her team is often considered to be the engine room of ICC Sydney, working hand in hand with clients to bring their extraordinary event visions to life.
 
Under her guidance, ICC Sydney’s operations have gone from strength to strength and have been recognised with numerous industry accolades. This includes the Exhibitions and Events Association of Australasia (EEAA) Best Venue Team in 2018 and 2019 and being awarded the Best Event Venue – Capacity over 1500 from the prestigious Meetings and Events Australia (MEA) 2019 National Awards, amongst others.
 
She has a global reputation for being a first class leader and is well recognised for her expertise and advocacy of business events. Malu was recognised as the inaugural Unsung Hero of the event and exhibition industry by the EEAA in 2017 for her significant contribution over many years.
 
 

BRIAN NASH

DIRECTOR OF AUDIO VISUAL SERVICES

Brian brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the ICC Sydney team as the Director of Audio Visual Services.

Having spent the majority of his life on, near or around a stage, Brian has an immense passion and dedication for event production. With more than 30 years’ experience, he is an exceptionally experienced operator who has worked on numerous touring productions, festivals and venues including the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Brian and his team of more than 200 technology experts are responsible for sourcing, testing and delivering creative audio-visual (AV) systems and processes to support a year-round calendar of events across multiple spaces at ICC Sydney.

He oversees the installation, testing, commissioning and operational readiness of all systems and equipment to ensure a seamless transition between the testing and operating phases of events, delivering extraordinary sound, visuals and technology for ICC Sydney clients every time.

Part of ICC Sydney’s landmark opening team, Brian is highly regarded as an industry veteran who has set a new benchmark for venue technology including the launch of ICC Sydney’s world leading Hybrid Event Solutions model, developed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
 

STEPHAN SULLIVAN

DIRECTOR OF BUILDING SERVICES

ICC Sydney’s Director of Building Services, Stephen Sullivan is a highly skilled, strategic executive with post graduate qualifications in Facilities Management – with over 20 years’ experience in Facilities Management, Strategic Asset & Property Management, Property Operations and Infrastructure Services Management for global and local blue chip organisations in various sectors including, Communications and Advertising, Retail, Tertiary, Commercial and Finance industries.

Having worked on both service provider and client side of operations, Stephen brings a distinct understanding of service delivery to ICC Sydney. He is responsible for the FM Interface Management Services, Presentation Services, Assets & Trades, Car Parks and Logistics and Security Operations Teams.

Stephen is adept at leading high performing, multi-disciplinary teams; forging and maintaining key relationships with strategic partners driving consistency and superior customer service delivery whilst always ensuring safety, health and wellbeing is of paramount importance.
 

NATALIE BRITT

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

As Director of Human Resources at ICC Sydney, Natalie Britt empowers the venue’s team members to achieve ICC Sydney’s mission – operate an extraordinary venue with extraordinary people who win, run and support extraordinary events.
 
Natalie was compelled to move into the business events industry and play a part in achieving ICC Sydney’s ambition to be Australia’s premier integrated convention, exhibition and entertainment venue by attracting and nurturing the best talent in the sector.
 
Her role entails driving the venue’s people strategy with best-in-class HR processes, policies and practices, to make ICC Sydney an extraordinary place to work for world class professionals.

Prior to joining ICC Sydney, Natalie held various HR leadership positions based in Hong Kong, the Middle East, the UK and Asia Pacific regions. Her extensive experience spans the defence, aviation, hospitality, media & telecommunications, logistics and government sectors, including roles at Broadcast Australia, Serco Defence and Etihad Airways.