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Festival closes, but the region keeps innovatingThe Gippsland and Latrobe Innovation Festival concluded on Sunday after nearly a month of celebration of Innovation across the region. By Latrobe Shire Council - 1st June 2004 - Back to News Organisers estimate that well over 5000 people across Gippsland attended the events staged as part of the Gippsland and Latrobe Innovation Festival.
Acting Latrobe City Chief Executive Officer, and Acting Chair of the Marketing Advisory Panel, Paul Buckley, said Council had been delighted with the response to the festival.
"Events Latrobe and Latrobe City had a role as a leader and facilitator of this festival and we really appreciated the support from across the region, in particular Baw Baw Shire and South Gippsland Shire Councils," Mr Buckley said.
"AusIndustry and LatrobeFirst were major supporters of the festival, which had a number of highlights including the placement of a Gippsland Aeronautics GA8 in Federation Square for the Victorian launch of the Innovation Festival.
"Another big moment was when the Federal Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources, The Hon Ian Macfarlane, took the stainless steel baton presented to him at the Gippsland launch at Safetech in Moe to the National Launch of the Australian Innovation Festival in Sydney that evening. He read the message contained inside the baton to the assembled audience of 200 dignitaries and VIPs. The message read as follows:
‘The Gippsland and Latrobe Innovation Festival salutes the organisers, participants and attendees of the Australian Innovation Festival launch in Sydney.
Innovation brings together great cities and great regions across Australia.
We are proud to be active partners with the Australian Innovation Festival and wish all participants every success in their events and endeavours
Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley ‘Making good ideas happen’
"The Minister opened his speech with this message and it was greeted with a rousing applause," Mr Buckley said.
Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Darrell White, said that the Gippsland and Latrobe Innovation Festival had been the largest regional innovation Festival in Australia.
"While we can take great pride in the staggering number of events presented, the most important aspect of the festival is that it encouraged and celebrated innovation across the community.
"The organisers consciously built a program that involved all aspects of business and community life," Cr White said.
"Feature events included the official launch at Safetech in Moe; the Federation Health Gippsland Business Awards; the Latrobe Arts Innovation Week; and the two-day showcase of business and regional development activities at GREEN Inc in Churchill. In all over 50 events were held during the festival."
Cr White said the Festival has been an outstanding success, not simply because of the national exposure it gave Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley, but because it demonstrated that Gippsland really is an innovative region.
"We live in a strong and robust community, and this was certainly demonstrated during the four-week snapshot of life in Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley presented through the Festival," Cr White added.
Mr Buckley said that the organisers of the Gippsland and Latrobe Innovation Festival expressed their gratitude to individual event organisers and supporters of the Festival.
"The Latrobe Innovation Festival would not have happened without significant business and community support. We are grateful and look forward to working with them again in May 2005," Mr Buckley added.
"Though the Festival has closed for this year, Gippsland and Latrobe will keep on innovating," Mr Buckley concluded.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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