The gathering of members of the Australian Packaging & Processing Machinery Association at the Old Melbourne Gaol last night was not a ‘punishing’ affair, but rather one whose execution was well received by the industry professionals in attendance.
The first APPMA members dinner of the year, on 18 March in Melbourne, attracted some 100 representatives from the association’s member companies, business partners Exhibitions & Trade Fairs and Yaffa Media, and its sponsors, Natrio Logistics, AEI and Finlease.
The evening started with a tour of the Old Melbourne Gaol, where for almost 80 years, men, women and children were incarcerated for crimes ranging from murder to vagrancy. Between 1842 and its closure in 1929 the gaol was the scene of 133 hangings including the infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly. A popular section of the exhibition is a display of several items of Kelly memorabilia, along with the story of the Kelly Gang’s antics and final capture and demise.
Attendees were told fascinating stories of the inmates who spent time in its cells, including those incarcerated for minor misdemeanours who were housed alongside the state’s most dangerous criminals.
A sit-down dinner in one of the gaol’s hallways, with historically preserved prison cells leading off it, added a sense of drama to the night, as guests experienced a delicious dinner and convivial evening of networking with peers and colleagues.
APPMA chair Rob Marguccio provided an update of the Board’s activities planned for the year ahead, which include attending global meat industry trade show IFFA, and staging the Processing & Packaging Pavilion at the Industrial Transformation Australia trade show taking place alongside CeMAT from 22-24 July.
Marguccio also thanked Rym Kachouri for her service to APPMA (Kachouri stepped down from the board after eight-year tenure following a job change), and welcomed the two newest board members Nick Psahoulias of Beckhoff, and Phil Biggs of Foodmach.
