The night began with half of the attendees being involved in a workshop and discussion with
Sharron Ferrier from Persuasive Presentations. Sharron discussed the importance of
developing a network to gain opportunities for travel and future employment. She persuaded
her audience to download the social media platform ‘LinkedIn’, and to use this as a tool to
share their achievements and develop new industry connections. Her presentation was
inspiring and encouraging, leaving the audience with a lot of motivation towards building
their networks and many takeaway messages.

While the first group of attendees were becoming involved in Sharron Ferrier's presentation,
the other half had the opportunity to network with an enormous range of industry
professionals, peers, and a variety of other people. Various attending sponsor businesses held
stalls that surrounded the room. These businesses represented various sectors of the
agricultural industry, ranging from agronomy to livestock, business/finance, soil, consulting,
and many more. Youth attendees were encouraged to approach the various sponsor stalls and
connect with industry professionals, who volunteered to answer any question that may be
asked. The event served as a perfect opportunity for these companies to connect with
potential new employees, and share their knowledge and stories of their experiences with the
younger attendees.

After this, youth attendees were seated on one of the sponsor tables, where each table
corresponded to a business of their industry preference to dine with for the evening. The main
dinner proceedings began with Belinda Cay introducing herself as the MC for the night.
AUASA President Emily Chambers then gave her address and thanked her committee for
their part in organising the event. She then spoke a little bit about her journey and encouraged
students to make the most out of the event.

In true entrepreneurial style, each sponsor gave a 1-minute elevator pitch of why an attendee
should work for them as part of their sponsorship of the night. Industry sponsorship allows
AUASA to subsidise tickets for youth in agriculture heavily, so the event is more accessible.
It was great for our audience to be able to hear from such a huge number of industry
professionals in such a small amount of time. For many students, this highlighted for them
just how many different sectors there are in the agricultural industry, and how many
opportunities there are for them to learn and expand their networks from this event.

Simon Maddocks, who has a large amount of experience in regards to managing a career in
the agricultural industry, reflected on trends they have seen in agriculture. Rebekah Starick, a
recent University of Adelaide Graduate who now works at GRDC, gave an insightful speech
about how she transitioned into the workforce and what she has learned along her journey to
her current role.

​The final event of the night consisted of a panel with 3 industry leaders, discussing the most
prevalent topics in the agricultural industry. Three amazing industry leaders, Millie Moore,
Alexa Hearn, and Anthony De Ieso, began by discussing the challenges they have faced and
how they have managed their careers, including finding career pathways, managing burnout
and stress, and things they have learnt along the way. They then highlighted where their
industries have offered growth opportunities, and how students can get involved.

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Photographer - William Chau CREATIVE