Leading exhibition and event organiser Synergy Business Events is proud to announce the directorship appointment of Phetogo Kubheka. Kubheka will join Director Martina Komane and Managing Director Tiisetso Tau on the company’s executive team.
Tau says, “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. 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.”
“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.”
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 show titles 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.
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%.
Kubheka says, “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 Mr 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.”
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 be 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. This company culture of knowledge sharing, enrichment and growth has helped Synergy Business Events consistently uphold its values of service excellence.
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.
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.
Tau adds, “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.”
For more information, please contact Tiisetso Tau on +27 11 476 5104 or visit synergybe.co.za.
