From left: Mitch Mulligan, Andrea Trumble, Luke Wooldridge, Sarah Moore, Mark Canavan, Peter Harper, Russell Cavenagh, John Wall, and Ian Martin
Visual Connections has finalised its board for 2024, with the new-look leadership group gathering this week to formulate the supplier association’s strategy for the next five years.
Board members attended the strategy session, which was convened to set the direction for the supplier association into the medium-term future, guided by its mandate to support a sustainable future for the sector.
Mitch Mulligan, managing director of Böttcher Australia, will lead the board as president, supported by Andrea Trumble, marketing manager of Pozitive Sign & Graphic Supplies, who will assume the vice-presidency. Immediate past president John Wall will take over as treasurer.
The trio will lead a team which represents a broad spectrum of the print, sign, and wider graphic communications sector. This includes long-term board members Russell Cavenagh, managing director of Mutoh Australia, and Ian Martin, general manager – trade for Ferag.
Luke Wooldridge will also rejoin the leadership group following his appointment as national product manager for HVG Graphics Media, as well as Mark Canavan, marketing and vendor relations manager at Graphic Art Mart, and Alex McClelland, managing director at ORAFOL Australia.
Mulligan said the association is fortunate to attract such high calibre people to the board. He also paid tribute to his predecessor, John Wall, who led the board until the end of 2023.
“I would like to thank John in particular for his leadership over his term as president, and look forward to continuing to work with him as he serves as treasurer, and welcome Andrea to the executive, where I know she will deliver some important new insights and fresh ideas,” said Mulligan.
“As a representative organisation, it is absolutely vital to ensure we accurately understand the views and needs of our rapidly evolving sector and continue reflect the priorities of our members.
“To deliver, it is important to have consistency and stability, as well as new perspectives and insights. The balance in this group is excellent, with a number of valued, long-term Board Members as well as a group of talented and enthusiastic more recent appointees,” he said.
Achievements for the association over the past 12 months included the Visual Impact show held in Sydney, and an expanded 2024 careers program – Sign & Print Career Connections – announced in October. While the careers initiative is locked in, as is the Visual Impact Expo to be held in July in Brisbane, Mulligan said there are also a number of other exciting initiatives on the agenda following the strategy retreat.
“The board, together with the leadership of the Visual Connections operational team, have had some very interesting and positive discussions over the past couple of days, and we are keen to get started.
“2023 was an exciting year, and we are set to build on that momentum as we deliver even more exciting initiatives in the year to come.
“As always, we will be taking a collaborative approach and look forward to working with our colleagues and fellow industry associations to continue to deliver the exhibitions, events, education and other initiatives which play such an important role in supporting a sustainable future for our industry.”
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