A Message from our New Chair

At the recent Melbourne Forum AGM, I was elected to Chair the Forum for the next three years. This is an honour and a privilege and I look forward to much engagement with each of you. I joined MF quite a few years ago at the invitation of Andrea Hull, one of the original founders who herself was a previous Chair. Personally, I have benefitted enormously from being a member. I have been challenged and informed by the great conversation leaders we bring to our members and our robust conversations around a lunch table, drinks, dinner or a Zoom session.

As John Ridley rightly reminded us in his thoughtful and wide-ranging AGM address, we aim to be a rich part of Melbourne’s intellectual and cultural life – a place where bright and passionate minds come together and gain exclusive insights on the important issues of today and tomorrow. We are a community of curious, connected and interested Melburnians and MF gives us access to the highest level of expertise and real-world lessons that our conversation leaders – all with a reputation for excellence – bring to the table.

But we each have a role to play in building our influence, our outreach and contributing recommendations regarding those who might lead one of our conversations.

As mentioned at the AGM, I have two ‘asks’ for each of us so that we thrive into the future.

• The first is that we need to grow our curious, informed and committed member base.  From your network of colleagues, friends and acquaintances, who might both gain from and contribute to our discussions and exchanges?  Do they know about the Forum? Who might you be able to bring along to one of our events?
   
• The second is that we are always open to member suggestions about themes, topics, speakers or conversation leaders in which you are interested. We know that we have members with many different interests, so what is it that you would like to see in our program over the next 12 months or so?  And if you have some great contacts in the areas in which you are interested, we are always keen to hear them. Please share them with Vin Massaro the Program Committee Chair (vin.massaro@me.com) or myself.

We are currently confirming our Program for the early part of 2025, but below are the final events for this year and early 2025. Be sure to Save the Date for the 2025 events which will open for bookings in December.

I look forward to hearing from you and having you join us at these events.

Regards

Marianne B