Suren Naidoo
IN THE mid-1990s Nina Freysen-Pretorius was an upstart twenty-something PR graduate who got a job in Durban's nascent conferencing industry. Today she's the owner of The Conference Company, one of South Africa's largest and most noted professional conference organisers, and run by a 28-strong all-women team.
The company has just been appointed by the eThekwini Municipality as the official conference organiser of the UN COP17 climate change conference in Durban from November 28 to December 9.
Freysen-Pretorius has become one of Durban's top businesswomen, but she's not one to sing about her success, as Network discovered in an interview with her at her company's headquarters in Morningside. She chooses instead to focus on her business and the industry's development.
Her dedication to the sector has seen her rise to the top echelons of the conferencing industry in South Africa and globally. She is the chairwoman of the South African Association for the Conference Industry (Saaci) and the only South African on the board of the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA).
Last year she was voted second deputy president of the ICCA by her international peers, and in 2008 was also invited to serve on the board of Tourism KwaZulu-Natal.
A consummate professional and hotshot in what nowadays is referred to as the Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry, Freysen-Pretorius remembers vividly how it all started.
"After the conferencing and events company I worked for closed its doors, I found myself without a job. But, it was not the end of the world and I continued to do work for a couple of my old clients. I decided to start my own business and in 1997 I established The Conference Company," she said.
The timing was appropriate because Durban had just built South Africa's first world-class convention centre, the International Convention Centre (ICC), which opened in 1997. And Freysen-Pretorius's new business would grow with the Durban ICC.
"It was the classic entrepreneurial story of starting my own business out of my house with just myself. And I got my mom answering the telephone? But, while people think this is cool, starting a business from home does not always work. It was not long before I rented a small office," she said.
Today, at 40, she is proud of her company and the team of women running it out of three offices, in Durban, Cape Town and Joburg. She confessed that when she started she never imagined it would become such a big operation involved with some of the most high-profile conferences to be hosted in South Africa.
Freysen-Pretorius was quick to warn that although the conference industry might seem glamorous, it required a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work because it was up to the conference organiser to deliver the goods.
"This is not an easy industry. You have to have the passion and will to work hard and be in it for the long haul to make it. You can't just come in to make a quick buck because it's the kind of industry that you have to build credibility in over time," she said.
"One of the biggest challenges is maintaining cash flow because professional conference organisers invest a lot of time and resources in organising a conference sometimes years in advance.
"Also, while you have to focus on organising the events, you also have to continuously look out for new business. The industry is noted for its huge peaks and terrible valleys, so in the conference business you have to get the right balance and manage risks.
"The industry has changed tremendously since I first started. At that time I made a living mainly on commission. But today the industry is a lot more professional and is well organised, with organisations like Saaci and the ICCA. The conference or business-tourism sector is taken more seriously, with professional conference organisers and other companies in this industry having high service levels and seen as fully-fledged businesses.
"Companies like mine are integrally involved in overall project management and assisting in putting bids together for association conferences? Being part of the ICCA has given me unbelievable exposure to the workings of this industry and future trends. I am also proud to represent my country and continent on this association."
The Conference Company has been involved in organising the World Chambers Conference in 2005 and International Confederation of Midwives in June, among a long list of major events. But, Freysen-Pretorius said, the big one was COP17 at the end of the year.
"We are delighted to have been appointed by the city as the main professional conference organiser for COP17. It is a monster conference and is expected to be the biggest conference South Africa has ever hosted, with more than 20 000 participants anticipated.
"I believe Durban was the right choice to host the event. Just looking at the scale of the event, the ICC has the best and most extensive facilities and space to handle a UN event of this size?
"Without the ICC, Durban would never have been able to secure such major events, a fact that we often underestimate. It has given us a competitive advantage in business tourism, especially now with competition for events tougher than ever."
Freysen-Pretorius described herself as an optimist, always trying to see the positive side of things.
"I'm a bit philosophical, but I also believe in treating everyone with respect. I am big on trust and also demanding professionalism."
She joked that she was a mom of three boys - her two sons and her husband.
"I have two young sons and a much older kid to take care of in my husband? They are great and we love to take time out walking on Durban's beachfront. That's got to be one of the best things to do in Durban, a city I love."
Nina Freysen-Pretorius is at the top of the conference game, which |is why her company is organising the UN's COP17 meeting in Durban.