Our people set us apart

Introducing some of the wonderful talent we work with and their stories.

At criterion a ‘Bell Ringer’ is an employee who consistently goes above and beyond to deliver wins and results that benefit the wider team or business as a whole. They understand the bigger picture and are working collaboratively to maximize their contribution and the success of others. Their enthusiasm and impact is so visible their peers and colleagues nominate them for our monthly recognition award.

Meet some of our amazing employees and Bell Ringers.

Danny Rogan
Delegate Sales Campaign Manager

Why did I join Criterion? I was recommended by a friend

Read more about Danny

Tell us about your role at Criterion… My role consists of outbound sales – hunting for new business opportunities.

Tell us about the culture in your team… In the sales team, the culture is great. Everyone has a laugh but we make sure it doesn’t affect the work we do. If someone was looking for a good working environment and enjoys a good laugh, Criterion is the place.

My proudest moment at Criterion… Getting the bell ringer award.

Some interesting facts about me

A random fact about me… I have a poor tattoo of my mum’s name on my back and my uni logo on my leg
At the weekend I love to… Drink copious amounts of alcohol
A book that moved me…. Angela’s ashes

Matt van Gend
Graphic Designer

Why did I join Criterion? I was fresh out of uni with a design degree and wanted to get my foot in the door and Criterion was cool enough to give me a shot!

Read more about Matt

Tell us about your role at Criterion… I handle all the ‘creative’ stuff, prioritising my time towards designing brochures. I do some logo, banner, and website design on the side.

Tell us about the culture in your team… It’s a very open and welcoming atmosphere within the marketing team. We bounce ideas off each other and everyone’s voice is heard.

My proudest moment at Criterion… So far it’s probably been presenting my finished design concept of what the new Criterion website could potentially look like.

Some interesting facts about me

If I had a superpower I would… be a teleporter – bugger the cost and time of plane flights.
The best bit of advice I’ve ever been given is… “have more than you show, speak less than you know” (except at a job interview).
A random fact about me… is that I only recently discovered the meaning behind my surname, which is ‘van Gend.’ Apparently ‘van’ means ‘of’ the city you’re from. So I’m Matt of Gend. I Google mapped Gend in the Netherlands and it’s a dump haha.

Brooke Busse
Customer Care Manager

Why did I join Criterion?One of my housemates was working on the data team when I first moved to Australia and always talked about how fun his new company was. When he mentioned there was a job opening, I hopped on the opportunity to apply!

Read more about Brooke

Tell us about your role at Criterion… I’m the Customer Care Manager at Criterion. I assist with bookings, online chat, email and phone enquiries, finance, and general office admin..

Tell us about the culture… The culture in my team is great. With a group of 5 women, we love a good chat over some chocolate or wine!

My proudest moment… Being apart of the Corproate Giving Commitee. We recently help a fundraiser for the Smith Family and raised $3,618 in house.

Some interesting facts about me

At the weekend I love to…go to the beach and hang out with friends
A book that moved me….The Help
My guilty pleasure is….pizza and ranch, all day every day

Karki
Sponsorship Manager

Why did I join Criterion? I heard a lot of good things about the company from a few people I knew already worked here and wanted to try it out for myself.

Read more about Karki

Tell us about your role at Criterion… I am one of the Sponsorship Managers. I source and screen credible solution providers and initiate corporate partnerships to support our conferences.

Tell us about the culture… The culture is great. I report to a Director who is very positive and supportive. My team and I get along really well and support and look out for each other. We work hard and stay focused on targets and revenue expectations but we also do make sure we appreciate the small wins and celebrate the big wins along the way.

My proudest moment… Winning the bell ringer award is definitely up there. Getting a deal in my first week and getting to 100 delegates at a recent Aged Care conference are some of my other achievements.

Some interesting facts about me

If I had a super power I would…. be invisible

A random fact about me… I played gridiron for Sydney Uni

On the weekend I love to… spend time with my family

A book that moved me… The old man and the sea

My guilty pleasure is… playing video games

Katherine Kingsle
Senior Producer and Team Leader

Why did I join Criterion? I wanted to combine my passion for research and knowledge sharing with something practical that would actually make a difference. My role at Criterion allows me to do this by identifying some of the big changes happening across our key industries, and creating tailored conferences that bring practical solutions to our delegates.

Read more about Katherine

Tell us about your role at Criterion… As a Senior Producer, I am responsible for identifying potential conference topics, conducting in depth research to develop a conference program and selecting leading speakers to present solutions at the conference. I also manage a team of two producers. I develop conference topics for them and support them to research and produce their own events.

Tell us about the culture… Production is full of unique and passionate individuals with a wide array of surprising interests and skills. I am always learning something new from my team mates and laughing about memes. Production is a team that works hard to produce great events, but we also play hard. Highlights include a wine tasting trip to the Hunter Valley and various celebratory birthday lunches.

My proudest moment… I am really proud of my very first Hit Conference – Mental Health for First Responders. It was one of the first conferences I produced and it was a brand new event. We had about 6 contacts in Salesforce when I started production, so I had to do a lot of research from scratch. It was amazing to see this event grow and reach profit.

Some interesting facts about me

If I had a super power I would…. Be able to teleport

A random fact about me… I am obsessed with podcasts and will constantly tell people about them

On the weekend I love to binge watch TV shows and think about them critically

Mardi Herisson
Enquiry Sales

Why did I join Criterion? For the opportunity to learn and develop news skill to help with my career. It also looked like a fun working environment.

Read more about Mardi

Tell us about the culture… always up for a laugh and always working hard.

My proudest moment was… smashing my manger’s record for highest revenue in a week.

Some interesting facts about me

If I had a super power I would…. travel through time

A random fact about me…. my favourite colour is orange

My guilty pleasure is…. musicals and biscuits

David Huggan
Senior Sponsorship Manager

Why did I join Criterion? I joined Criterion because my clients were telling me that they were getting a lot of value from intimate, specific forums rather than large expo’s. I reviewed the entire conference industry and Criterion stood out because we only run demand-based conferences about specific problems and issues. My sponsorship customers enjoy our events because they get a lot of “face time” with decision makers who have paid to be there.

Read more about David

I work in Sponsorship Sales so my role is finding the right solution providers for our conferences, and that means organisations who 1) add value to the conference, 2) network with the delegates onsite and 3) conduct efficient follow-up to generate ROI. Then I love being onsite to make sure that my sponsors meet the delegates and get the most out of the event – that’s the really fun part. I also tend to sing a song in front of the whole office when I get a sale!

The culture is “work hard, play hard”, and getting the balance right. We work hard to smash our targets and then celebrate success when the sales come in. Anyone who puts 100% into the role can do very well.

My proudest moments happen a lot – it’s basically when a client tells us that they made a sale out of sponsoring one of our conferences. It’s even better if I was instrumental in making sure they initially met onsite. It’s all about ROI for me and my customers. You can justify spending budget on a Criterion conference by measuring your return.

Some interesting facts about me

The best bit of advice I’ve ever been given is… to network, network, network! I often go to functions and events outside of Criterion’s forums and the best thing to do is to talk to as many people as possible – you can gather so many new contacts by introducing yourself to people

A random fact about me… I once starred in a short movie in which I played a vampire hunter and I got to see it on the big screen

On the weekend I love to… Spend time with my family, go to the beach, barbecue parties with friends and watching English football

My guilty pleasure is… Wine. Bring me a glass of a nice red and I’m a happy and chatty man

Lisa Bell Ringer

Lisa Nguyen
Marketing Assistant

At the time, I was looking for opportunities to compliment my university education. Criterion Conferences had a vacant position and I thought it would be a great opportunity to find out more about the organisation. From the moment I stepped into the doors, I knew that Criterion would be a perfect fit!

Read more about Lisa

What do I do? I help out everyone in the marketing team. Everyday, I always have different tasks to do so there’s never a boring moment!

The Criterion team are passionate about their roles and are always looking for ways to innovate. As a medium-sized company, we are a tight-knit family that is always looking to expand.

The perks of working at Criterion Conferences are:

Being surrounded in an open and friendly environment where you can express your opinions
Building strong relationships with your colleagues
Having a great work-life balance
The fast paced environment; you will always have something to do

My proudest moment was being nominated as Bell-Ringer during my first three months of working at Criterion Conferences.

A few interesting facts about me

A random fact about me… my breakfast consists of chicken teriyaki sushi rolls
On the weekend I love… to bake and watch all of the house-related TV shows on 9Life
A book that moved me… The Art of the Hustle by Edward Mullen. It follows the inspiring tale of a young man that becomes a billionaire before the age of 30
My guilty pleasure… bread sticks dipped in Nutella

Ante Batistic
Business Analyst

I joined Criterion for a new challenge and a step up in my career.

Read more about Ante

What do I do? I guess I kind of work behind the scenes making sure that all the numbers make sense at the end of the month

Whats the culture like at Criterion? The culture here is very open and collaborative, which is quite different from most financial departments

My proudest moment at Criterion? Winning bell ringer and becoming a member of the MLT (Middle Leadership Team)

A few interesting facts about me

If I had a super power I would… time travel
A random fact about me is… I have a double jointed thumb
On the weekend I love to….. sleep!

Criterion Corporate Giving Committee

With the growth of our organisation and our core values of Quality, Energy, Leadership and Innovation, we aim to raise awareness and make a difference to causes close to our hearts through a series of events, with a major focus on having fun!

Read more about the CGC

We are wonderfully weird team that gel together and produce great results. Criterion allows you to express yourself in the most unique way and bring your quirks to make our workplace fun.

Our proudest moment was the 2016 Criterion Chili Eating Contest! We’re proud to have raised over $2,100 for House of Welcome, which supports refugees and asylum seekers in their transition to life in Australia.

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