Ron Kaufman is one of the world’s leading motivational keynote speakers on the topics of achieving service excellence, increasing customer satisfaction, retaining loyal customers, and building sustainable service cultures. Rated one of the “Top 25 Who’s Hot” speakers by Speaker magazine, Ron presents powerful insights and global best practices from working with clients in every industry and on every continent for more than thirty years. His energetic keynote speeches have inspired millions, frequently earning standing ovations from audiences of all ages. In 2018, GlobalGurus rated Ron the #1 customer service guru in the world. Ron travels worldwide to speak at company meetings, industry conferences, and association events throughout the year.

Ron is author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller, “Uplifting Service! The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues and Everyone Else You Meet” and 14 other books on service, business and inspiration. He is the founder of Uplifting Service, a global education and consulting company that enables leaders and organizations to build sustainable cultures that win the hearts and minds of customers, colleagues, and partners.

Melbourne is the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with over 5 million inhabitants in its metropolitan area (approximately 19% of the national population). It was ranked by the EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) as the most livable city in the world, due to its strengths in education, research, healthcare, development, entertainment, tourism, and sports. Melbourne is also a major financial and economic center of the Asia-Pacific region and ranks among the first 15 cities on the globe in the Global Financial Centers Index. It host the headquarters of important banks and multinational companies, including ANZ, BHP Billiton, the National Australia Bank, Telstra, CSL, Sigma Pharmaceuticals, Nintendo and General Motors. Melbourne is considered Australia’s most important cultural center, hosting large events and festivals such as the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Melbourne Fringe Festival, the Melbourne Writers Festival and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Moreover, in 2008 UNESCO voted Melbourne as a City of Literature. Melbourne is home to various cultural institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Australian Center for Contemporary Art, the theatres located in the East End Theatre District, the Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Victorian Opera.

Melbourne as a Conference Destination

Melbourne is a major convention and conference center, hosting annually a large number of such events. Some of the most important ones include: the Chief Customer Officer Melbourne and the Customer Experience Innovation & Tech Fest, two of the largest events about customer experience and technology from Australia; the Melbourne Digital Marketing Conference, a venue for leading experts in digital marketing from all around the world; the Technology and Gadget Expo Melbourne, the largest consumer tech show from Australia; and the Blockchain Conference Melbourne, a major platform for Australian and international specialists to explore the newest trends in Blockchain technologies.

Melbourne Food Options for Conference Delegates

There are many excellent restaurants you can choose from during your conference in Melbourne. Here are some of the most well-known ones: the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant (Phone: +61 3 9695 4000), serving extraordinary Australian dishes on a vintage-decorated tramcar moving through the streets of Melbourne; Grossi Florentino (Phone: +61 3 9662 1811) and Ciao Cielo (Phone: +61 3 9646 7697), two luxurious Italian restaurants offering a large variety of fantastic dishes; Bistrot d’Orsay (Phone: +61 3 9654 6498), an upscale French-Mediterranean restaurant; Moha (Phone: +61 3 9629 5900), the best Middle Eastern restaurant in Melbourne; and Minamishima (Phone: +61 3 9429 5180), a cosy Japanese restaurant.

Melbourne Attractions for Convention Attendees

There are numerous highly rated tourist attractions you can visit after your conference in Melbourne, including: the Federation Square, a contemporary public space in the city center containing many restaurants, museums and art galleries; the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, a wonderful, 36 hectare botanical garden open since 1846; the Queen Victoria Market, the largest open-air market from the Southern Hemisphere (7 hectares); the Puffing Billy Railway, where you can take open-air trains for amazing views of lush rainforests; the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia’s largest and oldest museum, founded in 1861, and containing vast collections of Australian and international artworks.

Conference Center Venues

Melbourne, Australia has a large number of great conference centers and facilities, such as:

Cliftons Melbourne (Location: Collins St.)
Ether (Location: Little Bourke St.)
Karstens Melbourne (Location: Queen St.)
Melbourne City Conference Centre (MCCC) (Location: Swanston St.)
Melbourne Conference & Training Center (Location: William St.)
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center (Location: Convention Centre Pl.)