Lead Aspire 2024 Conference FAQs

The conference will run over 1.5 days and be at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park in the Grand Ballroom. This is also the hotel where you will be staying for the night.

The 2024 Conference and Awards is for Centre Managers only, It is compulsory for Centre Managers to attend the conference (unless you are on annual leave or have a health/personal reason previously discussed and approved by your PM to not attend) It is up to the CM to choose who else from their CLT they would like to attend in their place if they can’t make it.

One team member per centre is required to attend, please speak to your Portfolio Manager if you are unsure who from your centre should attend.

Smart casual is the dress code, you will be given a t-shirt on day one for you to wear on day two so please consider appropriate options to wear with it.

Please refer to the sizing chart on the Biz Collection website HERE. Feedback from previous years has been that the t-shirts run small, so consider ordering up a size.

Yes, the Pullman has $18 “self-parking” per day. When you pull up just advise the concierge you are with Guardian and they will point you to the car park, the cost of this will be covered by Guardian. Where possible, see if you can car-pool with other team members who live near you.

RSVP’s close Friday 28^th June to allow us enough time to book flights and accommodation for everyone.

In addition to notifying your line manager, please email [email protected] to let us know you are not coming. If you fall ill on the day of departure, please call Georgina Simonsen 0412 088 783 to advise that you are unable to attend.

No, due the nature of the agenda and the integrity of the guest speakers’ presentations, we will unfortunately not be able to live stream the conference.

Lunch and afternoon tea will be provided at the hotel on the first day. Dinner on the Thursday evening (awards night), and breakfast, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea at the hotel/conference venue on the Friday. Attendees from interstate are permitted to expense up to $25.00 for a meal whilst travelling home on the Friday evening.

These situations will be considered on a case-by-case basis, please email [email protected] with your request.

Centre managers should not backfill themselves on 29 & 30 August. Centres, as always, have the freedom of how they utilise their flexi hours, but cannot exceed their hours.

No code needed, please roster yourself as usual for these days.

You will be room sharing with another team member of your choice. When you complete your RSVP form, you will be asked to nominate 3 team members whom you’d like to share with, and we will guarantee it’s one of those people. Use this as an opportunity to network and get to know your fellow colleagues. If you believe you require a single room for a medical or personal reason, these will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to apply for a single room, please do so by emailing [email protected] with your request and we will respond to your email with the outcome by August 15^th

Yes, the Pullman has $20 “self-parking” per day. The car park entrance is on the corner of Lorne St & Queens Lane at the back of the hotel, enter the car park and take a ticket. The cost of the parking will be covered by Guardian, we will issue you a pre-paid parking ticket at registration on day one to use upon exiting. Where possible, see if you can car-pool with other team members who live near you.

Yes, when you RSVP, please specify that you require a hotel room for the night. You will need to travel to and from the hotel at your own cost should you wish to stay, car parking is available on site for $20 a night, please specify upon RSVP’ing that you require car parking at the hotel for the night, we will issue you a pre-paid parking ticket at registration on day one.

The conference will finish at 4.30pm on the first day (August 29) and the Awards night commences at 6.45pm, if this is not enough time for you to get home and back, please organise to get ready in one of your colleagues’ rooms who is staying on site or you can use the change rooms in the health club at the hotel.

Guardian will cover the cost of the transport for interstaters from their home to the airport on Thursday and the airport to home again on the Friday. We do ask that you please consider the most economic route and that you carpool/ride-share with your fellow colleagues where possible. Consider driving to the airport and parking overnight.

Check in for your flight as per normal with Virgin/Qantas and make your way to the gate allocated on the day. Closer to the time we will allocate you to a Portfolio Manager at the airport who will be marking the roll, please find them at the gate to notify them you have arrived. Likewise, when you land in Melbourne, please proceed off the plane and to the baggage carousel together and to the bus pick up area, again your PM will mark your name off the roll as you get on the bus.

Yes, you can bring one suitcase to check in weighing 23kg.

Please allow time to get to the airport on time to avoid this happening as we will need to book you a new flight in this instance, and this may mean missing part of the conference on the first day. Please call Georgina Simonsen on 0412 088 783 if you miss your flight and we will work to get you on the next available flight.

Do not panic! All flights have been booked with our travel agent, in the first instance the travel agent will contact the Conference Coordinator (Georgina Simonsen) to organise alternate flights for you, we will then text you with your new flight details. The airline will likely contact you directly to advise the flight has been cancelled, but just sit tight, we will get it sorted and update you ASAP.

No, there will be one set flight outbound and inbound flight from SA, ACT and our regionally located centres. There will be two flights from QLD and NSW that all attendees will be on together. Flight times and details will be published on the website in the Event Information tab closer to the time.

Buses will be provided to take you to the hotel and to return you to the airport on the Friday, times and locations to get on/off these buses will be provided at a later date in the Event Information section of the website.

Please make your own way to the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park, 65 Queens Rd, Albert Park VIC 3004.

No, for those based in Melbourne we ask that you make your own way to and from the conference to most economical way possible for you. Where possible, carpool with your colleagues who live in a similar location to you or utilise public transport.

Yes, the Pullman has $20 “self-parking” per day. The car park entrance is on the corner of Lorne St & Queens Lane at the back of the hotel, enter the car park and take a ticket. The cost of the parking will be covered by Guardian, we will issue you a pre-paid parking ticket at registration on day one to use upon exiting. Where possible, see if you can car-pool with other team members who live near you.

Yes, but due the nature of how the flights have been booked with Virgin/Qantas we cannot facilitate changes to the set flights, should you wish to stay on in Melbourne for the weekend you are welcome to do so but we will not cover the cost of your return flight. Please specify when you RSVP that you do not require a return flight.

The Aspires Awards night is at a venue called “The Glasshouse” located on Olympic Park Oval. It will be a sit-down meal and awards ceremony.

We have hired buses to drive you from the Pullman to The Glasshouse. The buses will depart at 6.00pm and 6.15pm from the hotel, you will be told what bus you are on at the end of day 1 of the conference. If you live in Melbourne and are coming from home, please make your own way to The Glasshouse, you can drive and park at Eastern Plaza Parking for $7.50 which can be charged back to Guardian. It is a 500m walk from the carpark to the venue. Please ensure if you are driving that you drink responsibly.

Buses have been hired to take you back to the hotel at the end of the awards night. The buses will depart at 10pm, 10.30pm and 11pm so you can choose when you’re ready to leave the dancefloor!

Yes – the dress code is cocktail and the theme is “Feathers & Pearls”

The Top Two finalists from for each award category (north & south) will be invited to attend the Awards Night, however it is not compulsory to attend. This will only be for the Aspire Awards and not the Conference.

Yes, we will live stream the Aspires Awards Night so your centre team can cheer you on! The link to access the live stream and timings of the awards will be shared closer to the time.

The Top Two finalists for each category (North & South) will be invited to join the Aspires Awards Night, however, attendance is not compulsory. The Top Two finalists will be announced on the August 2nd.

The Aspires Awards night will be held at The Glasshouse, Olympic Drive, Melbourne from 6.45-10.30pm on Thursday 29^th

The Events team will email your personal email address on Friday 2^nd with the link to the RSVP form, alternatively, it can be found on the Lead.Aspire Conference Website, please refer to Guardian Way for the link to the site.

Yes, a member of the Guardian Events team will contact you in August if you are a Top Two finalist, and they will organise return flights and accommodation for you overnight in Melbourne.

No, Top Two finalists are invited to the Aspires Awards only.

Yes the dress code is cocktail and the theme is “Feathers and Pearls”.

The Hotel is the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park, 65 Queens Road Albert Park.

No, there will be one set flight outbound and inbound flight from each state that all attendees will be on together. Flight times and details will be published on the website in the Event Information tab closer to the time.

Check in for your flight as per normal with Virgin/Qantas and make your way to the gate allocated on the day. One week before the event we will allocate you a “buddy” at the airport so you can stick together for your journey to Melbourne, Likewise when you land in Melbourne, please proceed off the flight and to the baggage carousel together and to the bus/taxi pick up area together to ensure no one gets lost along the way.

Yes, you can bring one suitcase to check in weighing 23kg.

Please allow time to get to the airport on time to avoid this happening as we will need to book you a new flight in this instance, and this may mean missing part of the awards evening. Please call Georgina Simonsen on 0412 088 783 if you miss your flight and we will work to get you on the next available flight.

Guardian will cover the cost of the transport for interstaters from their home to the airport on Thursday and the airport to home again on the Friday. We do ask that you please consider the most economic route and that you carpool/ride-share with your fellow colleagues where possible. Consider driving to the airport and parking overnight.

Via Taxi, a member of the events team will contact you the week before to confirm who you will ride share with and provide you with a “cab charge” to pay for the taxi.

You will be room sharing with another Guardian team member. If you believe you require a single room for a health or personal reason, these will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you would like to apply for a single room, please do so by emailing [email protected] with your request.

No, awards finalists that are Melbourne based will not have rooms at the hotel. You can charge your transport to and from the venue to Guardian on either your corporate card or personal card and we will reimburse you.

If you live in Melbourne and are coming from home, please make your own way to The Glasshouse, you can drive and park at Eastern Plaza Parking for $7.50 which can be charged back to Guardian. It is a 500m walk from the carpark to the venue. Please ensure if you are driving that you drink responsibly.

In addition to notifying your line manager, please email [email protected] to let us know you are not coming. If you fall ill on the day of departure, please call Georgina Simonsen 0412 088 783 to advise that you are unable to attend.

RSVP’s for Top Two finalists close on Friday 9^th August 2024 to allow us enough time to book flights and accommodation for everyone.

Yes, we’re still finalising details and will publish it here on the website when it’s ready, stay tuned!!

Please email [email protected] with your question and we’ll get back to you ASAP.