Last Wednesday, our YO Events volunteers had the fantastic opportunity to attend the 2025 FReeZA Youth Summit, a day focused on professional development and bringing young people together in the events industry.
The day began early, with the YO Events team and Jesse and Chelsea meeting at Bendigo Train Station at 6:30 AM to catch the train to Melbourne. While our regional team faced a bit of a challenge navigating the series of trams required to get there we were able to make our way to the Melbourne Recital Centre to join FReeZA teams from across the state.
The Summit kicked off with an announcement about FReeZA’s rebranding to “Amplify,” followed by a series of workshops led by industry professionals and FReeZA facilitators. Throughout the day, key topics such as intermediate event management and content creation were covered. We also took part in an interactive problem-solving session, collaborating with other young people from multiple local government areas, from rural to metropolitan, to tackle common event challenges, gaining insights from different perspectives and learning from each other.
One of the most valuable aspects of the Summit was the chance to network with other FReeZA teams. We made new connections, exchanged ideas, and shared strategies for successful event planning.
In addition to the summit, the team enjoyed some well-earned downtime. We visited the Melbourne Aquarium for a fun team bonding activity, where we saw sharks, jellyfish, turtles, and of course, the main attraction—Pesto the penguin! 🐧
After a busy but rewarding day, we wrapped up with a nice dinner at Grill’d before catching the train back to Bendigo.
Looking ahead, the team is excited to apply the skills and insights gained at the FReeZA Summit to future projects, bringing fresh ideas and a deeper understanding of what’s possible when it comes to community event planning in regional areas.
If you know someone interested in gaining experience in event planning, or who would benefit from personal development and team-building opportunities like this, we encourage you to recommend them for the YO Events volunteer team!
Click here to find out more about joining YO Events and what the team is all about.