ABOUT US
TRADE SHOW TRAINING is a division of the Lester Donovan Group (Pty) Ltd., which owned and managed by Joy Donovan
Joy Donovan - Managing Director
LESTER DONOVAN
GROUP - HIGHLIGHTS
SUMMARY - over the last 37 years, Joy Donovan has organised over 200 exhibitions, ranging from 20 stands, alongside a conference to 25,000 m2 specialised trade shows, designed and constructed stands, or sold display systems, to thousands of companies, trained approx. 7000 exhibitors and consulted with dozens of organisations on various exhibition issues.. Joy is passionate about skills development in the field of trade exhibitions and has qualified as a training facilitator, assessor and moderator and is running South Africa’s first exhibition and event training company. In July 2009, Joy graduated from UCT with a Post-graduate diploma in Management Practice - Events.
In 2010 Joy was nominated by the 4 Event Associations
(EXSA, SAACI, TPSA and S.A. Roadies) of the Events Industry Board of the
Services SETA to drive forward the implementation of professional designations
for Event Coordinators and Event Managers. 2011 saw Joy inducted into the
inaugural EXSA Hall of Fame.
Prior to 1971 - Lester Donovan worked for Westbourne McClean
Hunter in U.K. as an exhibition organiser, staging
shows in U.K., Holland and Italy. Joy Donovan spent 10 years with Shell
Petroleum in London, running an administrative unit, before coming to South
Africa
1972 - Lester Donovan left Westbourne McClean Hunter,
Johannesburg, to start his own company organising
exhibitions
1973 - Joy Donovan joined the company as a director, as it had expanded
its services to include shell scheme, stand design and construction divisions.
1973 - 76 - Lester Donovan Group were one of the top 3 South African
stand-builders, with a crew of 40 carpenters and workmen. During this period,
203 exhibition stands were designed and constructed throughout Southern Africa.
1976 - Appointed by Marler Haley, U.K. to
manufacture and market, under license, knock-down display systems. These were
the first exhibition display systems available in Southern Africa - by the year
2007 over 50 different systems are available locally.
1980 - 86 - Organised 13 Fashion Trades Fairs
for the South African Clothing Industry, covering summer and winter fashions
1981 - Lester Donovan Group were one of the 13 founder members of EXSA,
Exhibition Association of Southern Africa, today EXSA has over 150 members.
1983 - Joy Donovan became Managing Director and took over sole
management of Lester Donovan Group
1986 - organised, designed and constructed
South Africa's participation in the Swaziland International Trade Fair, on
behalf of the Department of Trade & Industry
1986 - 89 - staged 4 Matchmaker Fairs, in Johannesburg, on behalf of the
American Government.
1986 - 91 - organisational assistance to the
S.A. Tourist Association, SATOURS, on the staging of Indaba, being the
International Tourism Show, FOCUS, for domestic tourism and LAPA, a hunting,
fishing and Safari exhibition.
1987 - 89 - organised, designed and
constructed South Africa's participation at FACIM, in Maputo, Mocambique, plus SITEV in Geneva, Switzerland, on behalf of
the Department of Trade & Industry
1988, 1993, 1998 - Dental Traders World Congresses. The first one was
held at the State Theatre, in Pretoria, where the client had 'forgotten' to
book build-up. This show set an unbroken South African exhibition record of 70
stands built, equipped and dressed in under 13 hours.
1991 - Joy Donovan wrote the first South African hand-book on
exhibiting, called 'How to be a successful exhibitionist'
1992 - organisational assistance and
construction of extensive Italian Craftsmanship Exhibition at the Market
Theatre, Johannesburg, on behalf of the Italian Government.
1994 - consulted to the Swaziland Government on
requirements for a new showground
1995, 96, 97, 98, 2000 organised the
International Franchise Expo, on behalf of the Franchise Association of
Southern Africa.
1996 - 98 - exhibition consultant to the Botswana International
Showground in Gaborone
1997 - asked by EXSA to research a general training course for
exhibitors. The EXSA Certificate of Trade Show Marketing course (CTSM) was
designed and presented by Joy Donovan as a new two-day professional
qualification.
1998 - 99 - organised Institute of People
Management exhibition alongside their major, annual conference.
2000 - Joy Donovan moved to England to set up an Event Division for a
London publishing company
2001 - Joy returned to Johannesburg and set up South Africa's first Trade Show Training Company
2002 – qualified as a National Qualifications skills Assessor plus trainer
2003 - Joy
was appointed by EXSA to lead the skills development initiative for the
exhibition industry. Wrote the unit standard and training course for an exhibitors qualification. Involved in writing the unit
standards for a new 4-year degree course in exhibition management that is being
registered with SAQA South African Qualification Authority
2004 – invited by SACEOS,
Singapore Exhibition Association to be a key-note speaker at their conference
in Singapore and to run 2 workshops for exhibitors.
2004 – attended the ‘Trade Show on Trade Shows’ and conference in
Chicago, U.S.A. This event is hosted by the American Trade Show Exhibitors
Association.
2004 – received provisional accreditation from the Services SETA,
as a trainer provider in exhibitions
2005 - appointed exhibition manager for the World Petroleum
Congress, taking place at Sandton Convention Centre,
September 2005.
2005 – qualified as a National Qualifications moderator
2005 – attended ‘Expo Expo’ in Atlanta, U.S.A. This conference and
exhibition is hosted by IAEM, International Association of Expo Management.
2006 - appointed EXSA's skills development project co-ordinator to manage the level 3 and level 4 learnerships, which Joy will moderate.
2007 - attended Exhibitor 2007 in Las Vegas, the largest educational event for exhibitors, in the world
2008 - trained hundreds of Craft exhibitors around the country on behalf of the Department of Trade & Industry.
2008 - facilitated a 5-day 'Events & Exhibitions Workshop' in Abuja, Nigeria
2009 - graduated from UCT with a Post-graduate diploma in Management Practice - Events.
2009 - driving the development of South Africa's first qualification for exhibitors
2010 - inducted as a member of the inaugural EXSA Hall of Fame
CONTACT:
Joy Donovan – Trade Show Training division of Lester Donovan Group (Pty) Ltd.
P.O. Box 458, Ferndale, 2160, South Africa Phone: 011-431-2312
Fax: 0866-44-3605 E-mail: joy@donovan.co.za or info@exhibitor.co.za
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