August 2016
Good afternoon Mel,
I just wanted to send an email to thank you for your involvement and contribution to the Australian Women’s Leadership Symposium in Darwin on Wednesday. I really appreciate you giving your time to share your insights with the attendees on the day.
Please see below for some of the speaker feedback:
· Please continue to share your stories - you are truly an inspiration and I feel extremely privileged to have heard you speak. Thank you.
· I liked that there were different ideas and perspectives on leadership as it provided different models for my own career.
· Thank you for the valuable insights and engaging subject matter
· Each of the speakers were unique and spectacular. Really appreciated their snippets of wisdom and the sharing of their stories.
· Presenters were great. Very engaging.
· Very interesting stories and progression of the speakers, and an excellent panel discussion!
· The lessons learnt from today's speakers reinforced the necessity of helping others to develop and grow. To know that it doesn't matter where you came from, where you are or where you are going, we are all leaders.
· It has given me some fantastic ideas on how to assist others, particularly other females. It is not something that I have considered or pondered on, but I will be more conscious of this now in both my working and personal life.
· Wonderful, open and candid.
· Hearing from highly successful women that they have achieved so much by living this way makes you realise taking a step back to be happy is perfectly okay.
Thank you once again.
Kind regards,
Thomas Slugocki
Senior Event Manager
Women & Leadership Australia
P 1300 138 037 | F 1300 451 031 | W www.asam.edu.au | E tslugocki@asam.edu.au
A Level 9, 607 Bourke Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
November 2015
On behalf of PRIA National Conference Committee, please accept our thanks for your valuable contributions to our conference program. All of the feedback we received from delegates relating to your session has been positive. We also thank you for coming back on Day 2 of our program to participate in the panel discussion, your contributions to that session were fantastic.
I’d also like to thank you for coming through on short notice to be the MC for our National Awards Ceremony. The ceremony is a difficult one to keep on track, but you did so with flair and made it look easy (and I know it wasn’t…!). You were quick on your feet and used humour brilliantly to keep things under control, I would absolutely recommend you for any MC work in the future.
Johnathon Parker
National Events Manager
Public Relations Institute of Australia
On behalf of PRIA National Conference Committee, please accept our thanks for your valuable contributions to our conference program. All of the feedback we received from delegates relating to your session has been positive. We also thank you for coming back on Day 2 of our program to participate in the panel discussion, your contributions to that session were fantastic.
I’d also like to thank you for coming through on short notice to be the MC for our National Awards Ceremony. The ceremony is a difficult one to keep on track, but you did so with flair and made it look easy (and I know it wasn’t…!). You were quick on your feet and used humour brilliantly to keep things under control, I would absolutely recommend you for any MC work in the future.
Johnathon Parker
National Events Manager
Public Relations Institute of Australia
November 2015
Wow Mel! Thank you, thank you thank you!
We are so grateful we are that you made the journey over to the UK to be part of our world conference in London. You blew people away with your presentation, your energy and passion and unique story you shared were such a breath of fresh air to our programme. You were the talk of the event Mel, your down to earth and personable approach and the way you relate to people is a masterclass in communication skills.
You really are a superstar and broke many hearts when you left! You have certainly stirred up the crowd and have inspired many people on a professional and personal level. Thank you for your time and effort and energy.
Kind Regards,
Deborah Higgins MBCI
Head of Learning and Development
The Business Continuity Institute
Wow Mel! Thank you, thank you thank you!
We are so grateful we are that you made the journey over to the UK to be part of our world conference in London. You blew people away with your presentation, your energy and passion and unique story you shared were such a breath of fresh air to our programme. You were the talk of the event Mel, your down to earth and personable approach and the way you relate to people is a masterclass in communication skills.
You really are a superstar and broke many hearts when you left! You have certainly stirred up the crowd and have inspired many people on a professional and personal level. Thank you for your time and effort and energy.
Kind Regards,
Deborah Higgins MBCI
Head of Learning and Development
The Business Continuity Institute
September 2015
Dear Mel,
On behalf of the Year Six girls at St Mary’s College, I would like to thank you most sincerely for the outstanding talk you gave at our school on Monday 14th September. As part of our Junior School Parliament, it was an inspiring and educational experience for our students to hear your words of encouragement and a clear message that the options for young people growing up in our modern society are many and varied. Your ability to target the minds of twelve year olds was outstanding and they were captivated for the entire time. It was fascinating for all of us to hear about your own pathway which has led you to where you are now and what you have achieved in such a diverse range of areas.
We wish you all the very best for the coming years ahead and look forward to hearing about what you do next.
Yours sincerely,
Nicky Wakefield
Year Six Teacher
St Mary’s College, Hobart
Dear Mel,
On behalf of the Year Six girls at St Mary’s College, I would like to thank you most sincerely for the outstanding talk you gave at our school on Monday 14th September. As part of our Junior School Parliament, it was an inspiring and educational experience for our students to hear your words of encouragement and a clear message that the options for young people growing up in our modern society are many and varied. Your ability to target the minds of twelve year olds was outstanding and they were captivated for the entire time. It was fascinating for all of us to hear about your own pathway which has led you to where you are now and what you have achieved in such a diverse range of areas.
We wish you all the very best for the coming years ahead and look forward to hearing about what you do next.
Yours sincerely,
Nicky Wakefield
Year Six Teacher
St Mary’s College, Hobart
August 2015
June 2015
A copy of my 'speaker evaluations' after the World Conference on Disaster Management in Toronto, Canada (June 2015)
August 2014
Dear Mel,
On behalf of the Women & Firefighting Australasia Conference Committee, thank you for your valuable contribution to our WAFA 2014 Conference in Canberra. Your session was incredibly inspiring, motivating and empowering.
The conference was a huge success, with more delegates attending, increased Agency support and extremely positive feedback from all who attended.
Most importantly, we were extremely proud of the conference program which, we believe successfully addressed many of the current issues whilst maintaining a focus on possible solutions. The feedback from the delegates confirmed the program catered well across the rural and urban spectrum and that the speakers were both inspirational and motivational. We were grateful to have you two amazing women as part of it. As I said on Friday, hearing from you and the Firefoxes puts some perspective on the issues we tackle in the urban space. All three of you just simply answered a community call and made things happen.
We gathered lots of feedback and suggestions during the conference which have been collated and will form the basis of a list of recommendations for supporting agencies.
I know how much effort goes into making your presentation and travelling around the world for conferences, so we are truly grateful for the time and research you committed. I hope you enjoyed your time with us and we look forward to maintaining contact with you for future projects.
Thanks again and good luck in your future endeavours and completion of study.
Kind regards
Bronnie Mackintosh
Chair, WAFA
Dear Mel,
On behalf of the Women & Firefighting Australasia Conference Committee, thank you for your valuable contribution to our WAFA 2014 Conference in Canberra. Your session was incredibly inspiring, motivating and empowering.
The conference was a huge success, with more delegates attending, increased Agency support and extremely positive feedback from all who attended.
Most importantly, we were extremely proud of the conference program which, we believe successfully addressed many of the current issues whilst maintaining a focus on possible solutions. The feedback from the delegates confirmed the program catered well across the rural and urban spectrum and that the speakers were both inspirational and motivational. We were grateful to have you two amazing women as part of it. As I said on Friday, hearing from you and the Firefoxes puts some perspective on the issues we tackle in the urban space. All three of you just simply answered a community call and made things happen.
We gathered lots of feedback and suggestions during the conference which have been collated and will form the basis of a list of recommendations for supporting agencies.
I know how much effort goes into making your presentation and travelling around the world for conferences, so we are truly grateful for the time and research you committed. I hope you enjoyed your time with us and we look forward to maintaining contact with you for future projects.
Thanks again and good luck in your future endeavours and completion of study.
Kind regards
Bronnie Mackintosh
Chair, WAFA
July 2014
Dear Mel,
I wanted to write and let you know that I thought your presentation at Connection! 2014 was amazing! We were short on time, and you had so much to say. As I've said elsewhere, we rushed through the slides a bit, and it was hard to absorb all of the important statistics you mentioned. Is it possible to get a copy of the presentation slides? I'd like to put them on the VOST Victoria members only website for the volunteers to look at.
Your presentation was perhaps the most important of all of #AEMICX14, because it dealt with a real-life scenario that occurred to an ordinary individual - and could occur again. The Tassie Fires We Can Help page is doing amazing work long after the disaster. By presenting your statistics to the emergency management industry, you've given us valuable insights into how to manage the massive surge of volunteers that evolve during a disaster.
Social media is an integral part of our lives now, and as Martin Anderson said, it's business as usual.
I really enjoyed meeting you, and do apologise that it took me a moment to recognise you. My brain was fried from learning so many incredible things; I was lost deep in thought when you said hello.
I would like to stay in touch with you Mel, on Twitter, and by email. I would like VOST Victoria to have the opportunity to apply the lessons you are trying to teach us.
I think both you and Jason were the stand-out performers for me. I loved your enthusiasm and belief that we can overcome the massive social media surge that occurs during catastrophe.
Warm regards,
Brad Lemon
Operations Manager
VOST Victoria
@tyabblemons
Dear Mel,
I wanted to write and let you know that I thought your presentation at Connection! 2014 was amazing! We were short on time, and you had so much to say. As I've said elsewhere, we rushed through the slides a bit, and it was hard to absorb all of the important statistics you mentioned. Is it possible to get a copy of the presentation slides? I'd like to put them on the VOST Victoria members only website for the volunteers to look at.
Your presentation was perhaps the most important of all of #AEMICX14, because it dealt with a real-life scenario that occurred to an ordinary individual - and could occur again. The Tassie Fires We Can Help page is doing amazing work long after the disaster. By presenting your statistics to the emergency management industry, you've given us valuable insights into how to manage the massive surge of volunteers that evolve during a disaster.
Social media is an integral part of our lives now, and as Martin Anderson said, it's business as usual.
I really enjoyed meeting you, and do apologise that it took me a moment to recognise you. My brain was fried from learning so many incredible things; I was lost deep in thought when you said hello.
I would like to stay in touch with you Mel, on Twitter, and by email. I would like VOST Victoria to have the opportunity to apply the lessons you are trying to teach us.
I think both you and Jason were the stand-out performers for me. I loved your enthusiasm and belief that we can overcome the massive social media surge that occurs during catastrophe.
Warm regards,
Brad Lemon
Operations Manager
VOST Victoria
@tyabblemons
A copy of my 'speaker evaluations' after the World Conference on Disaster Management in Toronto, Canada (June 2014)
August 2014
September 2014
We had Mel in to speak to a group of year 11/12 students and some business leaders that were acting as mentors to the students. Mel tailored her presentation perfectly for this diverse group. She was flexible in the length and topic of her presentation and really connected with the students, whilst offering sound, sensible advice. The feedback from the students and mentors about Mel’s presentation was universally positive and many mentioned that they felt privileged to have had the opportunity to be there. I would definitely recommend Mel as speaker for school groups, I will certainly be asking Mel back to speak again next year!
Sarah Taylor
Hobart College
We had Mel in to speak to a group of year 11/12 students and some business leaders that were acting as mentors to the students. Mel tailored her presentation perfectly for this diverse group. She was flexible in the length and topic of her presentation and really connected with the students, whilst offering sound, sensible advice. The feedback from the students and mentors about Mel’s presentation was universally positive and many mentioned that they felt privileged to have had the opportunity to be there. I would definitely recommend Mel as speaker for school groups, I will certainly be asking Mel back to speak again next year!
Sarah Taylor
Hobart College
September 2014
As an individual Mel Irons is a passionate woman who cares about her local community and wants to see the world we live in become a better place. However what makes Mel different is she does something about it and has something to say. This coupled with excellent presentation skills and a passionate speaking ability, make her the ideal speaker on all things social media and community engagement. I would thoroughly recommend her.
BECHER TOWNSHEND
MANAGING DIRECTOR, FONT PR
As an individual Mel Irons is a passionate woman who cares about her local community and wants to see the world we live in become a better place. However what makes Mel different is she does something about it and has something to say. This coupled with excellent presentation skills and a passionate speaking ability, make her the ideal speaker on all things social media and community engagement. I would thoroughly recommend her.
BECHER TOWNSHEND
MANAGING DIRECTOR, FONT PR
September 2014
An engaging speaker and powerful storyteller, Mel helped make our night special and was a very tough act to follow.
Tim Logan
Producer & Host - Summertime Stories
Barn Comedy Festival
An engaging speaker and powerful storyteller, Mel helped make our night special and was a very tough act to follow.
Tim Logan
Producer & Host - Summertime Stories
Barn Comedy Festival
October 2014
Mel Irons has impressed me on so many levels. Her ability to engage with community and use social media in a positive way, rallying people together to ensure a time of devastation enabled connectedness and care and action can not go unnoticed. She has since provided opportunity to young people at our school to understand the notion of leadership and what it means in a Web 2.0 world. That taking an opportunity when it presents is a powerful and can change lives. Her presentation style connected with our students seeing a range of them remain later to dig deeper into conversation. Organic leadership is an incredible thing in this time of citizen journalism and citizen activism that is empowered by the unmetered tools of social media.
Donelle Batty
Riverside High School
Mel Irons has impressed me on so many levels. Her ability to engage with community and use social media in a positive way, rallying people together to ensure a time of devastation enabled connectedness and care and action can not go unnoticed. She has since provided opportunity to young people at our school to understand the notion of leadership and what it means in a Web 2.0 world. That taking an opportunity when it presents is a powerful and can change lives. Her presentation style connected with our students seeing a range of them remain later to dig deeper into conversation. Organic leadership is an incredible thing in this time of citizen journalism and citizen activism that is empowered by the unmetered tools of social media.
Donelle Batty
Riverside High School
October 2014
Melanie is one to watch. She is a streak of energy with a bucket-load of ideas. A powerful mix.
I have attended many conferences and speaking engagements with Melanie and it’s been my privilege to work with her on a number of emergency management related projects. She never fails to amaze me with her ability to engage with others through her enthusiasm and personality, as she shares her experiences of creating a Facebook page called "Tassie Fires - We Can Help" in response to the bush fires in Tasmania in 2013.
Melanie’s work on the “Tassie Fires - We Can Help” Facebook page demonstrates her ability to predict and respond to the needs of her community and emerging communications trends. As well as understanding the value of harnessing the power of the crowd using social media, Melanie has always been highly effective and helpful whenever support was needed following the devastating event.
She is a smart and inspiring individual, and I welcome opportunities to work with her in the future.
Caroline Milligan
Crest Advisory
Melanie is one to watch. She is a streak of energy with a bucket-load of ideas. A powerful mix.
I have attended many conferences and speaking engagements with Melanie and it’s been my privilege to work with her on a number of emergency management related projects. She never fails to amaze me with her ability to engage with others through her enthusiasm and personality, as she shares her experiences of creating a Facebook page called "Tassie Fires - We Can Help" in response to the bush fires in Tasmania in 2013.
Melanie’s work on the “Tassie Fires - We Can Help” Facebook page demonstrates her ability to predict and respond to the needs of her community and emerging communications trends. As well as understanding the value of harnessing the power of the crowd using social media, Melanie has always been highly effective and helpful whenever support was needed following the devastating event.
She is a smart and inspiring individual, and I welcome opportunities to work with her in the future.
Caroline Milligan
Crest Advisory
October 2014
Melanie Irons came out to Longreach in central western Queensland to present at a Rotary Conference for which I was chairman.
In preparation, negotiation with Melanie was very simple and I found her from the start to be very sincere and honest.
Her presentation at our conference was to a wide audience and was accepted with generous applause.
I found that she was specific about her subject and she added a lot of humour to her presentation which added to the acceptance of her presentation.
I have no doubt that her presentation about what she achieved after the Tasmanian fires was very interesting and intriguing and it would and could become something of interest to the corporate world.
I HAVE NO HESITATION IN RECOMENDING HER TO YOU AS A “TOP LINE SPEAKER".
FRANK CARUANA
ROTARY DISTRICT 9570.
CONFERENCE 2014 CHAIRMAN.
email; soromio@tpg.com.au.
Phone. Wk; 49632200 MACKAY
Home; 49422747 MACKAY
Mobile; 0439947726
Melanie Irons came out to Longreach in central western Queensland to present at a Rotary Conference for which I was chairman.
In preparation, negotiation with Melanie was very simple and I found her from the start to be very sincere and honest.
Her presentation at our conference was to a wide audience and was accepted with generous applause.
I found that she was specific about her subject and she added a lot of humour to her presentation which added to the acceptance of her presentation.
I have no doubt that her presentation about what she achieved after the Tasmanian fires was very interesting and intriguing and it would and could become something of interest to the corporate world.
I HAVE NO HESITATION IN RECOMENDING HER TO YOU AS A “TOP LINE SPEAKER".
FRANK CARUANA
ROTARY DISTRICT 9570.
CONFERENCE 2014 CHAIRMAN.
email; soromio@tpg.com.au.
Phone. Wk; 49632200 MACKAY
Home; 49422747 MACKAY
Mobile; 0439947726
October 2014
Mel Irons is a St. Michael’s Collegiate Old Girl and provides inspiration to our current and past students through her ongoing drive and passion towards her work and the community as a whole. We have been fortunate to have Mel speak to our students on a number of occasions sharing her journey, clearly demonstrating her leadership and strategic skills that enabled her to support the Tasmanian community in crisis during the 2014 January bushfires. Mel is a motivating speaker and has many stories to share about her life experiences beyond The Tasmanian Bushfires. We are proud to be able to say that Mel Irons is a Collegiate Old Girl.
St Michael's Collegiate School
218 Macquarie Street, HOBART TAS 7000
Telephone: (03) 6211 4403 Intl: 61 3 6211 4403
Facsimile: (03) 6211 4955 Intl: 61 3 6211 4955
Mel Irons is a St. Michael’s Collegiate Old Girl and provides inspiration to our current and past students through her ongoing drive and passion towards her work and the community as a whole. We have been fortunate to have Mel speak to our students on a number of occasions sharing her journey, clearly demonstrating her leadership and strategic skills that enabled her to support the Tasmanian community in crisis during the 2014 January bushfires. Mel is a motivating speaker and has many stories to share about her life experiences beyond The Tasmanian Bushfires. We are proud to be able to say that Mel Irons is a Collegiate Old Girl.
St Michael's Collegiate School
218 Macquarie Street, HOBART TAS 7000
Telephone: (03) 6211 4403 Intl: 61 3 6211 4403
Facsimile: (03) 6211 4955 Intl: 61 3 6211 4955
October 2014
To whom it may concern
Melanie Irons is an inspirational, motivating and entertaining speaker. Her presentation engaged the audience, challenged their thinking and made for the perfect keynote. Melanie’s attitude is unwavering and her influence extraordinary.
In my capacity as CEO of Carers Tasmania Inc., I engaged Melanie to present at our inaugural staff conference in December 2013. The audience was a diverse mix of clinicians and administrators. Indirectly, Melanie inspired and motivated the teams to embrace social media as a key tool to develop Carers Tasmania’s business.
I will engage Melanie again as a keynote speaker and highly recommend her to business colleagues and friends alike.
If you wish to discuss further please do not hesitate to contact me.
Janis McKenna Principal
ELM Australia
To whom it may concern
Melanie Irons is an inspirational, motivating and entertaining speaker. Her presentation engaged the audience, challenged their thinking and made for the perfect keynote. Melanie’s attitude is unwavering and her influence extraordinary.
In my capacity as CEO of Carers Tasmania Inc., I engaged Melanie to present at our inaugural staff conference in December 2013. The audience was a diverse mix of clinicians and administrators. Indirectly, Melanie inspired and motivated the teams to embrace social media as a key tool to develop Carers Tasmania’s business.
I will engage Melanie again as a keynote speaker and highly recommend her to business colleagues and friends alike.
If you wish to discuss further please do not hesitate to contact me.
Janis McKenna Principal
ELM Australia