Page 10 - ASPIRE JANUARY 2023 Volume 8 / Issue 1

SPOTLIGHT ON ASPIRE SECRETARIAT,
Vital administrative role and a communication hub for 2,300 members in 47 countries
The ASPIRE secretariat is a vibrant, Singapore-based hub providing vital communication and organisational services to about 2,300 members in 47 countries.
It delivers vital administrative support to the ASPIRE Board, committees and country representatives along with special interest groups to keep members abreast of latest developments in assisted reproduction in the Asia Pacific region.
Key players in its activities are Association Manager, Jing Qi Hoa, and Executive, Cassandra Mak, both of whom have experience and expertise in association management, exhibition trade and tourism.
With ASPIRE’s growing membership and expanding conference, education and professional development activities, the secretariat plans to employ a further person soon to assist in areas including certification programs.
Jing Qi, 31, joined ASPIRE in 2017. Her specific roles include managing the annual ASPIRE Congress with daily overview of broader association matters.
She started her career in the National Technological University Singapore President’s Events Office, expanding to tourism and trade exhibitions and managing medical conferences with Kenes Group Asia. Jing Qi and Cassandra, who recently succeeded Yanny Wu as Association Executive, were colleagues at Kenes, which was previously responsible for administrative and conference management affairs for ASPIRE.
“During that period, I had regular communication with the then ASPIRE Secretary-General, Professor P. C. Wong, who advised that the ASPIRE was planning to open its own secretariat, and I was delighted to accept his invitation to become involved,” Jing Qi said.
Prior to joining ASPIRE, Cassandra, 25, served as an intern at Kenes and then managed trade and consumer exhibitions for City Neon. She manages ASPIRE Special Interest Group activities including webinars and seminars and helps with presentation of Fertility & Reproduction, the official journal of ASPIRE.
Experience and expertise in association management, exhibition trade and tourism
Jing Qi and Cassandra had pivotal roles in managing ASPIRE’s activities through the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenging consequences. In particular, they have arranged virtual meetings and master-classes, helped speakers record presentations and coordinated on-line events across varying time zones.
The pandemic forced the cancellation of the face-to- face ASPIRE Congresses in 2021 and 2022, but the secretariat responded to the setback by assisting to present virtual meetings that were an outstanding success in keeping members at the vanguard of scientific, medical, nursing and counselling practice in the field.
Isaac, Jing Qi and Wayne
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