The Melbourne Showgrounds team

Executive Team

• 

  Brad Jenkins

  Chief Executive,
  Melbourne Royal

  Brad is highly respected as an accomplished, trusted and commercially astute leader. With more than 30 years of senior management experience, Brad has an outstanding record across a broad range of sectors including events, venues, agriculture, hospitality, entertainment, leisure, sport, and media.

  Brad was appointed Chief Executive of Melbourne Royal in 2019, after serving as General Manager, Marketing and Business Development and Chief Commercial Officer since 2008.

  Brad is a Board Director of Agricultural Shows Australia (ASA) that represents over 580 agricultural shows nationwide to engage, influence and promote the essential value of Australian Agriculture. Brad is also a Board Director of Showgrounds Nominees an Unincorporated Joint Venture (UJV) between the Victorian State Government and Melbourne Royal.

• 

  Michelle McConachy

  Executive General Manager, People & Culture

  Michelle is a highly experienced human resources professional who specialises in organisational development and transformational culture change.

  With more than 20 years’ experience of partnering with businesses and leading teams to influence outcomes and deliver results by creating a culture of high performance and accountability.

  Michelle was previously the EGM, People and Business Services at Racing Queensland and was instrumental in achieving Employer of Choice recognition at the Australian Business Awards in 2023.

  This followed other roles with South East Water, City West Water and Crown Melbourne, which included a secondment to the start-up team at Crown Macau.

  Michelle joined Melbourne Royal in June 2025 and is motivated by helping people succeed and creating innovative solutions that attract, motivate, engage and retain talent.

• 

  Darryl Ferris

  Executive General Manager, Finance & Corporate Services

  Darryl is a qualified CPA with over 20 years’ experience as a finance professional. He has vast experience working in the events and hospitality industries, sporting organisations and with not-for-profit entities as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and company secretary.

  Darryl has recently served as the CFO of Motorsport Australia and concurrently as the CEO of Rally Australia where he was responsible for overseeing the delivery of the World Rally Championship event in Australia.

  As an experienced leader, Darryl joined Melbourne Royal in March 2020 and is poised to lead the Finance and Corporate Services team in an era of exciting change and opportunity for the organisation.

• 

  Frank Martinuzzo

  Executive General Manager, Operations

  Frank has more than 35 years’ experience in event operations and venue management.

  Frank began his career at Melbourne Royal coordinating all areas of safety, risk and operations at Melbourne Showgrounds for 28 years and then went onto establish his own private consultancy business that specialised in event operations, risk management and OH&S.

  Some of the events Frank has been involved include: St Kilda Festival, Falls Festival, Splendour in the Grass, Sydney Easter Royal Show, Ekka, Royal Adelaide Show, Royal Hobart Show and Melbourne International Coffee Expo.

  Frank’s wealth of knowledge and experience in event operations and venue management is second to none.

• 

  Hannah von Bibra

  Executive General Manager, Experience & Commercial

  Hannah oversees the Melbourne Showgrounds team, from sales, event planning, catering and audio-visual.

  With experience across complex facilities including; Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Town Hall and Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Hannah has vast experience in elevating the customer journey whilst working with partners and clients to provide mutually beneficial gains to those working together.

  Hannah joined the team in 2019 in the role of Head of Commercial and Partnerships and was promoted to the Melbourne Royal Executive Team in January 2020.

• 

  Sam Buckley

  Executive General Manager – Marketing & Membership

  Sam Buckley is an accomplished senior leader with over 20 years of experience in the venue, commercial, marketing, ticketing and operational spaces. His career is focused on growing and driving continuous improvement in major events and facilities.

  With previous roles at the AFL, Eventbrite, and Melbourne and Olympic Parks, Sam has a proven track record of success in these dynamic environments.

  He is passionate about sports, entertainment, and large-scale Melbourne events and dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences.