Real Communication – Why we need it more than ever

In this opening keynote Gabrielle Dolan will explore our addiction to jargon and acronyms in business. She will discuss why we use them and the consequences it has on effective communication, including reduced audience engagement and retention. As communication professionals, Gabrielle will invite and sometimes beg the audience to become part of the solution in fighting this addiction…because if we can’t do it, no one can.

In this highly entertaining session, Gabrielle will also be covering:

• The four trends impacting on the way we communicate
• The hidden consequences of using jargon and unnecessary acronyms
• The role professional communicators play in the drive towards real communication

About The Speaker

Gabrielle Dolan is an International keynote speaker and best-selling author of 5 books, including Real Communication, a 2019 finalist for the Australian leadership book of the year.

A highly sought-afer keynote speaker, educator and author, Gabrielle has worked with thousands of high-profile leaders from around the world and helped countless of Australia’s top 50 companies and multinationals to humanise their communications – Telstra, EY, Accenture, VISA, Australia Post, National Australia Bank, ANZ, Vodafone and the Obama Foundation to name drop a few.

Bringing humanity to the way business people communicate isn’t just a career, it’s a calling. The ultimate expression of her passion for the cause is her Jargon Free Fridays movement/ global movement (jargonfreefridays.com).

In Craft We Trust

The rules have changed in today’s fast-moving, hyperactive, attention-deficit, socially-wired world. Today, more than ever, it’s about what you do, and how that shapes what they say. Matt Jones will join the dots between theory and practice, sharing his views on what makes for successful brand-building and communications in the 21st Century, and then showing how those principles have helped make Four Pillars Gin the world’s leading craft gin brand.

About The Speaker

Matt Jones is one of Australia’s leading strategists and storytellers when it comes to the intersections of the brand, business, leadership, experience, culture, technology, human behaviour and storytelling.

Matt has an eclectic background, combining economics, politics, brand experience and gin. From 2001 to 2005, Matt was Chief Political Adviser to the UK Conservative Party (the youngest person in the party’s history to hold that role).

In 2012, Matt founded his own consultancy, focused on applying creative strategy, storytelling and experience design to brand and business challenges for corporate, craft, start-up and social businesses. In 2013, Matt co-founded Four Pillars Gin, a craft gin business based in Healesville in Australia’s Yarra Valley. Matt takes the lead on building the Four Pillars brand and customer experience and has helped Four Pillars Gin become one of Australia’s fastest-growing and most admired craft businesses. In 2019,  Four Pillars joined forces with Lion Australia and was also named International Gin Producer of the Year at the 2019 International Wine & Spirits Competition in London, the Oscars of the spirits industry.

Dining in the Dark: Exploring the Disability Employment Landscape

Dining in the Dark is a learning experience designed to help participants identify and mitigate unconscious bias and build inclusive leadership skills through practical application and facilitated discussion. The program begins with an overview of the disability community and the employment landscape. Participants then partner up and each have the opportunity to experience what it is like to be blind and to serve as a sighted guide during the course of a meal.

About The Speaker

Abigail is a communications manager for the Global Office of Culture, Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) for Walmart, where CDI’s mission is to create an inclusive culture for all associates, as well as customers in the store.

Culture + Reputation – The Challenge For Modern Communicators

The link between leadership, culture, change and reputation is strong and will only get stronger in coming years. How can an engaged workforce really help your reputation? Why do leaks happen? How can leaders help or hinder? This presentation will explore these questions, using the Four Rooms of Change® as the theoretical base, along with examples from across our region.  It will pose questions for the audience to consider in the context of their own organisation.

About The Speaker

Angela Scaffidi is Head of Change at SenateSHJ, and she designs, implements and measures change programs for clients in the public and private sectors. She is an accredited user of the Four Rooms of Change®. She works with the methodology to help individuals, teams and organisations to understand and own their change experience and to take the steps required to achieve sustainable change.

She is co-chair of PROI Worldwide’s Asia Pacific region. She brings experience in management consulting, cultural change and reputation management.

The Politics of Community

The rise of social media has changed politics completely. Increased partisanship, prejudice and fear. Join Linda Clark as she cuts through the political turmoil, instability and uncertainty to discuss how New Zealand is managing the maelstrom.

About The Speaker

Linda is a Partner in the Kensington Swan government and regulatory and dispute resolution teams, with particular expertise in public law, regulatory issues, media law and defamation.

Linda was formerly a leading political journalist and she has an in-depth understanding of the New Zealand political environment. Linda is a board member of the New Zealand Book Council and the Wellington College board of trustees and a member of the NZ Police Independent Risk Assurance Committee.

How to survive, thrive and get your message out in the new world of work

Technology has and will continue to impact on the communications industry and communications professionals. Being prepared to maximise the opportunities change brings will be critical to future career success. This session will provide practical advice about how to survive and thrive in the next decade of work.

About The Speaker

EARS, HEART, MIND- Communications for a New Decade

As the disruption of industries and the tension around global issues like climate and conflict escalates, professional trajectories, traditional alliances and personal values are coming to a head for many across the globe. With these factors at play, ‘crisis’ conversations are entering the fray of daily life at work and at home. Sharing insights from a career in PR and Crisis Communications for institutions as diverse as airlines, high schools, prisons, telecommunications operators, police departments and think tanks, this presentation takes you through a fresh look at powerful communication where it matters.

About The Speaker

With an extensive background in media and crisis communications, Mahima is obsessed with bringing bright people together to find solutions to complex problems. Over the years she has worked in publicity and crisis communications for government, multilateral, private and non-profit organizations in a wide range of sectors in several countries in Asia, Europe and North America.

Her work portfolio ranges from commercial brands to social reform projects, think tanks, individual activists and institutions within the criminal justice system. This diversity in her work portfolio has given her unique insight into what it takes for people to put aside differences, overcome traumatic history and find a way to move forward individually and collectively.

Through her training programs she addresses the well-tested power of authentic communication when the stakes are high and outcomes matter. She has a special passion for working with social businesses as well as young people with the desire and potential to be changemakers within their families, communities, organizations and countries.