Pause Fest 2017

words by ben stephens

‘Pause is where you can find your tribe of like-minded people. People who want to challenge the everyday and build better futures. People who don’t want to accept the status quo.’ – Fiona Slocum, Experience Designer

Which Australian city holds the crown of Most Creative? Is this really a battle worth having? Sure Sydney has some huge creative brands and minds, but the true home has to be Perth Melbourne, right?

So to celebrate the ideas that come from the capital of the creative what better city to play host to Pause Festival 2017, back for the sixth year running. Pause Festival brings the big names in the creative world together to discuss creative processes, new technology and innovative business ideas with some top thinks, makers and doers from Australia and around the world.

When you look at the lineup, it can be a little scary, that feeling of FOMO sneaks in and you feel a little lost. Honest. Check it out HERE and tell me don’t feel the same.

To aid you, the reader, I’ve broken it down into easy to consume, highlight-able bites, because I care about you, a lot more than you think.

Speakers
40 + 4. 32 + 12. 8 + 36. Either way, you want to calculate it, there are 44 speakers at Pause Fest this year and the lineup is stacked with some top thinkers. To whet your hungry appetite; Harry West, CEO of Frog, Startup Stat Queen Monica Wluff and TrademarkVision CEO & Founder Sandra Mau. This leaves 41 others that are equally talented and will be having discussions of all sorts during the festival.

Experiences
There are a couple of things you don’t want to miss out, like the Opening Night with Google, HTC Vivie, Nvidia and Backwoods Gallery where they’ll pitch real world graffiti artists against each other in a VR world to compete in a Tilt Brush Comp. Crazy cool.
Maybe you want to have a one-on-one with an industry leader where you can pitch your idea, work on an issue or get them to act as a sounding board. Check out the full list of experts available HERE

Panels
Members of the panel are yet to be announced, but keep an eye out of Smart Cities (3 Viewpoints) as the panel will tackle the idea of Sydney and Melbourne both reaching a population of 8 million each over the next 40 years and how tech and creative thinking will help cities adapt. Kind of blows your mind huh?

Workshops
The team at General Assembly are providing the lunch and Lego will bring the blocks. A lunch that will be based around creating while stories are told in a bid to unleash a new energy and forgotten modes of thought. Something to shake the day up with.

As you can see Pause Festival is jammed packed with creative thinkers and in turn produces a sweet place for ideas to flow with like minded humans.

For tickets, more information or just to continue clicking on things, check out the full pause website HERE.

Pause Fest 2017 takes over Fed Square from February 8 – 10