FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

CENTRE STAGE: UNPLUGGED SUSTAINABILITY
Fire Talk by Milena S. NIKOLOVA, Behavior SMART

Amidst the moving sands of many uncertainties, our societies are in a rush to find the radical innovations, artificial intelligence solutions and infrastructure transformations that will solve the sustainability crisis. And while radical leaps will be needed, could it be that we are missing answers that lie somewhere much closer?

Could we find shortcuts to sustainable living by taking a careful look at human nature as we know it?

Who is Milena?

Milena’s passion is in using knowledge about human behaviour to power solutions that improve market success and sustainability performance in the travel and leisure sector. With her work she supports enterprises and destination authorities in achieving goals by understanding and applying smart changes to the choices and behaviours of their target audiences.   

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

CENTRE STAGE: METAVERSE UNPLUGGED
Fire Talk by Aragorn Meulendijks, YOM

As the first hype-cycle around web3.0 and the metaverse slows down, now is the time to look beyond marketing slogans and polarizing headlines.  

What is this ‘metaverse’ what does it represent? what drives it? What technologies does it encompass, and is it really any different from previous tech bubbles or doomsday prophecies? 

Technological progress has sped up over the last three decades beyond what anyone in the last century would have thought possible.  

XR and A.I. have emerged from their respective winters. Blockchain is changing the game. Some people even talk of a global revolution, the end banking and the great reset. 

Will it come this far?
What does this all mean for our society? our economy? our industries and our very lives? 

Join Aragorn, aka Master of the Metaverse in an interesting and thought-provoking keynote talk.

Who is Aragorn?

The first 2 decades of Aragorn’s career were spent in tech sales for Oracle, Indeed and LinkedIn to name a few. He’s been a public speaking coach, training top executives and sales people from around the globe. At one time he was known as the Social Selling Doctor, guiding companies and sales teams into a modern way of selling through social media. Today he’s the CMO and Metavangelist at YOM, working to help anyone interested, to understand this new move to the Metaverse, what it means for industries and society.

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

MEET BUSTERS
with Maja Bosanac, Eventful

Sustainability is more than just a trend. It is basic need all of us if we want our children and thir grandchildren to survive. Inclusivity is more than ‘stakeholder engagement’, and diversity is more than a HR policy.

We need to ensure the sustainability themes, topics, objectives and goals are considered, included and embedded into the operations, business and project plans rather than sustainability being considered as an add-on.

Join Maja’s session and find out if you are doing enough.

Who is Maja?

Maja is the owner and Ecology, Ethics and Efficiency Event Manager at Eventful, an event agency based in Croatia that focuses on creating sustainable events with great social impact. Entering the world of sustainability, she saw the real effects of organizing events and decided to take matters into her own hands – be a change.

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

MEET BUSTERS
with Tanja Polegubic, Saltwater Nomads

What if you never had to go back to the office? Ever again. For millions, the ‘commute’ to work now criss-crosses the globe. Forests. Beaches. Ski slopes. Cafes and cowork spaces across hundreds of countries. Every point on the planet can now be on the remote workers’ path – so, is your destination welcoming this market?

Join us for a spotlight onto the world of digital nomadism. Learn how cities can go from being “good for a few days” to a longstay opportunity – especially for the M.I.C.E. industry. And three key ingredients every destination has, but may not know it.

Who is Tanja?

Australian-born Croatian Tanja Polegubic has extensive international travel and remote working experience. This inspired a business in Croatia which has since connected hundreds of remote working professionals in Croatia – from Google to Antarctic employees and digital nomads from New York to New Zealand.

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

CENTRE STAGE: UNPLUGGED DIALOGUE
Fire Talk by Claus RAASTED, The College of Extraordinary Experiences

elevatING the boardroom meeting to new heights.

In this keynote talk, Claus Raasted will explore the fundamental problems with meetings and deliver clear methods for change, inspiring ideas and make you question many of the meetings you have been in over the years.

Who is this session aimed at?

Maybe you’re a member of a board of directors. Maybe you’re a C-level executive who deals with boards. Maybe you’re none of those things, but think that a talk about better boardroom meetings might also be able to help you with the meetings you’re in. No matter who you are, you’ve probably been faced with (some of) these challenges:

• Meetings take too much time without the results to match.
• Meetings are exhausting and feel more trouble than they’re worth.
• Meetings aren’t enough, but lead to pre-meetings, post-meetings, etc.

There is no one golden solution to that; no universal fix that just needs to be applied in eight easy steps. Instead, there are myriads of tools ranging from the absurdly simple to the overly complex. Techniques and procedures for how to get from the start of a meeting to the end of one.

We call this Human Meeting Technology. It’s not about voice chat systems or flatscreens, but about human interaction and human decision-making. Like other technology, human meeting technology needs to suit the task at hand. If you have a problem with interruptions during meetings, it doesn’t help to use techniques that foster creativity – that solves a different set of problems. That is why this session is NOT about virtual meetings, but physical ones. It will point you to real-world examples that can inspire. Because when all is said and done, that’s where innovation happens. Out there. In reality.

Who is Claus?

Director of The College of Extraordinary Experiences. Coach at McKinsey. Ruby Hunter. Hologram Hawker. Playfulness Preacher. Experience Design Pioneer. Keynote Speaker. Event Designer. Author of 35 books. 1000+ talks & workshops. Claus Raasted has been called “a cross between Thor, Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga”. He also has a past in reality TV, but these days, who hasn’t?

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

MEET BUSTERS
with Mark Toonen, WICE

We live in a world where ordering a taxi, a dinner, a hotel room or a flight is only a few clicks away. But what about finding the right venue?

The world of ‘venue finding’ in the MICE industry (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions) has become one of shady deals and a maze of providers. There are countless online booking tools and venue platforms with which you as an event organiser are plagued by the long lists of standardised profiles. This makes venue finding an extremely time-consuming process that can easily cost you more than 10 hours. Venues on the other hand, always draw the short straw. They put an enormous amount of work into all these online booking tools and platforms where they pay the top price to get just a little attention.

At WICE, they truly believe that there is the right venue for every meeting and event. No matter how big or small. Their platform uses digital power to find it.

Mark Toonen, the Visual Designer behind WICE will share:

• What he has learned as an outsider in the Meetings & Events industry
• What are the key take-aways of building a next-gen venue-finding platform
• How will this segment of the meetings industry look like in the near future

Who is Mark?

Mark Toonen is a Dutch design native who started with bricks and ink before discovering the power of the pixel. He is always driven by the new, the fresh and the better. Mark seeks to create boldness with a commitment to simplicity and a solid story that goes down to the core of the brand and beyond the screen.

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

MEET BUSTERS
with Gaja Brecelj, Umanotera

Sustainable development is accepted in principle as the only development paradigm for the future, ensuring a good quality of life for present and future generations. If we are to survive as humanity, we need to start taking into account the limits of the planet and significantly reduce our impact on the environment. The organisation of events, especially those with a high communication potential, has a major role to play in (not) achieving a sustainable development model. Whatever your motives – expectations of sponsors, local communities, participants; legal requirements; social norms; your own social and environmental consciousness – you are invited to embark on the path of sustainable development and sustainable events.

By joining Gaja’s session, you will find out why small steps are no longer enough. She will answer the following questions:

• Where and how to start?
• How to deliver events in an environmentally sustainable way?
• How to plan and take action?
• How to communicate it?
• And how to choose the actions that will really bring about the necessary changes?

Who is Gaja?

Gaja is the Managing Director at Umanotera, The Slovenian Foundation for Sustainable Development. What is Umanotera? A beacon of sustainable development practices. Initiators of needed change. Global awareness. Boldness. Freedom to decide and act. Cooperation. Effectiveness. Alternative thinking power. It’s raising awareness and developing new social values and structures.

FRIDAY, August 26, 2022

MEET BUSTERS
with Manuela Šola, Komunikacijski laboratorij

We use innovation in our everyday lives and businesses; it’s how we evolve and grow. To be an innovative leader in the ever-changing environment we live in today, we must try to concentrate on the big picture. Innovation is traditionally related to technology, but both leadership and innovation are important for the competitive advantage of the organization.

So, the question is:

how to create a leadership strategy that could drive innovation and how to implement it in your leadership strategy? 

By joining Manela’s session you will learn:

• The importance of innovation in leadership
• How can you be an innovative leader? Which skills do you need to focus on? What are the skills of the future?
• How can you adapt innovation strategy to your team? 
• How do you create an innovative atmosphere in your team and positively change your employees’ mindsets? 
• Why it’s important to insist on innovation, especially in challenging times like the ones we live in now?

Who is Manuela?

Manuela is the General Manager at Komunikacijski laboratorij, one of the leading communication agencies in the region today, which she founded in 2004 and expanded its operations to Serbia a few years later. Manuela is as an ambassador for female entrepreneurship and an active member of a number of business associations.