Speakers to fire up business
SPEAKERS touted as ‘Silicon Valley’s finest’ are set to give local business leaders insight into the key technology and entrepreneur trends at next month’s Gold Coast Business Week.
The Gold Coast City Council, together with the organisers of technology and innovation festival Myriad, have lined up seven speakers for Gold Coast Way Ahead — the main event in the business week calendar from May 14 to May 18.
The speakers include world champion skier and entrepreneur Jeremy Bloom, Google Maps product manager Clementine Jacoby, venture capitalist Jacqueline Garavente and Moon Express founder Naveen Jain.
Acting mayor Donna Gates said the Myriad is one of Australia’s leading technology and innovation festivals.
“This year’s festival features some of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs and tech experts,” Cr Gates said.
“We are bringing seven inspiring keynote speakers to the Gold Coast. This is a first for our city — it provides local business owners a chance to hear an outside perspective and it enables us to showcase what our city can offer to some high-profile venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.”
Cr Gates said each speaker is an expert in his or her chosen field.
“For the Gold Coast, a relatively young city with the legacy of hosting the Commonwealth Games this month, and an exciting future because of that, there has never been a better time to pick the brains of Silicon Valley’s finest.”
Cr Gates said the Gold Coast would be an ideal location for next year’s Myriad Festival.
“Gold Coast is certainly equipped with the facilities, local talent and prerequisites, to host some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs,” she said.
“The city would be delighted to host this event on the Gold Coast next year as it would pair perfectly with Gold Coast Business Week.”
Myriad co-founder Martin Talvari did not rule out bringing the festival to the Glitter Strip.
“Myriad is committed to providing opportunities for Queensland, for business growth, education and acceleration for students, teachers, investors and business owners,” he said.
“If there is an opportunity for us to further our reach and help others achieve great success, then this is something that we would be interested in looking into.”
This year’s Myriad Festival will be held in Brisbane after Gold Coast Business Week between May 16 and May 18.
Adam and James Gilmour, the co-founders of Pimpamabased Gilmour Space Technologies, will speak as part of the ‘Future of Cities’ session at the festival. Myriad will feature more than 2000 participants and 200 speakers, investors, and delegates from more than 40 countries.