CONTENT SUMMIT AUSTRALIA - Key Persons
Alice is the brains/creative behind Kic's TikTok. Over the past year at Kic, Alice has grown the channel by 75%, and has brought the brand's widely loved personality to life on TikTok. Kic is a leading health and wellness brand and app in Australia with a global community of 2.5 million. Pre Kic, Alice had worked across TikTok and paid media for Infamous Swimwear.
Alison Sandy is a multi award-winning journalist who has more than 25 years experience.
Alison joined the Seven Network in 2014 to become the nation's first female FOI Editor, lodging several hundred applications each year.
She is a fierce advocate of the media's role in holding governments and its representatives to account and has successfully fought and won several appeals for access to documents under FOI laws and uncovered details that have contributed to positive changes in legislation.
Ben Smee is the Queensland state correspondent for Guardian Australia, where he writes about politics, state affairs and human rights. He has worked as an editor, head of news, and political reporter at metro and regional newspapers in Queensland, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. Ben is a Walkley Award winner (and three-time finalist), and has won 12 state media awards. In 2016, he co-wrote a book about NT politics, Crocs in the Cabinet.
Job Titles:
- Manager of Audio Strategy
Blythe Moore works for ABC News as the Manager of Audio Strategy. She leads a team of audio specialists and has developed a range of podcasts and innovative audio projects for the ABC, including the Expanse series, the ABC's only local podcast NewcastleCast, the mood-based Make Me Feel Good and the skippable Story Stream in the ABC Listen app. A former regional reporter herself, Blythe is passionate about regional storytelling and believes ABC's presence in more than 40 regional locations means it's in a unique position to tell the stories that no other media organisation can.
Brittanie has more than a decade experience in digital and content marketing roles across agency, local and state government, and private enterprise. In 2017, she co-founded The Content Division - a content marketing and production agency based in Brisbane. As the Managing Director at The Content Division, she manages the strategic direction of the business and leads a team of epic content creators.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Founder of Brooki Bakehouse
Brooke Saward is the founder of Brooki Bakehouse, a Brisbane bakery that found global fame on Tiktok and Instagram with a combined 2.3 million followers, of which was accumulated in just one year. As a storyteller, Brooke uses social media to drive crowds of visitors to her bakery in-store and online, by offering global shipping to reach audiences far and wide.
Job Titles:
- General Manager Marketing
Callum Wood is an accomplished marketing professional who leads BEDA's Marketing team and champions the Brisbane destination brand globally.
With a focus on driving economic growth, Callum leads a diverse team of marketing and placemaking professionals to develop and execute impactful marketing strategies across diverse sectors and audiences.
From tourism and major events, to investment attraction and business growth, Callum manages the Brisbane destination brand holistically, both domestically and internationally.
Prior to joining BEDA, Callum held several destination and event marketing roles across Melbourne and regional Victoria, including City Marketing Manager for the City of Melbourne. Callum has recently completed an MBA with a focus on marketing and brand management. He is also admitted as an Australian Lawyer.
Job Titles:
- Content Creator, Textile Artist and Author
Daisy Braid, aka DIY Daisy is a content creator, textile artist and author based on the Gold Coast/Yugambeh Country. Daisy is a self-taught sewist known for her colourful, creative style that combines handmade clothing with slow and second-hand fashion. Hardie Grant published her book Sew It Yourself in 2022 with stockists including The MET, Liberty of London and Kinokuniya. She has also created content in collaboration with brands like Brother, Cricut, Nikon, Who Gives A Crap, The Fabric Store and Garage Sale Trail.
Job Titles:
- Creative Director
- Executive Creative Director
- Founding Partner
Dee is an award winning creative director who has worked on some of Australia's largest brands in almost every category (including FMCG, banking and finance, health and education).
She got sick of selling people shit they didn't need and started Campaign Edge in 2014 to work primarily in the progressive space.
She works for a range of unions and has been Creative Director for the Labor Party on 24 election campaigns, including the 2015, 2017 and 2020 QLD campaigns and the 2022 Federal election.
She is one of Australia's leading campaign strategists and effectively uses creativity as a tool to persuade an audience.
She is a panellist on Gruen (ABC TV) and appears on The Latest and Sunrise (CH7). She is also the author of The Hard Sell (MUP 2014), as well as a contributing author on Mothermorphosis (MUP 2015), Perspectives on Change (ANU 2015) and Unbreakable (UQP 2017). She is on the board of Per Capita and Australians for Mental Health.
Her attention to detail is woeful. She can't remember faces. And she has the attention span of a 3 year old. But apart from that, she's quite good at what she does.
Job Titles:
- Content & Communications Lead
Elly Strang is Content and Communications Lead at Tracksuit, a beautiful, affordable and always on brand tracking platform for modern consumer brands. Elly began her career studying and working in journalism and was named Best Journalist in 2017 at the NZ Magazine Awards, later picking up Best Magazine Cover and Best Innovation awards during her time as Editor of Idealog Magazine.
She moved in-house to work at sustainable packaging brand noissue as their Content Manager before joining Tracksuit as a founding marketing team member in 2022 to tell data-led stories on a global scale and prove the commercial impact of content and comms. Tracksuit is now one of Australasia's fastest growing companies and is backed by Blackbird and Mark Ritson.
Francisco Lopez is an award-winning senior producer and lead writer of Spotify's Who is Daniel Johns?, 2022 Podcast of the Year The Last Outlaws, Cake the podcast and Threads with Veronica Milsom. As the co-director of storytelling agency F+K Media, Frank has created shows for Spotify, Rebel Girls, State Library of Queensland, UTS, ABC and more. He also has a decade of experience as a New York audio engineer, working with recording artists such as Sonic Youth, celebrities such as Dwayne ‘The Rock' Johnson, and US podcast studios Audible, Pineapple Street Media, and Gimlet Media.
Kaitlyn Sawrey is an award-winning journalist and host of Spotify's Who is Daniel Johns?, 2022 Podcast of the Year The Last Outlaws, and Cake the podcast. As co-director of storytelling agency F+K Media, Kaitlyn has created original shows for Spotify, Rebel Girls, State Library of Queensland, UTS, ABC and more. Previously she co-founded the international hit Science Vs, was the Executive Producer of Hack on triple j and was the founding producer of what would become ABC Audio Studios.
Kevin is a Senior Content Designer at Atlassian, where he creates the UI content and support documentation for Jira's Automation platform. He fell in love with content design through his hobby of board games, and continues to gain content inspiration from board games and video games to this day.
When he's not thinking about content and UX, Kevin spends his days watching anime with his wife and reading Disney books to his 2-year old son
Kurt has been strategy director and co-founder of Brisbane content agency The Content Division since 2017. For 20 years he has been a journalist and marketer covering industries from economic development and business services to fast moving consumer goods, software and tech, food, B2B, and much more. Kurt brings a simple and solid strategic lens to his work, and is deeply passionate about creativity and forging distinctive brands.
Job Titles:
- Chief Marketing Officer of Tourism Tasmania
Lindene Cleary is the Chief Marketing Officer of Tourism Tasmania, a role she commenced in March 2023 following five years as the organisation's Head of Brand Marketing. In Lindene's role she leads all aspects of strategically marketing the Tasmanian tourism brand within Australia and internationally, including brand communications, PR, content, digital marketing and partnerships.
Lindene is a proud Tasmanian with an inherent understanding of the importance of the tourism industry to Tasmania's economy and community, and she is proud to tell the island state's unique story to the world.
Job Titles:
- Media and Communications Specialist
Lisa is a Media and Communications Specialist with more than 30 years' experience in legacy and digital media across Australia and Asia. With a sharply honed instinct for powerful storytelling, she specialises in creating and curating powerful content that draws attention with clever, accessible and insightful angles. Expertly pinpointing the stories that matter, she brings authentic and responsive guidance to client relationships to ensure maximum return on investment.
Job Titles:
- Creative and Content Director
Marketing Australia's holiday state is a pretty great gig, and Michelle's current remit involves overseeing the development and production of everything that carries the Queensland logo: from trade training brochures to working on multimillion-dollar consumer campaigns.
With a long history in the publishing industry, Michelle worked on magazine brands in Australia and the UK before moving into the digital industry in 2010. Heading up B2B and B2C beauty websites, Michelle oversaw editorial development and commercial content growth before stepping into the General Manager role. After a stint at Urban List, Michelle moved into tourism where she now takes a strategic, consumer-led approach to developing content that engages audiences with the incredible tourism experiences and extraordinary destinations that can be found all over Queensland.
Job Titles:
- Head of Digital at Brisbane Lions Football Club
Phil Swan is currently the Head of Digital at Brisbane Lions Football Club. Coming into his fourth year, he oversees their digital platforms and the content that gets created for them. Did somebody say 13,000 social posts last year?! Phil has a strong background in marketing with time spent at Billabong, Domino's and Urban List, where he really found his love for content marketing.
Job Titles:
- Multidisciplinary Artist, Radio Host and Influencer
Rachael Sarra's vibrant creative practice embodies her experience as a proud mixed race, First Nations woman from Goreng Goreng Country. Driven by a belief that art and design are vital to communication, connection and culture, Rachael invites us to see the world through her eyes with bold colours and dynamic contours. Her distinct contemporary style is resonating around the world, and challenging societal perceptions of Aboriginal art and identity.
Rachael is a change-maker. She is redesigning how First Nations businesswomen navigate success while anchoring their business in culture. Building a business bigger than herself, she is committed to significant charitable donations and pro-bono work that has a tangible impact back into the community. When values align, Rachael sees collaboration as an empowering way to foreground First Nations voices through meaningful partnerships with major brands and organisations.
Ricky Robinson is the CEO of Shorthand, the beautifully simple storytelling platform for iconic brands. Ricky is passionate about combining technology innovation and art to build software platforms that unlock high-fidelity human expression and enable positive change in the world.
A former researcher and business development manager at Australia's premier technology institute, Ricky holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Queensland and talks rather too much about football (the round ball sport). Prior to finding success with Shorthand, Ricky co-founded several failed startups - experiences that have proved invaluable to leading Shorthand.
Job Titles:
- Social Media Specialist
- Digital Content Creator
Rose is a social media specialist, who cares about improving water literacy and education. She leads Urban Utilities' storytelling on social media, creating content that engages, educates, and entertains communities about all things water. With 13 years of developing memorable moments for brands in digital and social media landscapes, Rose loves to see them spark behaviour change. Outside of work, she's sifting through vintage clothes and searching for the best sando.
Job Titles:
- Digital Content & Production Manager
Sos' love for content, digital, sport and travel have been rolled serendipitously into one role at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee. Sos worked at Tourism & Events Queensland for more than a decade, where people, places and their stories were uncovered and delivered in unique ways.
From websites to email, brand to internal comms, events and video shoots to social content, Sos has seen the power of content transcend borders, bridge cultures, open-up access, and unite people from all walks of life. Sos is ready to shine the light on the Olympic and Paralympic movements Down Under to push Brisbane, Queensland and Australia further on the global stage.
Sarah is passionate about creating bankable strategies for Bespoken's valued clients in the fields of marketing, communications and engagement. A dynamic leader, Sarah brings her years of experience across marketing, engagement and communications to develop and deliver tailored and strategic plans that surpass client briefs and KPIs, while providing evidence-based solutions for their organisations.
Stephanie oversees Broadsheet's social media strategy and output. She works to ensure the style, tone and framework reflects the brand, upholds Broadsheet's editorial values and engages and grows the off-platform audiences. Stephanie is passionate about the importance of social media in this current age, noting these platforms are time capsules of culture, in ways that are accessible to a large audience. Stephanie sees social as the great connector of this generation - in the same way that communities once gathered around radios or TVs for cultural moments, these days, they do so on social media.