GPJ is proud to be an agency of relentlessly curious creatives who share an innate passion for storytelling and a desire to better understand human behaviour. This month, one of our strategists, Aimee, has shared her diary for the events, lectures and talks she explored to fuel her creative thinking and unearth surprising insights.
As a self-professed nerd, I’ve always loved learning. This mindset has led me down my fair share of internet rabbit holes and has no doubt shaped my eclectic content consumption habits, as you’ll soon find out…
Sydney Writers Festival
The Sydney Writers Festival never fails to deliver on inspiring talks and this year was no different. I went to multiple talks across this program but one of the standouts was The Dinner That Changed My Life. As someone who has openly discussed their apathy towards fine dining, cooking and food in general, this was an opportunity to expose myself to a world I don’t naturally gravitate towards.
The event welcomed 10 chefs, writers and storytellers who revealed the dining experience that reshaped their destiny. The stories shared covered everything from incredible fine dining experiences, to the beauty of home cooked meals, to gut-wrenchingly embarrassing events. All life changing and all equally captivating in their own way. One of the most striking things about this event was that with so many speakers, you were given a small taste test of a wide array of storytellers and the audience was able to appreciate how each unique voice added their own twist to the evening.
However, as the talk continued, it lost some of its formal structure, taking on a life of its own and transforming in that indescribable way that live events tend to; it began to mimic the slightly chaotic nature of a dinner party among close friends. By the time Sam Neill came out – yes, that Sam Neill – you could feel how at-ease everyone was in the room. It was the kind of event that perfectly encapsulated that rare chemistry you can only get from in-person events.
Semi-Permanent
The Semi Permanent Festival of Creativity & Design returned for their 21st year of building and inspiring Sydney’s creative community. I was lucky enough to attend the last day of the program and to hear incredible speakers and artists share their stories, gain insights into their creative process as well as a deeper understanding of how they tackled their biggest challenges in their careers to date.
As an experiential marketer, getting to hear Seb Chan, Director & CEO of ACMI, was particularly fascinating as he walked everyone through some of the revolutionary visitor experience work he has developed for museums both locally and abroad. The breadth of his work considers how the museum experience was first digitised before undergoing another evolution to focus on the in person physical experience again, or as he puts it: from atoms to bits and back again.
Seb’s talk was a masterclass in how to keep the user experience at the heart of the design process, iterating ideas over and over again until a solution seamlessly integrates into the visitor journey.
Vivid Ideas Exchange, Skin Deep and Mike White & Jennifer Coolidge in Conversation
Focusing more on intellectual illumination, the Ideas Exchange within Sydney’s Vivid program delivered multiple ground-breaking talks. I attended a couple of these talks and while hearing Mike White and Jennifer Coolidge was extremely entertaining, the talk Skin Deep provided fresh insights in the cosmetic industry in Australia.
The talk covered many aspects of the cosmetic industry including the retirement of skin grafting products that were created using the foreskin of newborn babies as well as medical advancements which, in the not too distant future, could see breast implants grown for a patient from their own tissue. However, it was the Q&A at the end which served as a timely reminder to consider industry developments from multiple perspectives.
To catch everyone up, from 1 July 2023, patients undergoing cosmetic surgery in Australia will need to follow new guidelines which will require a GP referral, psychological screening, mandatory cooling off periods and more. The panel was asked how these new regulations would impact people living in regional areas who travel to major cities for these surgeries and now, under the new regulations, may be unable to meet the new guidelines. As the question was discussed, it became clear that the new guidelines could create a new tension within the Australian cosmetic industry and could see an increase in Australian residents travelling internationally for their cosmetic procedures. We recently unpacked how tourism trends have changed in our blog Trends impacting the travel and tourism industry and this could create a new and unexpected facet of tourism flow out of Australia.
To catch everyone up, from 1 July 2023, patients undergoing cosmetic surgery in Australia will need to follow new guidelines which will require a GP referral, psychological screening, mandatory cooling off periods and more. The panel was asked how these new regulations would impact people living in regional areas who travel to major cities for these surgeries and now, under the new regulations, may be unable to meet the new guidelines. As the question was discussed, it became clear that the new guidelines could create a new tension within the Australian cosmetic industry and could see an increase in Australian residents travelling internationally for their cosmetic procedures. We recently unpacked how tourism trends have changed [link to GPJ blog] and this could create a new and unexpected facet of tourism flow out of Australia.
The Art of Cinema lecture series, The Art Gallery of NSW
The fact that I’m prematurely going grey meant that I had more in common with the majority of the audience at CJ Johnson’s the Art of Cinema lecture series at the Art Gallery of NSW. This was my first time attending this monthly event but I don’t think it will be my last as it’s an incredible format for anyone itching to understand how and why artists create. The fact that I’m prematurely going grey meant that I had more in common with the majority of the audience at CJ Johnson’s the Art of Cinema lecture series at the Art Gallery of NSW. This was my first time attending this monthly event but I don’t think it will be my last as it’s an incredible format for anyone itching to understand how and why artists create.
The fact that I’m prematurely going grey meant that I had more in common with the majority of the audience at CJ Johnson’s the Art of Cinema lecture series at the Art Gallery of NSW. This was my first time attending this monthly event but I don’t think it will be my last as it’s an incredible format for anyone itching to understand how and why artists create.
The talk I attended was part one of a deep dive into the work of Stanley Kubrick… Now it’s important to note that before this lecture, I had never seen a Stanley Kubrick movie, nor have I seen one since attending. I have a deep fascination with understanding how and why something is created and often I get more enjoyment from learning about that process of creation, rather than the final product itself.
CJ’s lecture beautifully unpacked Stanley Kubrick’s early years as a photographer, mapping how he perfected his eye-capturing scene on the streets of New York and translated these skills into his directorial work. The breakdown of the short film Day of the Fight was the highlight of the talk for me.
The film followed a boxer’s preparation for a fight. However, rather than merely follow what the boxer did that day, Stanley wove a narrative whereby he unpacked how the boxer transformed himself from a man into a fighter and in doing so created a really impactful piece of film. That kind of clear insight is what every strategist is searching for and it’s incredibly satisfying to see a piece of work that is so considered.
Aimee Rollandi
Aimee is a passionate explorer and strategic thinker who brings a unique perspective to our strategy team, combining her diverse experiences to deliver innovative solutions.
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