NxtBig is an inspiring Creative Circle Conference that focuses on how creativity can play a big part in developing our future in shaping the next big idea, the next big opinion, the next big design, or the next big purpose.

PROGRAMME

2.00 pm - Registration Opens

2.15 pm - Opening by Tay Guan Hin, Head of CCC 2019

2.30 pm - Crystal & Greg Lim-Lange, CEO & Co Founders, FOREST WOLF.

“Will Creativity win the War against Robots”

We will share The Deep Human approach to unlocking your creative potential. Deep Human: Practical Superskills for a Future of Success. What separates you from the robots? How can you thrive in tomorrow’s workplace? Experts predict that within the next few years, you will need an extra 101 days of learning to remain relevant at work, but what skills should you hone? Authors Crystal and Dr Gregor Lim-Lange combine their expertise in leadership and psychology to share five timeless superskills that will help you unlock your fullest potential - focus & mindfulness, self-awareness, empathy, complex communication, adaptive resilience. Deep Human offers practical tools, unexpected insights and inspiring real-life stories so you can build a successful and meaningful life no matter what lies ahead.

They bring to us cutting-edge research and practice which make you want to disrupt what you have today and change before we become obsolete.

3.00 pm - Steve Lawler & Tanya Wilson, Co- Founders, EYEYAH! :

“Creativity with a Conscience"

Having been curating projects in both the commercial and cultural sector for over 20 years, The Unusual Network has turned its focus to education and uses the language of creativity to address social issues on an international scale. Inspired by the social value art and creativity can bring to the world, we hear how they leverage a large network of cutting edge artists and designers to speak to a new generation about modern society.

3.30 pm - Break

3.45 pm - Joe Pullos, Festival Director, SPIKES ASIA :

”Creativity Matters”

This session investigates the correlation between award winning creativity and business performance. This session proves the case for creativity, establishing why it’s a force for business, for change and for good. Joe Pullos will show his personally selected case films of award-winning work from Cannes 2019 that are evidence of the three big themes galvanizing our industry. Joe will also unpack the key future trends and show how award-winning creativity has the power to change the culture of your organisation and drive bigger returns for your business.

4.15 pm - VJ Anand, Senior Vice President of Creative/ECD GO-JEK

“How to be a Crazy Client”

The crazy clients are the ones who see things differently — they are not fond of rules. They push the brand forward. Playing it safe in this day and age is not good enough. VJ Anand will share his formula that his marketing team have helped Go-Jek to become the pride of the nation and grow a cult following as a brand. Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can disrupt the industry, are the ones who do.

4.45 pm- Panel Discussion: “Does creativity have an Age Limit?”

We create campaigns that rally against racism, slam sexism and denounce discrimination. And yet the practices of the agencies that produce them do not stand up to scrutiny. Our business heads think younger staff are more creative. Our clients think younger audiences are more valuable. And our creative heads think younger creatives don’t have what it takes to lead a team. According to a survey conducted by Campaign and MEC, 79% of industry employees agree that the industry is ageist. Is this true in Asia? Do we need to address the issue and shift the tide of ageism?

Moderated by: Uma Rudd Chia, Creative Director, Weber Shandwick

Uma Rudd Tan is an Award-winning Creative Director with a passion for technology and innovation. After over a decade as global and regional creative director at a variety of multi-national ad agencies, she left to startup and run the creative department at Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading PR and Comms agencies. She is the founder of the Female Idea, a movement that champions diversity in creativity and the notion that ideas are not gender-neutral. She holds an M.A. in Digital Media Management and Technology from Hyper Island.

 Panelists:

Ava Soh, Artist, Ukulele Player & National Figure Skating Champion, Student

Ava Soh at 10 designed, sews and sells her one kind pants at One Kind House. She’s wearing them here. She’s also Singapore’s National age group figure skating champion. She’s a self taught artist and ukulele player. She’s a self confident young feminist from young. She’s currently designing a range of jewellery to empower women to be launched in Kickstarter.

Preeti Nair, Comedian and Social Media Personality, PREETIPLS

Preeti Nair, better known as Preetipls (Singapore’s TOP everything), has made waves as a viral internet sensation with videos ranging from her parody of 'Orchard Road’s Fashion Police' to videos poking fun at more serious topics such as 'racial harmony' in Singapore and the misrepresentation of minority races in local media. She is famous for her Chinese New Year and Deepavali videos, and also has a few badass rap remixes of Cardi B and Nicki Minaj to her name. Her use of humour to discuss tough-to-tackle social issues has paved the way for Preetipls to be known as “Singapore’s Satirical Internet Queen”. Offline, Preetipls has made her first stand-up comedy show debut on the lineup of Dream Academy's Happy Ever Laughter 2018. She is also invested in social causes close to her heart such as LGBTQ+ rights and wildlife conservation. She was appointed as one of the ambassadors for Pink Dot 2019 and also a WWF ambassador.

Alan Leong, Executive Creative Director, GOODSTUPH

As a creative marketing and innovation leader, Alan had racked over a decade of experience in the creative, user experience design and digital marketing campaign. With more than 13 years of experience, Alan had created integrated campaigns, platforms, and solutions for a wide range of industries from automotive, beauty, technology to aviation. He is also the owner of a successful YouTube channel Happy Sunshine Friends which gathers millions of views via its videos.

Patrick Low, Founder / Creative Partner, GOODFELLAS

Patrick’s advertising career began in 1978 at Fortune Advertising, then Singapore’s largest local ad agency. In 1981, he joined Ogilvy and Mather where he won his first major international award. In 1987 he moved to Y&R where he became their longest serving Executive Creative Director. He was also the first Singaporean to chair the local Creative Circle in 1995 and the first co-chairman of the Crowbar Awards in 2001.

5.30 pm - Wrap Up

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Tay Guan Hin is the Founder and GCCO of TGH Collective and the Creative Change Catalyst of the APAC Global Advisory. He is a profound alchemist of creative success in a team working on the most creative agency worldwide networks, like JWT, Grey, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Leo Burnett. Guan's role continues to deliver insightful creativity that builds on digital and innovative engagement to increase brand preference. For Shell, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, P&G, HSBC, and Unilever, by improving their market share and solve complex business challenges.

Crystal Lim-Lange is an expert on future-readiness, an education pioneer and a public speaker on the global stage. She is the CEO of Forest Wolf, a future-readiness consultancy, and Strategic Advisor to Minvera Project, one of the most innovative universities globally. Prior to Forest Wolf, Crystal was the founding Director of the National University of Singapore's Centre for Future-ready Graduates, where she implemented large-scale future-ready skills programmes which have prepared over 15,000 youths for a rapidly changing world.

Dr Gregor Lim-Lange is an expert in the fields of clinical and positive psychology, social emotional intelligence and mindfulness, and the Co-Founder and Chief Psychologist of Forest Wolf. He was previously the Head of Learning & Development at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Future-ready Graduates and a Senior Lecturer in the psychology department. He is also a highly-sought-after educator, psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher. Greg is also the co-editor of Clinical Psychology in Singapore, published in 2015.

VJ ANAND found the winning formula of using creativity to hack growth, achieve business results & capture the hearts of consumers. A digital native with traditional agency experience. A change agent. A growth hacker who has revitalized creative departments and turned them around in new business and creative reputation. VJ Anand has picked up a number of awards (Cannes, NY Fest, London International Awards) but his biggest achievement is winning the hearts of consumers with his work. VJ Anand is the SVP of Creative at Indonesia’s first and largest unicorn startup, GO-JEK.

Steve Lawler was born in Iran, raised in Hong Kong and educated in Europe. He attended the prestigious FABRICA, Benetton’s communication & research center in Treviso, Northern Italy. Launching his interactive design career at Diesel HeadQuarters, he quickly climbed through the creative ranks as an artist, designer, curator and Creative Director. After founding Kult Magazine in 2007, he has helped connect brands and artists on an international scale. Since 2017 his latest offering EYEYAH! Is a creative platform for children, using creativity to inspire social change.

Tanya Wilson has 20 years experience curating content creation and managing large-scale collaborations between a global network of creatives and the likes of Netflix, Facebook, Nike, Coca-Cola & Heineken. Originally from UK, Tanya started her career in PR and events. She was headhunted to Singapore to launch a global brand campaign for Tiger Beer. Today, 14 years later, Tanya pioneers ‘artvertising’ and is inspired on a daily basis by commissioning artists to create stunning work that infiltrates culture and builds communities.

Joe Pullos is the Festival Director for Spikes Asia, the highly coveted advertising awards show and biggest 3-day Festival of Creativity in APAC. Part of the Cannes Lion family, Spikes is the highest accolade in the communications industry and awards the best of the best creatives across APAC each September in Singapore. Joe now leads the Spikes Asia awards show and festival across the region and has been associated with Cannes Lion for over 10 years.

Creative Circle Conference 2019