Place Branding Australia

Todd Babiak has worked in small places and big places around the world, building brand stories and turning them into economic, social, and cultural development strategies. Of all the places he worked, he was most moved by the Tasmanian brand story. He and his team at Brand Tasmania are in the listening and building business.

Leading an award-winning independent city marketing agency, Amanda lives and breathes the promotion and activation of the regional city of Launceston, Tasmania.

Jessica Hamilton leads the global marketing, communication and content teams at Austrade. Through this work she provides direct support to the creation of trade and investment outcomes for Australian businesses.

Jessica Christiansen-Franks is an urban designer and social entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to understanding the social dynamics of urbanisation. As co-founder of Neighbourlytics, Jessica has side-stepped into the world of big data to build a data platform which tracks the unique local identity of neighbourhoods.

Andy is the principal of place brand and property marketing agency Hoyne. Over the last decade Hoyne have evolved to a core focus on place and property, and today they work with major international asset owners, developers and local councils to create recognisable landmarks and destinations.

Dean is the co-Founder of Town Team Movement and Creator of Placemaking.Education. Dean has been a leader at Town Team Movement for the last 6 years - a social enterprise that is building a movement of positive ‘doers’ around Australia and beyond.

David has had a successful career in the private and public sector, with senior roles at organisations such as Microsoft, and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. David is now CEO of The New Zealand Story, an ambitious organisation marketing New Zealand to the world.

Originally from Adelaide, Brent is a multi-award winning marketer and leader, and joined Tourism Fiji as CEO in mid 2021. Brent led the incredible effort to reopen Fiji to the world in December 2021, achieving double the visitor arrivals target in 2022 and 4% higher than pre COVID levels in 2023.

Amy is the Director of Marketing and Communications for New Zealand Story. With proud links to Ngāi Takoto, Te Waiohua and Tainui-Waikato, Amy is passionate about achieving healthcare equity for all New Zealand children, particularly in Māori and Pacific communities.

Jennifer O'Brien boasts over 25 years of experience as a seasoned journalist and editor, specialising in the business and technology sectors. Her blend of professionalism and humour enlivens executive roundtables, panel discussions, and conferences, cementing her status as a sought-after industry figure.

Josh is a seasoned innovator and transformational specialist with over 15 years experience across a wide range of industries. Driven by a passion to create meaningful change, his approach is grounded in understanding the core needs of stakeholders in order to define narratives that solve real problems for real people.

Jarrod Pickford, a passionate globetrotter, is the visionary behind Storytowns - a travel app born out of his extensive hitchhiking adventures across the planet. Boasting 25 years in audio storytelling, Jarrod and his team have curated and designed over 600 audio guides spanning across Australia.

Awarded the 2023 Australia Day Cobargo Citizen of the Year, Zena is an active community volunteer who is weaving the threads drawn from a long and varied career spanning journalism, diplomacy and her own personal creative practice.