Georgia Frances King - Publisher, ABC Books (HarperCollins) & former Ideas Editor, Quartz (US)

I'm an editor currently working as the Publisher of ABC Books on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia.

Formerly the Ideas Editor at Quartz and the Editor of Kinfolk magazine, I bring a quality-of-life focus to the future's most pressing topics and translate dense, academic subjects into engaging content. During nearly a decade living in the United States, I edited New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling books, concepted innovative digital projects, and led award-winning teams of journalists and designers.

In addition to my journalistic work, I was a literary agent with Aevitas Creative Management in New York, where I represented nonfiction books about emerging science and technology, futurism, design, culture, and the arts. I am also a freelance book editor, helping Big 5 publishers make sense of their thorniest manuscripts on topics such as augmented reality, cell biology, feminist economics, and digital democracy.

When I moved back home, I became the Publisher of ABC Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Australia. It’s a classic case of “long-time listener, first-time caller”: I grew up in a household that always had ABC Radio National buzzing in the background and played Mr. Squiggle at dinnertime. As an adult living in New York, the ABC was my main news source for home, and I was even featured in 7.30's Black Lives Matter coverage. I knew I wanted to spend the next stage of my career telling Australian stories, so I'm excited to bring my dual career in news journalism and book publishing together in this role to promote home-grown ideas.

Aside from editing and writing, I'm a public speaker, workshop facilitator, and panel moderator. I’ve spoken about blockchain at the UN, facilitated cross-council sessions on future-proofing technology for the World Economic Forum, MC’d the AI stage at Web Summit, and presented on evolutionary psychology at Creative Mornings. Offstage, I was also a member of the WEF’s Future of Quantum Computing Council, a consulting producer at the Intelligence Squared debate series, and a fellow at the N Square Innovation Network, focusing on raising awareness of nuclear weapon proliferation.

I specialise in making obtuse content accessible and complicated ideas simple. Whether that’s a whitepaper on a new economic theory, a short film on the ethics of gene editing, or a children’s book on the microbiome, I’m interested in using unexpected mediums to bring awareness to the world’s most important issues.

Image: Shannyn Higgins

Paula Bray - Chief Digital Officer, State Library Victoria

Paula Bray has worked in cultural heritage institutions for over 20 years,leading the creative development of award-winning digital experiencesacross exhibitions and the web. She has worked at the State Library ofNSW, Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of NSW and is currently at theAustralian National Maritime Museum as the Head of Digital Engagementand Insight.

Paula leads teams that deliver creative, engaging and innovative ways toexplore collections, stories and data sets through exhibitions,participatory experiences and the web. She created and led The DX Lab,Australia’s first innovation lab in a cultural institution, where she led thedesign and build of numerous experiences, created partnerships withorganisations, students, researchers, artists and creative technologists.

Paula is on the board of the Create NSW Artform Advisory Museum’s andHistory Board, to help shape the future of the State’s arts and culturallandscape.

Scott Rigby - Head of Digital Transformation, Adobe Asia Pacific

Scott Rigby leads the digital transformation practice in APAC for Adobe's Market Development & Evangelism group. He was previously an Adobe Industry Strategy practice lead and led the APAC Digital Marketing consulting team. He has more than 20 years of enterprise experience across digital strategy, transformation and marketing, and has previously consulted to more than 200 clients in APAC such as: Kimberly Clark, Telstra, Citibank, Samsung, Lenovo, Disney & Air China. Scott has experience across retail, finance, telco, media, high-tech, travel and govt. industries.

Claire Evans - Managing Director, Grumpy Sailor

Claire is the Managing Director of Grumpy Sailor, a boutique creative technology and production company based in Sydney. Grumpy Sailor develops and creates stories using innovative new media platforms, collaborating with partners that include Google's Creative Lab, Sydney Opera House, The State Library, and The Arts Centre, Melbourne. This December, Grumpy Sailor in collaboration with E2 and the Arts Centre Melbourne will launch the Australian Music Vault; a permanent Australian music exhibition featuring artifacts, digital curiosities and installations of light, sound, video and colour.

In 2017, through Grumpy Sailor developed and produced Love at Fifth Site, an interactive series of short films for Adelaide Fringe, directed by Shannon Murphy and written by Susie Youssef and Tristram Baumber. In November 2017 Grumpy Sailor will release their original web series, Resting Pitch Face, conceived, developed and produced by Grumpy Sailor, written by Nicola Parry and Jess Harris, directed by Claudia Pickering and starring Nakkiah Lui, Bridie Connell and Emily Havea.

Claire has also produced award winning films including Kings of Baxter (Dir: Jack Yabsley), a feature documentary which won the Jury Prize for Best Australian Documentary and Audience Award at the Antenna Film Festival Sydney, The Red Valentine (Dir: Glenn Stewart) which won Silver at the ACS Awards, the Award of Excellence at NYLA Film Festival and Best Short Narrative at Logan Film Festival; Arc (Dir: Max Doyle) nominated for Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Director at St Kilda Short Film Fest 2013; and Jack Off (Dir: Max Doyle) released through Vice/Noisey in 2014.