Paul Barclay - Presenter, Big Ideas, ABC

Laura Lindsay - Director, Global Communications, Lonely Planet

Laura Lindsay is Director of Global Communications at Lonely Planet; an avid traveller she has worked in the travel industry for almost a decade interspersed with visiting over 40 countries. Currently looking after Lonely Planet’s brand communications; Laura is responsible for Lonely Planet’s reputation in the media, profiles of the company’s spokespeople and internal company communication. Most recently, driving the company’s story of transformation from guidebook publisher to multimedia brand. Laura also manages the company’s largest brand campaign, Best in Travel; the annual travel industry announcement of destination recommendations that spans Lonely Planet’s entire business ecosystem. Prior to Lonely Planet, Laura worked in communication for an education charity. With a BA and MA in Geography, Laura studied the practice of destination information consumption at the University of Sheffield.

Sam McDonagh - Country Manager, Airbnb

Sam has over 25 years experience in senior management roles across Australia, the United States and Asia, at companies including eBay (10 years, from start-up management team in Australia, Finance Director and New Ventures Category Manager in the US to Director of Southeast Asia) and iiNet as CMO. Prior to Airbnb, Sam was General Manager and advisor to US-based Dollar Shave Club’s Australian business. He now resides in Sydney with his family and Jet, the black dog. You can follow Sam on Twitter. @smcd_aus

Christina Erskine - Acting Chief Marketing Officer, Sydney Opera House

Chris has had the privilege of shaping the marketing agenda within some of the most recognisable entertainment brands in the world. She joined the Sydney Opera House in 2014 and is currently Acting Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for leading Mumbrella’s 2017 Marketing Team of the Year to deeply understand and inspire customer connections. Chris formerly ran the marketing for Brand Events’ (now IMG) Top Gear Festival in Sydney, in association with BBC Australia. Prior to that she worked as Marketing Manager across the Asia Pacific region of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company, and was part of some of the most successful musical theatre touring productions in recent years, including The Phantom of the Opera and Cats. She believes the role of marketing leaders is to champion customer first thinking in the digital age, to find authenticity in a brand’s purpose, and to lead with passion, focus and energy in order to work with the best possible people.

Rich Fogarty - Founder and Publisher, Concrete Playground

Rich Fogarty is the founder & director of Concrete Playground. With editions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington, Concrete Playground is a digital city guide publication that reaches over 800,000 readers a month, counting brands like Corona, Mercedes-Benz, Converse, MasterCard, Red Bull, Telstra, Toyota and Campari as content partners and advertisers. Rich also recently co-founded Downtown Drive-In, a pop-up drive-in cinema event hosted over five sold-out nights at Sydney’s Carriageworks.