Michael Rodrigues - NSW inaugural 24 Hour economy Commissioner

Mike believes in the inspirational power of cities and spends a good amount of time encouraging anyone in his orbit to get out of the house, to know their city and to have more fun.

While working as a lawyer in the Middle East, he spotted an opportunity to launch global lifestyle brand Time Out in Sydney in 2007 to achieve these aims. In 15 years at the helm of Time Out Australia he has grew the brand across print, digital, event and social channels, which now reaches 1,000,000 Australians monthly. He also co-founded the Time Out Bar Awards and the Time Out Food Awards. Time Out’s contribution to our cities was recently recognised in 2020 when Time Out was awarded the Mumbrella Publish Awards Publishing Company of the Year, and Mike himself was awarded Publish Leader of the Year.

Since 2017 and prompted by the challenges facing Sydney's night time economy, Mike has focussed his efforts on aligning and empowering industry to actively engage in the political process in order to effect change. This saw him take a leading role in launching an independent bars association for Sydney in May 2018, followed by the launch of a Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) in November 2018 of which he was the inaugural Chair. The NTIA was at the forefront of the development of the NSW Government strategy for a 24-Hour Economy, and in February Mike was announced as the State of NSW’s first 24 Hour Economy Commissioner, a role that commenced formally on 29 March 2021.

Mike is also co-host of leading hospitality podcast Back of House, a board member of UNSW Art & Design’s advisory council and a board member of Torrens University Hospitality advisory council.

Rennie Addabbo - Country Director, Sonos

Rennie Addabbo recently joined Sonos as Country Director, responsible for end-to-end operations of the Australian business, including sales and marketing, customer care, operations and finance.

Prior to that, Rennie was General Manager for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business in Greater Asia, responsible for marketing and category management for the Xbox business and category management for Surface, MS Band, PC accessories and Windows throughout Asia. 

Over the last few years the Xbox business across Asia has made significant strides forward from a brand point of view on the back of high-impact marketing campaigns and initiatives, many recognised through peers across the industry including awards through AdNews Agency of the Year, Asian Marketing Effectiveness & Strategy and MCV Pacific Awards across a number of categories.

Aside from driving high-impact marketing initiatives through his regional marketing team, Rennie was instrumental in Xbox becoming #1 in Asia in 2012, he led the introduction of Xbox as the first sanctioned games console in China, drove the marketing team that launched Microsoft Surface and Band products to the Asian market and was part of the leadership team that helped Kinect for Xbox 360 achieve a Guinness World Record for fastest sales. 

Prior to that, Rennie delivered consecutive years of double digit growth as Regional Director of Finance for Greater Asia. 

Earlier in his career, Rennie spent eight years in telecommunications in strategy, business development and marketing roles, and was part of a founding team responsible for a UK-based start-up venture that developed and built one of Europe’s largest fibre-optic networks.

Rennie lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and three children. Rennie enjoys golf, music and is an avid fan of the English Premier League, NBA and AFL.

Phil Silverstone - General Manager, Eventbrite

Phil Silverstone is the General Manager of Eventbrite, the world's largest self-service ticketing platform. In his role Phil is responsible for the growth of the business in Australia and the region. Prior to Eventbrite, Phil had a successful global career in financial services, with over a decade in senior roles with GE, and prior experience in top tier investment banks.