The 8 Percent Festival was a bold, high-energy, three-day business event designed to challenge entrepreneurs, creatives, and industry leaders to rethink success, innovation, and leadership. As the lead event planner and manager, I oversaw every aspect of the festival—from programming and logistics to speaker coordination and audience experience. The festival featured a lineup of influential keynote speakers, engaging think tanks, and Creative Inspiration Day, an immersive VIP experience that pushed attendees to explore disruption and innovation firsthand.

The keynote speakers included:

• Art Alexakis – Lead singer of Everclear and music industry specialist
• Indira Naidoo – Veteran journalist and newscaster
• Deng Adut – Lawyer, former child soldier, and refugee advocate
• Nadine Champion – Martial arts champion and cancer survivor

Objectives

• To create an event that challenged conventional business wisdom and inspired attendees to innovate and take risks.
• To bring together a diverse mix of entrepreneurs, creatives, and industry experts for thought-provoking discussions and hands-on experiences.
• To manage every detail of the festival’s production, ensuring a seamless, high-quality experience that aligned with The 8 Percent’s mission of creativity, excellence, and disruption.

Execution

End-to-End Event Management: I led the full-scale production, including venue selection, branding, scheduling, speaker coordination, ticketing, and logistics.

High-Profile Speaker Curation: The event featured thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and disruptors across multiple think tanks and breakout sessions.

Creative Inspiration Day: A VIP-only experiential day designed to take inspiration beyond the conference space and into the real world (see below).

Production & Branding: Every detail—from the stage design to the experiential components—was crafted to reflect The 8 Percent’s ethos: bold, challenging, and transformational.

CREATIVE INSPIRATION DAY

Creative Inspiration Day was a first-of-its-kind, immersive event designed exclusively for VIP ticket holders. Unlike traditional business conferences, this bonus festival day took attendees out of the conference hall and into the real world, giving them firsthand insight into how disruptive businesses and creative leaders operate. The day was carefully curated to ignite innovation and inspire risk-taking.

The Agenda:

• Workshop with Art Alexakis: The Everclear frontman shared his raw, personal journey of resilience—overcoming addiction, bankruptcy, and reinvention—to inspire attendees to face challenges head-on.
• Behind-the-Scenes at Iloura: Visiting the award-winning VFX studio behind Mad Max: Fury Road and Game of Thrones, guests got an inside look at how cutting-edge storytelling is created.
• Office Tour of Envato: At one of the world’s most successful digital marketplace companies, attendees learned how innovation and disruption have kept Envato at the forefront of the tech industry.
• Material By Product Workshop: Attendees stepped inside Susan Dimasi’s high-fashion atelier, where they explored the intersection of fashion, craftsmanship, and art.
• Lunch at Feast of Merit: A social enterprise restaurant, where guests experienced firsthand how a business model can be both profitable and socially impactful.
• Private Screening of Collisions at ACMI: An exclusive screening of Lynette Wallworth’s groundbreaking VR film, giving attendees an immersive experience in storytelling and Indigenous history.

The Impact of Creative Inspiration Day

• Hands-On Learning: Rather than passively listening to talks, attendees engaged directly with industry leaders in their creative environments.
• Expanded Perspectives: By seeing how real-world disruptors operate, guests gained practical insights on how to apply creativity and innovation to their own businesses.
• Inspiration-Driven Action: This experience-based format encouraged attendees to think differently, take risks, and embrace disruption in ways that a traditional conference couldn’t.

Outcomes

• High Attendance & Engagement: The festival attracted entrepreneurs, creatives, and industry disruptors, leading to powerful collaborations and new business opportunities.
• Industry Recognition: The 8 Percent Festival positioned itself as a must-attend event for unconventional thinkers and leaders.
• Creative Inspiration Day’s Success: This experimental format was a standout feature, demonstrating how business events can be more experiential, immersive, and transformative.
• Lasting Impact: Attendees walked away with new strategies, fresh inspiration, and invaluable connections, proving that the festival was more than just an event—it was a catalyst for change.

Conclusion

Managing The 8 Percent Festival was an intense, large-scale undertaking that pushed the boundaries of traditional business events. Beyond planning and logistics, my role involved shaping the entire experience—from curating bold speakers to designing an immersive, hands-on VIP day that redefined what a business festival could be.

The success of the festival—and particularly Creative Inspiration Day—solidified my reputation as an innovative event creator and strategist, capable of executing high-impact experiences that leave lasting impressions.