Above All human 2018 is back, and it’s time to get excited for it
Above all human is back this year, and it’s a conference to be excited for.
If you attended in 2016, you’d know that Above All Human is quite the event and different from other tech conferences.
“A day of insights and inspiration from the world’s most innovative minds.”
Above All Human is for anyone who wants to make and create effective change for the better, this includes you no matter what you call yourself, a startup founder, a maker, a designer or an innovator.
It is a technology and innovation conference about driving change and solving big challenges bringing together all kinds of people for a day of insights and innovation from the world’s most pioneering minds.
The spirit of Above All Human is, at its core, about technology and science in the service of humanity: we are curious about opportunities, mindful of values and driven by a desire to effect change in our lifetimes.
A perspective driven event with the human at the core of it, it is definitely an event to attend if you’re passionate about the interaction between technology and science and humans and want to do more with the technology we can access.
Perfect timing for an event like Above All Human
I mean now is the perfect time for an event that focuses on making powerful impacts.
Technology is at peak with various advances coming up constantly, our innovators in Australia are moving faster, and it is easier to build a sustainable and strong tech culture and compete on a global scale.
And with technological advancement breaking every ceiling we’ve set, what better time than to come together and discuss on the potential and opportunities to impact the world in ways we never thought was possible.
Plus, this year, human-centric thinking and creativity are skills that are being placed at the forefront. These two skills are mentioned in various articles on topics like the future of work and the vital soft skill that is needed in this digital era.
Above All Human is providing the space to come together as a community for those with the same mindset but a diverse bunch of skills and talents to create collaborative outcomes with effective impact.
This can be seen from the different speakers that were part of the previous two events, like Waleed Aly from The Project, CEO and co-founder of Reddit Steve Huffman and Software Engineer at Pinterest Tracy Chou.
And this year, you can expect the same.
Here’s a list of the speakers that will be part of Above All Human 2018:
Irene Au is Design Partner at Khosla Ventures in San Francisco, where she works with early, mid, and late-stage startup CEOs. Irene has unprecedented experience elevating the strategic importance of design within internet companies, having built and led the entire User Experience and Design teams at Google, Yahoo!, and Udacity.
Gary Swart is a partner at Polaris Ventures, veteran Silicon Valley executive and venture capital investor. During his 8-year tenure as CEO of oDesk, the company grew to more than eight million freelancers and one million clients, before a successful merger with Elance in 2014. Gary currently leads the Silicon Valley technology practice at Polaris Ventures, and mentors business leaders at innovative companies working to change the way we live and work.
Ivan Lim is the co-founder and CEO of Brosa, a next-generation designer furniture retailer launched in 2014. Brosa has raised over $7 million and is part of the AirTree Ventures, Bailador and Melbourne Accelerator Program portfolios. Listed in Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 list, Ivan is a serial entrepreneur with a career leading high-performance marketing and growth teams. He was previously the Head of Marketing and Growth at Elto — acquired by GoDaddy.
Shu Yang Lin is co-founder and re: architect of PDIS.tw, working to prototype future democracy. She leverages her passion and skills in interaction design and HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and her background in computer science to rethink the interaction between the government and civil society, assisting in the digital transformation of Taiwan’s open government scene.
Daniel Petre has been at the forefront of the technology industry in Australia for more than 30 years, and has deep experience running large organisations, developing new business models, and founding three major tech investment companies. He is currently the co-founder of AirTree Ventures, an early and growth stage venture firm that partners with world-class Australian and Kiwi entrepreneurs.
As VP of Product Management at Google, Anil Sabharwal leads the company’s global efforts in the space of personal communications and photos. Responsible for the overall strategy as well as product, engineering, and design, Anil directed the team that conceived, built, and launched Google Photos in 2015.
Sacha Judd runs the Hoku Group, a family office combining private investments, early-stage tech ventures and a non-profit foundation. She is the co-host of Refactor (a series of events around diversity in technology), and Flounders’ Club (a network for early-stage company founders).
A word from the co-founder
We managed to have a chat with Scott Handsaker, co-founder and board member of StartupVic and co-founder of Above All Human, to get his insights on what’s in store this year.
Why was Above All Human created?
Above all human is a conference like no other in Australia. While it is focused on technology, innovation and startups, it also brings with it a focus on how those three elements intersect with us as humans.
Technology moves at a rapid pace, but with everything, we create the human experience should remain at the core. We want to explore what it is to be above all, human.
How is Above All Human different from other tech conferences?
The spirit of Above All Human is, at its core, about technology and science in the service of humanity: we are curious about opportunities, mindful of values and driven by a desire to effect change in our lifetimes.
While it’s brought to you by Startup Victoria, it’s for more than just startups. It’s for all humans that work, play or dabble with technology and innovation. It’s for makers and creators, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, innovators and disrupters, scientists and investors. Our aim is to inspire humans to think big, turn their ideas into actions and transform that action into success.
What can attendees expect from Above All Human conferences?
The strength of above all human is two-fold. Firstly, it is in the quality of the speakers and the content they produce. Above all human is the most heavily curated conference in the country, which means only those people who are at the top of their game get a spot on stage. The content is diverse, stretching from founders who have built a billion companies to astrophysicists discussing how the world is going to end.
The second strength of above all human is in the crowd it attracts. Diverse, intelligent, passionate, aspirational and hungry to learn.
It’s an experience that far outlasts the day.
Is there a theme for this year?
Our conference is always built around four core ideas. We focus on commercial success, radical innovation, creativity and policy & civics. Our speakers are drawn from all over the globe.
What can we look forward to this time round? How is this year going to different from the past conferences?
Above All Human has been a sold-out conference every event. This year it’s held at the World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, and we expect to sell out again.
What are you waiting for?
An event with humanity at the core of it, we’re excited, and you should be. If you have a passion for creating change, you should definitely head over to their website and consider attending the event. Because you’ll get a peek into the innovative mind’s of our community and you get to see the beauty of collaboration.
Tickets are live at https://register.canbook.me/aah2018. So don’t wait too long because the early bird tickets are already gone!
Above all Human is a one-day event that is happening on 29 Aug, keep up with their social media to get the latest update!
Here’s a video of the highlights of Above All Human 2018
