Deniese is known as the go-to source for exceptional online teaching strategies that really are effective. Every research-driven strategy presented by Deniese has been extensively trialed, refined, and proven to work in a variety of VET settings by diverse educators, designers, and learners.

With extensive hands-on experience of her own in the online space, a Masters in L&D, and a PhD in online education, Deniese is ideally placed to help teams cut through the noise around teaching online.

Her ongoing research is what enables Deniese to continuously share up-to-date insights, and her commitment to developing practical strategies is what makes her PD sessions really stand out. Consistently one of the highest rated speakers at conferences and events, you don’t want to miss this session.

Kylie van Luyn is the Founder of Elevated Coaching & Consulting Global. She is an international speaker, best-selling author, award-winning coach and workforce development consultant.

Kylie is a Harvard Business School graduate, a Psychotherapist, an emotional intelligence coach, an NLP Master Practitioner and an accredited Human Rights Consultant. She has Master’s qualifications in Human Resources and leadership and her first book was published in 2023 on Emotional Intelligence.

Kylie is an Executive with over 15 years of experience in vocational training and specialised workforce development, supporting people from diverse backgrounds on their journey to sustainable employment.

Kylie has spent her career empowering people from diverse backgrounds through positive psychology, skills development and economic participation. Kylie has coached & consulted widely with corporations and Governments across a variety of industries globally.

Kylie was a 2019 Telstra Businesswomen’s Awards Finalist in the For Purpose & Social Enterprise category for her work supporting the inclusion and economic empowerment of women from refugee backgrounds across Australia.

In 2022, Elevated Coaching & Consulting Global was a NSW Business finalist in the Outstanding Start-Up category.

In 2023 Kylie was named one of the Top 10 Influential Female Entrepreneurs (USA) and a Women of Influence Global Awards Finalist.

In 2024, Kylie was named the Human Rights Consultant of The Year by CEO Today Global Awards and was recently awarded the honorary Paul Tobius Workers Champion Award in recognition of her ongoing commitment to workplace diversity, inclusion and psychological safety across the USA.

Emmanuella Grace is a professional Speaker, and Trainer of confident voices in business.

Her training blends decades of teaching and peak performance experience on international stages (Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, Sydney Opera House) with training in psychology (Grad. Dip Psych.) and music (B. Mus. Hon., M. Mus. Perf. Teach.).

Emmanuellas empowers individuals, teams, and leaders to find their authentic voice and speak with clarity and conviction. Through a journey utilizing research-based professional performance methods, participants gain confidence by understanding their voice, their body, and themselves.

Director, Kairos Modern Learning
HR Most Influential Thinker 2023
Author The Learning and Development Handbook published by Kogan Page, 2021 (2nd Edition out September 2024)

Michelle is a people development business strategist, author and practitioner. Leading the profession, she is listed on the 2023 HR Most Influential Thinkers list. Michelle heads up her boutique consultancy, Kairos Modern Learning, specialising in supporting organisations to embrace change for more impactful capability and people development. Moving the profession forward, Michelle has brought her years of people development practice to the People Profession through her work and globally popular book, The Learning and Development Handbook plus her podcast Learning From The Edges, which is research exploring friction in the workplace.

Michelle also has a monthly blog in Training Journal Learning From Life and is published monthly in People Management Magazine. Michelle is on a career mission to drive cultural change from mandated ‘Injection Education’ traditions to enable better workplace capability through effective, efficient, enjoyable and engaging everyday learning and human-centred cultures. Michelle offers a rare mix of a practical, pragmatic People Professional who really ‘gets it’ when it comes to business impact and strategy around all aspects of Talent.

She works with a wide variety of clients on people and organisation development, end-to-end employee experience lifecycle and culture projects, with international corporates, retailers, training providers, charities, start-ups, scale-ups, government departments, private small businesses, universities, youth organisations, and the veterinary sector. Michelle is a regular on the speaker circuit, sharing her ideas across the globe at conferences, on various webinars, podcasts, industry journals, and Learning Now TV. She is also an industry awards judge for the Learning Technologies Awards and the CIPD People Management Awards. You can also learn more about Michelle on her LinkedIn profile Michelle Parry-Slater

Mark Collard is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected experiential trainers and consultants.

Based in Melbourne, he is the founder and director of playmeo, a popular online platform & service that creates training workshops and resources that help people connect.

Over the course of his 35+ year career, he has delivered more than 2,000 program days and presentations, which have helped 100,000+ people have fun and connect meaningfully with others in 11 countries around the world.

He is best known for his three best-selling activity books including No Props No Problem, Serious Fun and Count Me In. Makr is also well known for curating the world’s largest online database of group games & activities featuring 530+ icebreakers, energisers, trust-building and team-building activity ideas.

Laurie is a distinguished senior trainer with a global footprint, renowned for his expertise in leveraging contemporary insights into ‘how the brain works’ to optimize the impact of training and foster effective learning. Since 1992, he has earned the title of one of Australia’s Master trainers, specializing in delivering skills-based professional training for adult educators. Laurie’s hallmark is ensuring that learners not only acquire knowledge but retain it for the long term.

With a wealth of diverse life and corporate experiences, Laurie has collaborated with an extensive array of groups, ranging from QFES and Government Departments to the Banking Ombudsman’s Office, Jockeys, H.R. Managers, CEO’s, Railway Gangers, Students, and Nursing Educators. His influence extends to working closely with Medical Consultants and Registrars from major Australian Hospitals, as well as educators in both major and smaller Registered Training Organizations (RTOs) across Australia and the Pacific.

Laurie’s commitment is grounded in action, promising to “walk the talk” with a no-nonsense approach that emphasizes practical skills over fluff. Attendees can anticipate an immersive experience where the principles of Brain-Friendly Training come to life, demonstrating their efficacy firsthand. These are the essential delivery skills sought by trainers and fervently desired by students. Prepare to witness the transformative impact of Laurie’s approach, as he shares insights that transcend theory and deliver tangible results.

David helps people to have focussed, productive and meaningful conversations. This applies to both his meeting facilitation and his training/development work.

He is the Principal and owner of Smart Meetings.

David has:

• 25+ years of group facilitation, training and intrapreneur experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
• Worked with people from West & East Africa, South Asia, China, South-East Asia, the Pacific and Australasia.

He uses a range of approaches to deliver results. These include Technology of Participation™, design thinking, story-telling, ‘graphic discovery’ and ‘pattern languages’.

Lison Mage, author of “Act Before You Overthink,” is a captivating keynote speaker and highly skilled trainer/facilitator. With a background in engineering and experience working on three continents, Lison brings a multicultural perspective and insights from psychology and behavioural sciences into her work.

From extreme sports enthusiast to expert in high-performance, her engaging approach and practical tools foster sustainable performance and strategic decision-making for individuals and teams.

Donna specialises in creating space for thinking, planning, and growing. She understands the power of choice and believes the best way to combat the myth of “wasted time” is living deliberately.

Through her own lived experience, she knows all about the juggle and struggle. This has led her to challenge existing concepts of “time management” and “productivity” and champion a new, more personalised approach.

Donna believes it’s about time we got off the vicious cycle of being out of control, overwhelmed and at risk of failing at the important things.

She is passionate about enhancing the large amount of time we spend in our workplace (too much, for many) to ensure it is effective and productive, as well as enjoyable.

She lives in Southeast Queensland, a region known for its world-class beaches, but her most creative moments come while sipping tea on her back verandah, gazing at her garden, alongside her husband, Steve, and dog, Prudence.

Donna believes that workplaces are complex, but not hard. More often than not it’s getting the simple things right, consistently, that has the greatest impact.

She also knows that when we decide to be intentional, we can surprise ourselves with what we can achieve.

Donna is considered a global authority on productivity being a regular contributor to HBR, Forbes and Fast Company. She is the author of 12 books and publications, including the best-selling productivity series, It’s About Time, and her latest book, The ChatGPT Revolution.

Julian is an experienced Digital Learning Solutions Architect, Presenter, Facilitator, and Award-Winning Author, bringing over two decades of expertise in web and digital technologies to solve organisational challenges in digital learning (eLearning).

He has experience in implementing xAPI and Digital Learning systems into both large and small organisations. Julian has also presented at esteemed conferences worldwide on xAPI and other Digital Learning Technologies and is a leader in xAPI implementation.

Julian has been recognised as a Fellow with the Institute For Learning and Performance (ILP) Asia Pacific for contributions to the field of digital learning.

As well as running ‘The Digital Learning Guy’ and xAPI.com.au, Julian is also the eLearning and ICT Support Manager for Independent Schools Queensland.

Kerri Buttery, the founder of VETNexus and Digital Literacy Licence, has worked in the Australian education sector since the 1990s. With a background as a Business and Technology teacher, Kerri is passionate about the use of technology in education and not only how this can be used to engage learners, but also streamline the role of the educator. She also has a focus on access and equity to education and information, and how the accessibility of educational resources can be improved.

Idea Curator. Learning Futurist. Global Strategist

Believer that the future belongs to those who constantly and rapidly unlearn and relearn in their daily work and life.

As one of Australia’s top innovators Louka Parry speaks on futures, leadership, and transformation; having worked with thousands of leaders and educators from diverse contexts across the world, including in high-level policy fora such as the OECD, UNESCO, the European Commission, and with all Australian States and Territories.

An award-winning educator, speaker, facilitator and adventurer, Louka’s powerful ability to communicate ideas with clarity allows him to guide thinking about learning, leadership and life to new places, earning him a place in 2022 as a Top 100 Innovator for Australia.

As CEO + Founder of The Learning Future, Louka is committed to transforming learning structures, systems and societies that further empower individuals to develop the key human capabilities that matter most now and into the future. At a time in history when converging technologies are rapidly changing the realities of workplaces and schools, Louka is passionate about exploring the connection point between learning and the era of AI, through powerful provocations.

Louka also co-leads the non-profit Karanga: The Global Alliance for Social-Emotional Learning and Life Skills, which connects the global education community at the forefront of the future of education and social-emotional learning to empower children, educators and communities all across the globe. A rapid learner, Louka speaks five languages, has visited over 80 countries, holds two Masters degrees,

Writer, speaker and learning visionary

David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.



David has the most downloaded L&D Podcast ‘The Learning & Development Podcast’

The Learning & Development Podcast is a topical podcast show for L&D professionals. Each week David James discusses and debates topics affecting the profession alongside various guests.

THE G:LINK (TRAM)

G:link will be operating as usual and stopping at Broadbeach North (across from GCCEC) and Broadbeach South (across from Pacific Fair).

With trams every 7.5 minutes weekdays and 10 minutes on the weekend (between 7am and 7pm), getting to The Star Gold Coast has never been easier. The closest stop is Broadbeach North and from there, a very easy stroll to The Star.

Day Two Agenda

Day One Agenda

Gala Dinner