With less than two months to go before Place Branding Australia 2021 kicks off, the man behind this year’s event, Stu Speirs, talks about why he’s excited.

For information and registration visit the Place Branding Australia website.

GN: Place Branding Australia is back this year after the 2020 event was postponed due to covid. What can we expect this year?

Stu Speirs: A perspective-changing conference that provides people with clear next steps. Australia’s best thinkers in the place identity space will be there. Getting that sort of intellect together in the same space will send our attendees away inspired and ready to change their places for the better.

Who should attend the conference?

SS: Anyone who is passionate about the place they live, and seeing it thrive into the future. Place makers, economic development professionals, town planners, architects and government leaders.

The conference is jam-packed with great speakers, what’s your pick as the top three must-see sessions?

Todd Babiak is globally respected in this space. Much of the reason for that is his ability to distill things down so they’re easy to understand and deliver. His session will be wonderful.

Toby Kent is one of the world’s go-to people when it comes to place identity and how it builds resilience in a community. In this day and age, it’s never been more important for our resilience and recovery practitioners to speak to our economic development and marketing professionals. His session will be a conversation starter that could genuinely change how Government works in this space.

I love the story behind The Unconformity and what it has done for the West Coast of Tasmania.  Travis Tiddy, the festival’s Artistic Director, is a sixth-generation West Coaster. He’s an incredible leader not only for the West Coast but Tasmania. His session on the Wednesday afternoon will be sensational for anyone that is putting an event at the forefront of their Place Branding efforts. It’s an incredible story of how an event that taps in to place identity can redefine a place and its future whilst honouring its past.

The conference will be held in Hobart to coincide with the Dark Mofo arts festival which is another reason to go. What will having Dark Mofo as a backdrop add to the conference?

We’ve deliberately steered away from offering an online version of the conference as we are practicing what we preach. We are about place, and we’re hosting it in a place that will be in full swing when we’re there.

In itself, Dark Mofo has been one of the key planks of Hobart, and broader Tasmania’s incredible Place Branding success in recent years. Being immersed in that story during the conference will leave attendees inspired in a way they simply wouldn’t have been sitting behind their computer watching talking heads.

Tickets are selling fast, does that surprise you given the uncertainty that covid has created?

No! There’s so much pent-up demand to get out and be inspired by others. That inspiration comes far more readily in a face-to-face environment. Coupled with the want for people to get back to Dark Mofo, those that haven’t bought tickets better line up their flights and accommodation soon! It’s probably going to be pretty tight down there!

What are the accommodation options for people who are coming to Tassie for the conference?

Our friends from the Grand Chancellor aside, there are some incredible places to stay. MACq01 and The Henry Jones Art Hotel are incredible story tellers of place in their own right. Wrest Point has great history behind it. There’s plenty of options to suit all budgets, but best book very soon!

We all know that covid has the ability to throw a spanner in the works at the last minute. What happens if something goes wrong?

We’ll provide a refund in full. It’s that simple really. We really do appreciate our registrants rolling the dice and booking with us as it has allowed us to put this on. The least we can do is provide a refund if it doesn’t come off.

Place Branding Australian 2021 will take place at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart from June 16-18.

For information and registration visit the Place Branding Australia website.

Place Branding Australia is a Government News event.

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