Opportunity to hear business leader

CITY of Ballarat has scored a major coup in the world of business events.

Cecilia Ambros, head of creative studios US for Amazon Advertising, will be the inaugural presenter in the Pause Fest Speaker Ambassador Program set for Monday, 4 February.

Pause Fest is a three-day event held in Melbourne where local and international innovators and business gurus take part in panels, workshops and exhibitions with tickets ranging from $245 to $995.

Yet for a meagre $20 a ticket, Ballarat’s business, student and wider communities will have the opportunity to hear from Ms Ambros on her innate understanding of what makes for a great user experience – after all she’s been responsible for some of Amazon’s most effective campaigns.

Students from all of Ballarat’s secondary schools have been invited to spend time with Ms Ambros during the day before she presents her open session at the Mining Exchange.

Ms Ambros will share her experiences and practical knowledge of innovation, cutting edge technologies, thought leadership, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation and also answer questions from the audience on anything from building a startup to entering a global market.

Ms Ambros said she believes creativity occurs through chaos, exploiting many different mediums and does not follow a linear, text-based process where progression is made after learning more skills.

She points out innovation and ideas often fail when people hold themselves back from acting because they think they need more competence or knowledge.

City of Ballarat has sponsored Pause Fest’s only regional event as part of the Creative City Strategy.

“The draft Creative City Strategy’s mission is to develop Ballarat as an economy and a community powered by STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics – and this event helps to bolster the innovative ideas and concepts being generated in our community,” said Ballarat mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh.

“We want to take Ballarat’s creative spirit, reward our inquisitive citizens and nurture the development of innovative concepts and ideas within our community.”

The Pause Fest Regional Ambassador Program will be held at the Mining Exchange, 12 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat on Monday, 4 February at 7pm to 8.30pm.

$20 tickets can be purchased online through Eventbrite.