The Creative Innovation 2011 Conference will be held 16–18 November at Sofitel Melbourne On Collins. Among the key speakers will be one of the world’s best known lateral thinkers Dr Edward de Bono who has written over 82 books. Billionaires Richard Branson and Donald Trump have both been open admirers of his work. It is estimated around 750,000 managers across the globe use Edward de Bono’s creative thinking methods including managers in McDonalds, Microsoft, IBM, Federal Express and more.

Raymond Kurzweil – who has been referred to as “The Restless Genius” by the Wall Street Journal – will give a key address. He is in the United States top ten entrepreneurs. He has received honours from presidents Clinton, Reagan and Johnson, has twelve honorary doctorates and has been called “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes Inc.

The 2011 event will feature over 35 world-class international and Australian speakers. It is being presented by Creative Universe and ANZ. Other world-class thinkers and speakers include British education technology guru Stephen Heppell, leading philosopher Daniel Dennett (US), IDEO Partner and Professor in Design Thinking from Stanford’s School Brendan Boyle and Dr Paddy Miller from Spain, who works with multi-nationals on change. He taught leadership at the Harvard Business School and has worked with everyone from the World Bank and Boeing to Ericsson.

World class social researcher Hugh Mackay is part of the event along with Graincorp CEO Alison Watkins, Microsoft Australia’s MD Pip Marlow, Australian of the Year Simon McKeon and many more.

Tania de Jong AM – who is an award winning social entrepreneur and Founder/Executive Producer of Creative Innovation 2011 – said, “In an era of massive global competition and constant change, being the lucky country obviously cannot be anything like enough. Numerous economies like India and China are going through the roof. This event will take a hard look at the challenges and opportunities of the super-connected digital world. It will examine the emerging mega-trends affecting business in Australia and across the globe.

“The reality is creativity is a crucial part of leadership and management. It helps find hidden patterns. Many futurists now recognise that if you want to increase business success, there has to be much more emphasis on right brain functions, such as big picture thinking and the ability to conceptualise. This event will focus on activating left and right sides of the brain to optimise learning and engagement.”

Organisers say the event is not just for CEOs and directors of major companies. Small and medium businesses will benefit as well as anyone working in sectors including finance, health, government, banking and finance, the arts, education and not-for-profits.

Edward de Bono will hold a masterclass on creative thinking. Raymond Kurzweil will look at the acceleration of technology and its impact on business and the economy. His best selling book “The Age Of Spiritual Machines, When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence” has been number one on amazon.com.

Futurist and author of “The Sixth Wave” James Moody will talk about how to succeed in a resource-limited world. Co-Chairman and Chief Creative of Mojo Craig Davis will talk about tapping into the wisdom of crowds. Telstra Director Steve Vamos will outline leadership culture and management practices for a super-connected world.

The event will also feature two “deep conversations” with high levels of interactivity. There will also be a gala dinner, performances by leading Australian artists, ten masterclasses and more.

Sir Gus Nossal AC (one of the world’s leading medical scientists) said “Creative Innovation 2011 is an outstanding opportunity for people to learn from one another across sectors. Over the years I have learnt to value individual and collective creativity – whether it’s working with Bill and Melinda Gates or scientists in Australia.”

Edward de Bono said “It’s difficult for main track thinkers who are thinking about this year’s profit and loss. Why should they change? A business’ existing team needs to be taught new ways to think – as happened at Nokia when a company that basically sold toilet paper reinvented itself after an afternoon of gathering ideas.”