Keynote address by Vince Voron from Coca-Cola North Americas @vincevoron
The Opening Keynote started off well, and just got better. Vince was a relaxed, confident speaker that kept the large audience fully engaged. Using a combination of images, case studies and diagrams, he sought to address the question on 'how do you create a culture of innovation in a company that is 125 years old?'
Vince has previously worked in design with Apple, and there was a nice balance in his talk between the lessons he had learnt about innovation with Apple, and then implementing those lessons practically into another company, Coca-Cola, with it's own history, culture and values.
Integration was a key theme through this talk. Vince talked us through his Design-Centric Innovation Model, which has 'Designer' in the centre - and that everyone is a designer.
He also stressed several times the importance of communication, and the need to ensure that alliances are built cross-functionally. We must learn to speak each other's language - engineering, design, finance, marketing.
This was a great official start to the conference with attendees wanting to hear more.
Dr Claire McGowan is founding Director of Commercialisation Advisors Limited (COMMA) and been actively involved in technology commercialisation and investment. She has a PhD in Molecular Microbiology and MBA from Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand. She has experience in the venture capital and investment banking industries, as well as personally building and growing companies. Her passion is in assisting entrepreneurs and inventors to build successful companies. She achieves this through her board roles on research and investment organisations and IP Market, as well as her Chair role with The Executive Connection (TEC). @clairemcgowan @ipmarket