Theme: Rogue Monkey

In an animal behavioural study, monkeys in a cage learned from the previous monkey’s rules that the bananas at the top of some stairs could not be taken, until a rule breaking monkey arrives and despite the other monkey’s efforts, breaks with convention and takes the banana’s, re-writing the rules. It is a Rogue Monkey. Innovation needs these rogues...

Meet some of ours.

27 Old Street
London, London, City of, EC1V 9HL
United Kingdom

Chagall

Vocalist, songwriter and electronic music producer

Chagall is a vocalist, songwriter and electronic music producer from Amsterdam. She is also part of the small team behind Imogen Heap's mi.mu gloves. Mi.mu gloves wearable tech let you make music through movement. Dedicated gesture detection and mapping software offer a new and flexible approach to the control of music and visuals with intuitive human movement. Users as well as audience experience a dramatic shift in their perceptions of music performance and composition as the technology fades away and becomes instinctive, unleashing new realms of creative expression. Chagall explains how the gloves have changed her way of performance & composition and demonstrates them by performing her recent work.

Dan Ptacek

CEO of Kinnickinnic Ltd, and expert in Green Technologies

Daniel Ptacek is CEO of Kinnickinnic Ltd and ​comes from a practical background of both building and launching green technologies. He has over 30 years’ experience in Property and Construction in the USA and Europe and was instrumental in the delivery of O2 at Greenwich (AKA the Millennium Dome), the Eden Project, the GSK laboratories at Stevenage and Harlow as well as many other projects. Always involved with technologically complex construction, over the last decade, Daniel has been a business leader in launching new technologies that have emanated from university research. Examples are Cobiax (TU Darmstadt), Novacem (Imperial College) and Picwin (Cambridge University).

David Bond

Documentary maker and Campaigner

David Bond is a documentary maker and campaigner. In 2010 he went on the run from the UK’s best Private Investigators to make his acclaimed feature documentary Erasing David. It was shown on Channel 4 in the UK, played on in festivals and on TV in over 40 countries and inspired HUNTED, the new Channel 4 series. His latest film Project Wild Thing is the story of his determination to get his children outside and into the ultimate, free wonder- product: Nature. It was one of 2013’s biggest feature documentary releases. The Wild Network, of which David is a founding Director and Trustee, is a movement inspired by the film. It has over 17,000 members.

Geoff DeVito

Cultural Anthropologist

Cultural Anthropologist, Geoff DeVito, has traveled on all seven continents for work, research and pleasure, actively participating in and observing the experiences of both hosts and guests. Having spent fifteen years working in luxury hospitality - with half of that time on cruise ships - Geoff has seen the best and worst of travel and travellers. Through this, one thing has been clear: the relationship between hosts and guests is never utopian, but it could and should be. Drawing on personal anecdotes from his time delivering and receiving hospitality and service, Geoff educates travelers and advises organizations on how to offer better destination and hospitality experiences. His mission is to change our perception of the balance of power that underpins travel and think about how these examples might be applied to change our behaviours at home.

James Smart

Experimental Chef

James Smart is an experimental chef James brought the ‘Hackney Bun’ back to life in 2014 winning the ‘London Bun Fight’ at the St Georges Day party in Trafalgar Square beating the well known Chelsea Bun. Through his experience he has encountered a large amount of waste being produced in shops and kitchens and decided to do something about it. In November 2014 James co founded Save the Date Café in Dalston leading a team of volunteers building a café out of recycled materials and using food which was destined for landfill, cooked in a completely recycled kitchen. Since the day that Save The Date Café was founded it has been gathering steam daily. The café is a beautiful example of how waste can be used effectively and successfully to change people’s opinions and even lives. They intercept food that was destined for landfill and turn into healthy meals, which are accessible to everybody.

Professor Rosalind Cornforth

Director of The Walker Institute at the University of Reading and leader of the Africa Climate Exchange, or AfClix.

Professor Ros Cornforth is an expert in inter-disciplinary research to support climate resilience and development. As a leading innovator in knowledge exchange and multi-stakeholder engagement, she links science, policy and practice to drive user-orientated research and solutions. She has many years’ experience collaborating with international organisations, African Institutes, Meteorological Services, Governments and NGOs, particularly across sub-Saharan Africa. The African Climate Exchange (AfClix), established by Prof Cornforth in 2011, facilitates the interaction between scientists, policymakers and practitioners. The initiative is identifying how climate science can help to reduce people’s vulnerabilities to weather-related hazards in Africa and is following this through with action on the ground to promote resilience.

Richie Manu

Award winning university lecturer, designer and creative mentor and author of Best-Selling Book ‘YOU:Rebranded'

Richie Manu has a background in design, branding and communications, specialising in personal, professional and business development, working with many individuals and organisations to achieve targets and results for growth. He is also a trusted advisor to start-ups and entrepreneurs devising strategies on differentiating and standing out in competitive fields. Richie lectures at numerous institutions and is also a Senior Lecturer and Course Tutor on MA Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries at Central St. Martins in London. Richie has worked in Hong Kong where he was a Lecturer on the International Design Camp Programme in Hong Kong Poly U and Hong Kong Design Institute, working with design students from across the globe. He continues to work on design and creative projects for clients in the UK and Europe and has also just completed a major digital design and rebranding project for Digital Europe based in Brussels.