Wednesday 11 August

When: 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Where: Level 1 Theatre, The Spot, University of Melbourne
What: Charlie has been the leader of Melbourne Ventures, the technology commercialisation company of the University of Melbourne, since its foundation in 2004. Melbourne Ventures provides specialist professional services to assist University of Melbourne academics with the commercialisation of their intellectual property, both through the creation of spin-off companies and through licensing deals. Melbourne Ventures is also responsible for management of the University of Melbourne's patent and trademark portfolio, and provides a range of other services to the University community related to innovation and commercialisation.

Charlie has held board positions with a number of early-stage technology companies, and has served on the commercialisation advisory boards of a number of Cooperative Research Centres. He has also been a member of the Investment Committee of Uniseed, a joint venture pre-seed venture capital fund which brings together The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, The University of NSW, and the superannuation fund Westscheme.

Prior to coming to the University of Melbourne, Charlie was a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group involved in developing strategic advice across a range of industries including airlines, banking, and software development. Prior to this Charlie was a consultant with Hagen & Co, an innovative startup consulting company focused on manufacturing process improvement.

Charlie has a degree in Classics and an honours degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne, along with a doctorate in jet engine design from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

When: 12:00pm to 6:30pm
Where: Room 135 Building 26, Monash University
Guest Speaker: Phillip Kingston

Phillip Kingston is a highly sought after strategic thinker in the Internet space. He has been instrumental in the success and high-impact of hundreds of startup companies, new not-for-profits and in the national or global expansion of organisations around the world. He founded Kingston Development to provide low-cost, high-impact options for businesses to reduce costs and facilitate growth.

He serves on a number of company and not-for-profit boards and committees. He is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership and an Executive Director of Planit Me Pty Ltd. He is also one of the lead consultants at Kingston Consulting. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Phil will discuss his past, his present and his future across a number of successful and not-so companies. He will unveil how to get from an idea to a revenue generating business. He will discuss his involvement in current businesses - Kingston Group, Found and Out and BBQ Hero and discuss his new book - The War for Eyeballs, out now on Amazon.

When: 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Where: TBC
What: TEDxMelbourne evening event will include videos from the legendary TED Talks plus a presentation from successful Melbourne entrepreneur Nicci Gafen aka "Miss Organic".

Miss Organic aka Nicci Gafen started the Miss Organic food home delivery service in 2006 because she is passionate about promoting the benefits of eating organic and biodynamic whole foods.

Nicc's interest in organic food was sparked after her family dog "Rocky" made a full recovery from terminally ill cancer after being fed only organic raw meat, bones and vegetables.

Rocky's miraculous recovery and other life experiences inspired her to make permanent lifestyle changes including eating organically. These changes enabled Nicci to feel healthy and happy, avoiding any more visits to the doctor for medication to mask symptoms of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. The more organic and less processed food that she ate the better she felt. From this point, her health became her priority.

Like 2010 TEDPrize winner Jamie Oliver, Nicci's has an unbounded enthusiasm for nourishing others and the desire to pass on information and advice about real health. This led her to start an organic delivery business in Sydney. A sea change brought her to Melbourne in 2008 and she is really enjoying the experience of being part of a healthy, enthusiastic organic community here in her new home town!

So successful has Miss Organic been that Nicci's company has recently moved into a massive new warehouse in South Melbourne.