It's three fantastic speakers in one radio show!

Anders Sorman-Nilsson and David Thomas join Brett King on his Breaking Banks radio show discussing the future of digital innovation. Listen now:

If you’re a regular to O News, you would have heard of Matthew Johnstone, author and illustrator of the beautiful ‘I Had A Black Dog’ series and regular on the speaker circuit. Matt speaks on mental health and wellbeing, creating purpose in life and working towards being genuinely happy. Matt will be presenting at the upcoming Happiness and It’s Causes Conference in Sydney on 29 & 30 May and has offered to share his 20% discount code with O News readers. Simply quote WDRC when you book tickets to Happiness & Its Causes online at http://www.happinessanditscauses.com.au/

Interested in booking Stephen Koukoulas or David Thomas for your next event? Contact events@ovations.com.au for details!

26th March will see the 28th Melbourne International Comedy Festival kick off in style with their Opening Night, Comedy All Stars, Supershow! (phew that’s a mouthful!) Running for 3 weeks, the MICF will showcase the top local and international side-splittingly funny talent, before taking the best of the best on its annual roadshow. A new face we’ve been tickled pink with here at Ovations is Jordana Borensztajn, whose show ‘Like Me, Love Me, Retweet Me’ runs through her desperate attempt to be ‘liked’. 

Sydney was awash with Baseball fever recently as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks flew in to open the Major League season, and take on Team Australia in exhibition games. Michael Crossland who we know at Ovations because he defied the overwhelming odds of life threatening cancer, 3rd degree burns to nearly his entire body and a severe heart attack all before his 13th birthday, was providing commentary (Michael can add elite baseball player to his list of major accomplishments), and can you guess which Ovations team member has a family connection to one of the players?

One to mark in the diary: TEDx Sydney is ready to take centre stage once again at the Sydney Opera House on April 26th. With one particularly intriguing line up, we can’t wait to see what new talent Oliver Percovich and Mary Jerram can bring to the table - and of course we’ll be glued to our seats when favourites like Stella Young and Markus Zusak add their 10 cents to this melting pot of ideas. 

Having just had an incredible 4 month road trip around Australia with her family, our favourite marketing guru Penny Burke is recharged and ready to share with you and your team her insights into the 7 key consumer trends you NEED to know about. Backed by the meticulous research of Penny and her team at Essence Communication, we’re giving O News readers the inside scoop with a free download of Penny’s latest e-book .

Do you know your Gamification from your SOLOMO?

Dr Jason Fox is a business game-stormer and an idea-liberating academic rogue. Having completed a PhD, authored two books and lectured at three universities (all by the age of 25), Jason now shares his cutting edge research in motivation science and game design with forward thinking leaders who want to boost productivity, influence behaviour and make clever happen.

His latest publication ‘The Game Changer’ has unofficially been described as ‘a heretical text’, ‘a slap to the face of conventional motivation’ and also ‘a brilliant contribution to the field of human behaviour’. This pragmatic book shows forward thinking folk how to use the science of motivation with the power of game design to drive progress and change at work.

We have 6 copies of The Game Changer to give away to the first O News readers who can tell us:

‘What does motivation science + game design = ?’

Described as a pocket-rocket, a whirlwind of ideas and a breath of fresh air, Amanda Stevens is a vibrant, energetic and humourous speaker and a renowned specialist in sales, marketing and customer service - with a twist. She incorporates powerful research, insights and data, infused with relationship anecdotes and current social commentary. The result is a unique perspective that packs a punch in content and take-away strategies plus delivers serious entertainment value.

Author of the upcoming release WinWinConversations, Kamal Sarma is the director of Rezilium, a strategic leadership firm which has been involved in giving back to communities around the world, supporting a variety of projects including raising funds to rescue child soldiers, and rescuing victims of sexual trafficking in Cambodia, Nepal and India. His latest release is the result of over 10 years or research and development on ways to help people truly connect and communicate. WinWin is now being adopted by companies to deliver superior results, reduce decision phobia, increase client advocacy, staff engagement and sales.

With his high energy presentations, jam packed with the latest research, incredible humour and specifically tailored content, Chris Helder is a firm favourite with sales dependent industries like real estate, finance and travel. Chris is a firm believer that in today’s changing environment, it is more important than ever that people are learning to develop their skills in closing business.  

At just 20, Kieran Flanagan was one of the youngest Creative Directors to lead a multi award winning advertising agency. One of the only female Creative Directors in the world of MadMen, Kieran’s impressive career now sees her as the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at research, training and innovation think tank, The Impossible Institute, teaching and lecturing at The Miami Ad School and speaking to audiences around the globe. It would be fair to say she’s come across her fair share of sales people in her time, and here she shares with us her top selling tips...

...and it's not all about you! 

When an audience member tells you they spent the weekend with one of the world's most famous US speakers but got more value out of a 45 minute session with David Penglase, you take notice. David is all about demonstrating value and he definitely 'walks the talk'. He is an authority on the ethics of selling and his decades of experience as a corporate educator has led him to a fascinating new field: Intentionomics - maximising human potential and the impact of your intentions in every single interaction you have. We asked David what he thought the one key to a good sales pitch was, and it came down to one thing...

...Trust. 

Everyone is a salesperson.

It doesn't matter whether you're in a front-line role or crunching the numbers at head office, some part of your role demands that you convince others that they should buy in to your work. Selling isn't about products, it isn't about prices, it isn't about features or benefits - it's about solving the real problems of real people. If you can understand your customer's pain and communicate a solution, you've made a sale.

So how do the best minds in sales approach selling, sales and solving problems?

Dare Jennings is now EXCLUSIVE to Ovations!

It’s a prerequisite for sustained high performance.

As event planners we know you're in the business of putting others' needs before your own. So we've arranged a very special Christmas treat to help you recharge and refresh in the new year!

Ovations has 10 tickets to Rob Edwards' "Be Your Best" seminar at Sydney Hilton on February 6, 2014 and we'd love you to be our guest!

After facing agressive breast cancer at just 36, avid mountaineer Sharon Cohrs and her equally adventurous husband Allan embarked on the toughest journey of their lives.

Just nine months after finishing a punishing battle with chemotherapy and three months after reconstructive surgery, Sharon and Allan returned to Nepal to scale the imposing 7000+ metre peak of Mt Baruntse. Despite doubts her weakened body could withstand the trek, Sharon triumphed against challenges most would have deemed impossible.

And now in 2013 Sharon and Allan have done it again, continuing to raise money for breast cancer awareness through the charity they founded, Climbing for a Cause.

The accolades keep rolling in for serial entrepreneur Jodie Fox!

Jodie has already won a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year award and has featured in SmartCompany's "Hot 30 under 30" for three of the four years her runaway hit online store, Shoes of Prey has been in operation.

Now, she's taken the battle to fashion's home ground of Paris - and won!

Now that the Ashes are in full swing, it's that time of year that Australians everywhere go cricket crazy. So why not put an Australian sporting legend front and centre of your next event?

As always we've got some great suggestions for incredible cricketers, past and present, who bowl over every audience they entertain.

The pace of digital disruption will only accelerate in 2014 and beyond. It's easy to look at the collapse of household brands like Kodak and SAAB and blame technology - but the true blame lies squarely on the heads of those enterprises who failed to see their looming irrelevancy.

Will your business be one of those consigned to a footnote in history?