Now that the dust has settled, we have taken the chance to look back and review OFFSET Dublin 2016. From creative inspiration on the main stage to industry insight on the Accenture Stage, each day of OFFSET was jam-packed with endless wisdom from leading innovative experts from around the world.
As part of OFFSET Dublin 2016 we collaborated with innovation giants Accenture, with a dedicated stage over the three days packed full of talks, panels and discussions , curated with the help of Fjord. The new collaboration, a jump into the unknown and entitled Innovation by Design, was a resounding triumph for everyone involved. Each day was packed with keynotes, stimulating panel discussions and industry insight. The Accenture stage provided a more intimate setting at OFFSET for our attendees to discuss aspects of contemporary practice and engage with the speakers and ask questions. A huge success for OFFSET and Accenture in their new collaboration, the Accenture stage saw a plethora of topics explored in detail.
Andrew Beckley headed up our first day with a full house at the Accenture Stage, with insight into what he sees as future trends for 2016 and whats going on in the design industry. Andrew who is Regional Design Strategy Lead at Fjord explored the areas of innovation and design and how it looks set to fuel all aspects of our social and private lives. He went on to describe how we deal with the everyday as a society and as individuals and he provided great insight for the audience.
After Andrew, we were delighted to welcome Chirryl-Lee Ryan to the stage, where she explored the state of design and what it means for designers in the industry. Chirryl-Lee cleverly used the Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol, as an analogy to explain the past, present and future of design. You can listen to her full presentation here on her Vimeo page for those of you who missed it.
After lunch, Senior Research Manager at Accenture’s Global Centre for Innovation, Connor Upton introduced us to the fascinating world of design and cognitive agents. The talk, which looked at everything from AI agents, chatbots and cognitive design, gave great insight into world that we are still learning a great deal about.
Our final panel on the first day of OFFSET focused in on the area of physical spaces and how design can stimulate creativity and growth. The panel was chaired by Andrew Beckley who took to the stage again and featured architect Emma Curley, industrial designer, Simon Dennehy of Perch and furniture designer Ahmad Fakhry of Designgoat. The conversation covered a number of areas in relation to innovation in the work space, new ways of working outside of the norm. The panel looked at innovation by design and the spaces for how we work, noting that in fact the office kitchen is just as important as the meeting room.
For the last presentation of the day, we were delighted to welcome Eva Maguire from Irish Management Institute to OFFSET, who took to the Accenture Stage and gave an informative presentation on how to sell design . She presented a number of insightful ideas, looking at how designers can reinvent how they create.
“You used throw a chicken up in the air & where it landed is where you’d build a church. Now we have rulers” – Tim Brooke
The Accenture Stage at OFFSET was full for day two, which kicked off with the power of data and design with Tim Brooke from Fjord. Tim, a hugely engaging speaker, provided insight into the challenges within his field dealing with live data and where to look for solutions within the industry.
Keeping the momentum going after Tim, there was a keynote from exuberant and charming Fabio Mastroianni, from Fjord Stockholm. Looking at design vs. new skills, Fabio discussed the design process that he used to create new business models and products. Super design duo, Christopher Boehnke and Scott Robinson from Fjord Berlin took to the stage to talk organisation design and changing culture and explaining that creating a community culture within the workplace, means more than putting a ping pong table in the common room.
We were delighted to have Merici Vinton on board to host a workshop/panel discussion on diversity which featured disability advisor at Maynooth University, Gerald Gallagher, blogger Timi Ogunyemi, set-designer/manager extraordinaire Lian Bell and founder of UrAbility James Northridge. An exciting way to present a panel, Merici took on the role as facilitator. The panel looked at how diverse groups in organisations outperform more homogeneous groups in the the workplace. The discussion around diversity and experiences of both the panelists and the audience, highlighted how the values we create today, diversity, tolerance and equality, will in fact shape our future.
The last panel on the Accenture Stage on the Saturday of OFFSET was hugely popular with very little standing room. The Head of Parks and Services at Dublin City Council, Les Moore joined the panel which also featured the previous head of the IDI Marc O’Riain, fellow architect Seán Harrington, and design writer Aideen McCole and Kaethe Burt-O’Dea. The conversation presented solutions and ideas for public realm engagement in both Ireland and abroad.
Our final day at OFFSET on the Accenture Stage was full of bright chats and insightful discussions. We kicked off the day with a panel discussion on Going Viral : Create Your Own Audience featuring Aoife Dooley, Steve Simpson, Mr. Bingo and Seb Lester. No need to pay for Facebook advertising for these guys, their content is strong enough as it is. There were great insights on how to build a successful following, responding to like and using new platforms. There was also plenty of banter on the panel and a healthy dose of Irish humour, perfect way to kick off Sunday at OFFSET.
“You are better off posting after Corrie, because nobody will be online during it” – Aoife Dooley
We were then joined on the Accenture Stage with the charming and hilariously lovely, Studio Dumbar in conversation with Linda King. Liza and Vincent shared their thoughts on designing for the real world and how they develop their work in the studio, collaborating at each step of the way. They continue to work collectively to get the best out of each other which certainly resonated with us.
A seriously heavyweight panel featuring Steve Averill, Jonathan Barnbrook and Russell Mills took to the Accenture Stage to talk the Future of Music. The panel which looked at everything from Bjork to Spotify, brought a lot of interesting conversations to the fore and insightful questions from the audience.
Finally, to close OFFSET 2016 on the Accenture stage we hosted a great panel discussion on Fashion + Technology featuring innovative Irish fashion innovators Love & Robots, sustainable fashion initiative Re-dress and leather designer Úna Burke. The talk which was chaired by the one and only Kate Coleman gave the panelists the opportunity to talk about their work, fast fashion and their vision for the future of fashion. The conversation which explored the different concerns that the panelists had for the future of fashion was an eye opener and certainly gave us food for thought when it comes to buying power.
The Accenture/Offset partnership grew from a shared interest in the future of design and technology both in Ireland and abroad. The Accenture Stage provided a platform for innovation curated by Accenture, Fjord and OFFSET. It was the perfect fit, but OFFSET had to ensure that with any sponsorship deal it maintained its integrity. This meant continuous collaboration and discussion on the presentation of the stage and the content of the talks. Accenture’s initial sponsorship investment was integral to the production of the Accenture Stage but the company offered a lot more, collaborating with festival organisers around speakers and panelists. We look forward to collaborating further with Accenture as they continue their innovation journey, including opening their new smart-building at 7HQ in October.
Feeling inspired after OFFSET and looking for a new direction to take your career? Start on a new path today with Accenture’s Centre for Innovation or find out more here. Alternatively check out this video.