I was invited to represent Adobe at the opening of the National Communication Museum (NCM) in Melbourne on 20th September. The first museum to open in Melbourne for the last 25 years, the NCM is based in a historic 1930s exchange building in Hawthorn adjacent Swinburne University.

NCM offers an inviting environment to explore and discuss complex issues in a rapidly changing technological world. It highlights both the history and the future of the technologies that enable us to communicate and connect with each other with a focus on inclusion and Australian inventors.

One of the highlights of the opening was listen to a keynote presentation by ‘Sophia’ the world’s first robot citizen and the first robot Innovation Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program.

Here are some of the artifacts on display at NCM …

On Thursday 19th September, I was invited by the RMIT College of Busness & Law to present an Adobe Express workshop to help enhance students presentation skills for the RMIT Business Global Innovation Challenge. This was a hybrid event connecting with students from around Victoria and into Vietnam.

The RMIT Business Global Innovation Challenge is all about co-creating with industry to create innovation, sustainable , and scalable solutions that will have a positive impact on the world.

As an Adobe Creative Campus, RMIT has provided full premium access to Adobe Express for all students and teachers.

On Tuesday 10th September 2024, about 25 students from Kingswood High School NSW visited the Adobe Sydney office for an ABCN Tech Careers Expo.

The ABCN Tech Careers Expo takes place over four weeks with about 20 ABCN member companies like Adobe from diverse industries to address the tech talent gap. Each company delivers a technology career showcase, designed to raise awareness and stimulate interest in the diversity of Tech careers and the different pathways into them.

The day involved an amazing panel of Adobe representatives, interaction with some wonderful Adobe mentors, a tour of the office and an Adobe Express workshop.

I would like to thank Olivia (Liv) Yeates for all her work behind the scenes as well as all the Adobe employees who made up the panel and took on the role of mentor for the day.

On Monday 2nd September 2024, I was invited to work with the entire teaching staff at Strathcona Girls Grammar School in Melbourne and guide them through the Adobe Creative Educator Level 1 course.

Strathcona holds a very special place in my heart. I taught there for 13 years prior to working at Adobe and was their Director of Learning Technologies. My wife & I also sent my daughter Talana to Strathcona for her secondary schooling, where she ended up as the Deputy School Captain in 2019. And my sister Lisa Mason (Kitchen) went their as a students and also taught there.

The Adobe Creative Educator (ACE) program is all about nurturing and celebrating education professionals in their work to guide the next generation to become life-long creators.

I would like to thank Kara Baxter (Strathcona’s Dean of Teaching and Learning) and her team for organising this opportunity for her colleagues.

On Monday 2nd Sept 2024, Strathcona Grammar School very kindly hosted the Melbourne book launch for my new book.

I had the pleasure of working at Strathcona for 13 years followed by being a Strathcona parent for 6 years. It is a very special school and I was very pleased when they opened their doors for this Melbourne book launch event.

My wonderful daughter Talana Bonello (a teacher in her first year) hosted the evening and did a great job introducing an esteemed set of presenters.

We were honoured to have the Strathcona Principal Lora Beegan welcome everyone and shared a bit about the school. I was impressed with the research she discovered about my history at the school and the passion she has for encouraging creativity within the school community that she leads.

Brett Salakas beamed in from Sydney for this event. Among many hats he wears professionally, Brett is the founder of Mammoth Learning and my publisher. Following many years as a teacher in Sydney, Brett has been working with HP & Intel on the Reinvent the classroom project around Australia & New Zealand. Earlier this year, Brett was the sole Aussie listed in the top 100 educators by illustrious international District Administration Leadership Institute and more recently he was named by Educator Magazine amongst the Most Influential Educators in Australia for 2024!

Ross Phillips is the Associate Head of Research, Innovation and Professional Practice at St Michael’s Grammar. With over 30 years of experience as an educator, Ross began his career in the same year as me and at the same school, Kingswood College. We also taught together for many years at Strathcona where Ross was Dean of Studies, and also Talana’s VCE Physics teacher. In 2022, Ross received ‘The Educator’ most Influential Educators Award. He is currently doing his PhD in the sociology of education and is a recognised Textbook author and conference presenter, with expertise in teaching Science and Mathematics.

Michelle Dennis is the Head of Digital at Haileybury, the largest independent school in Australia. She was formerly Head of Digital Learning and Innovation at Strathcona, where she was also a student. Michelle is an Adobe Creative Educator Innovator, the highest level of Adobe Edu Community program that I lead for the APAC region. She is recognised as a prominent thought leader in Australian education and shared her thoughts about where Gen AI is and is heading as a factor in the education system in Australian schools.

Rev Tim Costello is one of Australia’s most respected community leaders and a sought after voice on social justice issues, leadership and ethics.  But most significantly, in 1979 he married Merridie Kitchen and commenced a lifetime commitment to being my uncle and mentor in many aspects of life and faith.

Tim provided a number of references to the history & importance of education and the links to creativity. He also talked about God as the ultimate creator and the significance of all of us being made in the likeness of God and what that means in terms of how we creativity look after each other and our planet in a Gen AI world.

It was quite overwhelming hearing from all these amazing presenters sharing the value of my book and I really appreciated the time, energy and creativity they all displayed during this launch event.

It was such a joy to have people from all aspects of my life in the room sharing this event with me.

Images from Strathcona

A number of Year 9 students from Traneit P-9 College visited the Adobe Melbourne office on Thursday 29th August for a Tech Careers Expo event as part of the ABCN mentoring program.

The Tech Careers Expo takes place over four weeks. It brings together 20 ABCN member companies such as Adobe to help address the tech talent gap. Each company delivers a technology career showcase, designed to raise awareness and stimulate interest in the diversity of Tech careers and the different pathways into them.

The Adobe mentors included Helen Lacey, David Huynh, Jon Barrie, Zoran Nikolovski, Christina Fletcher and Tim Kitchen.

The students came with some great questions for the panel of experts and then worked through a series of activities involving the use of a range of Adobe applications.

I would like to thank Susan Short and Catherine Morris from ABCN, the Adobe mentors as well as the wonderful teachers and students from Tarneit P-9 College for making this such a success.