In case you missed it, Adobe has just splashed out $1.7 billion to acquire ecommerce solution provider Magento, effectively making it the only organisation with leadership in content creation, marketing, advertising, analytics and now commerce – enabling real-time experiences across the entire customer journey.

“Embedding commerce into the Adobe Experience Cloud with Magento enables Adobe to make every moment personal and every experience shoppable,” Adobe’s VP of digital experience, Brad Rencher, explained.

So if ever you needed an excuse to demand your boss let you attend Adobe’s Symposium in Sydney Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 August, surely this is it!

Still not sure you’ll get accounts across the line when it comes to signing off the measly price of your ticket?

Well consider the theme of the event: customers expect amazing experiences. And you’re the one who will make them. Because you are an experience maker – a rock-star marketer or creative professional who knows the power of the experience economy.

So, if you want to engage with your customers at a deeper level and create unbelievable experiences, then join us. Become an experience maker.

And then, of course, there’s the headline speakers.

Here’s just a sample of some of the people you could expect and bear in mind there’s more people to be announced.

TIM URBAN

Known for delighting audiences with smart, fascinating and truly original content, Tim Urban is the creator of the popular Wait But Why blog and presenter of the most-watched TED talk of 2016 – Why We Procrastinate  – which reached ten million views in its first year.

Tim’s Wait But Why blog has topped 10 million unique visitors during peak months and attracted thousands of patrons, including famous fans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, TED Curator Chris Anderson and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

Tim synthesizes complex concepts and presents them in a humorous, highly entertaining and memorable way, with his stick figures, caricatures and self-depreciating presenting style.

At Adobe Symposium, Tim will keynote on Innovation: AI Revolution & the Road to Superintelligence with an element of his most-watched TED Talk of 2016: Why Procrastinators Procrastinate: The Never-Ending Battle in Our Heads.

CINDY GALLOP

Cindy Gallop, marketing maven, has 30 years of experience in brands, marketing and entrepreneurialism. One of the top 100 influential women in advertising, accomplishments include:

Worked at Ted Bates, JWT and GGT before joining Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) London to run global accounts Coca-Cola, Ray-Ban and Polaroid.

BBH Asia-Pacific, where she ran the Levi’s Asia-Pacific business. Moving to New York to start up BBH in the US.

Digital and internet tech entrepreneur. Launched MakeLoveNotPorn at TED 2009. Launched MakeLoveNotPorn TV & published ‘Make Love Not Porn: Technology’s Hardcore Impact on Human Behavior’ as a TED e-book available on Amazon and iTunes.

Cindy’s 30 years of experience in brand building, marketing and entrepreneurialism, combined with a razor-sharp analytical mind, wide-ranging business experience, future-forward approach to technology, a compellingly charismatic presence and a uniquely inspirational approach, equip her perfectly to address the theme of leadership and inventing the future across a range of business sectors.

VINCE FROST

Vince Frost is the founder and executive creative director of Frost*collective, Sydney.

Before starting Frost* Design in London in 1994, Vince was the youngest Associate Director at Pentagram. In 2004, he relocated to Sydney and, as Executive Creative Director of Frost*collective, has lead a wide range of projects for clients such as Deutsche Bank, Qantas, Frasers Property and the Sydney Opera House.

Vince is an Executive Committee member of D&AD, a member of AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale, Switzerland) and a Honourary Fellow of ISTD (International Society of Typographic Designers, London). He has received numerous creative awards from D&AD, Art Directors Club (New York and Tokyo), The Society of Publication Designers New York and AGDA Australia.