Highlights from the upcoming CEBIT SMB Digital Conference With special guests Danielle Owen-Whitford, Founder of Pioneera & Braden Voigt Founder of Lynkz

Small Biz Matters

Small Biz Matters – #182 Providing the small business community with educational content and advocacy since 2014 with Alexi Boyd, broadcaster, advocate and small business owner. Date: 13 October 2020

The annual CEBIT conference is a must on the small business education calendar. Always covering a wide range of interesting, thought provoking subjects, this year’s online version - the SMB Digital two day Conference held on 20th and 21st October is no exception. And it’s all free!

Topics will include Data management, Digital transformation, Finance and HR software & technology, Marketing platforms & automation & Security.

There are some CRACKING panels up for grabs and today’s guest joins us for a sneak peak at the quality of experts you’ll experience at the conference.

Danielle Owen Whitford is the founder of Pioneera) and today we’re chatting about ~ Using HR & talent management software to help navigate the new work from home environment and Braden Voigt, Founder of Lynkz, is with us to chat about the latest developments in software which small business needs to know about.

Topics we’ll be covering:

Tell us about changing the way we work & manage others

• It’s not just about shifting the exact way you were working previously and shifting it online
• Example – back to back meetings, longer hours, workshops to engage different audiences. Bare in mind not everyone is comfortable to answer online – online meetings are different.
• Easily distracted too.
• Tactics to minimise distractions and being more clear about your expectations

This is obviously a very dynamic time with many businesses being thrown unexpected curveballs. What do you think are some of the ways that SMBs can meet the current challenges while continuing to find ways to build their business?

With respect to the myriad of technologies and tech solutions out there, what are a few areas that you would suggest SMBs focus on in order to get the best results.

• Why its so important that in the era of COVID that small business owners need to keep updated with the latest trends, tech and software to make their business more successful

So make sure you register HERE ~ bit.ly/3nC5Ojl

SMB Digital, powered by CEBIT AUSTRALIA, will take place virtually on 20-21 October, 2020. This two-day event is for small-and medium-sized companies and will appeal to IT decision-makers and professionals, CEOs and Managing Directors and CXOs. The event will be a forum for business owners to better understand how they can utilise new technology to fortify their organisation for the future. Watch and interact during live presentations, panel forums and Q&A sessions. Register for free at www.smb-digital.com.au

About our Guests - Danielle Owen Whitford

Former Corporate Executive that moved into Start-ups in 2018. A boundary pusher throughout her career, she’s constantly challenged the notion of “we can’t do it differently, so we live with what we have”.

Using technology and curiosity to create a new normal, Danielle founded start up Pioneera to tackle the crippling issue of workplace stress, using the simplest of approaches – our words and behaviour. Pioneera’s AI platform combines technology with psychology to predict and prevent workplace stress and is gaining strong traction across both corporate Australia and small businesses.

Danielle speaks regularly on stress, AI, women in technology and leadership and stress and wellbeing.

“Indie” by Pioneera

Covid-19 has changed the way we work, interact and live. Suddenly everything we knew to be true about our people and workplaces is uncertain. Employees working from home have different stresses and over time, decreased resilience. The frequency of mistakes increases, as does missed deadlines. Language can become more negative and emotional. Action is required and Indie by Pioneera improves mental wellbeing and encourages productivity and greater quality of work.

How do you construct an environment where your people are engaged, and you know where and when you need to help them be at their best?

We rely on our senses to connect

When your people are with you, you feel like you know what is happening because of what you see and hear. We rely on our senses to understand and connect with our people. Now, with remote working, or a blend of remote and onsite working, we lose even these simple indicators. So, we struggle to do our best.

Indie does the sensing for you

Pioneera’s bot “Indie” integrates into your communication systems (eg. Email, chat channels) and uses language to help you sense and manage behavioural indicators in real-time. Indie recently helped one of Pioneera’s clients identify that their regular Covid-19 briefings were causing team stress. As they were able to identify this trend in real-time and take instant action, stress immediately reduced and productivity improved. Indie does the sensing when you can’t.

About our Guests - Braden Voigt

Braden has been in the IT industry for nearly 20 years and is the CEO of Lynkz – a wholly Australian-owned software development company – founded in 2017. Lynkz specialises in the delivery of data using machine learning, artificial intelligence and cognitive services. Prior to starting Lynkz in 2017, Braden was the Co-Founder of SixPivot – a software development and solutions company. While at SixPivot, he built the ‘Cloud Control’ product which provides a multi-cloud billing management platform.

Due to the outstanding nature of his work, Braden and his companies have been presented with the following awards: Young Entrepreneur of the Year – Technology (Business News Australia) 2017, 2018 and 2019; Start Up of the Year – Merit Award – 2017; Top 20 Most Innovative Companies in Australia – May, 2017 (Anthill) and Coolest Company – Start Up –2017 (Anthill). He holds a vast array of certifications including multiple Microsoft technologies and is a member of the Azure Advisors program and a member of the Australian Institute of Management.