Design tips for Slush

20 images, 20 seconds for each. This is the PechaKucha presentation format. It was devised by two architects in Tokyo in 2003 and since then, it has become a trademark of a fun/interesting/surprising presentation especially loved by the creative people. Design Forum Finland, in cooperation with Helsinki Design Week, is now arranging a tech-cum-design PechaKucha Night for Slush visitors.

The speakers include some of the most interesting names in both the design and tech scene.

The subject is free, allowing pitching about their latest project or a tech innovation they recently read about, as far as it touches the theme “Design for Growth”. This is a presentation you won’t be nodding over.

The event is free with the Slush pass or an invitation but pre-registration is required.

The idea of design is becoming intrinsic for every aspect of corporate life. Experienced design influencers talk about the unique skillset CDO needs and how that help companies to understand and engage consumers. The speakers include Marko Ahtisaari (CEO of Sync Project), Anne Stenros (Chief Design Officer of Helsinki), Olof Schybergson (Fouder at Fjord) and Karri Saarinen (Design Lead at Airbnb).

Shoshana Berger, editorial director at IDEO, will go through some of the problems with how we approach living and dying today, how human-centered design can radically change the way we prepare for and experience the end of life and what IDEO, HELIX and others are doing in this space. Also, new approaches that are changing how we die.

How to apply design expertise? Design Forum Finland’s group of expert panellists talk about various ways to do so. Creating brands, gaining visibility. Founding companies based on an innovation. Improving the customer journey, inventing new services. Standing out from your competitors. Simply getting a better, bigger and more prosperous enterprise.

The discussion is led by Tobias Dahlberg, Founder and Managing Director of Wonder Agency, a brand and innovation firm active in the Nordic countries. Tobias works as a strategist to create brand growth, mainly with brand strategy, internal culture, design, innovation and brand communications. He is also involved in a handful of start-ups – so he knows what he is talking about.

The panelists are Google Ventures’ product designer Braden Kowitz, Ivana Helsinki’s co-founder and owner Pirjo Suhonen, Gold&Green’s CEO Maija Itkonen and Urbanears’ co-founder Niklas Bergh.

In this talk, Braden Kowitz, GV’s first design partner and co-author of Sprint, draws on his experience working with over 100 startups to demystify design culture. We’ll discuss three major tenants of strong design culture, with real-world examples of why they’re important. And we’ll talk about easy ways to get started strengthening the design culture at your company.

When companies are operating globally, diversity can be used as an engine for economic growth. Hiring people because they are the best fit for the job and the company should be a no-brainer, but this discussion shows how diversity could be embraced more.

Slush 100 is a pitching competition which presents one hundred of the best seed stage companies on stage at Slush. These 100 companies will take the Pitching Stage at Slush and the whole event will culminate in the finals on Thursday. The fields include, among many others, AI & VR, cleantech, wellbeing, gaming and mobile.