The conference was attended by more than 50 speakers from 11 countries. Mr Renping Gong of the Chinese Consulate General in Brisbane was a special guest. International dignitaries, including several business representatives, met the Minister for State Development, the Hon. John Mickel, and Ms. Anna Rooke from CIP Ltd.
The event had four keynote speakers, a special China-Queensland business forum held in the Roundhouse Theatre, and an exhibition of QUT work, featuring interactive design technology from ACID and indigenous culture.
Invited speakers included many noted academics and culture industry professionals:
o Professor Jing Wang (MIT);
o Professor Michael Curtin (University of Wisconsin-Madison);
o Professor Stephanie Hemelryk Donald (UTS);
o Su Tong, General Secretary of the Creative China Industrial Alliance (Beijing);
o Dr Pan Jin, Deputy General Secretary of the Shanghai Creative Industries Centre;
o Professor Cheng Jianxin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Industrial Design Association;
o Anne Demy-Geroe, Artistic Director of the Brisbane International Film Festival;
o Harold Weldon, CEO of Weldon International;
o Tim Lindgren, a Brisbane-based fashion designer who runs Beitian Pty Ltd, operating in Shanghai;
o Professor Xiong Chengyu, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University;
o Professor Lü Xuewu, Associate President of the Communication University of China; and
o Professor Fan Zhou, Director of CUC’s Cultural Creative Industries Research Centre.
The conference attracted media coverage on ABC radio’s Media Report. It led to a further strengthening of QUT’s relationships with China, in particular with the Chinese University of Communication, the Beijing Dance Academy, the Shanghai Municipal Government, and Tsinghua University.
This conference was sponsored by CCI and organised by the China East Asia Media New Media research network. Support and sponsorship were kindly provided by the Queensland Government (Premier’s Department), the Creative Industries Faculty (QUT), the Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation (iCi), the University of Queensland Centre for Critical Cultural Studies, the Annenberg School of Communication Pennsylvania, the Global Studies Centre of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Chinese University of Communication, (Beijing), and the China Media Centre of the University of Westminster (London).