Art, Design, Business Speaker Series brings together practitioners with a breadth of experience in entrepreneurship practices, with a focus on the creative sector. Hear the stories of entrepreneurs, designers, and tech pioneers who’ve put together wildly successful startups, worked with top companies, and developed new and incredible products and business models.

On March 8, Amanda Downs (Director of Communications, 1QBit) will be talking about Brand Storytelling, to be followed by a Q&A session. This talk is moderated by Julia Conejero (Sessional Faculty, Emily Carr University/Project Coordinator, Unity Technologies).

Amanda Downs’ expertise in branding, marketing, and corporate innovation developed over more than 15 years experience driving business growth for clients in a range of sectors, including technology, energy, retail, tourism, real estate, and automotive. She has a track record of creating highly effective platforms and experiences that are driven by consumer insight, with particular expertise in implementing emerging technology and media tools. Amanda has worked on a diverse range of projects, from the creation of marketing plans for disruptive companies to guiding new product launches, to market expansion, to integrated multinational campaigns. Her clients include both category-creating startups such as 1QBit, and Fortune 500 companies such as Nordstrom, Volkswagen, and McDonald’s. Her passion projects include championing community engagement and advocacy programs for impact organizations such as Acumen, Gasland, and Vancouver Opera. A graduate of Singularity University’s Executive Program, Amanda is enamoured with technological progress. She applied this passion to develop DDB Canada’s internal innovation practice and start-up brand accelerator program, DDB Ignite. When Amanda is not connecting brilliant minds with 1QBit’s expertise in quantum software she can be found running in Stanley Park or cooking up new creations in her kitchen.

Julia Conejero is a Project Coordinator with Unity Technologies. She has been in the tech field for more than 5 years and prior to her current work, gained vast knowledge and experience by working for companies such as Electronic Arts and Microsoft. Through a career of developing for emerging technologies, she quickly gained awareness for opportunities to create and challenge appropriate human-centred design for emerging tech. Her current challenge is to create intuitive and accessible design in the Mixed Reality Space.

Please note all Art, Design, Business Speaker Series events will be recorded and published at a later date on Shumka Centre's website.