There’s a version of this post where we just recap the event. Tell you who spoke, what sessions we attended, share a few photos. You’ve read those posts before. This isn’t that.
This is about why we went, what actually landed, and why we think it matters for the businesses we work with, wherever they are.
Some context
In January 2026, George and I relocated with our dog Hadley from Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. We’d been building Mogul for over 20 years in New Zealand.
FWD>>>FEST was part of the reason we moved. We attended the 2025 event on a reconnaissance visit, not really knowing what to expect. We left buzzing. Within eight months we’d sold the family home, packed up a life, and planted ourselves on the Sunshine Coast.
So when the 2026 event came around, it felt important to turn up properly.
What we did at FWD>>>FEST 26
We came on board as Ecosystem and Delivery Partners for FWD>>>FEST 26, held in Mooloolaba on 20 and 21 May 2026.
As the naming partner for the Day One lunch at The Wharf, we provided lunch. Matt MC-ed the Lunch and Learn session, introducing a ministerial address from Steve Minnikin (Minister for Customer Services and Open Data, and Minister for Small and Family Business) and keynote speaker Rob Neely, a 50-year entrepreneur and founder of Securely Group, a global fintech infrastructure business. George volunteered as a delegate co-ordinator for the full day on Wednesday, which put her inside the room for most of the day’s key moments. We finished the week at FWD>CELEBRATE, the sit-down dinner at Wharf Events, where the conversations continued well into the evening.
What actually landed
George posted on LinkedIn a few days after the event. She’s been to a lot of these things, including SaaSTR, so her bar is pretty high:
“We’ve been to a lot of innovation and entrepreneurship conferences in the past 20 years so I can say with confidence that this one is special. Most events give you access to thought-leaders and powerhouses from a distance. FWD>FEST gives you an intimacy that is rare, and in an increasingly disconnected world, that matters more than you’d expect.”
The intimacy is real. You end up in genuine conversation with speakers, not just watching them from a seat. Bill Ovenden (co-founder of The Lad Collective, and #24 on the 2025 AFR Fast 100) came to the dinner on Thursday evening and stayed to talk. Daniel Flynn, co-founder of Thankyou, one of Australia’s most recognised social enterprises, was in the same room.
Both of them made the same case, in different ways: the most durable businesses are built on simple human problems, solved with absolute conviction. After two days of big (and sometimes confronting) technology stories about AI, automation, and disruption, that was genuinely grounding. It’s easy to get swept up in the noise. These are people who didn’t.
Luke Anear, founder of SafetyCulture, opened the event at the keynote breakfast. His framing of the entrepreneurial path, lonely, relentless, and requiring a rare mix of naivety and courage, was as honest as anything we’ve heard at an event like this.
And we received far more as a sponsor than we gave. The generosity of the Silicon Coast community, from the board and organisers through to volunteers and speakers, was something we weren’t entirely prepared for.
What it means for our clients
Being embedded in this ecosystem gives us early access to ideas, tools, and thinking that can take a while to filter through to the mainstream. The conversations happening in the rooms we’re now in, about AI adoption, automation, digital infrastructure, and changing customer behaviour, are ahead of the curve. We’re building direct relationships with founders, innovators, and specialists who are working at the frontier.
That intelligence doesn’t stay on the Sunshine Coast. It flows back into the strategies, recommendations, and solutions we build for our clients, in Australia and in New Zealand.
We’re also now building a network of specialists across the Australian market. For our New Zealand clients looking to grow across the Tasman, or who simply want access to the best thinking available, that network has real value.
A word for our New Zealand connections
Our friend and longtime client Jared Maloney flew over from Hawke’s Bay to attend FWD>FEST this year. He walked away fizzing with new ideas and connections. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s worth the trip, take that as your answer.
FWD>FEST 27 is already accepting deposits. You can lock in 2026 pricing with $100 at fwdfest.co/2027. We’d love to see some familiar faces there.
What’s next
George has already proposed a strategic digital relaunch for Silicon Coast itself, to position it as the definitive online voice for innovation on the Sunshine Coast. That work is underway.
More broadly, we’re planning to go deeper into the ecosystem over the coming year. FWD>FEST isn’t an annual box-tick for us. It’s a relationship. And we’re in it for the long term.
If any of the themes from this event connect with what you’re working on, whether that’s AI adoption, digital strategy, content, or something else entirely, we’d like to talk.
