Pause Fest appoints Icon Agency as national PR agency as it prepares for its 2021 event

Major business and creativity festival Pause Fest has appointed Icon Agency as its national PR agency as it begins preparing for its 2021 event.

Now in its tenth year, Pause Fest 2020 in February was the festival’s biggest event to date. With 360 speakers and 9,370 in person attendees and an additional 9,700 online streamers, it was one of the last big corporate events in Australia before the coronavirus pandemic took grip.

Described as ‘Innovation Capital’, ‘Octoberfest for business’ and ‘Woodstock for digital natives’, Pause Fest 2021 will look different to previous years events.

Says George Hedon, founder, Pause Fest: “We’re all hopeful that there will be some sense of normality in time for Pause Fest 2021, but we are busily reimaging what the event will look like in the post-COVID era.

“Pause Fest’s mission is to create a culture for the brightest of creators and innovators to come together and share their projects, knowledge, passions and insights – openly, freely and generously for the benefit of the entire community.

“The creative shift in the way we live, work and communicate during COVID-19 has shown this is all possible to achieve this via virtual channels.”

Pause Fest will be working with Icon Agency on a broad remit of activity beyond the 2021 event.

Says Hedon: “The festival is always the highlight, but we have a packed program running all year long. Our contribution to Australia’s start-up and tech community extends far beyond the three day festival.”

One of the major developments from Pause Fest is the launch of its inaugural The State of Australian Tech 2020 report, featuring data from a survey of almost 400 start-up founders in Australia revealing more than half feel ignored by government, with a third saying Australian regulations are actually impeding their growth.

Says Hedon: “The stats on Australia’s tech sector to date have been poor. Most are outdated, inaccurate and not supported by industry enough. However, data is critical. Without data, we cannot track progress.

“That’s why we’ve established the State of Australian Tech 2020 report to allow us to recognise the successes of our ecosystem, but also to confront the shortcomings that need to be overcome for us to be truly world-class.

“The report will build on our existing cataloguing of Australia’s start-up success stories, including via the Pause Awards, which we’ve just opened for 2020 submissions.”

Says Chris Dodds, managing director (digital) at Icon Agency: “Pause Fest is one of the most exciting and well-connected brands in the Australian tech space. We’re delighted to be its PR partner and support them in their mission to help the next generation of Aussie entrepreneurs to succeed, while cracking important societal problems along the way.”

Says Hedon: “In an agency relationship I value attention to detail, understanding of the tech space, strategy and expertise and a focus on client success – all of which I’m finding with Icon Agency. I look forward to working with Icon to help grow the Pause Fest brand.”