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HATCH Europe 2023 | The Analogue Trust Factory

Colliding creative spirits to hatch a better world.

HATCH Europe was a three and half days of connections and conversations, performances and talks, breakout labs / workshops through to participatory and invitational expressions of creativity.

“Humanity moves at the speed of trust!”

Jurgis Didžiulis

HATCH appears in your life when you need it, pulls you up and into its swirling vortex of human kinship, then gently places you back into the world, changed, turned around, emboldened, enriched, enthusiastic.

This was my fourth time attending the twenty year initiative and the experience keeps getting better with age (see 2013, 2014, 2016 write-ups).

The curation of attendees is impressive⁠—wide ranging, audacious and folks simply doing stunning things in the world⁠—and this event had 140 attending (77 of which I have on a list to contact to follow up personally).

They and myself are now part of a larger network of over 3,000 HATCHers globally. A community of doers spanning the globe and forming a living chain of magnificent souls.

It was the first time the experience had been held in Europe and just as a brief aside, what a venue: the Caux Palace is one of the most intriguing places I’ve ever been to (from the funicular ride up from Montreux train station which weaves in and out of tunnels to deliver you neatly outside this vast property, to the vistas and superb aura / history of the place)⁠—I think HATCH has found a new (Europe-side) home!

It’s hard to summarise the time although it did include (in no particular order):

Art. Participation. Hope. Dancing. Puppets. Performance. Forgiveness. Transformation. Activism. Unity. Tears. Evolution. Discomfort. New friends. Old friends. Conversation. Integration. Confusion. Laughter. Hugs, lots of hugs.

Thank you HATCH, the organisers and volunteers, the Palace staff, the attendees, the sunrise and sunsets, those deep conversations, the silliness and delicious connections made.

I am (again) HATCHed!


A few days out was asked to get involved as the speaker coach / liaison (briefly MC). As an event professional I’m always happy to assist when attending other experiences as know how hard it is to pull off these things with so many moving parts needing attention:

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Activating An Ecosystem | Collisions, Connections, Collaborations

bizdojo collider logo

Changing tracks and prototyping a smart city programme.

I’m two months into a new role as Activation Manager for BizDojo, the largest co-working space in Australasia.

The post is funded by Wellington City Council and focuses on a programme called Collider:

Our purpose is to transform Wellington into an innovation capital and an internationally recognised Smart city by activating an effective creative, digital and technology ecosystem.

This basically means developing and delivering a series of event, activations and collaborations with existing service providers whilst also creating new opportunities as a way to fill the gaps between current operations.



Nestled in a vibrant and stimulating environment, surrounded by a kick-ass team who have collaboration as part of their DNA plus a community of ambitious residents, this is exciting opportunity to serve the city and hopefully add value in its continuing development as the creative capital of New Zealand.

The role came at a time I was considering opportunities overseas and against a growing tiredness of a decade in the social media sector. Making the decision to take the job was a commitment to the three year funded programme (success being the continuation and wider evolvement of such a venture due to its impact).

So it’s back to getting up every morning, putting on pants and going somewhere to do a job, and that feels good to me…

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