The innovation process begins with an idea. It’s such an obvious statement. Yet we don’t give ideas the value or respect they are worthy of. We don’t create calm spaces in our lives for them to germinate, evolve and flourish. Ideas are either executed through lack of follow through or the execution process begins with blood sweat and often tears. Pun intended.

Here’s the thing, the best ideas are the ones that offer solutions to identified pain points. Take Justin Hales, CEO of Camplify, who set out to develop an innovative way to link holidaymakers with owners of caravans, camper trailers, motorhomes and campervans. At one time, buying a caravan wasn’t an option for him so he created his own ‘plan b’.

Or partners Melinda Smith and Susan Hart who have developed the Male App, a simple and effective tool to help enrich relationships by better understanding the female monthly cycle and how hormones can dramatically touch mood and behaviour. These entrepreneurs will be sharing their Ideas to Execution stories at the Get Your Smartz On breakfast during the Hunter Innovation Festival, which has kicked off today.

Keynote speaker at the breakfast will be Robert Coorey, best-selling author and Reality TV Pilot host. The Huffington Post called him ‘one of the most influential online marketers across the globe’. Fast Company called Rob an ‘online marketing guru’. Entrepreneur Magazine listed Rob’s book, Feed A Starving Crowd, in the ‘7 Books Every Marketer Should Read Before Selling Anything’ list. And he was recently listed by Start-up Australia as one of Australia’s Top 50 Entrepreneurs.

If step one is having the idea for an invention or innovation, step two is just as important. An idea needs momentum to become a viable product or service and there’s a lot of prototyping and iterating involved in that. How many times have you heard people say ‘I thought of that ages ago’? Right! Thinking about it is the easy part. Acting requires courage and commitment. Ask any business owner.

During the 2017 Hunter Innovation Festival, ideas will be germinated through Idea Bombing and the Hunter Hackfest. George Lewin’s Triton Workbench case study will highlight what happens when a good idea solves a long-term problem, and the Hunter Research Foundation Centre breakfast will give scale-ups the opportunity to pitch their products to a room full of business people.

Designing and prototyping, networking and collaborating, will be the themes at the Rapid Prototyping workshop, Mega Meetup and IoT lab. Most importantly, there will be plenty of inspiring case studies and advice on how to deal with the knock backs at Get Your Smartz On and Start Up Stories.

Dr Sarah Pearson will keep the conversation flowing at Women in Innovation where the topic for discussion will centre on whether women with sponsors are more likely to succeed in Australia’s innovation ecosystem. IP, commercialisation and grants will be just a few of the financial discussions that will be had.

We invite you to join the Hunter Innovation Festival as thought leaders, transformers, game changers, ideators, disruptors, challengers, early adopters or as observers and enthusiasts for what is happening in our city. The Hunter Innovation Festival will serve as a platform to exchange ideas about trends occurring on a global level and what is happening in our own arena. By keeping abreast with new ideas and technologies, and marrying those with our humanity, collectively we will be unstoppable in creating a vibrant city where opportunities are plentiful.

The Hunter Innovation Festival will run from May 18 until May 23.