About Dan Read
Dan Read is a songwriter/musician who completed a Diploma in Music in 2009. He is currently studying IT and marketing at the local TAFE.
Music has been a part of his daily life and a passion for as long as he can remember and so a career in the music industry, doing what he loves, was a natural career path. His enduring interest, growing knowledge and experience has led him to write and perform with other talented musicians. An important outcome of these collaborations was the release earlier this year of his first EP entitled Life doesn’t get any better. It consists of four songs recorded at the Australian Institute of Country Music here in Gympie. Each song reflects facets of Dan’s approach to life – passion, fun and mateship.
As a result of his passion for music and his wish to share that passion, Dan has been invited to tell his story alongside international speakers at conferences through out South East Queensland during the past five years. His story is always the same – find your passion, follow your dreams, work hard to realise those dreams and take control of the direction of your life.
Dan continues to look with hope (and a wicked sense of humour) for possibilities in the future and that searching is backed up by a remarkable determination, an energy for life and a refusal to see obstacles as a barrier to his following his passion. He was born with cerebal palsy but does not let that define his music or his life.
A simple philosophy illuminates Dan’s life – know your passion, find a way to take the journey and enjoy that journey with great mates.
- 2012 Program Guide
Click here to see the full guide, or click on the images on the left to view presenters’ pages. - Tony Kishawi
A circus child, Tony spends adulthood reminding the world how to have fun. His work brings the joy of performance – especially Commedia Dell’arte – to thousands of actors and audience members. - Dan ReadDan lives and breathes music. His debut EP “Life Doesn’t Get Any Better”, created with talented fellow musicians, is an ode to overcoming obstacles with joy, humour and song.
- Jody Allen
Jody Allen is the owner and founder of Stay at Home Mum, a blog on how to save money around the home. She has over 90,000 followers on Facebook and after a mere 13 months has the 13th largest parenting website in the country. - Colin Graham
Colin makes entrepreneurship possible. His career in industry, universities and now as a business consultant has earned Colin ample recognition for thinking differently and making a difference. - Becky McCray
Colin makes entrepreneurship possible. His career in industry, universities and now as a business consultant has earned Colin ample recognition for thinking differently and making a difference. - Geoff Kirkwood
Geoff connects people through public speaking and leadership. A self-declared ‘referrals master’, Geoff has gained recognition in Australia and abroad for his ability to market innovative ideas. - Alexina Johnson
Alexina draws upon her farming and community building passions to talk about share-farming, networking and how small and local really is the best way to farm and eat. - Kelly Chambers
Kelly has travelled the world as a didgeridoo seller, commodities trader, student, courier and care-giver. Now, he accompanies non-traditional students on their educational journeys. - Ernesto Sirolli
Italian-born, Dr. Ernesto Sirolli has worked in Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Mongolia, and the U.S.A. in the field of local economic development. More than 300 communities and businesses around the world have adopted his responsive, person-centered approaches to local economic development known as Enterprise Facilitation® - Tracie Regan
Tracie works with stakeholders across the training spectrum to understand the uses of technology in Australian Vocational Education and to investigate the implications of various innovative teaching strategies for the improvement of lifelong learning experiences. - Greg Nash
From career beginnings as a baker, Greg now lectures and researches at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where he empowers first year students to communicate with confidence. - Mary-Lou Stevens
Mary-Lou makes radio magic happen at ABC Coast FM, as a presenter and producer. All about telling stories, she has also penned a meditation memoir, which will be released in early 2013. - Pru Millear
Dr Millear has a wide range of research interests, around psychological development in adults and the choices they make about jobs and relationships. Underpinning these projects is the belief that each person is actively involved in constructing their own lives. - Robert Prestipino
Robert helps towns to be better places. By identifying trends in regional development, he proposes approaches that will make sure our children and grandchildren inherit a world worth living in. - Jasmine Crouch
As Head of Campus at Gympie’s Flexible Learning Centre, Jasmin is a visionary, a dreamer and a supporter of dreams and so is a mentor to many who share her dream that anything is achievable. - Tony Ryan
Tony is fascinated by learning. He fosters innovation through his presentations, books and leadership in education and organisational development. - Helen Fairweather
Helen thinks and works strategically for a better environmental future. An engineering academic, a political campaigner and an alternative energy advocate, she pursues innovation and sustainability. - matty-witney
Matty Witney is a dynamic performer with a penchant for the shimmering. His performances are soulful, grooving, and lyrically engaging, and they entwine elements of soul, jazz, folk, and r’n’b.