All you needed to know about NewCampus's FastFwd Festivals

April 14, 2022

How NewCampus is exploring the unknown future and what it holds for us through the FastFwd Festivals

NewCampus has been reinventing the education experience by making learning fit with busy lifestyles. It all began in Feb 2019 with the launch our one-of-a-kind social learning experience in Singapore. 

Our official foray into the country was marked by the first FastFwd Festival co-hosted by NewCampus and WeWork Labs at the WeWork Suntec Tower space with Singapore’s who’s who as speakers and mentors. 

What is the FastFwd Festival?

As you know, NewCampus is curious about the unknown future and what it holds for us. This curiosity drives our business of helping people make learning a habit. 

But how does anyone prepare for an unknown future? This question straight out of a sci-fi book is actually on all our minds. We decided to explore this deeper and wider through the FastFwd Festival (FFF, in short). 

Each episode of the FastFwd Festival will help you probe into the unknown and race ahead to get a closer look at tomorrow. Through discussions, speeches, mentorship and networking, we provide the platform and tools to keep up with the times and find a way to stay relevant. 

Our speakers, mentors and facilitators are global leaders who are driving the change. They are the brightest minds around offering their time and thoughts to foster a dialogue on the future. 

What happens at the FastFwd Festival?

Each festival has an overarching theme that drives the discussions. The festival usually begin with keynote speeches on the topic. 

This will be followed by numerous breakout talks to dive deeper into the theme. The breakout sessions will be held simultaneously where each speaker shares their story followed by 30 minutes of open-house discussion on the topics. 

The festival concludes with a unique and intimate speed networking session where participants connect directly with eminent mentors disrupting the future of our world.

The sessions are interspersed with breaks to facilitate informal discussions and the day ends with an informal after party where we continue our conversations.

FastFwd Festival 1: Diving into the future of work, technology & Creativity

The purpose of our very first FastFwd festival –co-hosted by NewCampus and WeWork– was to explore how human beings can navigate the future of work, technology and creativity. Some of the questions we answered were on how automation will impact our jobs, skills and wages, how tech trends are shaping the way we communicate, live and work and how to harness our creative skills and stay relevant. We also dived into niche subjects like AI, women in the workforce and harnessing creativity. 

Our speakers and mentors list for the event: 

Eric Sim, Founder of the Institute of Life, former MD of UBS

Leesa Soulodre, Chief Innovation Officer at Inspirit IOT

Tiziana Tan, Founder of Brain Juice Collective and award-winning film producer 

Cynthia Salim Founder & CEO at Citizen's Mark, Forbes 30U30

Chandra Kumar former CTO at Dell, CEO at Wisely Wise

Siqi Chung Director of Legal & Strategy for Zouk

Vikram Bharati Founder of Tribe Theory

David Ding Regional Fintech, Ecosystems & Innovation at DBS Innovation group

Joyce Tay Director of Programme & Partnerships, StartupX

Hayk Hakobyan Partner at Vision Capital, Partner at Prysm Group, Advisor at SOSV

Jamie Lee Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Carousell

Amanda Chia, Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific & Europe at Audacy (space tech

Jori Messer, Workplace Solutions Director at Lendlease

Here's a quick recap video of the FastFwd Festival 1: Diving into the future of work, technology & Creativity:


Read more about FastFwd Festival 1: Diving into the future of work, technology & Creativity here.

FastFwd Festival 2: Creating a Sustainable Future

The second edition of the festival –co-hosted by NewCampus and JustCo– explored the angle on creating a Sustainable Future, specifically how it affects the future of work, technology & innovation. We explored in detail themes of sustainable careers, future of food and most importantly - the future of the human race. Our discussions centred around creating impact startups, sustainable fashion, diversity and inclusion, company culture, authentic leadership, investing in career goals, brand responsibility, creating sustainable businesses and impact management.

Our speakers and mentors list for the second edition:

Agnes Liew, Former Vice-Chairman of Citibank & fitness entrepreneur

Sandhya Sriram, Founder & CEO, Shiok Meats 

Colin Allison, Director at Rainmaking

Elaine Liew, APAC Regional VP Cloud at Palo Alto Networks

Aik-Phong Ng, Managing Director at Fave

Xin-Yi Wong, Sustainability Manager at H&M

Imane Jamal Eddine, Director & Head of Tech Cloud Customer Success at Oracle

Ollie Wood, Head of Talent at Golden Gate Ventures

Chloe Rees, Partnerships Director at Dentsu Aegis Network APAC

Thibaut Briere, former Marketing Director at Cisco

Kimmy Paulino, Consultant at UpVenture

Simone Heng, Award-winning broadcaster & keynote speaker

Yu-Chuang Kuek, Tech advisor, VP at Netflix

Here's a quick recap video of the FastFwd Festival 2: Sustainable Future:

Read more about FastFwd Festival 2: Creating a Sustainable Future here.

FastFwd Festival 3: Unlocking the Human Potential

This October, NewCampus and JustCo will be co-hosting the third FastFwd Festival on Unlocking the Human Potential. 

The conference aims to explore the multi-faceted capacities we humans hold deep within us. When it comes to our physical, psychological or spiritual potential, the sky is truly the limit. How do we unfold this? How do we continue to stimulate our growth? How do we extend beyond and test the frontiers of knowledge and possibility? We have the answers! 

Our opening keynote will discuss female leadership in a male-dominated industry with Manisha Seewal (Group CMO of Carro & former Head of Marketing at Tokio Marine)’s interestingly titled session– "Good girls finish last”

We then have three-times Olympian Desmond Koh (MD Southeast Asia Market at BNP Paribas, Compassion Capitalist) sharing on "Consciousness, mindfulness and living life with purpose"

Following this, we will discuss designing career paths, unlocking creativity, tech innovations and sustainable futures through shared economy with Dave Lim (Founding Partner at Ideas Worth Doing, Founder Director Innovation X by Coca-Cola, ex-Head of Global Partnerships at WWF), Tiziana Tan (Award-winning social entrepreneur, CEO & Founder of Brain Juice Collective, Cannes & Sundance-nominated film producer), Ajay Prakash (Forbes 30 under 30, Co-founder & Head of Product at Perlin Technologist) and Laura Francois (Co-founder & Social Impact Designer at ANEWKIND, Global Keynote & Facilitator).

With five thought-leaders at the helm, we will have a roundtable discussion focusing on the human potential, ranging from innovation mindset, cultural adaptability, cultivating leadership, inclusivity and building communities. Facilitating these discussions will be Mohan Belani (Co-founder & CEO of e27), Chloe Neo (Managing Director of OMD, Chairman of the Singapore Media Awards), Aik Phong Ng (MD at Fave and Leading CEO winner for Singapore HR Awards), Leanne Robers (Co-founder at She Loves Tech) and Alex Loh (former Managing Director at Core Collective, former Singaporean National athlete in Asian Games, Commonwealth Games & SEA Games).

We will be concluding the event with the closing keynote speeches, one from Bidushi Bhattacharya (Former NASA scientist and CEO of Astropreneurs Hub) who will be enthralling us with "The future of space exploration: To infinity and beyond."

And the other keynote will be delivered by Greg Nance (Education entrepreneur recognised by President Obama as 'Champion of Change', Ultramarathon runner & mountaineer) who will be guiding us on "Taking the leap: Lessons from running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents"

If you wish to learn from and interact with this interesting line of speakers, head here to get your tickets for the FastFwd Festival 3: Unlocking the human potential. Want to recommend a topic for our next FastFwd Festival? Write to us with your suggestions at hey@newcampus.co.