"Wow! What an impact our 2 days with Simon has had on our team. The team are constantly thinking outside the square for business improvement ideas and 'acting' more creatively. This is an absolute strength to this team and Sanitarium, and we are already seeing the business results. Well done and we can't wait for our next session in April."
- Darren Watts, National Sales Manager, Sanitarium
"I would like to thank you for your role as facilitator and MC at the Department of Transport and Main Roads DG Customer Led Innovation Challenge. Your role was integral to making the day a success and was greatly appreciated by myself and all the participants."
- Neil Scales, Director General, QLD Department of Main Roads
"Ongoing value of the training we participated in with you has been amazing! And the few of us who were a part of the original training group are keen to introduce the other members of our team to the experience we all rave about. Thanks once again for an amazing experience, the best training I have ever done."
- Norman Holmes, Team Leader, Community Partnerships, Mission Australia
"I brought Simon into a client site to run a 3-hour workshop for 25 Business Improvement folk on visual facilitation (How-to-do). He was awesome. Super easy to work with, and excellent facilitation of the workshop itself. The next day I walked into a number of rooms where the project teams had taken the skills and their new found confidence and illustrated key messages of their initiatives. It was quite staggering (after only 3 hours!). Weeks later the new skills are still being used and the team is communicating much more effectively with their stakeholders. Highly recommend!"
- Jennifer Frahm, Senior Consultant, Personal Banking, Business Improvement NAB
"Simon facilitated and graphically recorded our recent EY Oceania Infrastructure Advisory conference attended by 145 people. Simon had everyone up and interacting with others and kept the positive energy up in the room from the introduction through to introducing all the speakers right through to the end of the second day. I ran into a gentleman attending a conference next door to ours and he asked me if we had a comedian because everyone was laughing and sounded like they were having a great time. He jokingly asked to join in because it sounded like more fun than the event he was attending. I doubt our conference would have been as successful without Simon and everyone loved him, and we have quite a diverse team." - Lara Patterson, EA, Ernst and Young
"Everyone thought you were great! Your session was fantastic, fast paced and highly interactive and took a different approach to the exploring creativity and innovation with a purpose relevant for the HR team. Most of all you were loads of fun."- Christie Mort, Capability Consultant, Western Power
"Simon is a very talented artist in many ways! And VERY good value - not only do you get someone who can create fabulous visuals of what your presenters are saying that embed the messages but you get a dynamic and interactive MC who can connect those excellent messages!" - Amanda Gore, Best Selling Authour, Award Winning International Keynote Speaker
"The feedback has been nothing short of fantastic. Again thanks Simon for pulling off what will be a memorable night and of course now the bar for next year’s conference is set very high. Great job and really enjoyed working with you."
- Colleen Hitchcox, General Manager Small Business Programs & Services, Telstra
"Simon - you have shown professionalism, skill, creativity and great, great, great humour at both conferences you have facilitated. Watching you captivate an audience is just great."
- Shirley Glassy, Office Manager, Australand
"This is the very best program I personally have ever experienced. Thanks so much Simon, I believe you have found your calling, not just in art and facilitation but bringing a whole bunch of people together that would not normally associate. I couldn't rave about you highly enough. Thanks again for a wonderful experience."- Brenda Sellers, Qld Management Team, BlueScope Steel
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for work at the conference last week, the day was excellent and the feedback we are receiving about you and the overall day is the best ever! I think you were a great addition both years, you kept the exercises different each time which certainly helped and I think staff were all really happy, particularly the way you managed the event."
- Courtney Aspland, Manager Marketing and Media, Marketing and Sales, East Coast TAFE
"I cannot speak highly enough of Simon. He was great at setting the atmosphere and enabling us to connect with our teammates. He kept everyone on their toes and had some great ideas on icebreakers and games without anyone feeling embarrassed about being involved."
- Trish Cooney, Manager, Community Relations, CatholicCare
"I just wanted to say thank you for all of the work you did – before and during the CEO Forum. Simon, you made the day loads of fun for everyone. I am looking forward to finding more wonderful ways we can use your talents going forwards."
- Julieanne Dowse, Internal Communications Specialist, Lumo Energy
"Your energy, style and humour was very engaging and enabled the whole team to get in touch with their amazing creativity, to have fun and to step outside their comfort zone. Thank you for making it seem effortless, I really do appreciate how much hard work goes into delivering something that works so well."
- Suellen McCaffrey, Human Resources Manager, St George Community Housing
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you for work at the conference last week, the day was excellent and the feedback we are receiving about you and the overall day is the best ever! I think you were a great addition both years, you kept the exercises different each time which certainly helped and I think staff were all really happy, particularly the way you managed the event."
- Courtney Aspland, Manager Marketing and Media, Marketing and Sales, SUNSHINE COAST TAFE
"I tasked Simon with the job of MC and session facilitator at a national conference for accountants - Not the easiest of audiences, yet Simon’s unharnessed energy ensured the room remained engaged for the entire 3 days. Simon’s is fun, dynamic and forces the listener to move outside their comfort zone (in the right way). I have had the pleasure of working with Simon on numerous occasions and would personally recommend him to anyone seeking a speaker with a difference."
- Wendy Doxey, Practice Manager, Hayes Knight (SA)
"The feedback was fantastic from the conference. Thanks so much for your work with our sessions Simon. You were exceptionally professional, fun and really nailed the brief."
- Christie Hopp, Australian Wholesale Marketing Manager, Flight Centre Travel Group
"Thanks for an amazing session on human centred design and prototyping Simon. We are still raving about what we learnt... Of course I love any chance to get out the cardboard, scissors and Lego to start building prototype collaborative engagement pieces."
- Jane Tietzel, Manager (Stakeholder Engagement), QLD Department of Transport and Main Roads
"Simon facilitated our inaugural innovation event in September 2016 in Melbourne, where over a dozen teams participated. He brought great energy to the session, engaged the teams very well, coached us along the way, and made the event fun. Simon is a great presenter and facilitator and I would recommend him for other organisations looking to run innovation sessions, hackathons, or similar events."
- Kristian Kish, Head of Insights, eNett
"Simon is one of those rare individuals who can communicate in a board meeting with executives and yet be a wildly creative person. His company is a fantastic fusion of both qualities and is an asset to any conference."
- Sonya Furlong, Events and Incentives Planner, Avon
What a cracking event yesterday. Everything was superb. Everyone’s still talking about it. The vibe in the office is charged, as it was at the event also. Absolutely nailed the brief and got everyone excited about our new brand. Thanks for keeping so cool under pressure and a huge thanks to your team for being so wonderful and helping us during the madness that was the room set up. YOU’RE AMAZING!!!
- Leanne Medeiros, Senior Internal Communications & Events Specialist, REST Industry Super
Simon brought our organisation new skills and a new mindset. Simon's approach to engagement and problem solving promoted and placed our staff front and centre in bringing solutions to our organisations challenges. Simon is as expert facilitator, a great artist, and an exemplar of positive creativity. I look forward to the opportunity of working with you again in the future.
- Mathew Harvey, Manager of Digital and Technology at the Public Trustee of QLD
Simon was very well received and a pleasure to work with. He was very professional, lively and flexible. Simon took the time to research his presentation and had a great understanding of our objectives and more importantly the audience. Simon also unexpectedly brought some humour into his MC role and we received many positive comments.
- Margot Streater, AILA NSW State Manager
Simon facilitated our inaugural innovation event in September 2016 in Melbourne, where over a dozen teams participated. He brought great energy to the session, engaged the teams very well, coached us along the way, and made the event fun. Simon is a great presenter and facilitator and I would recommend him for other organisations looking to run innovation sessions, hackathons, or similar events.
- Kristian Kish, Head of Insights, eNett
We just concluded our annual national conference - featuring Simon Banks as our emcee, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. Simon was a key component in making our conference special, with his insightful approach and energetic delivery. A picture tells a thousand words, and Simon's skilful pictorial reflecting our three days together will serve as a permanent reminder of what we discussed - and how we are going to make things happen over the coming year. I highly recommend Simon for his ability and his unique approach!
- David Wyner, Managing Director at PSC Reliance Franchise Partners
Simon Banks presented a keynote speech and workshop at our company conference a few weeks ago and we are still buzzing with inspiration and innovative ideas since. His brief was to work his keynote and workshop material around our conference theme of innovation and technology, and boy did he do his research. We were very impressed with his knowledge of our industry and how he could weave his expertise into our conference theme. Simon has a genuine ability to engage any audience and empower that audience to think outside the negative "No" thinking behaviour and flip that to a positive "Yes" I can behaviour. I would highly recommend Simon for any company event in any industry. Simon can mould his magic and inspire any organisation that is looking for innovative thinkers in their organisation.
- Mackenzee Beckenham, Bid Advisor and Project Manager, Barker Ryan Stewart
As our event MC / facilitator, Simon's creative approach kept our audience engaged, entertained and wishing he wasn't Sydney based. Feedback from event attendees included "Simon's activities were very easy, non-threatening and fun", "my mind and body were kept active", "his creative activities were refreshing" and "Simon’s visual representation of our event really captured the themes of the day". Aside from being very generous with both his time and contribution to prior to the event, Simon flexibly supported the event coordination on the day with humour and finesse. Looking forward to working with Simon again in the future.
- Ayesha Fathers, Regional Development Coordinator, EMR Alliance
Simon was first recommended to me by a mutual friend and I subsequently invited him to facilitate one of our MBA in Entrepreneurship (MBAe) masterclasses at the UTS Business School on the topic of Visual Communications, which he delivered with great energy and skill. Simon challenged attendees to think differently and develop more confidence around their visual expression. It was noticeable how in the following weeks students were more likely to uses simple graphics and sketches in their communication. I look forward to working with him again on future classes.
- Jochen Schweitzer, Director MBA Entrepreneurship, University of Technology Sydney
Wow Simon! what a great fun night we had at our Sales Awards dinner last Friday at Byron Bay. Thank you so much for being such an amazing emcee. You were exceptionally talented, professional, high energy, creative and humorous! Most importantly everyone had heaps of fun and had great laughs, it was such a wonderful experience for all of us, so thanks again, look forward to work with you again in future.
- Rachel Lim, Marketing and Events Coordinator, South East Asia Pacific, Arjo Huntleigh
I had the pleasure of attending Simon’s full-day Graphic Facilitation course recently in Sydney and could not recommend it highly enough. True to his word, Simon packed a punch of content into the day - there is great ROI in attending this workshop as I walked out literally ready to go and implement my new graphic facilitation skills. I loved that before we kicked off we each articulated what our individual goals were for the day. It was then through Simon’s friendly and funny expert facilitation and guided learning that by the end of the day we had each achieved our individual objectives, and so much more! Simon delivers the goods!
- Jane Waterson, Senior Change Manager
