Who doesn't want to get inspired while flying over the Pacific Ocean sipping a Bellini?
Qantas flight QF73 is travelling from Sydney, Australia to San Francisco, California Wednesday afternoon packed full of Australian entrepreneurs. The flight is a platform for four exceptional human beings, better known as TEDx Sydney speakers, to be involved in a tech talk in the sky.
TEDx Sydney, a community that organises TED-style talks, and Australian airline Qantas teamed up to bring the latest iteration of the world famous tech talks -- "Ideas That Travel." On board are tech entrepreneurs, startup founders and all round amazing people doing exceptional things with their lives. If you didn't get your invite, it is probably best to just go back to watching Everybody Loves Raymond on repeat.
Business class passengers from the hand-picked group are able to kick back in their Qantas pajamas on their sky beds and watch talks from Jo Burston, CEO and founder of Rare Birds, Michael Biercuk, experimental physicist and director of the Quantum Control Laboratory, Marita Cheng, CEO and founder of 2MAR Robotics, and Jeremy Howard, CEO and founder of Enlitic.
The speakers are discussing subjects like teleportation robots, artificial intelligence, quantum physics and gender bias. Just a standard flight. Those stuck in the cattle class, including handpicked startup founders and entrepreneurs, are still getting in on the action, as talk s are being streamed through the inflight entertainment system.
It's a shame no one outside the exclusive group is allowed onboard for the motivational talk, you'll instead have to watch the live stream online after they land.
Once the flight reaches San Francisco, a natural destination for the forward-thinking bunch, they will tour the headquarters of Google, Facebook, Khan Academy, Singularity University and Silicon Valley Bank to explore business opportunities bringing together both sides of the Pacific.
Qantas Group Executive Brand, Marketing, and Corporate Affairs Olivia Wirth said Silicon Valley and Sydney are made for each other.
“This is the perfect route for a world-first. We all know about the impact of the California tech boom, but what’s really exciting is the growing number of Australians doing business with Silicon Valley on the one hand, and building a home-grown Australian culture of entrepreneurialism on the other," Wirth told the media in Sydney.
“One of the reasons we re-launched flights between Sydney and San Francisco was to support growing business travel driven by the tech boom."