The Worthies Conference and Awards

The Worthies are the world’s first Conference and Awards dedicated exclusively to Public Sector Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Public Relations and Engagement.

As audiences continue to fragment, influencing thinking, behaviour and outcomes has never been more challenging. At the same time, the Public Sector must do more with less, so continuously improving effectiveness becomes mission critical. Collaboration and shared learning are key, the Worthies Conference and Awards brings stakeholders together to be inspired and to inspire each other.

Our Conferences build capability and community through sharing best practice and thought leadership from across the globe.

We bring together change makers to inspire each other to affect enduring behaviour change through effective audience engagement.

Our Awards recognise, showcase and celebrate what works. Creative that is impactful, eyeball grabbing, scroll stopping. Work that changes behaviour, engages audiences and cuts through the noise.

Agencies or Public Sector professionals in the following fields:

- Marketing and Communications

- Public Relations

- Advertising

- Engagement

- Design

Info: We’re living through an attention crisis. Trust in mainstream media is falling, audiences are fragmented, and citizens swipe past public messages before they’ve even landed. For PSEs, this isn’t a marketing problem — it’s a behaviour-change emergency.
In this talk, Shingy maps the next three years of audience shift: the rise of micro-communities, emotional search, and AI-shaped spaces where relevance is earned, not assumed. He makes the case that the greatest risk today is playing it safe, because safe work doesn’t cut through, doesn’t shift culture, and doesn’t change behaviour.
With ageing populations, climate costs, and stretched government budgets, creativity is no longer decoration. It’s infrastructure. And PSE communicators must claim their seat at the leadership table because nothing drives societal change faster than brave ideas at human scale.

Info: Fresh off her Hollywood tour, Leonardo.Ai’s Lead Creative Technologist, Jessie Hughes, breaks down how Generative AI is transforming creative execution. With public sector communications teams operating on shoestring budgets but sky-high expectations and demands, Artist-in-Residence, Jessie will unpack how generative AI serves as the bridge to world-class creative output, without the hefty price tag.
In her keynote, she’ll deliver a live demonstration of AI video-generation tools, share up-to-the-minute best practices, and walk through practical creative workflows designed to supercharge any team’s capabilities.

Info: Social media has become one of the most powerful tools for engaging and mobilising voters in today’s political landscape. In this session, Te Aorere Pēwhairangi explores how digital platforms can be used to inform, inspire, and activate communities, particularly those who are often underrepresented or disengaged from traditional political processes. Drawing on real-world examples and lived experience, the session highlights how strategic storytelling, authenticity, and online networks can drive participation, shape public conversation, and turn awareness into action. Attendees will gain insight into the opportunities and responsibilities that come with using social media as a force for engagement and collective change.

Info: Every year, Seamus dives into the depths of public sector content, voluntarily trawling through hundreds of government social media pages so you don't have to. In this session, he’ll unpack the standout trends shaping government comms, the tactics worth stealing, and his top picks of accounts to watch.

Info: Buffet lunch in the Legislative Council Chamber

Info: These are the big ones — the most outstanding work we’ve seen from around the world. Brilliant, creative campaigns that cut through the noise and deliver powerful messages.
This showcase celebrates the projects that prove public sector communication doesn’t have to be boring or expensive. It shines a light on the bright teams and bold ideas that didn’t let limited budgets or old perceptions hold them back.
Join Lizi Guest as she takes you on a journey across the globe, exploring some of the year’s best and most inspiring work from both the public and charity sectors. It’s a session you won’t want to miss.
So sit back, settle in, and enjoy this celebration of award-worthy work and start planning how your project could be featured here next year!

Info: To play the game of life well, you need to understand the rules and learn how to crack the codes that shape social status. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, these are the currencies we’re all trading in every day.
These invisible codes help us decide what feels ‘cool', trustworthy, and worth paying attention to. But in a fragmented media landscape, shaped by subcultures, tribes, and competing value systems – no single social currency works for everyone. When those designing public services or behaviour-change campaigns misread these signals, even the best-intentioned messages can come across as overly authoritative, awkward, or out of touch.
In this talk, Nick McFarlane explores how culture and status determine which ideas gain traction in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on semiotics, behavioural science, and cultural analysis, he shows that status isn’t just about hierarchy or authority – it’s about which values, language, and rituals.

Info: In a world of overload and low trust, people don’t just choose products or services anymore.
They choose sides. “I’m with the brand” is no longer a marketing phrase — it’s a signal of belief, identity, and alignment. Across B2C, B2B, and government, brand has become the fastest way people decide who feels credible, human, and worth their time.
This talk reframes brand not as decoration, but as infrastructure — the emotional system that carries trust, intention, and behaviour at scale. As AI accelerates content and sameness spreads, brand becomes the last meaningful differentiator: a shortcut for decision-making in an exhausted world. When people feel aligned, outcomes change.
And when brand is clear, people don’t just listen — they show up.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Paul Bowden