Theme: CHASM // mind the gap

Chasm or otherwise gap. The phenomenon that has never gone unnoticed. The part of your everyday life that moves and agitates you. The void that you’ve always wanted to interpret but you never dared to do it alone.

For us the biggest gap, has always been all the ideas that we couldn’t imprint with our own words. For a constantly changing society; we will try to define, bridge and eventually overcome all sorts of personal and collective gaps. With analyzing our concerns, re-evaluating our queries and disrupting our dilemmas, we will build the strongest foundation in order to tackle together our common fears.

Are you ready to redefine reality?

Technical Chamber of Greece - Section of Central Macedonia
M. Alexandrou Avenue 49
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54643
Greece

Antonia Skaraki

Creative Director

Βorn in Chania, Crete (1968). She studied Optical Communication and Advertisement – graphic design in VAKALO.In 1993 she founded the advertising company Karamella and in 2000 when her company becomes S.A. she makes the leap of Vice President. In 2007 she participates in the creation of the new advertising company Looking. She started her career in music industry, in the companies BMG, SONY, WARNER, EROS MUSIC and FM RECORDS. She has handled accounts such as: BRUSSELS – EUROPIAN UNION: ‘COAL CAN BE GREEN’, ERT, EOT, ATHENS 2004, NIKAS, GENEPHARM, MULTIRAMA, MAD-TV, ELMA, EYROBANK, IDEAL STROM, GOODY’S – VIVARTIA, She took part in Biennale of Rome in 1999. In 2005 she took part in the European communal program EQUAL with the ANDROMEDA project - Actions for combating racial segregation in the workplace. She is the Vice President of Brainlab.She also co-organised Athens Design Games in 2009.

Danai Christakakou Vangelis Vrachnos

Artists

Danai Christakakou is a dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. She was born and raised in Thessaloniki, During those early years, she performed a classic repertoire and contemporary choreographies in festivals, shows and competitions, in which she earned distinctions and prizes. Later on, she studied professionally at the National Ballet Academy of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. She completed her practice as a member of the CullbergBallet team in Stockholm, Sweden. Vagelis Vrachnos was born in 1989 in Thessaloniki, for the last 10 years approximately he has been active as a music composer and improviser in Greece, but also in Rotterdam, Holland, where he also studied the contrabass at Codarts Academy’s Department of Jazz. He is a member of Yako trio, Eclectique Quartet, Trio and Animanation as a bassist. He also plays the guitar, the trumpet and the French horn, while he often performs as a street musician, as well.

Evangelos Giannisis

Crime fiction writer, translator

He was born in 1988 and spent a great part of my life in Elefsina, Greece. He studied at the Faculty of Primary Education in the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, and, after he finished his studies in the year 2010 and did his military service, he left Greece and in October of 2011 he moved to Sweden. There he worked both in the field of primary education and adult education, teaching Swedish and English to immigrants. However, the opportunities he was given in Sweden were not just about experiences and material goods. By living there, he managed to unlock the narrator’ s voice that existed inside of me. Consequently, 4 books have already been published under my name, having as a protagonist Anders Ikonomidis, a Greek police inspector in Orebro. Meanwhile, he has also been working on book translations into Greek since 2014. Having now returned to Greece, he continues to write stories of Anders, to translate and additionally work as a teacher in primary schools.

George Floudas

Psychiatrist, Sexologist

He studied at the School of Medicine, in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Today, he works at the Psychiatric Hospital of Attica as a Specialist Psychiatrist. His main subject of scientific interest is Sexology and he has been involved in the study and clinical treatment of transsexualism issues since 2006. Ever since, he has done continuous interventions in scientific conferences, seminars, educational programmes, but also within the community, with regard to issues of Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation. He is a member of the Sexuality and Interpersonal Relationships Section, as well as of the Eating Disorders Scientific Section of the Hellenic Psychiatric Association. In addition, he is a member of the Scientific Board at the Psychiatric Hospital of Attica and a member of the Management Board at the very same hospital.

George Levitikos

Digital Director

18 years ago, driven by the belief in the power of creativity, George began his career in marketing communications. Having cut his teeth on traditional campaigns for TV and print, he then launched TBWA’s Media Arts Division working across new age media for local and global brands. Most recently, George founded the digital division of MullenLowe Athens, where he was responsible for business development and strategic excellence. Knowledge of the local market, coupled with extensive experience working alongside leading marketers, proved essential in order for him to lead MullenLowe’s digital arm to unprecedented growth, despite the worst economic recession in Greece’s history. When not on the clock developing digital touchpoints, George can be found DJing creating physical and musical connections with audiences.

George Voulgaroudis Dimitris Dimitriadis

Founder and CEO of BrainBox S.A and Co-founder and VP Business Development of BrainBox S.A.

George Voulgaroudis's love of technology and innovation keep Brainbox running smoothly in high gear. With a BS in Physics, a MSc in Telecommunications, and a Ph. D in Economic Sciences, George stablished the foundation for his successful 20+year career in technology. Throughout his tech career, George created some well-known innovative products such as the first car navigation system in Greece and the first real time traffic monitoring system in Greece, he supervised more than 50 large IT projects in Europe, he managed over 500 employees, and he generated upwards of US$ 200 M in sales. Dimitris Dimitriadis holds a BΑ (Hons) in Design and MA in Design Interactions and has spent eight years establishing new media channels for large brands in Greece and abroad. He is a skillful Manager with an expertise in Social Media Marketing, experience and knowhow in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and focused on problem solving and providing practical solutions with high ROI for online campaigns.

Les Au Revoir

Band

Les Au Revoir’s sound could be described as the last fleeting glimpse after a farewell, since the band comes to us with a retro mood, choosing songs from the past and lining them with lounge, bossa nova and swing rhythms. Their first official release happened in May of 2014, when they covered the song “Tha ksanartheis” (“Θα Ξανάρθεις”), whose remix was included in the Buddha-Bar XVII collection and was a success in many places all over the world. In May of 2017, following multiple successful singles, they presented to us their first complete album titled “Retro’ Clock”. In their live appearances, the audience will come across stellar performances and an intense on-stage presence. They have performed in various cities all over Greece and they have appeared on stage alongside important artists like Nouvelle Vague, Shantel, Zeljko Joksimovic, Antonis Remos, Peggy Zina and Christos Danti

Melissanthi Mahut

Actress

Graduate of The GNT Drama School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. A teacher of English and an occasional translator. She has worked in the theater field (National Theater, Vault Theater, Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus etc.) as well as in advertising, cinema (Notias by Tasos Boulmetis, Blue Train by Manolis Mavris, Lost and Found by Akis Polizos etc.) and recently in the field of video games. Her interests in a theoretical aspect would fill whole pages but let us confine to the ones that she concerns herself with: music, riddles, writing and travelling. Her favourite TEDx talk is “The psychology of self-motivation” by Scott Geller. In her talk she will attempt to bridge the gap about the perception of acting in the

Myrto Legaki

Mindfulness, MBSR and moving meditation Instructor

Myrto Legaki is an ex-corporate executive who now works with others in cultivating awareness and self-compassion. She studied Corporate Finance in Athens, earned an MBA from Boston University and then worked for 15 years as a management consultant and top level marketing executive in fastpaced organizations.Transitioning from the corporate world to follow her calling in leading a life of purpose, she founded One Breath Mindful Living Center aimed at sharing science-backed awareness practices that cultivate a more mindful life, and she teaches mindfulness and moving meditation to adults, children and corporations in Greece and internationally. She is a qualified mindfulness and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction instructor from the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a mindfulness instructor for children from the Mindful Schools organization, as well as an Open Floor moving meditation instructor.

Nikos Panagiotou

Assistant Professor, and Google Research Scholar School of Journalism and Mass Media Communication, Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University.

Dr. Nikos Panagiotou is Assistant Professor, and Google Research Scholar School of Journalism and Mass Media Communication, Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences, Aristotle University. He has been a Chevening Scholar of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Scholar at Sabanci University Scholar of the State of Luxembourg, and RCAP Scholar, APU University, Japan, Scholar to Beijing Foreign Studies University. He is the initiator and organizer of Thessaloniki International Media Summer Academy.He is a member of the advisory board for Networking Knowledge, War and Media Network, Member of the board of Municipal Company of Information, and Communication of Thessaloniki, member of Radicalization Awareness Network of European Union and member of International Relations Committee of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Pantelis Nazlidis

Lawyer

He is a law graduate of the Democritus University of Thrace and holds a post-graduate degree in Business (business-companies). In addition, he is a student in the Department of Economics at the same university. He worked at the Court of First Instance of Xanthi from January 2014 until March 2015, and from July 2017 until today, he works online as an Advisor-Analyst at a US-based company. Along with his work, he exploits economically one of his interests, which is the transactions of cryptos and shares. His other interests include reading, meditation, music, writing, subtitling and travelling.Pantelis wants to bridge the gap between the stereotypes that one has and their impact on his sociability. His favorite TEDx talk is The Five Phrases That Can Change Your Life: Adam Braun at TEDxColumbiaCollege.

Stringless

Band

The female polyphonic band Stringless is engaged with the sound produced by the human body, primarily the voice, replacing all the musical instruments. Polyphony is the desired, in songs that are already written for that specific reason but also for songs orchestrated to be “tailored” to the screech! They experiment with the sacred healing music of India as well as with the melodies of the Sufi. They play with newer pieces taken from the operettas of the first decade of 1900, the modern theatrical song, the retro of the '30s, and with Tsitsanis or famous motifs from the Greek films of the 60s. STRINGLESS began its course in 2012 with two concerts on the island of Ikaria, in the context of the “IKAROS” Cultural Dialogues Festival. Since then, they have found themselves in various venues, musical and theatrical scenes, festivals and cultural events.

Ynzo Van Zanten

Chief Evangelist at Tony's Chocolonely

Ynzo van Zanten, Tony’s ‘Choco Evangelist’, will tell the story of Tony’s Chocolonely’s roadmap to 100% slave free chocolate. Ynzo is an economist, author, entrepreneur and storyteller of Tony’s Chocolonely. His entrepreneurial ambitions drove him to set up Innocent Drinks in the Benelux. Ynzo is initiator of the ‘Sustainable Leadership & Entrepreneurship’ programme of the Amsterdam University of applied Sciences, and (guest-)lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and the TU Delft. In his spare time Ynzo is a member of the board of ’10.000 Hours’ and the ‘Plastic Whale’ foundation. His favorite TED talk: Dave Eggers, Once Upon a School. He is trying to breach the chasm between the consumers and the truth about the chocolate industry.

Εleni Psychouli

Journalist

Eleni Psychouli, 55 years old. She studied french literrature and classical piano. She has translated 20 french books of literature and she has cooperated, for 16 years, with the sculptor Takis, in the area of organizing exhibitions, publications and public relations. For the last 20 years, she has been working as a taste journalist. Furthermore, she has written 2 books and collaborated with most of the life-style magazines and newspapers whose main subjects are taste and travelling. She also has her own site named www.pirouni.gr . Eleni used to be the editor-in-chief of the Food and the City show in Mega channel, she presented and edited the Chef on the Air show for 7 years on Skai channel, and now presents the Master Chef junior show on Star channel. Eleni searches for the social extension of nutrition, the way that the daily table participates in History and how the Human Adventure is reflected on the food tastes of each generation.

Νikoletta Tsitsanoudi - Mallides

Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Greek Language at the University of Ioannina and CHS - GR Fellow in Comparative Cultural Studies at Harvard University

Nikoletta Tsitsanoudi-Mallides is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Greek Language at the University of Ioannina and CHS - GR Fellow in Comparative Cultural Studies at Harvard University (2014-15). For many years, she has been a member of the Greek Department in the European Journalists Association and a member of the administration for some time too. She has written and edited 14 books both in Greece and USA. She has been awarded for her work as a "Distinguished Researcher" and "Distinguished Reviewer" by the Untested Ideas Research Center in America. Last year, she was awarded by the Euro-American Women's Council as "The academician who connected media with culture". She has also been a visiting professor at the Harvard-Olympia Program at Harvard University with a research scholarship. The International Summer University "Greek Language designed and managed by her, “Culture and Media" (Andros, Syros) with very important co-organizers in the previous years.