Benjamin Kolaitis Email & Phone Number

Melbourne, Vic, Au

Events, media and Partnerships for City of Melbourne Libraries

Melbourne, Australia

City of Melbourne hosts Australia's busiest public library service. It encompasses 7 branches that host a variety of facilities such as makerspaces, recording studios, 3d scanning & printing tools,VR hubs, gaming centres, art & craft workshops and performance spaces. In my role as the Emerging Technology Team Leader I manage a team of Creative Technology Activators and Multi-media Event Staff to facilitate, implement & coordinate facilities that utilise emerging and creative technologies for public access. Key activities include:*Deliver key outcomes of the Melbourne Library Service strategic plan and Council Action Plan around supporting community literacy, skills and innovation.*Develop and coordinate a broad range of public programs, training & events, based around technology, innovation, professional development and community skills development, with internal staff and external clients *Build partnerships with companies, organisations and individuals to develop community experiences and learning programs, exhibitions and events that engage with emerging and creative technologies.*Coordinate and implement all briefs and communications related to public programming, training, web publishing, digital media information, e-communications and interactive collateral.*Evaluate and report on all activities and manage budgets for all operations of my team.*Coordinate, train and encourage staff in the delivery of technology based services.*Manage the effective provision and procurement of IT services and the implementation of new and emerging technology across all service points, including training.These include the implementation of recording studios, maker spaces, art making spaces, VR hubs, exhibition spaces, and gaming lounges.*Project manage the implementation of a new library management system, venue hireCRM including developing all tender specifications and stakeholder engagement.*Research and Pilot new technology services to improve our service.

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne Conversations is a series of free talks that connects discussion, commentary and participation on vital issues and ideas.Engaging with challenging ideas that influence Melbourne’s discourses on culture, creativity, liveability, and sustainability.The event format varies from a forum of experts and audience questions and answers, to more informal conversations through lectures and more intimate conversations presented at smaller venues.Events are held at a variety of city venues including Deakin Edge at Federation Square and Melbourne Town Hall. They are curated either by the program manager, an invited guest curator or in collaboration with invited partners.

Next Wave Festival 2012, International Symposium of Electronic Art 2013, Experimenta 2011 Biennial Festival, What is Music? Festival 2010, Handmade Music Festival 2011, Liquid Architecture, HONF (House of Natural Fibres), Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (BIFEM) 2013 and the Melbourne Fringe festival.

Melbourne, Australia

* Co-ordinate the effective operation of the creative spaces at the new Kathleen Syme Library* Develop and deliver training to customers and staff in current digital media tools, to create, edit and publish.* Oversee the purchase, maintenance and operation of creative technology equipment.* Work with community, startups, organisations and other stakeholders to deliver a wide range of programming on creative technology, including gaming, makerspaces, hacking, programming, audio production, design and social media.* Foster client relationships to build a creative technology community and actively seek partnerships and collaboration opportunities.

Melbourne, Australia

Media Lab Melbourne promotes collaboration between artists, designers, scientists, technologists, couturiers, performers, players, crafters and creatives!The architected experience is a primary quality of modern life, prevalent in our home, office, transitional and social environments. Media Lab Melbourne seeks to subvert, reinforce, extend, augment or diminish these experiences: inspiring critical action and rhetoric.New technologies and electronic media are likely to provide both the causes and solutions to our problems of the future. Understanding their relation to people and culture will be vital for a successful, modern society. As technologies are increasingly absorbed into the fabric of everyday life, the imperative for creative thinkers to address the technological influx from a critical perspective will become paramount. To this end, Media Lab Melbourne will offer intensive workshops, lectures, exhibition opportunities, local and international networking and skill sharing. Media Lab Melbourne is based in the city of Melbourne, Australia.Address:136a Cromwell Street, Collingwood.http://www.medialabmelbourne.com.au/about/

Melbourne, Australia

Curated and organised by dedicated experimental instrument builders Rod Cooper, John Jacobs and Ben Kolaitis, the Hmm… festival celebrates all things handmade in contemporary experimental instrument building and design. With talks, workshops, performances, makers market and installations Hmm… will showcase unconventional and surprising sound devices from circuit bent toys, handcrafted resonators, hacked TV’s pirate transmitters and fruit controlled synthesizers!The festival will feature installations and performances from a diverse line-up of renound local, interstate and international experimental sound artists.Let them help you be the future of sound, it’s in your hands!http://handmademusic.tumblr.com/about

Bachelor And Honours In Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Sound And Sculpture

(Incomplete) Dual Degree Bachelor Of Arts (B.A.) & Bachelor Of Social Work, Philosophy, Psychology, Community Engagement, Biopsychosocial Systems Approaches