Step into a space where bold ideas thrive and taboos are turned into triumphs. Lets get to know the makers, thinkers, and rule-breakers reimagining pleasure, connection, and wellbeing. Expect sharp insights, honest conversations, and a community that isn’t afraid to go where others won’t.
"This event was born out of curiosity, and a little bit of rebellion. Despite all the innovation in taboo industries, there’s still a lack of spaces for founders, investors, and creators to connect, collaborate, and be taken seriously. I wanted to change that by spotlighting bold ideas and recognising those that deserve to be celebrated for their pioneering efforts.”
Inclusive by Design
Hosted by Archie Beetle from Queer Town
If you’re building in sex tech, queer tech, disability-led innovation, or adjacent spaces, inclusion isn’t a “nice to have” - it directly shapes who shows up, who stays, and who advocates for your work.
This Side Quest, facilitated by Archie Beetle from Queer Town, is designed for founders, creators, and community builders who want their work to be more accessible, more trusted, and more viable in the long term.
Rather than a lecture, this is a guided conversation focused on the real decisions you’re already making (language, design, assumptions, community norms) and how those choices can either widen your reach or quietly limit it.
Why take this Side Quest?
In taboo industries, your audience isn’t passive. They’re discerning, vocal, and deeply aware of whether a space was built with them in mind.
This session will help you:
Build products and platforms that are usable by more people
Strengthen community trust and credibility
Reduce friction, harm, and unintentional exclusion
Turn inclusion into a competitive advantage, not an afterthought
What you’ll gain:
A clear snapshot of why LGBTIQA+ inclusion matters specifically in sex tech, queer tech, and disability-led innovation
Practical guidance on inclusive language, with accessibility at the centre
Real-world examples of inclusive practice in action
A facilitated Q&A exploring how inclusion shows up across the sex tech ecosystem
This Side Quest is approachable, non-judgemental, and designed to meet you where you are - whether you’re early-stage, scaling, or still figuring things out.Because if your work is meant to be visible, it needs to be inclusive.If it’s going to be viable, it needs to be accessible.And if it’s going to be unstoppable, people need to feel like it’s for them.
Earn True Fans for Your Brand
Hosted by Gaz Williams from Group Group
In taboo industries, attention is hard-won and trust is everything. This hands-on Side Quest is designed for founders and creators who want to grow visibility without burning cash, diluting their message, or chasing trends that don’t convert.
Gaz Williams from Group Group breaks down how to build content and communications systems that actually support growth, fundraising, and long-term brand equity. Together, we’ll explore how founders in sextech, queer tech, disability-led innovation, and adjacent spaces can show up consistently across platforms while staying credible, human, and strategically different.
Why take this Side Quest?
You’ll move beyond “posting more” and into intentional storytelling. From newsletters and niche PR to Reddit, podcasts, and events, this session focuses on channels that compound over time, build true fans, and help your story travel further with fewer barriers. Expect practical frameworks, real examples, and space to pressure-test your own ideas so you leave knowing not just what to do, but where to start.
This session will help you:
Use media outlets to drive growth with a multi-channel strategy (newsletters are highly efficient and cheaper way of doing this)
Utilise ads growth on newsletters as opposed to high $ spend on mainstream channels (FB,IG)
How to position a story for PR, and what gets printed
Creating a draft content calendar of main campaign times for the calendar year
What you’ll gain:
Setting the scene for taboo industry content trends on various platforms and how to connect content growth to fundraising objectives
Tactical tips to set yourself up for success across multiple platforms (Linkedin, Youtube, TikTok, IG)
Using ‘different’ tactics strategically to set yourself apart from competitors
Planning your tactics and where to start
This Side Quest is for anyone who wants their work to be seen, understood, and supported, without selling out or shouting into the void.
Turning Taboo into Talked About
A panel on navigating censorship, building a personal brand in sextech, marketing taboo products, and breaking industry stigma.
Join us for a panel conversation about the real-world challenges and wins of marketing, branding, and thriving in industries often kept in the shadows. From battling censorship to building strong personal brands, our panelists have firsthand experience turning taboo topics into cultural conversations. Join moderator Ally McGrath and a powerhouse lineup of founders, creators, and marketers as they share how they’ve navigated the stigma, grown their audiences, and built businesses that break barriers. Whether you’re building your own brand or championing change from the inside, this session will leave you with real insights, and a whole lot of inspiration.
Featuring
Ally McGrath (moderator)
Ally McGrath is the founder of Electric Feel co, a spicy strategy consultancy with a kink for crafting hot and unbothered content. After a decade in social media and marketing for major corporations, she launched Electric Feel to help founders and creators in the Sex Industry navigate censorship, grow their audience, and build unstoppable personal brands.
James Sneddon
James co-founded Hyphen Health, Australia's largest online sexual health clinic group. He's on a mission to create the “Uber of health” through on-demand, stigma-free accessibility, beginning with one of the most taboo areas of healthcare - STI testing. Today, the Hyphen Health group spans three niche healthcare businesses: Stigma Health, PrEP Health, Hey Fella and RoidSafe. Recognised on the prestigious AFR Fast 100, SmartCompany Smart 50 and Forbes Entrepreneur's to Watch, James has also been awarded Outstanding Business Leader, Business Hunter 2025, and the Excellence in Innovation Award. He has additionally been named a finalist for Diversity & Inclusion and Employer of Choice, reinforcing his commitment to building progressive, people-focused organisations.
Madelene Kadziela
Madelene Kadziela is a creative director and cultural entrepreneur whose work explores erotic intelligence, design, and modern intimacy. She is the founder of BRUXA and NOCTURNAL, where she curates objects, community, and immersive events that challenge surface-level attraction in favour of depth, connection, and desire.
Julian Morgans
Julian is the Creative Director at production company Superreal. He created Netflix’s Byron Baes and hosts the hit podcasts What It Was Like, Scammerland and Extremes. Formerly the Editor at VICE, Julian’s work digs into subcultures, power and taboo topics. He is also producing the new podcast series The Sex That Changed My Life.
Building Communities Taboo Style
Community isn’t a nice-to-have in taboo industries. It’s the infrastructure. Learn how connection becomes a catalyst for visibility, trust, and long-term viability.
In this conversation-led panel, founders and community builders will explore what it takes to create meaningful, sustainable communities in taboo and emerging industries. The discussion will unpack how connection, trust, and shared values can become powerful tools for growth, resilience, and impact, particularly in spaces shaped by stigma, regulation, or limited visibility. Expect real-world perspectives on nurturing engagement, supporting founders beyond transactions, and building ecosystems that help people and ideas thrive together. This session is about moving beyond audiences and into communities that make change possible.
Featuring
Olena Ivanova
Olena Ivanova (she/her) is a senior researcher with a PhD in Health Sciences, a medical degree, and a Master’s in Public Health from leading European institutions. Her international, multidisciplinary work focuses on advancing equity and innovation in sexual and reproductive health. Olena is the founder of Women’s Health & FemTech Ukraine, co-founder and board member of FemTech Germany, and creator of SxRx Collective in Australia. She drives change through evidence‑based research, community building, and strategic advisory to the startup ecosystem. She was named one of the 200 Trailblazing Leaders in Women’s Health and FemTech by Women of Wearables for two consecutive years.
Laura Roscioli
Laura Roscioli is a Melbourne-based writer whose work explores sex, desire, relationships, and modern womanhood. She writes sex and relationships columns for Fashion Journal and Mamamia, often drawing on her own personal experience to create space for open, nuanced conversations about intimacy. Laura is the author of the Substack The Things We Don’t Say and hosts the podcast The Sex That Changed My Life.
Storm Hassett
Storm Hassett (she/her) is the Founder and CEO of The Identity Clinic and Chrome Health, values-led organisations redefining ethical, affirming mental health care in Australia. She has built a nationally recognised LGBTQIA+ affirming psychology practice grounded in trauma-informed and identity-respecting care, while leading teams and scaling sustainable, high-impact services. As a trans and Indigenous leader who grew up in out-of-home care under state guardianship, Storm brings a lived, intersectional lens to governance, inclusion, and organisational design. Her work is anchored in one belief: community is infrastructure.
Claire Diaz
Claire is a Clinical Sexologist, Sex & Relationship Coach, and somatic facilitator working at the intersection of sexuality, embodiment, and education. Her work focuses on breaking down shame around sex and helping people build more confident, connected, and pleasurable relationships with themselves and others. Through 1:1 client sessions, workshops, programs, retreats, and live events, Claire brings a refreshingly honest and human approach to conversations about intimacy, desire, and modern relationships. She is also the host of The Sweet Spot, a live event series that blends sex education, entertainment, and open conversation about sex and intimacy.
Inclusive Design in Practice
Inclusive design isn’t abstract. It’s a practice. Explore how thoughtful product and marketing decisions make taboo products more usable, more human, and more viable.
In this practical panel, product leaders and marketers will share how inclusive design actually shows up in real-world products, not just values statements. The conversation will explore how teams can connect more deeply with their users, make intentional design decisions, and communicate those choices clearly and respectfully. Expect honest insights into balancing commercial realities with accessibility, representation, and trust, and how inclusive design can become a genuine differentiator rather than a box-ticking exercise.
Featuring
Molly Berry
Molly is the Head of Merchandise at Wild Secrets, where she leads the strategy and performance of a portfolio spanning over 4,000 products across more than 100 brands, overseeing pricing, category management, inventory planning, and the development of Wild Secrets’ own branded products. With eight years’ experience in the pharmacy sector before moving into ecommerce and the adult pleasure industry, Molly brings a strong commercial and product foundation to her work and is known for her thoughtful, data-led approach (and genuine love of a good spreadsheet). She is passionate about creating inclusive, pleasure-focused products that suit all bodies while balancing commercial performance with customer focus, creativity, and strong supplier and team relationships.
Kayla Medica
Kayla is a product marketer, working with SaaS startups and scale ups to bridge the gap between sales and marketing, and hero their products. She's also the author of The Mehdeeka Method, a practical guide on establishing product marketing in businesses, and the Mehdeeka newsletter.
Chris (Teknetia) Watt
Chris (he/they) is your local tea fiend and the Chief Product Officer at Assembly Four, creators of the independent escort advertising platform Tryst.link. Growing up as a queer kid in country Western Australia, he is passionate about creating inclusive spaces to be seen, heard, and respected. At Assembly Four, he tries to be an accessible and empathetic product leader, driving a culture where success is measured by positive community outcomes and interactions more than revenue.
The Cosmic Stage for Bold Innovators
Bringing new ideas into the world isn’t easy—especially in industries that challenge outdated norms.
We’re giving founders, creators, and entrepreneurs a stage to showcase their game-changing innovations. Whether you're pioneering new tech, rethinking pleasure products, or breaking barriers in intimacy, this is your chance to pitch your vision to an audience of industry leaders, investors, and fellow trailblazers. Ready to take your idea to the next level? Step up, stand out, and claim your place in the future of the industry.
Who should apply?
Founders, creators, technologists, educators, and advocates working in the following fields.
Pleasure & wellness products
Digital rights & online safety
Content creation & media
AI & emerging tech
Adult retail & e-commerce
Marketing & branding for censored industries
Sex work advocacy & platforms
Health, education, and accessibility
Apply now
Selected participants will pitch live, so you will need to be available to attend the event. Tickets are included for those pitching.
Applications are open.
