John Vlismas

John Vlismas
TOPIC: Player Zero – Leading Diversity
His career as a controversial stand-up comedian saw him appointed as a 46664 Ambassador for the Mandela Foundation, and perform at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Modern Art Museum and the Tempodrome, Berlin. He won the first ever South African Comedy Award for Comic of the Year. John’s gravitation to the taboos that frame prejudice has won him a following of diverse fans who recognize his comedy as valid social commentary. His work on freedom of speech saw him collaborate with noted media law expert Dario Milo to prepare submissions for Parliament to amend the proposed Hate Speech Bill. These submissions were successful. He co-founded OGO Creative – an agency that builds measurable branded media platforms that combine live performance and digital reach to amplify marketing strategies. As Head of Strategy, he designs experiences that influence consumer behaviour using data gathered from them. Vlismas was awarded an MBA scholarship at Henley Business School in 2018. His involvement there has seen him co-design and facilitate course material with Dr Puleng Makhoalibe. He has been appointed to head the Henley marketing team. John got distinctions for the Strategic Marketing and Relationship Marketing modules in his MBA. He also got a distinction for his final thesis, which was about trust between races in senior management. Described by those who attend his talks and learning sessions as a disruptive thinker who is able to articulate complex concepts in an accessible, entertaining way, John has synthesised his new academic journey with decades of experience delivering comedy on world stages to bring entertaining and enlightening talks to corporate audiences. John was selected as an RMB Solutionist, has spoken twice at Suits and Sneakers and is on the HeavyChef platform. His Creative Mornings talk has been viewed over 30 000 times.