Jack Losh Keynote Speaker

• The Five Lessons of War Reporting — and how they help in life and business:

Engaging format that weaves dramatic stories, photos and videos from the field with fresh, applicable insights into excelling in creative and commercial settings. Our jobs seem different but similar qualities bind us — taking risks, beating competitors, leading teams, marketing goods, branding ourselves. We use similar language too — the worlds of war and business are full of ‘conflict’, ‘alliances’ and ‘risk’. My aim, though, is to convey what it really feels like to be at the bleeding edge of a crisis scenario — and how best to manage that to achieve successful results.

• Conservation and conflict:

Another speciality lies in environmental issues such as the militarisation of wildlife conservation, the need to engage indigenous communities, and the intersection between armed conflict and environmental protection. I have lived with Bayaka “pygmies” in the Congo Basin and joined them on hunting and gathering expeditions as they fought to protect their community forest from loggers and poachers (New York Times); embedded with wildlife rangers on counter-poaching missions in lawless, war-wracked swathes of the Central African Republic (Foreign Policy); and documented the plight of a Ugandan indigenous community as they battled to enforce the country’s groundbreaking ‘rights of nature’ law against a major, new oil drilling project (National Geographic).

• Aid and Peacekeeping:

Assignments include joining front-line medics in embattled towns; embedding with the UN’s MINUSCA force; filing dispatches from besieged refugee camps; reporting extensively on the global issue of UXO and shadowing bomb squads in Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine; meeting former child soldiers during their rehabilitation; covering human-rights abuses and experimental justice initiatives to end impunity; documenting the plight of LGBT groups in warzones, and so on.

• Ukraine: Surviving and thriving in a warzone:

I can give a powerful account of what it’s like to report inside Ukraine during the biggest land war since WWII and offer expert analysis on how the conflict may unfold. Most people see warzones as apocalyptic wastelands, but often life and business do go on, in surprising ways. How are companies able to survive, even thrive, in Ukraine and other warzones — and what lessons can that teach entrepreneurs closer to home? Across that country, I have sheltered with families in basements under rocket fire, embedded with Ukrainian platoons in front-line trenches, documented the exodus of refugees across snow-covered borders, gained access to secret intelligence units, and shadowed paramedics rescuing wounded civilians while under fire. One year into this generation-defining war, there is no timelier talk than this. And amid the barrage of propaganda and disinformation, clear and persuasive communication told with integrity has never been more critical.

• Wellbeing in the workplace:

Mental health and wellbeing in the workplace are issues of universal importance — and these really come to the fore when covering armed conflict. How to avoid burnout, seek support and build resilience are areas to which I bring direct experience and understanding.

• Media industry insider

I am well-placed to lift the lid on the media industry. From Fleet Street to international broadcasters, my insider view will reveal what it takes to get the most hard-hitting stories — then boost their multi-platform reach across an evolving digital media landscape. Insights into maximising new tech opportunities, growing an independent media brand in a precarious sector, achieving an authentic and inclusive representation of diverse voices, and cutting through the noise of disinformation with clear and persuasive communication told with integrity. How to bridge the gap between the business side of the job (engaging commissioning execs, generating sales, negotiating distribution rights) and its nitty gritty in the field (securing access to a rebel militia, solving logistics challenges in a distant disaster zone, interacting with an array of contributors — from a refugee to a war criminal.)

• Global events, personal success:

A wealth of rare and compelling professional experiences connected to major, international events — yet always retaining the personal, human element. I take audiences on exciting journeys through my eclectic array of embeds worldwide, whether with United Nations peacekeepers, indigenous bushmeat hunters, Iraqi bomb squads, Ugandan slum boxers, armed wildlife rangers — or even the Kurdish football team on tour. At the heart of these stories are universal lessons in overcoming fear, transforming failure into opportunity, inclusive leadership and achieving success.