With Telstra's re-emergence as a critical infrastructure and communications player in Australia, industry wide shifts towards paperless operations, a major emphasis on the broadband network and an ever-growing demand for data, David Thodey's address at the Crescent Institute attracted a record number of attendees.
The evening proceeded with Michael Chaaya (Partner, Corrs) welcoming all guests for the evening as well as informing members of a new premise for future Crescent Institute events. This was shortly followed with an opening message by the Patron of Crescent Institute, Talal Yassine, acknowledging the long-term partner Fujitsu, Emirates, KPMG, Crescent Wealth and Corrs Chambers Westgarth for their ongoing support and dedication - shortly followed by a formal introduction of Mr Thodey to the Institute.
Mr Thodey commenced his address by highlighting a few major themes that he deemed crucial to Australia's prosperity and development to what he termed ' the Asian Century' including the generational shift towards online technology, the growth of Asia and the development of new technologies.
However prior to delving into these themes Mr Thodey highlighted an aspect of Telstra often over looked - the purpose and meaning it brings to both employees and customers. Thodey re-called a story of a particular Telstra employee who when asked about the reason why she chose to work for Telstra responded that when she first immigrated to Australia, the only way of contacting loved ones overseas was via the landline and that it was essentially the only form of contact possible. Thodey stressed that Telstra's purpose is to go beyond a mere communications and media company but rather at its core "we are about connecting people".
