Elisabet Lahti

Having failed to become an international jewel thief, Alf Rehn currently suffers a professorship of innovation, design, and management at the University of Southern Denmark.

“If you’re looking for safe, I’m not your guy. If you’re looking for change, I just might be.”

A disruptor and educator with a liking for Batman suits, Claus Raasted serves as Director of the College of Extraordinary Experiences, and is the International Dean at Bhavan’s College MSEED—Management School of Events, Entertainment & Design. When not at the office, he travels the globe as a keynote speaker, and is the author of 47 books, the latest of which has the title “UTOPIA LEADERSHIP: Six principles for leading with power”. He also has a past in reality TV, but these days, who hasn’t?

DanceWorks Helsinki is a fresh initiative in the Finnish dance field, established in 2024. Its mission is to strengthen the visibility and impact of dance art in Finland.

The organisation works to expand the audience base for dance by producing artistically high-quality, professional works not only within traditional dance institutions and stages, but also beyond them. It also seeks to spark critical discussion around the development of operating environments, education, and leadership practices within the dance sector, while encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with dance; both as participants and as audiences.

DocPoint is Finland’s leading documentary film festival and a key platform for non-fiction cinema in the Nordics. Held annually in Helsinki, the festival showcases critically acclaimed international documentaries alongside Finnish premieres. DocPoint is widely recognized for fostering dialogue around social, political, and cultural issues through film.

Dr. Elisabet Lahti is a Finnish educator and researcher exploring what inner strength and leadership look like when grounded in the body, creativity, and our interdependence with nature and one another. Her work sits at the intersection of culture, community, and individual experience, with a focus on life-giving expressions of power in times of transformation.

Lahti is widely known for her work on sisu, the Finnish concept of deep fortitude. Her PhD research at Aalto University brought this age-old idea into contemporary conversations around leadership, resilience, and everyday life, drawing from applied psychology, somatic practices, systems thinking, and lived experience.

As part of her research journey, Lahti ran and cycled 2,400 kilometres across New Zealand to study how inner strength is accessed and sustained. Through talks, gatherings, and books such as Gentle Power and Sisun alkemia, she invites people to see strength as relational, creative, and shared.

Emmi Kärnä is a Finnish game designer and creative technologist whose work spans interactive media, emerging technologies, and participatory experiences all the way from escape rooms to digital puzzles. Her practice blends playful design, digital storytelling, and human-centred interaction, making complex systems intuitive and engaging.

Kärnä has worked with institutions, cultural organisations, and research groups to explore how games and interactive formats can enrich education, civic engagement, and creative expression. With her focus on collaboration and experimentation, Kärnä brings a future-facing perspective on how interactive media shapes human behaviour, community building, and cultural meaning in the digital age.

Fanny Heinonen is the Director of the Film Tampere development program at Business Tampere, where she works to grow, internationalize, and future-proof the regional audiovisual industry. With a background spanning film production, casting, entrepreneurship, and business development, Fanny brings a rare inside-out understanding of how creative industries operate, from set floors to strategy rooms.

A creative leader with a passion for art, fashion, and design, her work lives at the intersection of business, creativity, and human performance. Alongside her role at Business Tampere, she coaches creative professionals and emerging leaders, helping them navigate sustainable careers in fast-moving industries.

Galit Ariel is a techno-futurist, author and creative who explores emerging technologies’ wild and imaginative side and their impact on our culture, behaviours and interactions. Through her experimental media art practice, she aspires to poke at our experience with(in) familiar worlds in new ways. Galit’s immersive and digital art applies critical perspectives that evoke novel techno-social paradigms related to culture, technology, and humans ‘being’ in the world. Galit’s research-creation PhD at York University (Toronto), explores emerging paradigms of embodiment and presence within immersive spaces, and the fluid intersection between embodied technologies and imagination.

Galit had been featured as one of ‘Nine Women that are building the Metaverse’ by Unity and one of 40 influential futurists by Forbes (2022), and as one of 100 best tech speakers by Women in Tech (2023). She is a sought-after keynote speaker who appeared at notable international conferences, agencies and institutions, such as TED, Bell Labs, SXSW, The European Union, The City of Sydney, Microsoft, The Next Web, Slush Tokyo, PauseFest, Women in Tech Global Summit and many more.

Heidi Backman serves as the Permanent Secretary at Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, placing her at the center of national cultural and educational policy. Her work shapes how arts, culture, and creative industries are supported at a structural level. Backman is recognized for her long-standing expertise in public administration and cultural governance. She plays a key role in defining the conditions under which creativity and culture operate in Finnish society.

Few creatives have shaped Finland’s recent pop-cultural imagery as decisively as Heikki Slåen. Known for creating striking visual worlds that resonate with audiences, he has played a central role in redefining Finnish music videos through his long-standing work with UMK, helping transform the competition into a local and global phenomenon. His directorial work reached international audiences through Käärijä’s Cha Cha Cha, quickly followed by Windows95man’s No Rules and Erika Vikman’s Ich Komme, where image, music, and identity merged into unforgettable cultural moments.

Working fluidly as a director, cinematographer, and actor, Slåen has built a versatile portfolio that crafts narrative universes marked by intensity, playfulness, and deep human sensitivity. Alongside his film and television work, Slåen also practices as a solution-focused therapist, bringing empathy, narrative insight, and practical strategy into his sessions to help cultivate trust, enable flow, and make space for both structure and creative freedom.

Jani Halme is a Finnish writer and cultural commentator known for his sharp insights on media, culture, and society. With a background spanning journalism, editorial work, and cultural analysis, Halme’s writing probes power, public discourse, and the invisible forces shaping contemporary life. He has contributed to major Finnish outlets and engaged audiences with thoughtful content and perspectives on how culture intersects with technology, politics, and everyday experience. As a speaker, strategist, and storyteller, Halme brings clarity to complex societal patterns and the narratives that define our times.

Jonas Verwijnen is a record producer, composer, live sound engineer, AI-music product innovator, and music industry consultant whose career spans more than two decades and over 500 credits. Born in Switzerland, raised in Finland, and shaped by 13 years in Berlin, Verwijnen brings a distinctly international perspective to every project he touches.

His work spans indie rock, electronic, experimental, and ambient music, with releases on labels such as 4AD, Sacred Bones, Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar, Bella Union, and Heavenly Recordings. Most recently, he has collaborated with artists including Kamasi Washington, Mereba, Corbin, Colin Stetson, Shida Shahabi, and Valerie June. At the core of his practice is a belief that sound is connection: whether he is sculpting delicate textures or capturing a raw, unrepeatable moment, Verwijnen focuses on uncovering the heartbeat of the music.

Juska Wendland is a long-standing tastemaker in Finnish electronic music culture, known for his work as a DJ, radio host, music journalist, and podcast researcher.

For over two decades, he has introduced audiences to new sounds and underground movements through clubs, festivals, and broadcasting. Wendland’s influence lies in his ability to contextualize music within broader cultural shifts and bridging scenes, generations, and genres.

In his research, Wendland focuses on audience participation and new interactive methods in podcasting and audio production. Through both scholarship and broadcasting, Wendland shapes new ways of thinking around audio culture, community, and the future of media.

Jussi Venäläinen is an expert in flow state and wise work, the author of the book Flow-tila, and the Founder of Flow Akatemia. Venäläinen believes that now, more than ever, it is time to replace work practices and mindsets rooted in the industrial era with coaching-based self-leadership and smarter ways of working by strengthening the conditions that enable flow.

Venäläinen helps organizations remove unnecessary barriers to flow and supports individuals in becoming masters of their own work through flow training. His personal learning dream is to draw as much insight as possible from flow and refine those lessons into practical tools for others.

Karoliina Jarenko is an expert in organisational renewal, a public thinker, and the founder and CEO of Almanovia. She actively contributes to societal and professional conversations on the transformation of work, leadership and learning, particularly in relation to the changing role of humans in an era shaped by technology and AI.

Karoliina founded Almanovia to rethink organisational development by combining structures and ways of working with human experience, using artistic and experiential methods alongside analytical approaches. Her work focuses on a central question: what kinds of conditions enable thinking, learning and shared responsibility in a world where traditional leadership models no longer suffice.

In her leadership development work, Karoliina also uses clowning as a professional tool. Through it, she invites leaders to step out of their roles, face uncertainty and grow their capacity to hold themselves and others in rapidly changing environments. For her, play, confusion and humour are not opposites of serious development, but often its starting point.

Karoliina Korppoo is a game designer, TED speaker, creative leader, and worldbuilder best known as the Lead Designer of Cities: Skylines, the city-building game played by millions worldwide. With a career spanning 20 years, she has built games ranging from narrative mobile experiences to expansive simulation worlds.

Specializing in designing complex systems that feel alive—from cities and economies to player-driven narratives—Korppoo’s work blends creativity with structure, combining artistic vision with player psychology. Her philosophy is that virtual worlds, and being playful within them, can teach us a lot about ourselves and the world around us.

Korppoo also believes digital entertainment is one of the most accessible creative mediums of our time. Games invite people not just to consume stories, but to shape them; to build, experiment, express identity, and explore possibility in safe, interactive spaces. In a world that often feels overwhelming or exclusive, games can lower the threshold for creativity and joy, offering agency, connection, and meaningful play to millions.

Currently, Korppoo operates as the Creative Director of Day Off Interactive, an Ireland-based game development studio focused on creating innovative gaming experiences that build on the legacy of classics.

Paleface is one of Finland’s most influential hip hop artists, widely recognized for his award-winning music and his strong presence in public debate. A rapper, lyricist, and author, he has played a major role in shaping Finnish hip hop while addressing themes of politics, freedom of expression, and cultural identity. Beyond music, Paleface is known as a sharp societal commentator whose voice extends into literature and activism. His work shows how art can function as both cultural expression and political force.

Katriina Heljakka (Doctor of Arts, PhD) is a researcher of toys and play at the University of Turku, as well as an artist, curator, art critic, and designer of playable experiences. Her work explores the visual, material, and digital cultures of play, and the role of play across leisure, working life, and education. She is a Docent of Toy and Play Cultures at Tampere University and currently serves as a visiting scholar at Turku School of Economics, where she is also a Docent in Entrepreneurship.

Before academia, Heljakka worked in the toy industry as a game designer and creative manager, a background that continues to shape her research. Her interests include toy design, toy fandoms, playpreneurship, and lifelong and life-wide play, examining how playfulness functions as both cultural practice and serious creative force.

Lauri Järvilehto is a Finnish musician, writer, philosopher and a father of five.

Throughout his career in music, he’s released eight solo albums (some under pseudonyms Songsworth and Lau). He worked as a musician, producer and composer on more than 70 music projects, including a stint as a theatre musical conductor.

When not making music or writing, he’s trying to figure out how the world works.

A wide-ranging industry professional, Lotta Savolainen has nearly two decades of experience across the local music landscape. She has worked with both major and independent labels, successfully combining roles as a musician, publicist, agent, mentor, curator, and journalist. Her work is rooted in championing diversity, strengthening ethical practices, and elevating the voices of independent artists.

Today, Savolainen serves as the CEO of Music x Media, Finland’s largest music conference, an afternoon host on Radio Helsinki, and a member of the expert committee for the Teosto Cultural Foundation. She has previously curated her own column, Löytöretkellä, for Soundi magazine, and acted as a judge and curator for platforms such as Emma Gala, Indie Awards, and the artist committee of the Lost In Music showcase festival, where she also served as the artistic director in 2025. Her dedicated work for the field has also been widely recognized as Savolainen was named Indie Co.’s “Indie Friend of the Year” in 2024 and awarded “Media Influencer of the Year” at the 2025 Industry Awards.

Minna Tervamäki enjoyed a long career as a principal dancer with the Finnish National Ballet and, over the course of three decades, performed nearly all the leading roles in classical ballet as well as works by major contemporary choreographers.

Since 2005, she has also worked as a choreographer. After leaving the National Ballet in 2012, her focus shifted toward interdisciplinary productions in which dance is created in close dialogue with live music. She has collaborated extensively with chamber musicians, opera singers, and composers, and has developed works where dance also intersects with circus arts. A unique collaboration with visual artist Hannaleena Heiska has now continued for over 10 years and continues to evolve into new forms.

Tervamäki’s work spans ballet stages, museums, festivals, and dance film. She also works as a speaker and pedagogue and has developed Minna’s Methods, a movement concept that brings together decades of performance experience and embodied thinking.

She has received, among others, the Philip Morris Dance Flower Award, the Edvard Fazer Award, and the Knight First Class official state decoration from the Order of the Lion of Finland.

Otto Yliperttula, widely known as Yotto, is one of Finland’s most internationally recognized electronic music producers. His melodic, atmospheric take on deep house has earned him performances at Coachella, Tomorrowland, Electric Zoo, and festivals across Europe, North America, and Australia.

Yliperttula’s 2018 debut album Hyperfall on Anjunadeep topped Billboard’s Dance/Electronic chart and accumulated over 20 million streams, while his remixes for Coldplay, Gorillaz, Röyksopp, and RÜFÜS DU SOL have reinforced his global presence.

In 2019, he launched his own label Odd One Out to champion not just his own music but the sounds he’s passionate about. Quickly, the label has grown into a carefully curated hub that spotlights both established peers and emerging fresh talents.

Yliperttula will take the stage at ODDfest as a speaker.

Perttu Pölönen is a futurist, inventor and author. He has studied future technologies at Singularity University, based at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, co-founded an edtech company in Myanmar and won EU’s biggest science competition for youth with his patented MusiClock invention.

In 2018 MIT Tech Review honored him among the 35 Innovators Under 35 in Europe. Perttu has written three books and given over 1200 keynotes in more than 20 countries about the future.

One of Finland’s most internationally recognized entrepreneurs, Peter Vesterbacka is best known for helping scale Angry Birds into a global phenomenon and for co-founding Slush, now one of the world’s leading startup events. Over his career, he has become recognized for bold thinking around growth, branding, and global ambition. Vesterbacka has worked across technology, media, and education, consistently pushing ideas that challenge conventional limits. His perspective combines startup culture, cultural momentum, and a belief in thinking bigger, beyond markets or borders.

Reidar Wasenius brings together science, business, and creativity in a rare combination. As an AI researcher, his current work focuses on memetic AI, often described as the next paradigm beyond generative AI. Alongside research, he has been deeply embedded in the startup ecosystem from its earliest days, serving as an advisor, board member, and coach to founders across incubators and accelerators. Wasenius has led the Helsinki chapter of the Founder Institute and served as Managing Director of FiBAN, the Finnish Business Angels Network.

His tech career spans over three decades, with roles at Nokia, Samsung, Telecom Finland, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and Tekes (now Business Finland). Actively involved in every major tech wave since the 1980s, from microcomputers to AI, his interdisciplinary thinking is also reflected in Personal Brainer, co-authored with neurobiologist Tiina Huttu.

Leading one of Finland’s most influential architecture firms, Samppa Lappalainen is best known through JKMM Architects, the studio behind cultural landmarks such as Amos Rex. In this role, Lappalainen plays a key part in creating meaningful, high-quality architecture that shapes better urban environments, placing design at the center of socially relevant public life.

Since founding his own studio in 2005, Lappalainen has worked across a broad spectrum of projects; from private homes and historic renewals to cultural hubs and sustainable urban developments. His work also includes leading innovative public service concepts and pioneering floating architecture projects.

Also known to many as the host of Grand Designs Finland, highlighting ambitious and inspiring home-building projects, Lappalainen promotes a culture of collaboration, trust, and empowerment, believing that architecture can actively drive sustainable societal progress.

Simo Routarinne is an internationally recognized applied improvisation coach, interaction designer, and expert in status expression and power communication. With decades of experience working across cultures and disciplines, he helps people become more aware, playful, and powerful in their interactions. Simo is known for his warm presence, sharp insight, and disarming humor. His workshops blend improvisation, psychology, and embodied awareness to explore how status dynamics shape connection, collaboration, and creativity.

Participants value his ability to create a safe yet challenging space where deep learning meets joyful experimentation. At Oddfest 2026, Simo invites you to discover how subtle shifts in behavior can transform relationships, unlock authenticity, and bring more awareness and choice in behaviour.

Opened in 2022, Tanssin talo is Finland’s first dedicated house for dance, serving as a major new cultural institution in Helsinki. The venue hosts leading Finnish and international dance productions, residencies, and festivals, strengthening the visibility and infrastructure of contemporary dance nationwide.

A prominent voice in Finnish media, Ville Blåfield is widely known for his work as a long-time journalist shaping public debate around culture, politics, and society. His career includes senior editorial roles at Helsingin Sanomat and Radio Helsinki, and journalistic work for Suomen Kuvalehti and other major Finnish publications. Blåfield is also the Program Director of the Helsinki Book Fair, one of Finland’s largest literature gatherings. As a communications consultant and advisor, he brings deep insight into media, public conversation, and cultural contexts.