2011 Workshops
We held the following workshops & events during 2011:
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Pre-Season Event - Seven Secrets of Silicon Valley
5.30pm - 7.30pm, Monday 16 May 2011, Wintergarden Room, Northern Club, 19 Princes Street, Auckland |
The stories behind these unusual aspects of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley will dispel some myths. Areas where the business practices adopted by Silicon Valley start-ups differ from those adopted in more traditional industry sectors.
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Speaker: David Smith, Founder, Silicon Valley Business School and serial entrepreneur.
See his resume here. |
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Pre-Season Event - Assembling the Nuts & Bolts of Entrepreneurship - Silicon Valley Style
8.30am - 5.00pm, Tuesday 17 May 2011, Wintergarden Room, Northern Club, 19 Princess Street, Auckland |
A unique one-day seminar for entrepreneurs, their advisors and investors. This seminar helps entrepreneurs, their lawyers, advisors and investors understand how to form and structure high-tech startup companies, how to raise finance from investors, protect their intellectual property, sell the company and sell shares to public investors. Highly valuable to anyone interested in guiding high-tech startup companies toward success and avoiding the pitfalls.
See more details of the programme here.
Speakers include David Smith (see above), Mark Lowndes, partner of Lowndes Associates, and Leonard Cousins of Lowndes Associates Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys.
A rapidly changing business environment is both an opportunity and a threat. Some companies thrive in changing times while others fall behind. The key is creating and executing an effective strategic plan against a backdrop of rapid change:
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Creating a competitive advantage in changing times |
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Effective execution of the plan |
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On-going monitoring and review of the plan |
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Maintaining adaptability and flexibility |
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Using business intelligence effectively |
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Seizing the moment |
Nigel Morrison
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
SKYCITY Entertainment Group
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Simon Moutter
Chief Executive Officer
Auckland International Airport Limited |
Susan Paterson
Professional Director |
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Nigel Morrison has over 20 years experience in the gaming industry throughout Australasia and Asia. He was appointed as CEO of SKYCITY Entertainment Group early in 2008, drawn to the challenge of turning around its fortunes. Nigel is the SKYCITY Managing Director.
SKYCITY operates casino entertainment complexes in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown in New Zealand and in Adelaide and Darwin in Australia; including a variety of industry leading restaurants and bars, award-winning luxury hotels and convention facilities, as well as Auckland’s landmark tourist attraction the Sky Tower.
With a strong financial and analytical background to date Nigel has focused on redesigning the organisation’s strategic direction, implementing the right structure and making the necessary management changes and appointments required to drive the company’s vision and values.
Prior to his involvement with SKYCITY, Nigel was the Group Chief Financial Officer of Galaxy Entertainment Group in Macau, a publicly-listed Hong Kong-based group operating and developing casinos in Macau.
He has also held the following positions; Chief Executive of the Federal Group, Australia’s largest private gaming group, Chief Operating Officer of Crown Limited, and Corporate Finance Partner with Ernst and Young, where he specialised in the gaming industry.
In 2009, Nigel was awarded CPA Australia’s highest acknowledgement for career achievement.
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Simon Moutter joined Auckland Airport as Chief Executive Officer in August 2008. He is focused on expanding the company’s capability to help grow travel, trade and tourism in both New Zealand and Australia through its ownership stakes in Auckland, Queenstown, Cairns and Mackay Airports.
Prior to this Simon was Chief Operating Officer at Telecom New Zealand. During his nine years at Telecom, Simon managed almost all of the major components of Telecom’s business at one time or another including Network, Operations, Customer Service, Sales and Marketing across the Telecom, Xtra, Gen-i and Ferrit brands.
Simon’s time at Telecom was preceded by 13 years in the electricity and gas industries where Simon worked in various senior management positions in the energy sector in Taranaki including CEO of Powerco Ltd and Station Manager at the New Plymouth Power Station. He also ran his own engineering consulting and contracting company.
Simon is a 51 year old New Zealander who has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Canterbury University and a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Physics, from Massey University.
For fun he rides off-road motorbikes, takes lots of photos and makes home movies of his kids, cheers on a racehorse he has a stake in and hangs out with his family. |
Susan has been a professional director for the past 15 years. Having trained and practised as a pharmacist, Susan completed an MBA at London Business School.
Susan then worked in management roles in New Zealand and the UK. She worked overseas for 10 years including in strategy consulting for Boston based Index Group throughout Europe and USA.
Susan is Deputy Chair of Airways Corporation and Chairman of Theta Systems Ltd. Her current directorships include the Electricity Authority, Goodman NZ, Abano Healthcare Ltd, Housing NZ and Les Mills NZ Ltd.
Previous Directorships include Ports of Auckland Ltd, Transpower NZ Ltd, Auckland Regional Holdings, Tower Health and Life, and America’s Cup Village Ltd.
Susan has a keen interest in education and the environment, she is Chairman of the NZ Eco-Labelling Trust, and Auckland Hockey, and a past Board Member of St. Cuthbert’s College and EECA, and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. |
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View post-workshop interviews with each of the speakers
Mark Lowndes spoke with professional company director, Susan Paterson regarding the role that a company board plays in developing an effective and robust strategic plan.
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CEO, Simon Moutter explains how Auckland International Airport is in the process of transforming from a transport Hub and infrastructure building into a sales led engine of growth for New Zealand. |
Setting the right remuneration and incentives for CEOs is complex but critical for business success, Sky City Entertainment Group managing director Nigel Morrison advised at our recent breakfast. He answers a couple of questions in this short video interview. |
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Businesses leaders are focussing on the opportunities offered by social media, and the risks of not engaging. What is the practical relevance of social media to your business now and how might this evolve:
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How does social media apply in a business context? |
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What benefits does social media offer your business? |
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What are the marketing, sales and client relationship opportunities? |
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What are the risks to your business without a social media presence? |
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Implementing a well-thought out social media program. |
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What does the future hold? |
Jon Leland
President and Creative Director
ComBridges.com
San Francisco, CA
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Rod Drury
Chief Executive
Xero Limited |
Tom Bates
Social Influence Director
Contagion |
Jon’s mission for the past 20 years has been to “Span the Grand Canyon Gap between people and technology.™” He does this through his creative services company, ComBridges, which provides online marketing strategy as well as website design & development, SEO and other services. Jon also provides valuable insight and perspective on social media via his social networks, blog and YouTube channel.
Most recently Jon is the author of the e-book,“What Every Business Needs to Know About Internet Marketing” and the Founder and Dean of New Marketing University. NewMarU.com, a membership website dedicated to online social media and Internet marketing education for professionals.
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A recipient of New Zealand’s most prestigious hi-tech award the Tait Flying Kiwi in 2009, Rod is renowned for entrepreneurial skills in the technology sector. In early 2006 prior to setting up Xero, Rod sold his award-winning email archiving software company, Aftermail, to USA publicly listed company, Quest Software.
Rod is a director on the board of the New Zealand Stock Exchange and also sits on the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise Beachhead Advisory Board. Previously he was on the board of TradeMe and SQL Services.
Rod has been actively involved in developing Xero's global social media strategy. |
Currently regarded as one of the leading thinkers in the NZ new media space, Tom was the first Social Media Specialist at Air New Zealand where he designed their Social Media Strategy in 2009.
Since then he went on to start his own consultancy Avenue and is now a director and partner at the agency Contagion which leads the global Tourism New Zealand Digital & Social approach.
Tom has worked on New Media strategy for brands as diverse as V Energy Drink in Australia, Samsung, Tourism NZ, KPMG, Stolen Rum & Rhythm & Vines. |
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View post-workshop interviews with each of the speakers
| Jon Leland |
Rod Drury |
Tom Bates |
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Jon Leland on AMP Business (TVNZ, 31 August)
Strategic collaboration and partnering can provide significant leverage, strength and flexibility. Businesses partner in a variety of ways such as public private partnerships, joint ventures, private equity investment partnering with a management team, and licensing, supply and distribution arrangements. What are the keys to developing and maintaining successful business partnerships?
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Creating shared vision, mission and enthusiasm. |
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Addressing partners’ needs and expectations. |
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Identifying and utilising the strengths of each partner. |
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Ensuring the proper fit in terms of culture, brand and customer perception. |
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Releasing the maximum value from the relationship for all parties. |
Miki Szikszai
Chief Executive
Snapper Services
Ltd
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Graham Mitchell
Chief Executive
Officer
Crown Fibre Holdings Limited |
Veronique Cremades
Managing Director & CEO
Nestle New Zealand |
Miki Szikszai is the Chief Executive of Snapper Services. Miki is an advocate of design-led technologies as a way to deepen customer relationships, as a result building competitive businesses. Miki has served as CEO since February 2009 which has seen Snapper develop to close to 300,000 smartcards issued in the NZ market.
Miki has a background in technology innovation in New Zealand having led the development of new markets and capability for Telecom NZ that include it’s Fixed and Mobile Internet Content businesses, deployment of NZ’s first 3G Mobile network and the establishment of an in-house Innovation team.
Miki takes a broad interest in innovation in the NZ market, serving on the Advisory Board of 2 Internet based startups, and recently served on the Executive Board of Internet NZ.
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Graham Mitchell is CEO of Crown Fibre Holdings, established to manage the New Zealand Government's $1.5 billion investment in ultra-fast broadband infrastructure over the next ten years.
Prior to this, Graham was the CEO of Cogent Communications, part of the OneSource Group. Before then, he headed US telecommunications company, Optical WDM OEM.
During ten years spent at Telecom New Zealand he held senior positions including Group GM of Business, Wholesale and Network Services and GM of the Internet and Directories Division, both in Australia.
Graham’s considerable corporate finance experience is derived from roles with Brierley Investments, Electricity Corporation and Transpower. |
Veronique Cremades is Managing Director and CEO at Nestlé New Zealand Limited, a subsidiary of the Swiss based, global food and beverages company, Nestlé S.A.
Prior to taking up her role in New Zealand in April this year, Veronique was Country Manager Nestlé Professional Indochina region at Nestlé Thailand.
Veronique has over 20 years experience in the worldwide food and beverages industry, having been responsible for key Nestlé accounts in various international regions including Asia-Oceania-Africa.
Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage business, with over 280,000 employees, 465 factories in 84 countries and sales of more than $140 billion in 2008.
Nestlé holds more than 26% of the shares in the world’s leading cosmetics company, L’Oreal. Nestlé joint venture partners include Coca-Cola and Fonterra. |
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View post-workshop interviews with each of the speakers
| Miki Szikszai |
Graham Mitchell |
Veronique Cremades |
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Workshop 4:
The Big Debate: Will Future Business Success be Derived More From the University of Life or From Academic Training?
7.30am - 9.30am, Wednesday 9 November 2011, Ballroom, Stamford Plaza, Auckland
This workshop is now over. |
New Zealand’s future wealth and security will be driven by the young business people now entering positions of influence. What are the key drivers of business success? Are they taught in an academic setting or are they learned from life
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Does academic training provide the necessary skills/platform for business success? |
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If not, where can business people learn the necessary skills? |
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With globalisation, is more academic training essential to increase business productivity? |
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How do we work smarter, not harder? |
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Is the only way to learn about business success (and failure) “on the job”? |
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Is there a gap between what is taught and what is necessary to succeed in business? |
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Do graduates receive a good return on their investment in education? |
The Affirmative team (arguing for the “University of Life”):
Sir Peter Maire
Tahia Investments
Peter is best known as the founder of Navman, a company involved in the development of marine navigation, car navigation, fleet tracking and GPS based products. Navman became one of NZ's fastest growing and largest technology companies with sales exceeding $450m and employing more than 850 staff globally. Navman was acquired by USA Brunswick Corp in 2005.
Today Peter is a technology company investor and is a shareholder and director of Rakon NZ Ltd, a board member of Orion Health NZ Ltd and the owner of Fusion Electronics (marine and automotive entertainment systems) and Fusion Transactive (retail technology systems for the petroleum industry).
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Trevor Johnston
Chief Executive Officer
Taranaki Bio Extracts Ltd
After starting out as the office boy at a meat processing plant at the age of 17, Trevor worked his way up and was running the plant by the time he was 28. Trevor has 40 years management experience, including 10 years as Chief Executive Officer of Riverlands Limited, a company employing over 750 staff and turning over in excess of $300 million per year. Trevor is currently the CEO of Taranaki Bio Extracts Ltd, a food processing company which make edible extracts for domestic and international markets along with other technical and manufacturing grade feed stocks. Trevor is also a director of Port Taranaki and IcePak Limited.
Outside of work Trevor is chairman of the Taranaki CEO Forum which has created the Business & Education Partnership, has written a book on leadership in clubs, and regularly gives presentations to businesses, clubs and organisations on leadership and management.
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The Negative team (arguing for academic training):
Dr. Sean Simpson
Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder of LanzaTech
Dr. Sean Simpson is Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of LanzaTech where he has spent the last 6 years developing and commercialising a biotechnology-based process that will provide low cost, low carbon fuel and high value chemicals from industrial waste gases. Since its inception in 2005 the company has grown under Dr Simpson’s leadership to include scientists from around the world working together in New Zealand. Dr Simpson has encouraged the collaboration between biologists, fermentation specialists and engineers to develop the technology and the company to become a global leader in gas fermentation.
Dr Simpson has several years experience in bio-products development and through his career he has worked at Hoffmann La-Roche in Basel, Switzerland, at the Sandoz Forschungsinstitute, Vienna, Austria, and at the Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan. Dr Simpson holds a PhD from York University, UK, and a Masters degree from Nottingham University. He is the author of over 20 publications and over 60 patents.
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Derek McCormack
Trustee, AUT Foundation
Vice-Chancellor, AUT University
Derek was appointed Vice Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology in April 2004. He was previously a Deputy Vice Chancellor at AUT, and was General Manager for Auckland Institute of Technology (the precursor to AUT).
He has led a wide range of key areas during a decade and a half of extensive development and growth for the organisation - from major campus developments, to academic structures, processes and programmes, and the advancement of AUT’s university profile.
Derek started out teaching Biochemistry at the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic, but his career quickly took an early turn into tertiary education policy and management. He has held national roles in a range of authorities, professional bodies, and ministerial and government working parties related to tertiary education, and is the current chair of the New Zealand Vice Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC).
In other fields, Derek has been a Chair of the NZ Academy of Sport network, and is President of the NZ Stroke Foundation, as well as a member of various service and community clubs and societies.
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View post-workshop interviews with the speakers
Trevor Johnston & Sir Peter Maire
Affirmative Team |
Dr Sean Simpson & Derek McCormack
Negative Team |
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