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Keynote Speakers & Conference M.C.

 

Dr Kerry Spackman
Lessons from World Champions - and what it means for you
Kerry will take you through what separates out people who are multiple World Champions (eg Michael Schumacher/Federer/etc) from everyone else – he’ll give specific examples (and it’s far from the usual things you might think) in a visual, interactive, energetic and challenging presentation.  He’ll explain what he does with people who are ALREADY the best in the world so they can take the next step and then he’ll relate everything back to the challenges you are facing in 2010 and beyond with regulation

Dr Kerry Spackman is held in high regard by some of the world's greatest thinkers as it’s very rare
for someone to develop a completely new approach which genuinely helps people to significantly
improve their lives by improving both their performance and happiness at the same time.
A neuroscientist, Kerry has a rich history of entering a new field and coming up with award winning
ideas and redefining World best practice. He shows you how to use and customise the groundbreaking tools he pioneered for elite athletes, Olympic champions, and upper-echelon businesspeople, to permanently rewire your brain and transform your life.  His approach has been so successful across such a diverse range of people that he wrote his tools and techniques down in a single easy to read book so the average person can have access to the same tools as the World Champions.

Cecilia Farrow
Being Simply the Best in Selling!
Generations of sales people have been trained to believe that the key to being successful in selling is to learn the art of asking open questions and to become a master of overcoming objections.
New research has proven that the best sales people are not masters of overcoming objections but masters of avoiding them altogether.
Cecilia’s presentation will enlighten you with the techniques that the most successful sales consultants really use to enable you to enhance your success in the financial services sector.

Cecilia Farrow is the Founder and CEO of Triplejump – New Zealand’s first independently owned Franchise Network of Wealth Protection Advisers who specialise in Human Capital Risk for private enterprise. Following 10 years experience running her own business in the insurance industry, Cecilia aspired to create a company that provided consumers with a truly professional service focused on the outcomes of the client through in depth analysis and formulation of solutions tailored to the clients’ needs regarding financial risk in their business and personal lives. Triplejump has expanded to 18 franchises throughout New Zealand in its first three years.
Cecilia is a past Director of the Institute of Financial Advisers and past Chairperson of the Auckland Branch. She has had the prestigious honour of being named financialalert Person of the Year 2007 and was recognised by Her Business Who’s Who Magazine 2008 as one of New Zealand’s leading Entrepreneurial Businesswoman.

Warren Powell
To Hell and Back!
The presentation will relay the story of how the company was formed, built up, sold and then later bought back and rebuilt. The talk will go through how the directors capitalised on a market niche and produced what they describe as 'damned fine pizza', how they believe in running a company with a 'brand attitude' environment and other strategies the directors used at various stages of the company history.

Warren first came across Hell Pizza when he ordered in one day, only to wait two hours for delivery. Assured by his sister that it was worth the wait, he discovered the powerful Hell machine and the strong customer following it has grown. Everyone knew and loved it – no matter how long it took! On this basis, Warren decided to approach Stu and Callum and offer his services as a partner to help them franchise. A believer in delegation, Warren enjoys tackling the ‘big stuff’.
The trio sold Hell to TPF, owners of Burger King, for $15 million in December 2006. They retained the international rights to the brand and have opened outlets in Australia, England and Ireland, with Canada next on the list.  Negative publicity about discontented franchisees and customer complaints of a decline in quality have plagued Hell’s local operations since the sale. The founders of the Hell pizza chain bought back the business they sold less than three years ago. Warren Powell, Stu McMullin and Callum Davies have taken the helm again, and plan to shift the Hell brand back to its quirky roots. Ownership transferred back to Warren (aka Otis), Stu and Callum at the end of May 2009  – and its new owners are already making waves as the pizza chain looks set to become a challenger brand once more.

David Whyte
Maximizing Your Energy - being your BEST today
A part of being ‘Simply the Best’ involves having the motivation and the energy to be able to bring the best out of ourselves, not simply just once or twice, but consistently day after day, for as long as it takes. The good news is that we can all take some simple key steps to give ourselves the increased mental clarity and physical energy that we often find lacking. This session will outline 5 key areas in which we can take positive action to maximize our daily energy. David will address, in an entertaining and informative way: Optimum vitamin B levels, eliminating sugar lows, move and sweat, and optimal sleep time combined with rejuvenating sleep. The session will bring fresh insights into maximizing daily energy.

David has a technical background in cellular biochemistry. This gives him a unique perspective on optimal health. He believes if your cells are working properly then you body will be in  its best form. He specialises in taking complex science and communicating this in understandable and enjoyable fashion. Feedback from David’s audiences includes comments like “A great presentation, easy to listen to and follow - probably the best I have been to”.

Dr Don Brash
Is catching Australia by 2025 still a realistic goal?
The Government has repeatedly confirmed that it has every intention of having New Zealand living standards match those in Australia by 2025.Impossible, claims the Governor of the Reserve Bank – we have to be content with the crumbs from Australia’s table. Nonsense, replies the Prime Minister – we want not crumbs but the entree, main course, and the dessert.Is matching Australia really a possibility?
Dr Don Brash has had a long career – five years at the World Bank in Washington; CEO of Broadbank, the Kiwifruit Authority, and Trust Bank; 14 years Governor of the Reserve Bank; nearly five years in Parliament, more than three of them as Leader of the Opposition.   Over that time, he has also been heavily involved in providing economic advice to successive governments – from the Monetary and Economic Council and the Planning Council in the seventies through chairing four consultative committees on tax reform in the eighties.  He is now chairman of the 2025 Taskforce – and chairman of Huljich Wealth Management.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Powell
Being the Best on the Battlefield of Business
The military base their planning for life and death decisions as well as for day-to-day peacetime operations by using one formula. The formula, known in New Zealand as the Military Appreciation Process, has been used for many years as the basis for decision making when deciding to send troops into battle or to send in troops to undertake Humanitarian Assistance missions.
Many of you may perceive the military as rigid thinkers who are constrained by rules, protocols and procedures, however quite the opposite is true. New Zealand military commanders are encouraged to have a thorough understanding of their boss’s vision and to be unconstrained in their own thinking to help achieve that.
This thinking and detailed planning process can be used in the business world to overcome unique challenges and to approach old problems in a new way, and Lieutenant Colonel Chris Powell, a Territorial Force Army Officer will take you through the process and how it can be applied.

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Powell is 48 years old and has been in the Territorial Force of the NZ Army since 1981. During that time he has served as an Infantry officer in the Auckland and Wellington Battalions where he has held various command and staff positions.
He has also seen operational service with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) in Lebanon and the Golan Heights in 1995 - 1996, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002 where he was instrumental in providing NATO forces support to the International Police Task Force in order to stop illegal trafficking of woman for prostitution in north western Bosnia.
In October 2005, Chris studied at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto and on his return, became a tactics instructor and was posted to Waiouru.  On 20 October 2008, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and on 1 November 2008 assumed command of 3rd Auckland (Countess of Ranfurly’s Own) and Northland Battalion Group.
Chris has recently retired form the NZ Police where he held the rank of Senior Sergeant and was a Shift Commander on the North Shore of Auckland City.
Sean Carroll
ISI's view on the Future of the Industry

Sean Carroll has chairedthe board of the Investment Savings and Insurance Association of New Zealand (ISI) since 2007. In his day job, he is also Executive General Manager of Suncorp Life New Zealand, which includes Guardian Trust, Tyndall, AA Life and Stone & Associates.

Sean started his savings and insurance career as an actuary, joining Sun Alliance in the UK in 1988 before re-locating to Sydney in 1995. He was appointed chairman of the ISI in 2007 in order to lead the organisation through the introduction of new regulation of advisers, products and providers. The ISI represents provides a powerful voice for the investment, life insurance, superannuation, savings and managed fund industries in New Zealand. ISI members manage over $50 billion in savings and provide other financial services on behalf of more than 1,500,000 New Zealand investors and policyholders.

Sean is married to Melanie and they have 2 teenagers, Becky and Peter. In his spare time, Sean is well known for keeping fit and competing as a runner – he’s completed 4 marathons, and regularly wins the Suncorp Life fun runs, despite his staff going to great efforts to be the first person to beat the managing director across the finishing line.

Dan Sullivan (via videolink)
The Multiplier Mindset™
Most advisers working today were drawn to the financial services industry by the “multipliers” the industry offered — like compensation, networks, and support — that would enable massive growth and new opportunity. Today, forces like regulation, bureaucracy, and increased competition are eliminating these multipliers, one by one. Still, a top echelon of advisors enjoy success that vastly exceeds the industry norms, while creating exceptional value for their clients. In this interactive presentation, Dan describes the “Missing Structure” these advisors have that gives them the advantage of new multipliers — and shows how any advisor can create this for themselves. Dan will draw on examples from his global experience assisting advisors to transform their practices for continued success and growth in a new economic and regulatory environment.

Dan Sullivan is the founder and president of Strategic Coach, and has over 35 years’ experience coaching highly successful entrepreneurs in over 60 different industries and 12 countries— with a particularly long history and keen interest in financial services and the advisors within this ever-changing industry. His company’s main offering, The Strategic Coach® Program, helps entrepreneurs reach their full potential in their business and personal lives.
He is author of over 30 publications, including several titles geared specifically to financial advisors: The 21st Century Agent, Creative Destruction, Unique Process Advisors, and The Advisor Century.
Dan is married to Babs Smith, and together they own and operate The Strategic Coach Inc., which has offices in Toronto, Chicago, and Cheshire, England. Dan and Babs live in Toronto. For more information, visit www.strategiccoach.com

Michele A'Court - Conference M.C.  

Winner of the NZ Comedy Guild’s Best Female Comedian Award for the past six years, Michele A’Court has successfully made a living, raised a child and paid a mortgage for more than a decade as a professional stand-up comedian and corporate entertainer. Whether it’s on stage, television, radio, or in print, Michele has an ability to find the right way to reach her audience. She is in demand as a social commentator on TVNZ’s’ ‘Breakfast’, Radio NZ National’s “The Panel” with Jim Mora and ‘9 to Noon’ with Kathryn Ryan and Te Radar.
When not on-stage or the airwaves, Michele reviews books for The NZ Listener and Radio NZ National. She also contributes comedy spots several times a week on Auckland’s EasyMix, a job she has held for the past three years. International experience includes shows at comedy festivals in Edinburgh, Melbourne, Adelaide and NZ – shows which have dealt with the war on terror, national and international politics, life, love and laughter.

In 2008, Michele was awarded “Spirit of the Festival – Wellington” at the NZ International Comedy Festival. Her show, “The Lady Bunch” was nominated for Best Local Show.