Keynote speakers for Auckland
The following keynote speakers have been confirmed for the 2004 convention to be held at Auckland.
PETER DAVIDSON
On December 26th 1998, 114 Yachts left Sydney harbour in the annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race- only 44 finished. Of the remaining vessels, 12 yachts were abandoned, 5 yachts sank, 6 men lost their lives and over 50 yachtsmen had to be winched to safety.
The event is recognised as one of the worst Maritime disasters in Australian history.
Peter Davidson, paramedic aboard the first rescue helicopter to reach survivors, talks about what it took to rescue 8 men from the stricken vessel “Standaside” in the midst of some of the worst conditions in sailing history.
Sea conditions described by many of the survivors and rescuers as “a Hurricane” – waves running and breaking at over 25 metres (that’s as tall as a six story building) and winds gusting at over 120 km/hr. Conditions into which Peter was winched to conduct the most testing rescues of his career.
Peter and the crew of Helimed One undertook rescues which are seen as beyond that ever asked of rescue helicopters. The crew has been recognised nationally and internationally for their bravery, skill and dedication.
As Peter relates “Awards and recognition are great, but nothing was better than the smiles on the faces of the survivors and their families.”
This is a powerful and moving story of showing the best of what ordinary, well trained and motivated people can achieve.
Peter Davidson is a humble man but a remarkable Australian.
ROSS HONEYWILL
In 2000 Ross was keynote speaker at eight international business conferences, four of them in the USA.
He is a foundation director of the Centre for Customer Strategy in Australia and is co-author of the new business book, “I-Cons – The Essential Guide to Winning and Keeping High Value Customers” (Random House, September 2001).
Through his leadership role at KPMG Australia between 1998 and 2001, Ross has become an internationally recognised authority on consumer behaviour and the impact of a rapidly changing social fabric on the future of business.
He has created psychonomics – the application of psychological profiles to identify economic value – with particular emphasis on business-to-business and business-to-consumer customers in the banking & finance, telecommunications, energy sectors, retail and consumer markets.
Prior to 1998, Ross was head of a national research centre and director of market strategy for a national marketing consultancy.
Ross has won many business and marketing awards in the tourism, wine, telecommunications and retail industries. His influence on the future of Australian business has been widely recognised by opinion leaders.
A social ecologist focused on the future of business, Ross is widely quoted in the national media and is in demand as an international speaker on the subject of unlocking customer value.
SUE EDGECOMBE
She has worked in most area of business, from personal assistant to sales from financial management to general management and maintains her characteristics are best suited for entrepreneurialism and problem solving. Since leaving full time employment in 2001, Sue has very quickly become a sought after resource around the globe for achievers and companies such as: Goldman Sachs (Asia), Junction Advertising Group (London), SEED Entrepreneurial Conference (London), FESCO Shipping Lines (Australasia), Harcourt’s NZ Ltd, Les Mills, Academy Publishing (Australasia), ING Investments Ltd, Netscape Conference, Innovate Conference, Lynne Franks (who launched Spice Girls, Swatch Watch, London Fashion Week – London) Ruby Wax (London), producer for Robbie Williams (UK) plus numerous others.
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Sue began her career as a speaker and success coach in 1997 building her company part-time while working full time in the corporate world. Her philosophy is, “if you’re not doing it, you don’t know it”. Sue knows it and teaches from that very place, helping people to integrate the two levels to sustained change and results; intellectual and emotional. Sue’s ability to get people to breakthrough the invisible barriers and ‘walk their talk’ is what separates her in the success-coaching field.