Speakers at Rotorua announced
The keynote speakers for the 2003 convention to be held at Rotorua are, as usual, of the highest quality.
JOHN MENDZELA
John's technical background spans governance, management, finance and accounting, information technology, marketing, economics, and human resources. As a consultant, adviser, analyst and facilitator, John brings insight and fresh thinking to real-world problems. As a team leader and project manager, he draws synergy from team members to deliver decisive practical results.
John is professionally qualified in consulting (CMC), accounting (CA), management (AFNZIM), company governance (IoD) and information systems (ANZCS) and has degrees in commerce and mathematics, diplomas in education and language.
John plans and manages strategic business change to achieve focus, direction and competitive advantage. His experience includes company chairman and director roles, worldwide management and business consulting, leadership of organizational transformations, line management, and chartered accountancy. John's work draws on a wide range of business experience and a global and multicultural strategic vision.
MARK INGLIS
Mark was educated at Geraldine District High School before working as a professional mountaineer in Mount Cook National Park from 1979 until 1985. Mark first started work at Mt Cook as a trainee ranger but soon became one of the regions professional Search and Rescue Mountaineers. In November 1982, Mark and climbing partner Philip Doole became trapped near the summit of Mt Cook in a storm that was to last 13 ½ days. The resulting stay in the ice cave now known as Middle Peak Hotel resulted in both men almost losing their lives and both legs through frostbite.
Mark then decided a change in career was required as there wasn’t a huge demand for legless mountaineers. At the age of 25, he attended Lincoln University and graduated with a BSc (Hons) (1st Class) degree in Biochemistry in 1989. Following graduation Mark worked as a Scientific Officer at the Christchurch School of Medicine from 1989 until 1992, developing molecular genetic techniques to aid in the diagnosis of leukaemia's. He also conducted research into the cloning of the genes involved in Hodgkinsons Lymphoma and the origin of blood forming cells.
Wine had always fascinated Mark so he joined Montana’s Marlborough winemaking team and went on to become the Senior Winemaker for Montana Wines in the South Island. Mark had an active role in presenting tastings to the trade, both in New Zealand and overseas to customers, including tutoring “How to taste wine” classes and leading the technical laboratory innovations for the company.
In the sporting arena, Mark competed at national and international level in Disabled Alpine Skiing, gaining 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronze medal in 1990, 1991 and 1996. Currently Mark competes at an international level in Disabled Road Cycling, first representing New Zealand at the World Championships in Colorado Springs 1998 (ranked 9th in the World). Mark was named in the N.Z. team for the Southern Cross Multidisability Games in Sydney, October 1999 where he collected Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. In 1999, and again in 2001 Mark has been awarded AMP Premium Scholarships, initially to train for the 2000 Sydney Paralympics and develop the innovative carbon fibre cycling legs used with such success there. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games Mark rode to 12th in the Road Race and a career highlight of Silver in the Kilo (1000m individual time trial), New Zealand's first ever Paralympic Cycling medal and the first medal awarded at those Olympics.
Recently mountaineering has again been a focus of life culminating with summiting Mt. Cook on January 7 after a previous attempt was thwarted by damage to his stumps. The climb was as much a test for Mark’s newly designed technical climbing legs as a test of himself. The Climb and its build up were recorded and played on TV1 in April 2002. During the preparation for the climb the BBC filmed Mark as part of the ‘Ray Mears Extreme Survival’ show for BBC2.
Mark has planned a record attempt at cycling from Kaitaia to Bluff for Paralympians. August of 2002 will see Mark representing New Zealand in Germany at the World Disabled Cycling Championships. Mark will lead an expedition to Everest from the North (Tibet) in May 2003. The expedition will be filmed as an extreme adventure program with Mark writing, co-producing and presenting.
Utilising his experience in crafting wines, his love of great food and research science background, Mark has also recently created a range of performance sports foods for athletes. Just as in wine Mark hopes to banish many of the myths and hype that surrounds sports nutrition. Mark was awarded Officer of the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2002 Honours List for service to persons with disabilities.
GAEL McDONALD
She has a BBS from Massey University, New Zealand, an MBA from the University of Western Australia, and her Doctorate was obtained from The London School of Economics and Political Science, England. Professor McDonald has taught undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Macau, United States and Canada in the areas of International Marketing, Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour. She has also published extensively in professional and trade journals, and consulted in the private sector.
MARTIN GRUNSTEIN
Martin Grunstein studied Psychology and marketing at university of NSW. He has since worked with top sportsmen up to international level in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer, taking teams from losing to winning situations by teaching players the mental side of their game.
Martin doesn’t hype people up, he teaches techniques and how to apply them to your business in the areas of professional attitude in business; understanding the ego of your customer and how to generate the repeat and referral business that keeps your bottom line healthy.
MAI CHEN
Mai Chen is one of New Zealand’s most eminent lawyers.
Mai was born in Taiwan, and emigrated with her family to New Zealand in 1970. She graduated from the University of Otago in Dunedin with an LLB (Hons) (First Class) and was admitted to practice in 1986. After teaching as an Assistant Lecturer at the Otago Law Faculty, she completed a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in 1988, winning the Irving Oberman Memorial Award.
In 1989, she took up a lectureship at the Law School at Victoria University of Wellington, and wrote her first book on Women and Discrimination: New Zealand and the United Nations Convention. In 1990, she chaired a tri-departmental Government Review on the Policy of Excluding Women from Combat, and in 1992 she became the youngest Senior Lecturer in Law in New Zealand at that time. In 1993, she co-authored Public Law in New Zealand with Sir Geoffrey Palmer, which was published by Oxford University Press and then left academia to become a Senior Solicitor at a national law firm in 1994, working in the Litigation and Commercial / Corporate Departments specialising in Public Law, and Asia Desk work. She founded Chen & Palmer as it was then called, Public Law Specialists, with Sir Geoffrey Palmer in 1994.
Mai is a member of the AMP Life Limited (NZ) Advisory Board, and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management. She makes a regular weekly appearance on The Breakfast Show on TV One, to commentate on topical issues of public law.
Mai has advised many of the biggest corporate and quasi-public sector organisations in New Zealand.
Mai advises mainly on Government regulation (and deregulation) of business, on the use of public law tools to generate outcomes, on policy formation and law reform, on strategic advice, on administrative law problems including judicial review, on rights to consultation and on obligations to consult, on constitutional law problems, on the NZ Bill of Rights Act and discrimination law issues and the Human Rights Act 1993. She specialises in SOE and Crown entity/Crown company issues and in advising on inquiries and reviews.
Mai’s wide-ranging keynote address will be a personal view of the Changing Face of New Zealand.
MIKE TAMAKI
Mike entered the Tourism Industry in 1985 as a tour coach driver with Road Services NZ to became a permanent tour guide/driver for Intercity Travel. In 1989 he started Tamaki Tours Ltd with the sale of his brother’s Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Tamaki Maori Village is owned by Mike, Doug, Karene and Katie Tamaki. A family run business that now employ’s 120 staff in their Rotorua project and turns over in excess of $8.5 million. The company is regularly used and recognised throughout New Zealand as a role model for indigenous tourism business development. Further developments are under way for a major $8.0 million expansion of a Cultural, Heritage theme park in Christchurch due to open in the year 2003. A more recent purchase and re-development of Rotorua Orchid Gardens will launch a Health, Spa and Wellness facility, Health cafe and Restaurant along with an extensive Health & Beauty retail outlet within Rotorua largest indoor garden world.
Tamaki Maori Village has won several awards including; Best Rotorua Tourist Industry Business Award, New Zealand Tourism Best Heritage and Cultural Award, Best Maori Business Award, Overall Supreme Tourism Award Winner at the N.Z Tourism Awards, Winners of the NZTB Maori Tourism Award, Award of Distinction for Contribution to New Zealand Tourism.
Apart from his continual pro-active role within the company, Mike also drives several marketing strategy committee’s and does presentations both nationally and internationally. He has sat on and still sits on various boards including; Director for Maori Tourism sub-committee, Aotearoa Maori Tourism Federation, Director for New Zealand Tourism Board, Director for Tourism Industry Association, Director for Tourism Advisory Board. In 1998, Mike was named the Ernst n Young International entrepreneur of the year .