Events

Elevate CA hosts regular events for business owners - including the monthly Business Owners Forum events which alternate between Auckland and Whangarei venues. A big part of the Elevate CA ethos is to share our knowledge and skills with the business community that allows us to thrive.

In line with this ethos, Elevate CA events are always free of charge - and have no strings or sales pitches attached.

Below is a full list of events hosted by Elevate CA, or events where we are involved as sponsors, supporters or presenters.

Be a sought after employer (North Harbour)

Finding and retaining good people for your business is a challenge. We hear so much in the media about unemployment, but the experience of most business owners is that there is no pool of great talent waiting at the front door.

Of course it is essential for businesses to identify their competitive advantages in the marketplace. But equally important is to identify and nurture their competitive advantage as a sought after employer.

This Business Owners Forum event will be held at the BNZ Partners facility on Constellation Drive, North Harbour at 5:30pm on Thursday 19 April 2012 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

Here are the quality panelists for this event:

Heidi Johnston – Managing Director of Windowmakers Limited. Heidi led Windowmakers to success as winner of the Employer of Choice Award at the 2010 Enterprise North Shore Business Excellence Awards, so she has a wealth of insights into this topic. Come and hear how Heidi has created an organisation that is at the top of its game as a sought after employer.

Rosemarie McCarthy – Managing Director and Owner of Entertainment International Limited. Rosemarie’s business employs a large number of call centre operators in a diverse team with representatives of most ethnic groups in Auckland. Rosemarie’s success is dependent on her ability to retain a competitive advantage as a sought after employer. Come along and hear some of the tips and traps from Rosemarie’s journey

Bryce Johns, Editor – Herald on Sunday. Herald on Sunday is an employer that stands or falls on its ability to attract and retain top talent. Bryce has some valuable insight on how his organisation rises to that challenge. Come along and glean some tips, techniques and strategies from Bryce’s story that you can take back and utilise in your own business.

This Business Owners Forum will be a must attend for business owners who recognise the need to develop a competitive advantage as an employer of choice.

As always for Business Owners Forum events, this session will be free of charge and completely free of sales pitches from the supporters or the panelists. And there will be pizza, beer and wine to lubricate quality discussion.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly on the third Thursday of the month – alternating between North Harbour and Whangarei venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 16 April 2012. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

Ways to reward your team (Whangarei)

This event will explore some of the innovative ways your business can pay and reward your team. What are the income tax and fringe benefit tax implications of these? What works in practice and what doesn’t? What are others doing in this space? Come along to this event to explore this topic with your fellow business owners.

This event will be held at Elevate CA, level four 35 Robert Street Whangarei at 5:30pm on Thursday 15 March 2012 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

Here’s the panel for this event:

Rebecca Brennan. Rebecca is a director of Elevate CA – and she is Rebecca is an experienced leader and motivator of high performing teams. Rebecca has a lead-from-the-front ethos – and a wealth of great coal-face experience including tips and potential pitfalls in tying remuneration to measurable performance while maintaining a positive and energised culture. Rebecca will discuss some of the innovative ways businesses are paying and rewarding their teams.

Fraser Hurrell. Fraser is also a director of Elevate CA – and he will discuss some of the tips and traps from an income tax and fringe benefit tax point of view. Some ways of remunerating and motivating your team look good on paper – but have a possible sting in their tail when it comes to tax time. A knowledge of the pitfalls – and some planning up front can ensure your remuneration strategy is tax compliant and tax efficient.

Typically there is as much value to be gleaned from the discussion on the floor as there is from the panelist presentations. This will be a must attend session for any business owner who is interested in innovative ways to pay and reward their team.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly on the third Thursday of the month – alternating between North Harbour and Whangarei venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 14 March 2012. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

Ways to reward your team (North Harbour)

What are some of the different and innovative ways to pay and reward your team? What are the income tax and fringe benefit tax implications of these? What does employment legislation and case law have to say about these options? What works in practice and what doesn’t? What are others doing in this space?

This will be the first Business Owners Forum event for 2012 – and will be held at the BNZ Partners facility on Constellation Drive, North Harbour at 5:30pm on 23 February 2012 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

We have a quality panel for this event who will share their insightes and experience in this field:

Angela Atkins – HR consultant, training professional and author of books “Management Bites” and “Employment Bites”. Before founding Elephant Training in 2006, Angela was HR and Training Manager for the PostiePlus Group where she and her team were responsible for the HR function. Angela will share some insights from her experience in this area – delivered in her signature fashion: practical, useful and fun.

Max Whitehead – Employment Relations Practitioner. Max has an intimate knowledge of the complexities of employment law and how it relates to both employers and employees. He specialises in assisting employees who are facing potential redundancy. Over many years Max has been instrumental in defusing disputes in notoriously difficult workplaces before they escalate out of control.

Mark Greenslade. As General Manager of Family Law Results, Mark has recently implemented changes such as performance based pay for the team there. Mark has some recent insight into this topic from his experiences as an employer – and he will share these at this event.

This will be a must attend session for any business owner who is interested in innovative ways to pay and reward their team.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly on the third Thursday of the month – alternating between North Harbour and Whangarei venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 20 February 2012. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

The Power of Branding for your Business (North Harbour)

What does it take for your business to unleash the full potential of its brand? Our panel will discuss this question from three different angles at the final Business Owners Forum event for 2011.

This event will be held on 1 December at the BNZ Partners Centre in North Harbour from 5:30pmto 7:30pm.

On the panel for this event will be:

Tim Ellett, director of 3i Limited, who will discuss Branding in the Digital Age. If any of your customers have the ability to influence your brand’s reputation online, what tools and techniques are available to get involved and influence the online conversations people are having about your business? Come along and hear Tim’s answer to this and any other questions you may have.

Phil Roberts, director of Brighter Design. If branding can be defined as the sum of your stakeholders’ perceptions of your business, how do you get it right? and what happens when you get it wrong? Phil will explore this aspect of the topic and share some of the tips and traps gleaned from his experience in the industry.

Nick Freeman, owner of the North Shore HRV franchise. Nick will share his experiences on how his business has leveraged HRV’s successful branding – and what it means to his business to be part of a powerful brand.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly on the third Thursday of the month – alternating between North Harbour and Whangarei venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 18 October. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

Advisory Boards: What are they and do I need one? (Whangarei)

What are Advisory Boards and do you need one? What’s the difference between a formal board and an advisory board? These very good questions will be answered by a panel at this Business Owners Forum event on Thursday 17 November in Whangarei.

This event will be held at the Elevate CA venue at level four, 35 Robert Street in Whangarei CBD at 5:30pm – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

This is a very pertinent topic as we are seeing more and more business owners introduce an advisory board in some form to their businesses. Here are our panelists for this event – each of whom will each come at this topic from a different angle.

Derek Slatter. Derek has been General Manager of Penguin Wholesalers for over ten years. He makes good use of both formal and advisory boards in his business life, and he will share some of the tips and traps gleaned from this journey.

Bruce Young. Originally a Project Engineer, Bruce has served as CEO or General Manager of the likes of Moana Pacific Fisheries and Feltex NZ. Now an independent director and on the advisory boards of a number of companies, Bruce has experience in both using an advisory board and acting on one.

Fraser Hurrell. As a Chartered Accountant and a director of Elevate CA, Fraser is on the advisory board for several of his clients. Fraser will discuss the differences between a formal board and an advisory board, what you can and cannot expect from your advisory board – and how to get the best out of your advisory board.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly on the third Thursday of the month – alternating between North Harbour and Whangarei venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 14 November. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.