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.

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

What are Advisory Boards and do you need one? This very good question will be answered by a panel at this Business Owners Forum event on Thursday 20 October.

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

We have a great panel on the night, each of whom will each come at this topic from a different angle. On the panel is:

Bruce Sheppard – a non-politically correct agent provocateur, founder of the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association and member of a number of Advisory Boards.

Tyrone Cooley – a senior associate at Kensington Swan, who will discuss the role of an advisory board from a legal and risk perspective.

Neil Movold – director of SB2 International. Neil has been working with an advisory board in his businesses for more than 20 years, and he will share some of the tips and traps gleaned from his experiences.

This will be a must attend session for any business owner who is interested in introducing some good governance, high level advice and external accountability into their business.

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 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.

Good Governance for your Business (Whangarei)

What is Good Governance?

Is it more than just a term that separates ineffective organisations from those that are operated according to best practice? What does Good Governance mean to organisations below the corporate, government or local authority level? How can the principles of Good Governance be applied to owner managed businesses without adding a level of administrative complexity that is counterproductive?

Good Governance is not only a prudent way to operate – but it is also your obligation as a director.

On 22 September, the Business Owners Forum will feature a panel discussion on the issues around Good Governance for owner managed businesses – from three diverse points of view.

The panel will include Rebecca Brennan. Rebecca’s a Chartered Accountant, a director of Elevate CA Limited – and she serves on the advisory board of several of her clients. Rebecca will discuss what good governance means and she will share some strategies on how to rise above “compliance” in your business without creating unnecessary bureaucratic processes. Also on the panel will be a business owner who will discuss the journey towards good governance – and a lawyer who will discuss the legal aspects of good governance.

This event will be held at Elevate CA, 35 Robert Street, Whangarei from 5:30pm on 22 September.

As always, Business Owners Forum events are free of charge to attend. Just email Gemma Mitchell at gemma@elevateCA.co.nz before the end of 20 September to reserve your seat. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list, just enter your details in the boxes to the right.

Managing Risk in our Current Economy (North Harbour)

Managing financial and operational risk is a challenge at the best of times. But in the current economic environment, businesses need some sound strategies in these areas.

On 18 August, the Business Owners Forum will feature a panel discussion on these very issues from three diverse points of view. Here are the panelists for this event:

Wayne Kiely. Wayne is a former Police DS, was head of NZ Post investigations and security, set up KiwiBank security and is a Certified Fraud Examiner – and is arguably the best Private Investigator / Fraud or Thief catcher in Auckland. Wayne will discuss the areas of business risk that he encounters.

Jeff Yeakley. Jeff is the BNZ Treasury Specialist who will discuss macro economic risks in these turbulent times – and in particular what should be considered with regards to treasury and currency risks.

Chris Lock. Chris is the Specialist Advisor for Reseach and Development to ATEED. His background is in product design and marketing and establishing off shore operations in the consumer electronics and machinery spaces. Chris will share some of his expertise and insights around intellectual property protection, digital theft and how to mitigate the risks around these.

This event is a must-attend for all business owners – and will be held at the BNZ Partners Centre on Constelletion Drive, North Harbour from 5:30pm on 18 August.

As always, Business Owners Forum events are free of charge to attend. Just email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 16 August to reserve your seat. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list, just enter your details in the boxes to the right.

Managing Risk in our Current Economy (Whangarei)

Managing financial and operational risk is a challenge at the best of times. But in the current economic environment, businesses need some sound strategies in these areas.

On 21 July, the Business Owners Forum will feature a panel discussion on these very issues from three diverse points of view.

Here’s our panel for this event:

Jeff Yeakley. Jeff is the BNZ Treasury Specialist who will discuss macro economic risks in this current environment – and in particular what should be considered with regards to treasury risks.

Tony Collins. Tony is CEO of the Northland Chamber of Commerce. He will discuss risk in the local business environment and strategies to rise to the challenge of mitigating these risks.

Mike Simm. Mike has governance roles including at Top Energy, Destination Northland and Enterprise Northland. Mike will discuss this topic from a governance point of view.

This event will be held at the BNZ Partners Centre on the corner of Rust Avenue and Bank Street, Whangarei from 5:30pm on 21 July.

As always, Business Owners Forum events are free of charge to attend. Just email Fraser Hurrell before the end of 20 July to reserve your seat. And if you’d like to be included on the invite list, just enter your details in the boxes to your right.

Customer Engagement (North Harbour)

If you’re tired of competing on Price or Product, come along to get some good practical tips from our panel on how to build a better business based on Customer Loyalty.

This Business Owners Forum event will be held on Thursday 16 June at 5:30pm at the BNZ Partners Centre, Constelletion Drive in North Harbour.

Here’s who will be on the panel:

David Espiner. David is a director of the CX Group >>>, who specialise in helping businesses implement strategies and systems to differentiate based on customer engagement. David will share some of the mindsets, tips and tricks that will make a real difference on this journey.

Fraser Hurrell. As a director of Elevate CA Limited >>>, Fraser enjoys helping his clients implement simple measurement systems that can monitor business KPIs on a monthly basis. Fraser will show you how to include customer experience as a measurable KPI.

Michael Masterson. Michael is the former CEO of SalesForce >>> – one of Australiasia’s largest customer service organisations. Michael will share some of the tips that smaller businesses can learn from the way large service oriented corporates manage customer engagement.

As always, Business Owners Forum events are free of charge to attend. Just email Fraser Hurrell >>> before 14 June to reserve your seat – and to join the invite list for future events, enter your details in the boxes to your right.