Past Speakers

Guest Speaker:   Rod Butterss| Co-Founder | Amadeus Group

Topic:   A Turbulent Journey

Rod was born in Melbourne and was one of ten children. A serial entrepreneur by DNA. Rod started his business career at age seven, selling newspapers in Bayside Melbourne and he hasn’t stopped selling since.

With a marketing background and time spent at the helm of St Kilda football club; Rod will share the highs and lows of his professional and personal journey in his own unique way.

He talks candidly about his journey, warts and all, along with his re-building process, and what he has learned about addiction, identity, and purpose.

As Rod explains: “I have been an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember. … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Annalise Jennings  | Founder Dynamic Exchange

Topic:  The Transformation Journey of the Aboriginal Community of Napranum

Annalise Jennings is a business and community strategist with a background in risk management and 25 years’ experience in Corporate Banking. She has specialized in projects that focus on transformation and maximizing human potential.

Dynamic Exchange is an organization committed to supporting communities and organizations to reach their full potential. She has worked extensively with Australian Indigenous communities and is the creator of Whole of Community Change – a blueprint designed to bring about community ownership and self-determination. In 2014 she was invited to share her work with the Aboriginal community of Napranum in a TEDx Talk entitled, “The SHIFT from Paternalism, … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Rhett Kessler  | CIO and Senior Fund Manager Pengana

Topic:  ‘Investors Dilemma in a low rate environment’

Rhett joined Pengana in October 2007, bringing with him over 18 years experience as an investment professional.

He is responsible for leading Pengana Capital’s Australian equities team and managing the Pengana Australian Equities Fund.

Prior to joining Pengana, Rhett was Head of Research for IAG Asset Management (IAGAM) as well as being a joint portfolio manager for various wholesale funds totalling $3.3 billion. In 2005 he successfully launched the IAGAM Absolute Return Fund, on which the Pengana Australian Equity Fund is based.

Rhett was previously a rated media analyst for UBS Australia, and prior to that successfully managed wholesale and retail … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Jonathan Reeve  | General Manager ANZ for Eagle Eye, a digital loyalty and promotions platform

Topic:  Amazon and the Future of Retail

Jonathan is the author of Retail’s Last Mile: Why Online Shopping Will Exceed Our Wildest Predictions, a book which explores the disruption of store retail by online shopping.

Jonathan has worked in retail businesses on three continents for over 18 years and was part of the team that developed the operating model for Tesco.com, a global pioneer of online grocery retail.

Jonathan has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University (UK) and an MBA from INSEAD (France).

Date:           Friday 2 August 2019

Venue:        The Kelvin Club, 14–30 Melbourne Place

                     (East-side of Russell Street … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Simon Madden | Simon Madden Consulting

Topic:  The 2 Commandments of Organisational Success

Simon has a unique outlook on what it takes to be successful. With an initial career in education, he still managed to fit in 19 years of Australian Rules Football at the highest level after making his debut at just 16 years of age.  His football career was further acknowledged when he had the dual honour of being inducted into Essendon’s Hall of Fame and the AFL Hall of Fame.

While he has never been far away from football, he is currently Director of the Essendon Football Club, he has continued his professional skills in business, media, and high-performance people development.

Simon has a wealth … Read More

Guest Speaker:    Eddie Tamir | Cinema Owner | Classic Cinema Group

Topic:   The Cinema Business – now and into the future

Eddie developed an obsession with the screen from an early age as an only child, carrying around a portable TV everywhere he went, watching everything from Felix the Cat to Gilligan’s Island. Eddie studied Creative Writing, and Psychology at Columbia University, New York. He later went on to study a Postgraduate degree at Swinburne School of Film and Television.

He rekindled his love of film through Cinemas. The Classic Cinema Group today owns and operates theatres in Elsternwick, Lido Cinemas Hawthorn, Cameo Cinemas Belgrave, and Ritz Cinemas Randwick

As a sucker for old buildings, Eddie was most inspired by … Read More

Guest Speaker:     Simon Mawhinney | Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer | Allan Gray

Topic:   The Importance Of Being Different – Generating Better Investment Outcomes

Simon Mawhinney joined Allan Gray in 2006 as an analyst. He joined Allan Gray from Alliance Bernstein, where he held a role in Finance from 2004 to 2005. From 2001 to 2003, Simon worked in the Equity Markets group at Macquarie Bank. He also worked at Deloitte and Touche in the Financial Institutions Services team from 1998 to 2001.

Simon holds a Bachelor of Business Science (First Class Honours) with majors in Finance and Business Strategy and a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting (University of Cape Town). Simon qualified as a chartered accountant in 1998 and … Read More

Guest Speaker:      Prof. Danny Samson, Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and
Economics at Melbourne University

Topic:   The Innovation Imperative – Innovate or Die

Danny Samson has been Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne for thirty years.

In this time, he has:

trained countless senior executives now working in industry
held several leadership roles at the University of Melbourne
founded and directed the Centre for Manufacturing Management
been a board director of the Traffic Accident Commission
led the DIST funded study into ‘International Best Practices in Technology Management’
been a member of the Australian Manufacturing Council
been a member of the Commonwealth Government, Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management

He is passionate about the role … Read More

Guest Speaker:       Robert Wickham – Area Vice President, Platform & Emerging Technologies, Salesforce Asia Pacific

Topic:    Preparing for the fourth industrial revolution

Robert Wickham leads Salesforce’s Specialized teams for Platform & Emerging Technologies across Asia Pacific – this includes Lightning Platform, Heroku, Einstein Analytics, Quip & CPQ. Robert also directs Salesforce’s regional program for start-ups. He is a highly sort after public speaker and media contributor. Recent appearances include Sky News, Bloomberg Radio Hong Kong, Boss Magazine, & The Australian Institute for Company Directors. Robert is also a member of the Victorian Government Innovation Expert Panel.

Prior to joining Salesforce, Robert led the Engineered Systems business at Oracle across Australia & New Zealand. He joined Oracle through acquisition in 2008 … Read More

Guest Speaker:   Graham Goldsmith – Chancellor Swinburne University, Chair-elect Seek Limited

Topic:   The Role and Impact of the Tertiary Education sector on our Economy

Graham Goldsmith became the Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology in mid-2014 having served on the Council since 2010. He was educated at Swinburne Institute of Technology in the 1980’s and graduated in Accounting.

In 2012 he left Goldman Sachs Australia where he had been Vice-Chairman and a Managing Director, after a 25 year career with the firm and its predecessors in Australia, working in both Melbourne and London.

He has also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University.

Graham is retiring from Swinburne at the end of January 2019 and is becoming chairman of … Read More