A year on from the election of US President Barack Obama (the milestone date of the 2008 dinner) and over a year of from one off the largest financial meltdowns in modern history, CEOs from many of New Zealand’s leading technology exporters met for the annual TIN100 Leaders Dinner at Mantells in Auckland.
The dinner coincided with the publication date of the TIN1002009 report, which was, that evening, hot off the press.
A wide range of companies were presented including, Douglas Pharmaceuticals, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, Phitek, Compac Sorting Equipment, Touchpoint, Endace, Right Hemisphere, Temperzone, NextWindow, Ceiba Solutions, FrameCad and Wellington Drive Technologies.
The Leaders Dinner is designed as a once a year opportunity for TIN100 Company CEOs to network with each other and reflect on the year gone by. The 2009 MC was high profile financial commentator Bernard Hickey.
Bernard is the editor of www.interest.co.nz, which is an independent financial news and information website that uses blogging and other social media. He has worked as a financial journalist and editor for Reuters, the FT Group and Fairfax Media for 15 years before leaving the mainstream media to help build www.interest.co.nz in January 2008. He comments on the economy, financial issues and tax reform. He has enjoyed a high profile in 2009 as a commentator on the state of the economy in general and the housing market in particular.
At the 2008 dinner Westpac Chief Economist had predicted that the NZ$ would be in the high 0.40s (USc) by the end of 2009. The ongoing recession and an NZ$ above US$0.70, that were shaping the climate of concern for exporters was very much on the mind of Bernard’s audience.
Arriving guest were welcomed with champagne, cocktails and the entertainment from a Spanish guitarist. The inclement weather reflected the year but as the evening began hints of sunshine began to break through. (We’ll try to limit the number of predictable analogies). As always conversation was animated and enthusiastic before guest were led into the dining area.
Greg Shanahan TIN CEO provided a brief introduction followed by a short opening address from Ben Willems of Ernst and Young, the event sponsor. Then it was over to MC Bernard Hickey.
At the start of proceedings guests were invited to agree on three questions from a list of 8 provided to each table. There was also a prize for the best original question from each table.
Between mains and desert Bernard gave a run down on the current economic environment before taking the panel through the list of questions selected by the guests.
This year the panel consisted of Mark Thomas, founder of Right Hemisphere, (developer of graphical communication solutions), Al Monro, CEO of Next Window (touch screen technology developer) and Les Kendall, CEO of Temperzone (air conditioning manufacturer).
Some of the interesting audience questions included what was the key tipping point at which you realised your business would be successful.
Mark Thomas said that securing a significant investment from high profile US Venture Capitalist Sequoia Capital was a point at which he started to acknowledge the potential of his business particularly in the eyes of others. 
Les Kendall stated that throughout its 50 year old Temperzone had enjoyed a number of pivotal moments along the way he thought now was also possibly one of those points. 
New efficiency standards required to make air conditioning more environmentally friendly are opening up significant opportunities for Temperzone. For NextWindow, whose revenues had grown by +638% across the year clearly the past year had been a key one.
Another enlightening question was what were the benefits of being in NZ? At least two of the CEOs thought that there was not much “stickiness” to New Zealand and that their location here was one of personal preference as opposed to strategic advantage.
There was interesting banter from the audience and some frank discussion around the key remedies required. Following desert the gathering regrouped for coffee cheese and port, determined to set the world to rights.
Every year Mantells provides excellent food and service and November 18 2009 was no exception. The NZ food and wine this year were superb. So thanks to the team there for providing yet another memorable evening.
Thanks to Bernard Hickey for the great job he did as MC and also the great job he does inspiring “pub fights” so that we can have productive debates about the future direction of our economy. Click here for a summary of his thoughts!
Thanks to our event and report sponsors NZTE and Ernst and Young for their ongoing support
Lastly as always thank you those very busy CEOs who support what we do by attending the event. Part of our goal is to help create a personal network between the respective CEOs so that we can create a cohesive, supportive and thriving technology export sector.
The Leaders Dinner is a unique opportunity for CEO’s to converse with a large number of their industry peers in a relaxed, social and private environment.
Greg
This years event was proudly sponsored by:
