I am an all-round creative type. My skills cover the gamut of visual, interaction, and information design, to experience and service design, and including video, motion graphics, and little bit of animation. I work as an interaction designer and usability consultant with many of New Zealand’s largest companies.

Adnan was one of the first 500 employees at Facebook globally. He's currently the Account Manager for New Zealand. Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected.

Adnan believes that technology has and will continue to fundamentally solve many of the world's problems and that young people are leading the charge in this arena. He also believes that like mandarin, coding will become one of the universal languages of the future.

Adnan is committed to helping the lifehackers build something connects and empowers young people to achieve their potential in a way that not only benefits New Zealand, but the world.

Facebook
LinkedIn

Justin is currently runs a Digital Marketing company called Digitribal. They use lean startup methodology to advise companies where they should invest their marketing money.

Justin believes that entrepreneurs are the only people willing to step up and solve the world's tough problems. And, a lean entrepreneur is going to do it fast, cheap and with flair.

Justin is committed to seeing and developing greatness in NZ entrepreneurs. One day they will take the world by storm with vision, integrity and class.

Glenn is a true entrepreneur, a marketer and a visionary on a mission to help businesses and people grow. Having owned a number of businesses, including a train smash, he understands what it takes to succeed.

With 10 years experience running his “Strategic Email Agency” called Spike, he freely shares his insight on online media channels and how to maximise return for businesses. His passion is “email marketing with purpose”, proving the little known fact that email marketing executed properly will out perform all other media, giving the highest return on investment.

His infectious zest for life is shared with his 1000’s of blog followers in his weekly inspirational “Monday Motivator” blog posts.

LinkedIn

Kelly Ann is a user experience designer for New Zealand’s leading usability consultancy, Optimal Usability. She specialises in helping make products, systems and services intuitive, easy to use and downright delightful for their users.

Through rigorous research and critical exploration Kelly Ann has helped dozens of companies deliver work class experiences on the web, mobile devices and in the form of community services.

If you want to chat to Kelly Ann, here are some of her mad skills on Technology, Creative and Mental Health:

- Knowledge on best practice interaction design
- User interface design for mobile technology
- Human centred design
- Designing thinking
- Service design
- Persona creation
- Start-ups

Kelly Ann’s background lies in design innovation and cultural anthropology. She thrives off contributing to the evolution of products and services that work toward improving everyday New Zealanders health, happiness and ease of interacting with the world around them.

At 22 Yvonne began in business learning sales, recruitment and leadership skills. Now 35 years later Yvonne has shared her experience through Seminars, workshops and mentoring, to over 100,000 people in 24 countries.

In 2009 Yvonne founded Miomo (Making it on my Own) to equip 17 – 24 year olds with work, life and leadership skills ensuring they become ‘competitive with good character’.

Yvonne also helps educators and parents to really love, lead and let go of their young adults to pursue their best ever futures!

Robyn is a public health doctor with a passion for using technology to reach out to people and provide the health information and services they need. She has developed text & video messaging healthy behaviour change interventions, like helping people to stop smoking and teaching teens cognitive skills to try to prevent the onset of depression. She enjoys working with people to work out what sort of mobile tools would help them to make healthier choices and improve their wellbeing. Robyn is based at the University of Auckland (National Institute for Health Innovation) and at Waitemata District Health Board.

Ruth is intimately connected throughout the Wellington start up community, is one of the driving forces behind the successful Summer of Tech programme, and co-organizer of the Hackers and Founders meet up group. Ruth is passionate about social enterprise, and empowering and enabling students to be all they can be. She'll unleash her "pitch coaching" skills to help Lifehackers get ready to share solutions on Sunday afternoon.

Linc is a serial startup entrepreneur passionate about trying to solve big problems with collaboration. Linc has started dozens of companies during the past twenty years in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. This includes CountingDown.com, acquired by DreamWorks, Imagine Entertainment and Vulcan Ventures in 2000.

Some of the startups and organizations Linc is currently involved in: Chalkle.com, Enspiral.com, ENTP.com, Loom.io and Photobooth.com

Mark Westerby is a creative producer and event manager of production company Cuba Creative, film company Random Films, is the producer of the New Zealand Performing Arts Market and regular host of the Caffeine and Aspirin arts show on Radio Active.

Previously the director of the New Zealand Fringe Festival and The Shoot Out Filmmaking Festival, Mark is one of New Zealand's most successful performing arts producers and over the years has been supported by Creative New Zealand funding for shows and development programmes targeted at producers.

Shows produced by Mark such as APOLLO 13: Mission Control have enjoyed popular success and critical acclaim. Between October and December 2010 the show was the longest running single show ever booked at Downstage, Wellington, and played to sold-out audiences.

Working around the globe on productions such as Sydney Film Festival, Tropfest Film Festival, the Red Bull Beat Battle, the iLight Marina Bay Festival in Singapore, and London and Australian Fashion Weeks, Mark has also produced several shipping container projects for award-winning production design company Storybox.

He is currently producing the successful web television show FixTV, and musical talents Miss Fletcher (Hayley Sproull) and Phoebe Hurst.

www.cubacreative.co.nz

www.randomfilms.co.nz

Anna Guenther, co-founder of PledgeMe, recently finished her Masters in Entrepreneurship with a focus on crowdfunding. As Chief Bubble Blower at PledgeMe, she focusses on building the crowdfunding community in New Zealand. Half American, half kiwi, she has travelled around the world working for the government (no, not as a spy) - but always comes back to call New Zealand home. 

Paul is co-founder and COO at global domain registrar iwantmyname and is part of the organising team for Wellington Startup Weekends. He spent three years as chairperson at Wellington's largest ICT community Unlimited Potential and is now setting up a peer-to-peer network for growth stage internet company founders. Paul also mentors young technology entrepreneurs with interesting projects. He is a single Dad with a son aged 13.

Dorenda is a design strategist well known for her promotion of design thinking in business.

She believes the success of New Zealand businesses will increasingly be determined by our ability to back ideas with real potential. Achieving success in the 21st century requires the martialling of both analytical and creative forces. To do this requires a structured, repeatable process that makes space for enhanced creativity whilst ensuring return on investment.

Dorenda and members of her team developed the Ten Design PrinciplesTM which provides a structure for this to happen. The principles underpin all of designindustry’s consulting work across both public and private sector enterprises in New Zealand.

Sam is a self-professed geek from Canterbury, New Zealand. He's a 3rd Year student at the University of Canterbury, studying Computer Science and Mathematics.  He is the President of CompSoc - UC Computer Society, the Student Representative on the Committee for the Canterbury Software Cluster, a Google Student Ambassador, and an Intern Software Engineer at Telogis.

Sam is passionate about problem solving, new technologies, kids in tech, learning and improving his skills.

He loves networking, heading to conferences, talks, seminars and workshops, and is always keen to meet new people and hear their stories.

For the last nine years Julian has led cross agency data & information sharing strategies and shared services projects across central and local government agencies, CRIs and Universities, the private sector and NGOs.

From 2004-2010 Julian advised the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology through their development of policy for environmental data management, and research data reuse. This included facilitation of a number of national workshops including ‘Research Data Matters’ in July 2010.

He is also involved in open government and open data initiatives including in 2010 preparing a report on opening government datasets for the Open Data & Information Chief Executives Steering Group, chairing the Open Government 2010 conference, and chairing the Smart Government conference in March 2011.

In 2011 Julian worked with the Government Data and Information Reuse Secretariat to develop New Zealand’s Declaration on Open and Transparent Government.

From April 2011 - June 2012 Julian led the establishment of information services at the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), as acting Chief Information Officer. He then went on to lead digital communications in the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU), for the launch of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan, and acted as interim GIS and Data Manager. Julian completed his service at CERA on 28 September 2012.

In March 2013 took on the Canterbury Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Programme Manager role at LINZ (4 days a week).

Julian also has a focus on commercialisation of publicly funded research, startup ICT companies, and angel and venture capital investment. He is a venture partner in NZ Capital Strategies, and is chairperson for the Auckland Uniservices and Return on Science ICT Investment Committee.

Larry is the Managing Director of Pono Innovations Ltd, an Innovation Consultancy providing systems innovation design to Economic Developers.  Pono is also active in developing Trade and Investment partnerships between NZ and China, with a strong focus on new technologies that transform existing models.

James completed a Ph.D. in the history of New Zealand literary-cultural criticism in 2002, and has worked as technical writer, senior business analyst and IT project manager. His research focuses on the history of literature, technology and ideas. His current research project explores the literature, culture and technology of nineteenth century New Zealand. He is involved in several digital humanities initiatives, including the CEISMIC Digital Archive, and designer and editor of http://humanitiesmachine.org.nz and http://academicami.org.

Sara is a 1st year PhD student in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago.  She's currently studying how to use a web-based intervention to change women's eating behavior.  Sara regularly blogs about what it's like being a postgraduate student far away from home: http://newyorkerinnewzealand.blogspot.co.nz/ and shares pictures of her travels plus interesting things about New Zealand on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NewYorkerinNewZealand

Helena McAnally’s general research area is well-being in early adolescence and early adulthood. Currently her research is exploring how developmental changes in narrative ability influence well-being in addition to the influence of other factors such as media use and morality. This work uses a combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional samples.

In addition, she is looking at portrayals of violence in the media over time and how television viewing and other media use is related to psychosocial outcomes in adolescence and early adulthood.

Helena received a Master’s in psychology in 1999 and received a PhD in Public health in 2009. She currently works in both Preventive and Social Medicine and the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago.

Fabienne originally studied Chemistry, and then spent 15 years researching biological systems at the molecular level.  She also has experience in workplace compliance, and has recently gained IT skills.  Her technical and process-centred skills are complemented by her creative thinking and the use of user-centred design methodologies.

Over the past few years, Fabienne’s interests have progressively shifted towards designing innovative solutions to organisational problems.  She is particularly conscious of the extent to which learning experiences can contribute to learning outcomes, and the consequent impact on self-esteem and individual prospects.  This is true throughout the education system, but also in the workplace, as adults are trained on an on-going basis.  For these reasons, she has set her mind on improving learning experiences across both sectors.  She is currently in the process of developing social enterprise and business enterprise frameworks to these ends.

Eve is in her final year of clinical psychology training at the University of Otago, and is currently completing an internship within an adult community mental health team. She is also finishing her PhD in Psychology, studying the social contagion of depressive symptoms and self-injury amongst adolescent girls. She has previously served as student editor of the NZ College of Clinical Psychologists Journal, and has assessed University students with anxiety and depression for inclusion in a study of the effectiveness of Mindfulness Therapy.