speakers

Dan is an author, speaker and social commentator who helps leaders and individuals explore what makes their customers buy and their team members buy in by helping smart people be people smart through:
•   Human Behaviour & Influence
•   Leadership & Engagement
•   Insights and incites!

Rated in “the top 25 C-Suite Speakers to watch,” by Meetings & Conventions USA, Dan is a captivating speaker whose business acumen is matched by a rapier wit and rare human insight gained during three years on the road working on the US and UK stand-up comedy circuits – skills put to great use in front of millions of viewers as a regular on ABC TV’s “Gruen” series and Channel 7’s “Masters of Spin”.

He has created leadership strategies for global technology firms, designed performance strategies for sales teams and C-Suite executives and driven engagement strategies for organisations as diverse as Coca-Cola, Newscorp., the Royal Australian Navy and the UN in Asia.

RADM Katherine Richards qualified as a Marine Engineer Officer (MEO) and has served in the Royal Australian Navy for over 31 years in a wide variety of sea and shore appointments.
RADM Richards graduated as dux of her Navy class at the Australian Defence Force Academy (1991) and holds a Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honours (UNSW). She spent much of her early career at sea in the warships HMAS Canberra and HMAS Newcastle and working in waterfront engineering roles. On obtaining her Charge qualification, she attended the Royal Navy Dagger Engineer Course (1998) as a Chevening Scholar and read a Masters of Science in Marine Engineering at the University College London.
RADM Richards returned to sea in 1999 to take up the first of two consecutive Charge Engineer appointments. She was part of the commissioning crew of the Leeuwin Class Hydrographic Ships and served as the Marine Engineer Officer in HMAS Melbourne. During her time at sea, RADM Richards saw operational service in the Southern Ocean (Operation Stanhope), the Solomon Islands (Operation Trek) and the Persian Gulf (Operation Slipper).
On posting ashore in 2003, RADM Richards attended the Australian Command and Staff College and read a Masters of Management in Defence Studies (UC 2003). She remained in Canberra and served in a wide variety of general duties and specialist staff appointments, including Staff Officer to the Vice Chief of the Defence Force (2004), Marine Engineering Category Manager (2005), Directing Staff at the Australian Command and Staff Course (2007) and the LHD Sustainment Manager (2008-2009). In this posting she was recognised as a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) by Engineers Australia.
In 2010, RADM Richards was appointed as the Director of the LHD Systems Program Office in the Defence Materiel Organisation. She went on to command HMAS Cerberus in Victoria from 2012 2013 and led over 2500 people, the vast majority under the age of 23. She was recognised for her Command tenure with the award of a Conspicuous Service Cross. RADM Richards attended the Centre of Defence and Strategic Studies in 2014 and graduated with a Master of Arts in 2014. She was subsequently promoted to star rank and served as the Director General of Engineering from 2015-17 followed by the Chief of Staff Navy Headquarters from 2018-2020. For her services to engineering and management, she was appointed as a Fellow of Engineers Australia in 2019.
RADM Richards was inducted as a Member in the Military Division of the Order of Australia in January 2021, before assuming the duties of Head of Navy Engineering in February. She has been married to Bernard, who is a retired Army Colonel, for over twenty five years. They share their life with their three children - Lizzie 15, Bella 13 and Harry 10 and an energetic Jack Russell called Scout.

Derek is the Group Executive for Defence and Social Infrastructure at Ventia, following Ventia’s acquisition of Broadspectrum in June 2020. Prior to this appointment Derek has spent 17 years working with Broadspectrum in a range of roles including Contract Manager, General Manager and Executive General Manager. Derek has completed a Bachelor of Environmental Design and a Masters in Building Science before starting his career working in regional and remote locations in Western Australia.

Working independently and in small teams he has helped address some of the intractable social issues that permeate regional Australia – employment, housing, health care and infrastructure. More recently he has worked in Australia and New Zealand across multiple government sectors and geographies including defence, telecommunications and logistics and has helped grow Broadspectrum to be a top 10 Defence contractor in Australia.

Increasingly fascinated by behavioural economics and nudge thinking, he is always trying to improve his understanding of the science of decision making and the mental models people build to measure success.
Living in Melbourne, Derek is married to Susan and has two teenage daughters, Emily and Isabella.

Bernard Salt AM, a former partner at KPMG, is one of the most well-known writers, media personalities, and business advisors in Australia. Used to large crowds and the cameras, Bernard has the uncanny ability of being able to explain complex ideas in a way that everyone in the room can understand.

Well-spoken, engaging and at times laugh-out-loud funny, a business event featuring Bernard is always a hit.

Bernard’s skill is in being able to tell a compelling story of social and cultural change by tracking demographic information in his country of origin (Australia) and the rest of the world, including the United States, New Zealand and Asia. He talks about the evolution of consumer cultures, how each generation fits into today’s business world, and how companies can get the most out of their customer base and employees.

Bernard writes two weekly columns for The Australian newspaper and he has published several books, the most recent being More Decent Obsessions. Previous books include The Big Shift, The Big Picture, Man Drought, The Big Tilt and Decent Obsessions.

Bernard routinely appears as a commentator on a variety of television shows in Australia, including ABC News Breakfast, Four Corners, A Current Affair, 60 Minutes, Sunrise and Today Show.

Bernard’s skill is in being able to take basic census data and transform it into a highly entertaining, very informative and above all else extremely relevant presentation on the future for businesses and individuals.