Overseas Facilitators

Bert van Walbeek

Bert “Bow-Thai” van Walbeek has been an Hotelier for 45 years and Marketer of Tourism for 35 years, a Motivator and a Master of Disaster since 25 years and a lecturer for 15 years.

Insistent requests by hotel managements to tap into his vast experience led to a decision to begin working on The Winning Edge concept in 1993 and, after several trial runs with diverse hotel groups and travel products, he is now Managing Director of The Winning Edge, a boutique consulting company, offering the following services to mainly the tourism industries, but also to car, pharmaceutical and optical organizations.

The Winning Edge is offering training, coaching and consulting for:

Marketing and Sales - sell, not tell towards winning solutions
Business and Leisure Events - developing, planning and win-win MICE marketing
Service Marketing - designing and delivering winning services
Destination Marketing - creating winning destination product and branding
Human Resources - selecting and developing winning employees
Risk & Crisis Management - being prepared and winning the battles and the war

His expertise is well-known in the Asian Travel Industry. He has trained hundreds of participants together with TICA, SITE and PATA and through individually developed courses on all marketing, sales and negotiation issues, on selling destinations and on conference and incentive handling in Asia and has always been, and still is, deeply involved in Asia’s Tourism Industry.

After completing the Hotelschool in The Hague, the first part of his career was accomplished in Europe working in operational and later sales and then marketing positions in Hilton, Inter-Continental, Canadian Pacific and Sheraton Hotels around Europe.

The second part started with his arrival in Thailand in 1985, where he spearheaded the successful marketing efforts to reposition the Royal Orchid Sheraton. He also became a member of the Marketing Committee of TICA (Thailand Incentive & Convention Association), and was the Founder and first President of the Thailand Chapter of SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives).

He is also recognized as a speaker at many industrial and academic conferences and seminars, where his motivational and humorous manner of presentation were an inspiration for executives of companies like International Herald Tribune, Amadeus, Essilor and Schott Zwiesel and associations like UNWTO, PATA, APEC and WTTC.

Click here to learn more about Bert van Walbeek: http://www.twe-winningedge.com/

Carl Bates

Carl Bates is a global entrepreneur, speaker, author, mentor and director. Currently based in South Africa, he is a dynamic entrepreneur from New Zealand who guides small to medium businesses and privately-held companies to achieve Extreme Business Success.

He is passionate about empowering business owners to break through the barriers that confine them to a life of long hours, hard work and little reward. Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs has inspired and enabled Carl to transform the attitudes and practices of business owners around the world. He challenges them to create a business legacy they can be proud of and supports them to see the potential and the possibilities for their own
business.Carl is always focused on ensuring areas of growth are identified and shareholder value is maximised.

Considered an international expert on the education and implementation of enterprise governance in small and medium businesses and privately-held companies, Carl is a sought after keynote speaker and strategic advisor for a variety of organisations and companies. Carl has conducted seminars for diverse audiences, from MBA students and university graduates to industry associations, chambers of commerce and YPO Chapter events. He has also spoken globally at many conferences and business expos.

As a globally recognised speaker, Carl’s speaking tours have taken him throughout New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius and the United Kingdom. Carl’s entertaining style, vast business, personal and family experiences and knowledge enable him to captivate attention while delivering a powerful message.

He challenges his audiences to shift their thinking, increase their vision and take their businesses to the next level. Speaking with authority and from his areas of expertise, Carl both delivers from his repertoire and tailors speeches for the requirements of a specific audience. His unique combination of business nouse, a direct approach and thought provoking insights always make for a memorable and business changing experience.

Click here to learn more about Carl Bates: http://www.carlbates.com/

Chris Pierce

Chris Pierce is the Chief Executive Officer of Global Governance Services Ltd. He works with policy makers, directors and boards in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the US and South America.

Prior to becoming CEO, he was the Director of Professional Standards and Professional Development at the Institute of Directors (IoD) in the UK. He has also held senior management positions in the Overseas Development Administration, British Airways and Leeds Business School.

Chris has a particular interest in international corporate governance development. He is currently a trainer of corporate governance trainers for the Global Corporate Governance Forum and in the last two years has led training of trainer programmes in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America to over 800 trainers. He is also a leading contributor to the Forum’s publications which include:

Building director training organizations (2003)
Developing corporate governance codes of best practices (2005)
Corporate governance board leadership training resource kit (2007) and revisions (2014)

He was the chairman of the Forum’s initiative to develop corporate governance codes in the Middle East and North Africa region which led to the development of many national corporate governance codes in the region.

Chris has conducted a number of corporate governance assessments and board evaluations within the Financial Services Sector. In addition, he has been involved in the training and development of executive directors in many successful large multinational companies and has been involved in developing non-executive directors in some of the largest Banks, Investment Authorities and Sovereign Wealth Funds in the World.

Chris visits Mauritius on a regular basis and is a Fellow of the Mauritius Institute of Directors and has played a major role in its development. He has been heavily involved in the design and delivery of the Institute’s training and development programme and its customised consultancy and in house board development services.

Click here to learn more about Chris Pierce: http://www.ggs.uk.com/

Clem Sunter

Clem Sunter was born in Suffolk, England on 8th August 1944 and was educated at Winchester College. He went to Oxford where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics before joining Charter Consolidated as a management trainee in 1966.

In 1971, he moved to Lusaka in Zambia to work for Anglo American Corporation Central Africa. From there he was transferred in 1973 to the Head Office of Anglo American Corporation of South Africa in Johannesburg. He spent most of his subsequent career in the Gold and Uranium Division, serving as its Chairman and CEO from 1990 to 1996. At the time it was the largest gold producer in the world. He was until recently Chairman of the Anglo American Chairman's Fund, which in a recent survey was rated the premier corporate social responsibility fund in South Africa.

In the early 1980s, Clem Sunter established a scenario planning function in Anglo with teams in London and Johannesburg. Two members were Pierre Wack and Ted Newland who previously headed up the scenario planning department at Royal Dutch Shell and then acted as consultants to Anglo for over a decade (after their retirement from Shell). Using material from these teams, Clem put together a presentation entitled 'The World and South Africa in the 1990s' which became very popular in South Africa in the mid-1980s. In it, two scenarios were offered for South Africa: the 'High Road' of negotiation leading to a political settlement and the 'Low Road' of confrontation leading to a civil war and a wasteland. South Africa took the High Road. Two highlights for Clem were a presentation to FW de Klerk and the Cabinet in 1986 and a visit to Nelson Mandela in prison to discuss the future just before his release.

Since 1987, he has authored 17 books some of which have been bestsellers. His other main interests are seeking to mobilise the private sector in the war against HIV/AIDS and create a new generation of entrepreneurs in South Africa.

Clem Sunter was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Cape Town for his work in the field of scenario planning. He was also voted by leading South African CEOs as the speaker who has made the most significant contribution to, and impact on, best practice and business in South Africa. He has given scenario presentations in Europe, India, Singapore, Britain, Australia and various African countries. He has lectured at the Harvard Business School in Boston and at the Central Party School in Beijing.

Click here to learn more about Clem Sunter: http://www.mindofafox.com/site/home

Prof. G.J. (Deon) Rossouw

Deon was born in South Africa, where he studied at the University of Stellenbosch. He started teaching Philosophy in 1986 at Rand Afrikaans University (currently University of Johannesburg, UJ), in Johannesburg, where he later became Professor and Head of the Philosophy department. He also served on the Executive Committee of the Rand Afrikaans University. In 2004 he moved to the University of Pretoria, where he was appointed as Head of the Philosophy Department and Director of the Centre for Business and Professional Ethics.

During 2008-2009 he spent a year as Program Executive for Business Ethics at the Globethics.net Foundation in Geneva.

Currently he is the CEO of the Ethics Institute of South Africa (EthicsSA) and Extraordinary Professor in Philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch.

Deon specialises in the field of Business Ethics and the Ethics of Corporate Governance. His articles have been published in the leading International Journals in this field such as Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society, and Business Ethics: a European Review. He was the Founding President of the Business Ethics Network of Africa (BEN-Africa) and also served as President of the International Society of Business, Economics and Ethics (ISBEE). He also served as a member of the Research Team for the Second King Report on Corporate Governance, was a member of the Sustainability Committee of the Third King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa, and currently serves on the main committee of the Fourth King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa.

Learn more about Deon Roussouw's work here: http://www.ethicsa.org/

Douglas Kruger

Douglas Kruger is an internationally renowned speaker and business author,who is passionate about growing brands, equipping sales teams and creating thought-leaders. Douglas is the author of 4 business books,including the highly acclaimed ‘Own Your Industry - How to Position Yourself as an Expert,’ with Penguin Books.

A multiple award-winning speaker, his clients include senior management and sales teams at companies like BMW, Liberty, and HP. Douglas speaks globally on how businesses and brands can compete by innovating and by positioning themselves as industry experts. Douglas’s thought-leadership ideas have been featured on CNBC Africa and he has written for Forbes and Entrepreneur.

Get up to date with the latest concepts around branding and innovation.
Discover opportunities to innovate within your immediate environment.
Spur creative thinking at the highest levels.
Learn complex growth principles delivered with humour and packaged in an easy-to-grasp, entertaining format.

Learn more about Douglas Kruger here: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za/

Graeme Codrington

Graeme Codrington is the co-founder of the TomorrowToday and an expert on the future world of work and disruptive change. TomorrowToday has been in operation for over 10 years and specializes in delivering strategic insights, packaged in the form of presentations, workshops and leadership development programs.

Graeme is a Futurist, Board advisor, author and speaker
He is an expert on the future world of work and disruptive change
Graeme speaks in more than 25 countries to over 100,000 people every year

Because Graeme’s background and experience are rich and varied, from articles at KPMG to an IT startup, and from work in the non-profit sector to professional speaking, he has seen many different ways to succeed – and fail – in this changing world we live in. In addition to practical experience, he has spent many hours in research, with five degrees and four best selling books to show for it.

The work our research team and colleagues at TomorrowToday do, provides strategic insights for businesses and leaders across multiple sectors and industries all around the world. Graeme is particularly interested in disruptive change and how leaders can confidently guide their organisations into an uncertain future.

Graeme’s delivery style as a presenter can be described as a conversational style, laced with a gently rebuking humour and liberally sprinkled with multimedia and inspiring stories that make the messages stick. In addition it is very important to him to think beyond the platform, and he works hard with clients to find ways to ensure value is taken back to the office and makes a real impact on business outcomes.

The MIoD has introduced a Leadership Programme in collaboration with TomorrowToday, which focuses on the leadership skills needed to survive and thrive in today’s world which are very different from those of a generation ago.

Click here to read more about Graeme Codrington: http://tomorrowtodayglobal.com/

John Crawley

John Crawley is a Risk Management Consultant and a qualified master-trainer and delivers expert executive Risk Management Training to ISO Standard internationally. John is currently the Financial Advisor to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and a Consultant Project Director with the Irish Aviation

Authority. An Accountant by profession, John has spent the last 12 years running and advising businesses in both the private and public sector. Prior to that John spent 23 years, in various Executive positions, with the RBS Group.

John has undertaken Risk assignments in the following industries: local & municipal authorities; financial services; real estate; oil, gas, wind and power; government; agriculture; waste & recycling; aviation; hospitality; and FMCG. John's work has spanned Europe (UK, Ireland, Romania, Russia), the Middle East (Oman, Dubai, Saudi Arabia), Africa (Mauritius) and the Americas (Bermuda).

Click here to learn more about John Crawley: http://www.thefinanceexpert.ie/

Keith Coats

Keith Coats is the Director of Storytelling and International Leadership Expert at TomorrowToday. TomorrowToday has been in operation for over 10 years and specializes in delivering strategic insights, packaged in the form of presentations, workshops and leadership development programs.

Keith is a specialist Leadership and Global trends Consultant/speaker
He has 20 years of international experience
He is a co-founding partner of TomorrowToday

As a founding partner in TomorrowToday Keith has the privilege to work across multiple industries in a global context at both an executive and senior leadership level. His focus is primarily on leadership in a changing world – what will be the shifts required of leaders and organisations in both their thinking and practice when it comes to leadership. Allied to this focus area are future trends and disruption, diversity and bringing out the best in those you lead.

Keith has formally studied leadership teams in organisational change and has a background in both corporate banking and the non-profit sector in South Africa. He is a published author and at the request of the King of Sweden did work with the Sweden Economic Forum.

Keith’s delivery style as a presenteris conversational, relaxed and confident. He wants to engage the audience to see things differently and think for themselves.

Click here to read more about Keith Coats: http://tomorrowtodayglobal.com/

Maggie Gorse

Maggie Gorse is a specialist in New Business Models for Innovation. As Managing Director of Verlion Pte Ltd, Singapore, she pursues research & consulting projects that focus on two areas of business expertise:

Value Creation for Stakeholders - Managing for Sustainable Stakeholder Value
Innovation thru New Business Models- Economic Transformation & the Post-Industrial Economy

Advisor to management of major multi-nationals as well as to start-ups, Maggie Gorse works with clients in a wide range of industries on their innovation projects. She is active on the Advisory Boards of several start-ups and international organizations.

She has served companies in Europe, USA, Africa and Asia with 30 years of practical consulting and training solutions for their business models. As Consultant and Professor, Maggie Gorse has developed several conceptual business designs to give innovators and entrepreneurs the guidelines to help them assess the impact of economic shifts on their business, and apply relevant Business Models for the launch of new products or activities.

Through the design and delivery of executive training programs and coaching, she develops talent within the organisation to lead and implement these changes.

Learn more about Maggie Gorse here: http://verlion.com.sg/

Mike Saunders

Mike Saunders is an international keynote speaker and is available for presentations on topics around Social Media, Social Business (Enterprise Social Media), Customer Experience, Entrepreneurship, and Generation Y.

Mike has a relaxed, informative presentation style that inspires people through storytelling and compelling case studies.

Mike Saunders is the CEO of DigitLab, a digital marketing agency working with local and international organisations to build meaningful relationships with their customers.

An international speaker, Mike has had the privilege of working with some of the world’s most prestigious organisations including Vodafone, IBM, Microsoft, KPMG, Norton Rose, Mr Price, Toyota and Exxaro. Along with his experience in business, Mike has also contributed to leadership programmes for Gordon’s Institute of Business (GIBS).

Mike has been at the forefront of business transitioning into a world of social and mobile technology. He has been a key part of important projects looking into the use of social technology in marketing campaigns, internal communications, social learning, leadership development, knowledge management, collaboration, project management and enterprise social media.

Learn more about Mike Saunders here: www.mikesaunders.com/

Events