Start Up Month at Spark Lab

Start Up Month at Spark Lab

New Zealand businesses will soon have a new place to collaborate and learn from industry leaders, with the return of Spark Lab to Auckland’s Seafarers building this month.

Spark Lab’s focus for 2016 is on inspiring and enabling New Zealand business owners, beginning with ‘Start-up month’, which will run through April.

Head of Business Marketing for Spark Home, Mobile and Business, Richard Sandford, said delivering events specifically for SMEs was a way of harnessing the creativity and collaborative ethos that Spark Lab was known for, while pairing it with practical business learning:

“The new format, starting with Start-up month, will help us to zero-in on the things that are really going to help business people succeed.”

Start-up Month will bring together 16 leading innovators, technologists, entrepreneurs, and inventors across eight events, covering a range of topics that directly impact on business operations and results. As such, the events will be relevant to both those starting out, as well as those running more established companies.

For one of the events, Wendy Thompson, owner of social media marketing agency Socialites, will team up with Facebook’s New Zealand Managing Director Spencer Bailey to discuss Social Media Marketing.

“We know that SMEs struggle and are looking for truly useful content - I’m excited to be able to share knowledge and support New Zealand businesses that want to grow,” Thompson said.

The sessions will be open to everyone and are free to attend, although spaces will be limited. Those interested can go to spark.co.nz/sparklab to book their tickets.

Start-up Month schedule

People and Leadership 12th April 7am
Putting the right teams together and creating a strong company culture are vital for business success and growth. Join Nic Kennedy from PWC and Josh Robb from PushPay.

Ownership and Acquisition 13th April 5pm
Ownership structure and even your eventual exit strategy are things you need to be thinking about, ideally from day one. Sacha Judd from Hoku Group and Rich Chetwynd from This Data.

Raising Capital 14th April 7am
How do you get access to the capital you need to grow? Crowd-funding is becoming increasingly popular and effective as an alternative to traditional sources. Join Josh Daniell from Snowball Effect Tim Lightbourne from Invivo Wines.

Social Media Marketing 19th April 7am
We all know social media is important, but not perhaps how it can best be used to improve business performance. This is a chance to learn from the experts. Join Spencer Bailey from Facebook and Wendy Thompson from Socialites.

Collaboration 21st April 7am
Forming strategic relationships with like-minded people and companies can make any stage of growth easier and faster. Join Frances Valentine, from Tech Future Lab, and Lillian Grace from Figure NZ.

Brand Building 26th April 5pm
Effective brand-building is key to enhancing competitiveness and profitability. Join Rosina Webb from Energise & Associates and Simon Pound from Vend will help you appreciate the power of branding and how best to start building yours.

IP, Trademarks & Copyright 27th April 7am
A lot of myths and misinformation surround Intellectual Property and the world of copyrights and trademarks. You may not own what you think you do! Minter Ellison IP experts Richard Wells and Chris Young will show you how to protect your ideas and assets and ensure your business isn’t left exposed.

Lean & Agile Methodology 28th April 7am
Your business can gain a clear competitive advantage by being faster, smarter and using fewer resources. But how and where to start? Colart Miles from Icehouse will be speaking with Nick Williamson about what Lean & Agile means and how to put it into practice.
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