FANZ News

FANZ Conference 2015 – Taking Care of Business

The Conference, held at the Distinction Rotorua Hotel and Conference Centre benefited from a new Platinum Partner Sponsor, MediaWorks, along with Gold Partner sponsors, Yellow and Crowe Horwath. As usual, the event could not have been as successful without the additional support from all the Silver and Bronze sponsors. Many rated it as the best FANZ conference they had attended and there were some very positive responses from first time attendees who were amazed at the welcome they received and the openness of delegates willing to discuss issues in their own systems.

Following the success of last year’s conference, “Pathways to Success”, this year’s speaker line-up was based on focussing on the elements that are essential to develop a successful franchise and speakers from the USA and from both sides of the Tasman provided their unique perspectives. The conference opened with a live video link up with Melanie Bergeron, CFE, who is Chair of the USA- based international franchise, Two Men And A Truck® and the current Chair of the USA’s franchise association, the IFA. Melanie gave a stirring presentation on how their franchise developed from just one removal truck to an international brand, whilst still retaining the core principles of the original family business. This was followed by Jewli Simpson from the Franchise Relationships Institute, who made the trip across the Tasman to speak on “What Franchisees Want from their Field Support Managers”, as well as conducting workshops.

Other plenary sessions included a presentation by Brendan Thompson from Specsavers, last year’s winners of the Westpac New Zealand Franchise Awards, a panel session conducted by Simon Lord from Franchise New Zealand magazine on field support management and a very  entertaining insight from the team from Mariposa Restaurant Holdings on the development of their Mexicali Fresh brand and its marriage with their recently acquired Burger Wisconsin.

For the first time, this year saw a second international live link session and conference attendees had the benefit of getting the first hand information on Google’s increasing relationship with the franchise sector direct from Todd Rowe, their Managing Director for SMB Global Sales.

The conference ended with an energy filled presentation by Murray Thom on his personal experiences of seeing opportunities whisper, but need absolute determination and persistence to bring them to fruition.

FANZ Board Election Results

The result of the postal ballot for the vacant seats on the Board was announced at the Annual General Meeting that took place on the Thursday morning before the start of the Conference.

• Joining the current members, Ian Robertson, New Zealand Post; Dawn Engelbrecht – Safe Kids in Daily Supervision (SKIDS); Vaughan Moss – Para Rubber New Zealand and Deirdre Watson – Deirdre Watson, Barrister, who were not required to re-stand this year were:

Re-elected for a third term:

• Callum Floyd – Franchize Consultants
• Brad Jacobs – The Coffee Club New Board Member:
• Glenn Tasker – ASB Bank Chairman and Vice Chairman for 2015- 2016

Under the FANZ Rules, the new Board elects the Chairman and Vice Chairman at its first meeting following the AGM, which was due to take place on 19th August.

To see what you may have missed and to give you a taste of what FANZ conferences are like, go to the FANZ website:

W: www.franchiseassociation.org.nz