Speakers

HIRECON24 attracts many of New Zealands best speakers…

Melodie Robinson

Opening Keynote Speaker

Melodie Robinson is a well-known sports journalist, commentator and former international rugby union player for the Black Ferns.

Melodie is TVNZ’s General Manager, Sports and Events where she is leading the sport and event strategy for TVNZ’s coverage of global sporting events such as Rugby World Cup 2019, Paralympic Games 2020 and America’s Cup 2021. She is also the founder of The Wonderful Group, which supports women to advance their position and influence in the sports media industry. In 2020, Melodie was appointed the International Rugby Players representative on the Rugby World Cup Limited Board.

Melodie played rugby union at international level, winning two world cups with the Black Ferns. Playing blindside or openside flanker, she played in 18 tests with the Ferns from 1996 to 2002. While playing rugby at the elite level, she gained a BA from the University of Otago, as well as studying Journalism in Wellington. Her first work was in radio working at the press gallery in Wellington covering politics.

Her obvious ability and passion for sports led her to becoming the online sports producer for XtraMSN. While working at Xtra from 1998 to 2002, she produced innovative sports websites like All Blacks and Team New Zealand.

Melodie moved on to Sky Sports in 2002, where she became the world’s first female rugby commentator and was a key member of SKY Sports’ commentary team. With this role, she was involved in covering major sports for many years, including Olympics and Commonwealth Games, rugby and netball World Cup tournaments, Super Rugby and Mitre 10 Cup rugby.

In 2019, this unstoppable high-achiever completed an MBA at Auckland University’s Business School and became New Zealand’s first Maori Barbie as part of Mattel’s role model line.

Brent Carey

creating safe positive resilient workplaces, tackling online harm

Brent is the Chief Executive Officer of Netsafe, New Zealand’s online safety charity. He has broad and extensive experience in regulatory, privacy, safety and justice environments along with a good understanding of both local and global online safety ecosystems.

Garth Beker

Financial Positioning for your Hire Business

Garth is a born and raised ‘Mainlander’ from a shearing family in Waimate.

Garth left school and trained as a forest ranger with the NZ Forest Service working all over the country particularly Otago & Southland. He decided to extend the grey matter a bit and went to Massey University and did a commerce degree majoring in accounting & finance.

In 1995 he set up BFA with no clients and 1 staff member. BFA now employs over 50 people with 6 directors and 9 shareholder groups based in Taupo. Garth’s work takes him around the country with clients in Otago, Nelson, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Gisborne and Bay of Plenty.

BFA has a strong focus on business advisory work as opposed to the traditional accounting firms only interested in keeping the score. Garth’s strengths are in working with clients around strategy, growth, succession and getting the business ‘sale-ready’. Garth is currently a Board member of the NZ Hunting & Fishing group.

Daniel Paul

Social Media 101

TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Insta, X, YouTube?  Why use social media to promote your business, how to use it effectively and which platform to use.

Daniel is a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of NZ and the Strategic Director at The PR Company. He is a vastly experienced public relations and advocacy campaigner whose insights are grounded in over 40 years of experience working in and around Wellington’s political and policy landscape. He specialises in connecting clients to the influencers and policy makers of the day.

Clive Thomson

Difficult Discussions, Disciplinaries, and Dismissals

With more than 30 years’ experience, Clive comes highly recommended for his delivery of pragmatic and practical solutions.  

For more than 20 years he has led the EMA consulting team in the Bay of Plenty and Central North Island.

He has previously held senior HR roles in the health, metals manufacturing and wood processing industries.



Mike Puru

Awards night MC

Much loved media personality, Mike Puru, is one of New Zealand’s most recognised and respected radio personalities. He is most well-known for his role as host of The Edge radio station for 20 years and is currently co-host of The Hits’ afternoon show, alongside Stacey Morrison.

Mike has worked in radio and television for over two decades having started his career on The Edge radio station in 1995. Mike has also been a guest presenter on Radio Live, a regular weather presenter for Newshub’s 6pm news show, hosted the first season of The Bachelor New Zealand and was the host of Three’s The CafÃ.

He has won the Paul Holmes Award for his contribution to radio in 2014 and the Best Breakfast Show Award in 2014 and 2016 at the NZ Radio Awards alongside co-hosts Jay Jay and Dominic Harvey.