The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has announced six keynote speakers to take part in two TED Talk-style keynote sessions at its 2015 Professionals Congress.
The speakers include the founder of Australia’s only motorcycle business; someone inspired by the Terminator movies to use robotics for the benefit of amputees; a magician and entrepreneur of the year; and a well-known television personality.
The FPA announced last week it planned to restructure two of its three traditional congress keynote sessions to reflect the successful TED Talk events and to bring a greater diversity of views and opinions to the sessions.
Chair of the FPA Congress, Delma Newton, says the aim of the restructured sessions is to “give more variety of speakers for planners to hear from”.
“It’s giving them access to a greater number of ideas from a more diverse array of professionals, and a much more interesting mix of speakers, so they can take ideas from a heap of other professions away and see how other people are innovating and being highly professional at their game,” she says.
A common theme
Newton says the congress committee has sought to put together speakers who share a common ideology, or who can speak to a common theme.
“We have tried very hard to group these speakers that we have so there is a continuity in the message,” Newton says.
“It says to planners that they don’t just have to look inside the bubble of the planning profession to get really good ideas.”
The first session will focus on innovation and features a range of presenters “who haven’t come from a fantastic background, and didn’t have a leg-up to start with”, Newton says.
“They made the most of their situation through innovation,” she says.
The second group will focus on creativity and “how you can look outside the box to create better opportunities”.
The keynote speakers announced by the FPA today are:
- Li Cunxin, an internationally acclaimed dancer and author of the best-selling Mao’s Last Dancer;
- Nigel Marsh, bestselling author, co-founder of Earth Hour and a TED speaker par excellence;
- Munjed Al Muderis, a world leader in osseointegration – combining robotics with humans – a life-changing technology for amputees inspired by The Terminator
- Brad Smith, a young entrepreneur who built Australia’s only motorcycle company from nothing
- Carolyn Miller, managing director of The Honeycomb Effect and a regular panelist on ABC TV series “Gruen”; and
- Vinh Giang, the 2013 South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year, magician and professional speaker.
Award-winning broadcaster
The FPA has already announced that award-winning journalist and broadcaster Jennifer Byrne and social researcher and thought leader Mark McCrindle will speak at the Congress.
Byrne will address the Women in Financial Planning Breakfast on the morning of day two of the congress. The event is open to both men and women.
In addition, new workshop streams tagged “expand”, “grow”, “engage” and “inspire” offer 24 sessions covering diverse areas from technology, through to client communication and people management.
The FPA says the workshop program has been “built by planners, for planners”.
Each workshop topic had been road-tested and selected based on the needs of financial planners, to ensure they are equipped to operate in the ever changing professional environment.
Delegates have been urged to select the workshops they wish to attend at the time they register to avoid missing out on limited spaces.
The 2015 Congress is accredited for 14.5 CPD hours. Professional Planner is the major media partner to the event.
