RCSA conference speakers add insight

Key speaker profiles for this week's RCSA conference in Queenstown

Peter Williams: Digital Disruption, Social media and Recruitment
Peter is a recognised thought leader and practitioner in Innovation with a particular focus on digital innovation.
Although his professional training was as a Chartered Accountant, he started working with internet technologies in 1993 while working in the UK and on his return to Australia in 1996 founded an eBusiness Consulting group within Deloitte Australia. Since that time Peter founded Deloitte Digital, a business pioneering the delivery of professional services online that is now one of the world’s largest web and mobile development firms.
A sought after speaker and media commentator both locally and internationally and has worked with boards and senior executives of many companies helping them understand and adapt to the rapidly changing digital environment.
Peter was recently named as one of Australia’s top Digital Influences, is Chairman of Deloitte’s Innovation Council, an Adjunct Professor at RMIT, Board Member of Deloitte Foundation and Circus OZ. Pete is also very active in the community and has assisted in Vic Bushfire relief, QLD floods, Christchurch Earthquake as well as actively undertakes student mentoring.
Topic digest:
As the pace of digital change continues to accelerate, many industries are faced with upheaval as their traditional business models are threatened by new digital competitors or simply by profound changes in the way people communicate and connect. The rise of Social Media has allowed any individual to become their own media outlet and make connections on a mass scale.
These changes are having an effect on the Recruitment Industry as many clients now rely on social networks they have established as well as those of their employees to recruit talent.
While this change will not slow down, it is timely for Recruiters both look at threats and opportunities. This session will look at
• How Social Networks are changing the recruitment process
• Opportunities for Recruiters to leverage technology and expand their service offerings
• How the changing nature of work can create opportunities
• How to work with both candidates and clients using new technologies

Craig Davis: Happy business. Pull the other one
In a truly international career Craig Davis has helped clients develop and launch broadband services, software and soft drinks, banking and payment services, beer, cosmetics, foods, cars, devices and not-for-profit organisations. He has also initiated and led cultural change programmes building engagement and elevating the standard of creative thinking across two separate agency networks. Craig has worked with many of the world’s best known companies including P&G, HSBC, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Shell, Nokia, Sony, Bank of China, Toyota, Kraft, Ford, Vodafone and Diageo.
Craig is Adjunct Professor at UTS and sits on the Boards of Advance, the Creative Industries Taskforce and Conscious Capitalism Australia. Craig has also served as Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer for Publicis Mojo in Australia, Chairman of the Australasian Writers and Art Directors Club and Deputy Chair of The Communications Council.
Topic digest:
Craig Davis has a message: ‘Happy business’ may sound like a massive oxymoron. Businesses consistently lose sight of their customers and employees. People are disengaged with business as usual – they just don’t care. Worse, it’s making them unhappy. But what if it could be turned around?
In a world characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, there are ways  to navigate the new reality showing the way to a happier, healthier future for businesses.
The future is not about technology, it’s about humanity.

Barry Asin: Global Staffing Trends and the Future of Your Business
A leading authority on the staffing industry, contingent labor and contingent labor management issues, Barry Asin has global responsibility for the company’s strategy, operations and growth. He joined the company in 2003 as Chief Analyst, where he led the team responsible for SIA’s award-winning research and content.
Prior to joining Staffing Industry Analysts, Asin spent nearly 12 years as a senior executive at global staffing leader Adecco SA. Before Adecco, he held operations management positions with Pepsico. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BS in engineering from Princeton University.
Topic digest:
While many of the basics remain the same, the world of staffing and recruitment is in a state of flux. With the impact of technology, globalization and increasingly sophisticated buyers, recruitment executives will be faced with critical strategic choices that will have a substantial impact on clients, staff and financial performance.
Barry will present a glimpse of the global trends and potential future scenarios that will shape the industry for years to come.

Jonathan Pain: What a Wonderful World
Jonathan Pain is a Director of JP Consulting NSW Pty Ltd. He has 27 years of international investment experience including Chief Investment Strategist of HFA Asset Management, Chief Investment Officer of Rothschild Australia Asset Management, Head of Investments at Gulf International Bank in Bahrain and Chair of the International Asset Allocation Committee at Paribas Asset Management in London. 

Jonathan holds a joint honours degree in Economics and Politics from Keele University and a Masters degree in the Economics of Finance and Investment from Exeter University.
Author and publisher of widely read investment newsletter The Pain Report, Jonathan is well known for his contrarian views and is a regular speaker at investment conferences and seminars.
The Pain Report provides an independent and global perspective of the financial markets and the world economy. He warned of the GFC warnings on numerous occasions before the world felt its effects.

Topic digest:
Jonathan Pain believes that the most significant and defining economic phenomenon of our lifetime is the rise of the Asian middle classes, and that they will be a major force in shaping and defining our economic destiny here in Australia and the wider world.
He will urge his audience to re-consider the prism through which they view the world and suggests that much of the media has an obsessive focus on the negative and rarely highlights the many positives.
Jonathan believes that after five years of economic healing, the global economy is set for stronger growth in 2014, and beyond. The great majority of the world’s population of seven billion people can look forward to better times ahead and, in fact, the next decade is likely to see the strongest global economic growth in more than 30 years.
What a Wonderful World is a story about where the world is heading in the years to come, and the key factors that will shape and define the journey ahead.