Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Entrepreneur stars in 'stellar' business line-up for Tauranga's Techweek'18

Kiri Gillespie
By Kiri Gillespie
Assistant News Director and Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
20 May, 2018 06:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Former Lonely Planet boss Gus Balbontin will share his knowledge with local businesses as part of Techweek'18 in Tauranga this week. Photo / Supplied

Former Lonely Planet boss Gus Balbontin will share his knowledge with local businesses as part of Techweek'18 in Tauranga this week. Photo / Supplied

A superstar of the business and technology world arrives in Tauranga this week to share tips on how best to trumpet the local market on an international stage.

Former executive director and chief technology officer for Lonely Planet Gus Balbontin is keynote speaker at a forum being held as part of Techweek'18 - an annual festival of innovation held throughout New Zealand.

More than 500 events will be held nationally, including the launch of Techweek'18 in Auckland on Monday morning, which is expected to host Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as a hologram.

Balbontin will speak on Thursday about how regional New Zealand competes in the world and how best to manage disruption and innovation on a global market in Tauranga.

The Australian-based Argentine is known for his influence in developing products and technologies for companies such as Google X, Nokia, Apple and Amazon. He is also involved in the international start-up scene as a founder, investor and adviser.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Innovation is the result of three human qualities: curiosity, courage and resilience. To unlock growth, we need to encourage curiosity, wonder 'what if' and do things we've never done before to get the results we've never got before," Balbontin said.

"We also need to try new things outside our comfort zone and [have] the resilience to understand if you are trying something new, it might not work out every time. You just need to patch up your ego and have another crack."

Balbontin is currently Entrepreneur in Residence at Melbourne's Victoria University, Innovator in Residence for Study Queensland and a small-business owner.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He will be joined by other speakers including economist Rod Oram, Primary Sector Council chair Lain Jager, Callaghan Innovation's Hemi Rolleston, Frucor chief executive and former Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler, WNT Ventures chief executive Carl Jones and university teaching fellow Te Ururoa Flavell.

The University of Waikato Management School and Priority One have worked to bring the Balbontin's forum to fruition.

Professor Tim Coltman, dean of Waikato Management School, said the "stellar" line-up of speakers would inspire and help people combine practical learnings and innovation frameworks and then apply them in their work.

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said businesses need to be ahead of the game in multiple areas "that are constantly being disrupted by the next wave of innovation".

Discover more

Bay of Plenty Times wins top honours

11 May 10:41 AM
New Zealand

A bumper crop, but not enough workers

20 May 01:42 AM

Opinion: Simon Bridges' response to Budget 2018

18 May 04:30 PM
Business

$1.5m Bella Vista payment under investigation

18 May 05:00 PM

"Unlocking Regional Growth Through Innovation" runs from 8am-1pm on Thursday at Mills Reef Winery and will include workshops and a panel discussion facilitated by Oram.

More events in Tauranga and the rest of New Zealand can be found on the Techweek'18's website.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

'Serious injuries': Crash closes highway

11 Jul 05:30 AM

Emergency services are responding to a two-vehicle crash which has closed SH29.

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

'Hardly surviving': Sales fall after dairy raid

11 Jul 03:29 AM
Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

Substation fault cuts power to thousands in Tauranga

11 Jul 03:01 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP