More on MICONZ

 MICONZ06 is being held in Auckland at the Aotea Centre, Auckland Convention Centre at The EDGE® from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 October 2006.

One of the prestige highlights of MICONZ06 is the Gala Dinner and Industry Awards ceremony held at Sky City on the evening of Saturday 14 October 2006.

The New Zealand Automotive Awards Dinner - proudly presented by Auto Trader in association with MICONZ - will be a black tie gala event and filled with entertainment from comedy to hot dancers, guest speakers and fabulous food.

The scope and variety of the awards to be presented for outstanding achievement within the different sectors of the New Zealand motor industry, reflect the diversity of the industry itself, and the range of commercial backgrounds of those now registering to attend this inaugural pan-industry convention.

Individual and group awards will recognise outstanding personalities and achievements by those whose contribution benefits the wider industry as well.

Also acknowledged will be the innovators, and those who elevate standards and enhance the reputation of the industry.

Subsidiary sponsorship opportunities are now in negotiation with those companies keen to have an individual promotional profile within the premier award celebration.

MICONZ06 is attracting individuals, companies, organisations and associations involved in the New Zealand motor industry, with draw card events to suit industry participants seeking the wider industry exposure and networking potential that only a convention environment can provide.

The industry Convention also provides the opportunity for individual organisations and businesses to conduct their own special meetings and conference formats within the context of the overall Convention around them.

Among the range of international speakers attracted to MICONZ06 is John Mellor, one of Australia’s leading motor industry analysts and commentators.

John is also Australia’s leading independent publisher of automotive editorial on the internet.

His weekly GoAuto e-news is read by more than 30,000 executives in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Europe and Asia.

Internationally, it is required reading for the senior level of management responsible for the Australian market.

He also operates GoAuto Professional.

John is in demand as a speaker on big picture trends in design, manufacturing and retailing of cars.

He is regularly called upon by news media to comment on issues affecting the car industry.

John Mellor comes to MICONZ06 with that wealth of knowledge and depth of industry insight that is only obtained from being consistently within the range of global decision-makers.

Also appearing at MICONZ06, and of special interest to technical groups is Elizabeth Yeaman, who is the Senior Adviser, Renewable Energy, at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

She works to encourage uptake of transport biofuels and large renewables.

Elizabeth was originally a materials engineer and also holds a Masters degree in renewable energy.

Before joining EECA nine years ago, she worked as an international consultant on introducing CNG and LPG vehicle fuelling in developing countries.

Enquiries on the opportunities available for trade displays within the Convention may be made to Colleen Keegan, the MICONZ Event Director at colleen@miconz.org.nz

According to Colleen, the fact that MICONZ06 has been planned as an all-embracing convention, the potential for individual activities to be put in place around the event to suit particular business requirements is immense.

"With MICONZ able to handle so much of the arrangements on behalf of those wishing to add to the value of their own events, it can make a lot of sense from both the viewpoint of economy and the effectiveness of logistics," said Colleen.

" What we can provide is the capacity to come and enjoy and gain value from a superlative industry environment without any of those hassles and distractions that come from setting out to do it all yourself.

"We are ready to meet your requirements within the arrangements made on your behalf," she said. n