Gregory has been a professional actor, writer and director for over 20 years. He began his career at The Court Theatre in Christchurch as a member of the improvised corporate entertainment company The Court Jesters and was part of the New Zealand team that won the World Theatresports title in Los Angeles in 1995. He was integral in establishing the school holiday children’s productions at The Court and since then his children’s shows have been produced and toured throughout New Zealand and Australia. Gregory wrote and directed Mark Hadlow’s one man show MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Lycra). The show that has been performed over 100 times with interest from Australian and UK producers to take off-shore. He co-wrote the critically acclaimed Kate Sheppard musical That Bloody Woman and was commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy to write The Complete History of the Royal New Zealand Navy for their 75th Anniversary Celebrations. He has entertained at hundreds of conferences and events in New Zealand and Australia as a freelance performer and also through corporate event companies such as Conartists, Madant, The Improvisors and The Outwits. Other career highlights have been playing a pot smoking motorcyclist on Shortland Street and Heroic Fawn Number One in the Disney film 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Both these characters are available for corporate events although he hasn’t had any takers to date.

Andy Smith , born in Palmerston North, was a software writer since the mid 1970’s and has worked in the Finance, Telemarketing and Data Warehousing industries around the world. He has a bachelors degree in Computer Science and International Finance and he now spends his time in the Not For Profit (NFP) sector as a volunteer having gained a Graduate Diploma in NFP Management. He is Convenor of this conference, a Trustee of the SkyPath project, President of Living Streets Aotearoa, Walk Auckland , treasurer of the Auckland Folk Festival and a Morris Dancer.

It is a great honour to be Mayor of Palmerston North - we have a smart, young workforce, our economy is growing, our centralised location is advantageous and we are becoming a more diverse city - we are on the cusp of something special. Grant Smith is the Mayor of Palmerston North. He was first elected to Council in 2013 and elected Mayor in a by-election in 2015. He has an extensive background managing small to medium sized business and has managed multiple national and international sporting events. Grant has served on the boards of Te Manawa Museum Trust, The Manawatu Rugby Union, The New Zealand Rugby Museum, Central Squash Association and The New Zealand Squash Hall of Fame. Palmerston North is home to 89,000 people, and a further 20,000 people commute to the city from neighbouring districts to work. The city is both young and smart with an average age of 33 years it also has the highest number of residents with PhDs in New Zealand and has the highest concentration of scientists, researchers and in Australasia. Grant is committed to the city’s new vision “Small city benefits, Big city ambition”. This reflects the value we all place on the great quality of life, community spirit, and affordable access to services that come with being a small city, as well as our ambition to have the opportunities larger cities offer. He believes that unlocking these opportunities calls for well-planned growth and sustainable management of our infrastructure resources.