Kris Smith is a stylish and well-liked television presenter, model and former professional athlete. Originally hailing from Manchester, with his good looks and down to earth personality, Kris quickly carved out a successful modelling and television presenting career in his adopted home. Kris regularly appears on national television programs, featuring in both hosting and guest roles. Kris has bee ...

David Thomas' presence in China as a BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economics expert is on the rise! Recently featured in both print and online versions of China Daily, one of the most widely-read newsprints in the world, David is an authority on the relationships Australian businesses will need to build to grow into the Asian Century.

At this time of year we like to take a moment to look forward to the trends shaping our world and provide an insight into those that we think are going to be HOT in 2014.

From the surging Aussie dollar, to advances in neuroscience that are helping team performance or the new breed of experts who prove that sustainability and profitability go hand in hand, we've collated a select group of speakers, disruptors and thought-leaders who can lead your business into the future.

No-one knows better than Matthew Johnstone how important it is to take the time to recharge and reflect.

Which is why Matthew and The Golden Door, Hunter Valley, have partnered with Ovations to give you the chance to recharge in style in 2014!

It's easy to forget that for many of us, the silly season provides little in the way of downtime. While we continue to work through the silly season, it's still vital to find the time to do a mental reset and take the time to recharge - even if it's just soaking up the sunshine from the office window.

We asked a special panel of experts for their quick tips to recharge and revive while at work this holiday season - read on to find our best Mini Breaks at wOrk!

It’s a prerequisite for sustained high performance.

As event planners we know you're in the business of putting others' needs before your own. So we've arranged a very special Christmas treat to help you recharge and refresh in the new year!

Ovations has 10 tickets to Rob Edwards' "Be Your Best" seminar at Sydney Hilton on February 6, 2014 and we'd love you to be our guest!

After facing agressive breast cancer at just 36, avid mountaineer Sharon Cohrs and her equally adventurous husband Allan embarked on the toughest journey of their lives.

Just nine months after finishing a punishing battle with chemotherapy and three months after reconstructive surgery, Sharon and Allan returned to Nepal to scale the imposing 7000+ metre peak of Mt Baruntse. Despite doubts her weakened body could withstand the trek, Sharon triumphed against challenges most would have deemed impossible.

And now in 2013 Sharon and Allan have done it again, continuing to raise money for breast cancer awareness through the charity they founded, Climbing for a Cause.

Is the Aussie dollar about to make a resurgence? Or will exports boom on the back of reduced pressure on overseas buyers? Is your business prepared for the Asian Century and is Australia's real estate market set to boom or bust?

Answers to these questions will have a direct impact on all Australian businesses in 2014 - if you need a quick peek around the corner, read on for our HOT Economists for 2014!

While sustainable business practice has been a trending topic for some time, 2014 will be a truly hot-button year for environmentally-focused businesses. As the current government bucks the global trend, sustainability experts have begun talking up the positive ROI for business in going green.

How will your business contribute to the growing future of sustainability in 2014?

As our understanding of the human mind grows in leaps and bounds, business is slowly coming around to the idea that science can help improve the performance and well being of businesses and teams by focusing on the most important common denominator - the individual.

2014 will likely prove the tipping point where neuroscience and business are finally considered indispensible allies - allowing your business to get the edge in an increasingly competitive world.

The pace of digital disruption will only accelerate in 2014 and beyond. It's easy to look at the collapse of household brands like Kodak and SAAB and blame technology - but the true blame lies squarely on the heads of those enterprises who failed to see their looming irrelevancy.

Will your business be one of those consigned to a footnote in history?

The accolades keep rolling in for serial entrepreneur Jodie Fox!

Jodie has already won a Telstra Businesswoman of the Year award and has featured in SmartCompany's "Hot 30 under 30" for three of the four years her runaway hit online store, Shoes of Prey has been in operation.

Now, she's taken the battle to fashion's home ground of Paris - and won!

Now that the Ashes are in full swing, it's that time of year that Australians everywhere go cricket crazy. So why not put an Australian sporting legend front and centre of your next event?

As always we've got some great suggestions for incredible cricketers, past and present, who bowl over every audience they entertain.

Adam Franklin is the author of Web Marketing That Works. Plus he's an international social media speaker and marketing manager of a web marketing firm he co-founded in 2005. His Media blog has been named in Australia's Top 20 Business Blogs for the last 4 years. He is a regular blogger for Startup Smart and occasionally writes for Smart Company and the Sydney Morning Herald, and he has be ...

Dr. Joanna McMillan is a registered nutritionist with a PhD in nutritional science and a popular media spokesperson. She writes a weekly column for Sunday Life, is the nutrition expert for several ACP magazines, is a contributor to Body & Soul and is a regular guest on 2GB's Health and Wellbeing show. A Nine Network regular, Joanna has been with TODAY show for 5 years. Her philosophy on diet i ...

Fred Chaney AO is a former Western Australian politician who, until April 2007, held the position of deputy chairman of the Australian Native Title Tribunal and is Chair of Desert Knowledge Australia and on the Board of Directors of Reconciliation Australia. Chaney was born in Perth, Western Australia and educated at the University of Western Australia. He practised law and was admitted as a ba ...

Andrew Rochford is one of Australia's most popular media personalities and medical health experts, best known for his winning appearance on Channel's Nine's 'The Block' and his current position with Channel Seven News as National Health Editor. A graduate of The University of Sydney Medical School, Andrew completed an undergraduate degree in Medical Science, followed by a Bachelor of Medicine/ ...

Georgie Parker is a radio & television broadcaster who can be heard on Triple M Brisbane and also featured on the Nine Network and Seven Network across their sporting events, including the Australian Open, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, AFL & AFLW. Georgie is a former Hockeyroos Olympian, as well as a former Hockeyroos Olympian, Commonwealth Games gold medallist and AFLW player with Collingwood. She's experienced across host/MC, in-conversation and keynote formats, with particular strength in elite performance, IWD events and what it takes to achieve at the highest level. Georgie splits her time between Brisbane and Melbourne.

Gihan Perera is a business futurist, conference speaker, AI researcher, and author who shows you how to be fit for the future. For more than 25 years, he has helped leaders and organisations lead in uncertainty, act with clarity and confidence, and thrive in a fast- changing world.

David Rendall has the rather unusual title of speaker, leadership professor, stand-up comedian and endurance athlete. During the last fifteen years he has spoken to audiences throughout the United States, South America, Africa and Australia on Leadership, Business, Teamwork, Personal Development, Education, Happiness. Prior to becoming a professor and speaker, David managed a nonprofit enterpri ...

Ovations International Speakers Bureau is on the hunt for an experienced event coordinator, logistics coordinator, sales coordinator or travel arranger to become our Chief of Events (Events & Sales Coordinator)

Everyone is a salesperson.

It doesn't matter whether you're in a front-line role or crunching the numbers at head office, some part of your role demands that you convince others that they should buy in to your work. Selling isn't about products, it isn't about prices, it isn't about features or benefits - it's about solving the real problems of real people. If you can understand your customer's pain and communicate a solution, you've made a sale.

So how do the best minds in sales approach selling, sales and solving problems?

With his high energy presentations, jam packed with the latest research, incredible humour and specifically tailored content, Chris Helder is a firm favourite with sales dependent industries like real estate, finance and travel. Chris is a firm believer that in today’s changing environment, it is more important than ever that people are learning to develop their skills in closing business.  

Dr Jason Fox is a business game-stormer and an idea-liberating academic rogue. Having completed a PhD, authored two books and lectured at three universities (all by the age of 25), Jason now shares his cutting edge research in motivation science and game design with forward thinking leaders who want to boost productivity, influence behaviour and make clever happen.

His latest publication ‘The Game Changer’ has unofficially been described as ‘a heretical text’, ‘a slap to the face of conventional motivation’ and also ‘a brilliant contribution to the field of human behaviour’. This pragmatic book shows forward thinking folk how to use the science of motivation with the power of game design to drive progress and change at work.

We have 6 copies of The Game Changer to give away to the first O News readers who can tell us:

‘What does motivation science + game design = ?’

Having just had an incredible 4 month road trip around Australia with her family, our favourite marketing guru Penny Burke is recharged and ready to share with you and your team her insights into the 7 key consumer trends you NEED to know about. Backed by the meticulous research of Penny and her team at Essence Communication, we’re giving O News readers the inside scoop with a free download of Penny’s latest e-book .

Do you know your Gamification from your SOLOMO?

One to mark in the diary: TEDx Sydney is ready to take centre stage once again at the Sydney Opera House on April 26th. With one particularly intriguing line up, we can’t wait to see what new talent Oliver Percovich and Mary Jerram can bring to the table - and of course we’ll be glued to our seats when favourites like Stella Young and Markus Zusak add their 10 cents to this melting pot of ideas. 

Sydney was awash with Baseball fever recently as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks flew in to open the Major League season, and take on Team Australia in exhibition games. Michael Crossland who we know at Ovations because he defied the overwhelming odds of life threatening cancer, 3rd degree burns to nearly his entire body and a severe heart attack all before his 13th birthday, was providing commentary (Michael can add elite baseball player to his list of major accomplishments), and can you guess which Ovations team member has a family connection to one of the players?

26th March will see the 28th Melbourne International Comedy Festival kick off in style with their Opening Night, Comedy All Stars, Supershow! (phew that’s a mouthful!) Running for 3 weeks, the MICF will showcase the top local and international side-splittingly funny talent, before taking the best of the best on its annual roadshow. A new face we’ve been tickled pink with here at Ovations is Jordana Borensztajn, whose show ‘Like Me, Love Me, Retweet Me’ runs through her desperate attempt to be ‘liked’. 

Interested in booking Stephen Koukoulas or David Thomas for your next event? Contact events@ovations.com.au for details!

If you’re a regular to O News, you would have heard of Matthew Johnstone, author and illustrator of the beautiful ‘I Had A Black Dog’ series and regular on the speaker circuit. Matt speaks on mental health and wellbeing, creating purpose in life and working towards being genuinely happy. Matt will be presenting at the upcoming Happiness and It’s Causes Conference in Sydney on 29 & 30 May and has offered to share his 20% discount code with O News readers. Simply quote WDRC when you book tickets to Happiness & Its Causes online at http://www.happinessanditscauses.com.au/