About the conference:

The team at Forest Grove is delighted to welcome you to our 12th annual customer conference for a two-day event that promises thought-provoking speakers, product education and networking opportunities with our team and customers.

Date: 19-21 Feb 2023
Venue: Mount Lofty House, Adelaide Hills
Registration cost: AUD 950 (includes 2-day conference pass + drinks and food) 

Meet our speakers

Adam Schindhelm
CEO, LX Group

Driving innovation through data and IOT: converging digital and physical worlds to unlock operational efficiencies

Adam Schindhelm is the CEO of award winning design consultancy LX Group. With an engineering background and Executive MBA from INSEAD, Adam has over 12 years of tech experience with expertise in big data, innovation, emerging technology, and digital disruption. Adam has helped hundreds of Australian businesses to map technology solutions to identified problems.

Jérôme Treboux
International Data Science Expert

Applying predictive modelling & machine learning

Jérôme Treboux is a data scientist with over 10 years of experience working on applied data analysis projects across tourism, energy, medicine and agriculture. Jérôme holds a Master's degree in Business Administration and is currently finishing his PhD thesis in Machine Learning Applied to Image Analysis. Jérôme also leverages his skills to teach at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland and help other businesses through his data analysis and visualisation startup, Datastory.

Rhys Meakins
Head of Strategy & Technology, MLG Oz

Expanding data & financial literacy within your organisation

Rhys Meakins is a Corporate Strategy expert with over 14 years of experience in business process analysis, information systems project management, strategy development, accounting, sales, and taxation. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Financial Accounting & Marketing and a Master's in Taxation. Rhys' passion for technology is shown through his success as a cross-functional team leader tasked with leading successful transformation projects across many industries, including automotive, construction, and mining.

Vincenzo Tursi
Partner Director , KNIME

KNIME functionality & business value - today & tomorrow

Vincenzo Tursi is the Partner Director at KNIME, leading global partnerships initiatives that enable companies to offer their clients comprehensive services, resources, and support to unlock the full potential of their data. With a Bachelor's in Economics and Marketing and a Master's in Statistics, Economics, and Business, Vincenzo has 10 years of experience in the technology and consulting sectors, including his role at Capgemini, providing services in the Financial Service Industry.

Pako Chan
Program Manager, Prophix

Prophix functionality & business value - today & tomorrow

Pako Chan is a Program Manager in the Product Planning team at Prophix. In his role, Pako is responsible for exploring new product opportunities and technological partnerships using his product and accounting expertise. With over 13 years of experience and having worked as a Consultant and Solution Architect, Pako has been involved in a wide variety of projects, including delivering a full web-enabled offering over the cloud, as well as implementing and designing customer solutions. 

Clint Bowron
Information & Systems Architect, RFDS

From spreadsheets to workflows

With 17 years of experience maintaining market-leading online businesses, Clint Bowron has demonstrated strength in streamlining existing products, processes, and innovation into new markets. At Royal Flying Doctor Service, Clint focuses on continuous improvement and a positive user experience by planning, designing and implementing structures, layouts and interfaces for the management of and access to systems and information.

Ross Gaskell
Director

Connected Services: Integrating data sources for consistent access & delivery

Ross Gaskell heads consulting and implementation at Forest Grove and has led some of the largest and most complex projects for numerous organisations across Australia and New Zealand, including Rio Tinto, Remondis, and the Automotive Holding Group (AHG). A postgraduate in finance from Curtin University, Ross has over 12 years of financial reporting, business analytics, budgeting, forecasting and reporting experience, including 5 years in the office-of-finance for EY.

Tommy Harstrom
Analytics Director

Visualisation & Storytelling: Using Power BI & Tableau to build engaging dashboards

Tommy Harstrom heads our Analytics team and provides our clients with a commercial and strategic perspective as an experienced business leader. With over 22 years of experience in consultancy, project management, engineering, finance and business intelligence, Tommy has delivered large-scale, enterprise-level BI solutions. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (First Class Honours) and is a certified Project Management Professional. 

Kim O'Connor
FP&A Delivery Manager, West Coast 

Aged, disability and community care breakfast - Learn & share

Kim O’Connor heads our west coast delivery team of FP&A consultants. Having spent 10 years at Forest Grove and leveraging her advanced expertise in Finance, solution design, and project management, Kim is a key part of our FP&A team. Before being promoted to Delivery Manager, Kim was a Prophix consultant, experienced in designing and implementing budgeting, reporting and analysis solutions for a range of industries.

Betsy Westphal 
Strategy & Growth Executive

Betsy Westphal is the Manager responsible for Forest Grove’s Analytics strategy and the successful deployment of the KNIME solution across APAC. With a commercial perspective from over 7 years of experience in strategic planning, sponsorship, and program development, Betsy is motivated by the impact visual programming and automation can have on data citizens inside (and outside) the data team. Betsy holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and an Ad/Dip in Design.

Angus Veitch
Analytics Manager

With a PhD in computational social science from the University of Queensland and an avid interest in data and analytics, Angus Veitch leverages his expertise in text analytics, social media analysis and KNIME to help our clients unlock insights from various data sources and make informed decisions. Angus has also been recognised by KNIME's Hall of Fame for enabling a better learning experience for fellow KNIME users through his blogs and articles.

Paul Korejcik
FP&A Delivery Manager, East Coast

Leading the east-coast operations, Paul Korejcik has been part of the Forest Grove team for over 13 years. Paul holds two bachelor's degrees, one in  Information Systems and another in Business, from Swinburne University. Paul's software development background allows him to solve complex data, integration and systems challenges for our customers. During his time, Paul has successfully delivered many client projects, including one for Queensland’s largest NFP care provider, Uniting Care. This involved 180 budget users, 7,000 employees and revenue of ~ $1.5B.

Akanksha Sinha 
Marketing Manager

With a Master's degree in Marketing & Media Planning, Akanksha Sinha has worked for over 8 years in the tech industry as a marketing professional, responsible for designing, copywriting, email and social media marketing. At Forest Grove, Akanksha works closely with our BDM to further strengthen Forest Grove's presence across Australia and New Zealand. Akanksha also leverages her expertise to deliver compelling content across emails, case studies, brochures and our website.

Willem Lottering 
Technical Consultant

With a degree in Software engineering and more than 18 years of experience in the tech industry, Willem Lottering has been part of a diverse variety of roles, including SQL data administrator, SQL development, desktop support, application support, as well as software development. Willem is an advanced KNIME user and enjoys working with data to help our clients.

Shane Sturtridge
FP&A Consultant, East Coast

With a Master of Commerce in Professional Accounting & Information Systems, completion of the Charted Accountant exams, and experience in external financial audit, Shane brings an understanding of advanced accounting principles and accounting standards to the Forest Grove Queensland team. Shane focuses on simplifying and automating business accounting processes to enable meaningful and positive operational outcomes. for stakeholders.

What you will learn at our 2023 Customer Conference

→ Get insight into the latest innovations and future roadmap on Prophix and discover how this will change your business

→ Discover innovative ways other Australian users leverage KNIME Advanced Analytics to create a continuous cycle of insights utilised across teams

→ Hear from industry experts on current trends and how they’re overcoming analytical challenges

→ Get hands-on training on Prophix and KNIME to help you leverage key functionalities and maximise the value of your investment