I'm happy and I'm proud. Go bro, go!!!

www.happyzine.co.nz

These comments are all great but many miss some simple points. The idea of the summit was to come up with ideas that did not require government input. This was an idea put up by some business people who believe in New Zealand. A web site allowed over 170 people to submit ideas - over 300 invites were extended, and the assortment of people on the day represented all manner of entrepreneurial business people who all had one thing in common - a desire to make New Zealand a better place. During the day many ideas were discussed, 10 of which gained more indepth discussion. What was the best - hard to say until someone tries putting these things into place. Will they succeed - well the first idea was to run a summit, that has been held and over 100 people were positively energised ... now the works starts on the rest. Will the government do anything with these ideas - that was not the intention, we have to make our own future. Will people continue to find fault - you bet, but in the end of the day, the people that put this together have the courage and determination to build something bigger and better for all. For those that are prepared to throw stones - great, but make sure you are also willing to come up with your own idea for making New Zealand a better place for all. And at that point in time, you will be 'giving it a go' ... good on you.

So what's the opportunity cost of our "attitude problem"? Has anyone ever tried to figure out how much extra money we'd make if we cheered up a bit? Improving the "national attitude" is a fine sounding idea, but I think it would take more than an advertising campaign; more funding for education targeted towards teaching science and economics (and perhaps mental health) would be more useful. But I don't see how that(or an advertising campaign for that matter) will attract much more funding from the private sector.

Bit of yawn. More talk fests.

If NZ is serious about employment and reliable affordable power supply then follow example of 45 other countries and implement policy for 'Feed-in Tariffs' for renewable energy and watch the private invetsment in smaller scale distributed energy take-off along with the business creation and employment growth it has proven to stimulate.

Its a no-brainer but hardly mentioned in NZ where the SOE's and Government prefer status quo with resulting price gouging (read stealth taxes).

The easiest and most sustainable way to create long-term employment is to implement 'Feed-in Tariffs'.

0.3 percent THC is too low for hemp. THC is the plants protection against sun, cold and pests. Why not grow the best?

A mixed bag...some good ideas but I suspect they'll lack power in the punch.

How does a government paid for airplane ticket attract funding from the private sector?

The attitude campaign is interesting. Having more entrepreneurs over having a functioning apprenticeship system (compleion rates range from 9% agricultural, forrstry & fishing -44% scientific and technical services). A hard choice.

A capital fund to attract investors? How about some protectionist measures to save our clothing manufacturiers going offshore or into recievership(RIP LWR).NZ has a reputation for producing quality clothing...the Chinese reputation for quality isn't so shit hot.

Possum trapping...grat idea, perhaps the 'give it a go, bro' could be used here...200 mil could buy alot of possum trappers.

This summit was well meaning but embarassingly typical of why NZ has a productivity issue.The Possum,R&D & IP initiatives are the only worthwhile ideas. The "entrepreneurs" who sell water,model agencies & other commodities are dealing with high turnover, low margin, short-term focussed products that look good & have no intellectual property. I agree with #15 franco - open it up to NZ. There are thousands of people out there who deal with productivity & innovation with real products every day. As long as these summits retain breathtaking arrogance as to WHO can come up with the ideas, it will miss those companies, universities & people who are making a real difference & are likely to head overseas. This summit group represents the tall poppy cutters - get over yourselves, get out into some real businesses, & look at the rest of NZ.

Hey, you guys are going to love this! Everyone needs more money, check out http://makingmoneyatoz.com/ a no strings attached website where you can search and add money making ideas and read comments from others who have tried the idea. If any of you have a money making idea you would like to share, you can add it for free with the link provided http://makingmoneyatoz.com/submit.php

Thanks John H #12 Well said...

Interesting that people start bagging the event and other comments and forget what the point was. The event was a good idea, but I must admit to being somewhat underwhelmed by the top 5. I would like to know what other ideas were put forward. You have to remember that most entrepreneurs had some failures and bad ideas before they got at least one good one. The proof will be whether any of these are taken up and done, not just talked about. And there isn't any reason why the 100 people who got invited are the only people with ideas- maybe there should be a way in which others can contribute their ideas via a website?