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Our People
John Larkin, Managing Director
John studied Law at Sydney University and then gained an Agricultural Farm Management Diploma through Orange Agricultural College specialising in Marketing and is presently undertaking his Masters Degree. He has consulted extensively to regional businesses and government agencies utilising his marketing and research skills, particularly his workshop, focus group and qualitative research methods.
John lectures part-time at University of Sydney, Orange Campus, in International Marketing, Market Research and E-Commerce. Business development is his passion. He is a full member of the Australian Market & Social Research Society (AMSRS). He lives on a 200 hectare farm at Geurie.
Gordon Geraghty, Research Director
Graduating B. Ec (Syd), Gordon has 35 years extensive experience in Market Research and was a Shareholder / Senior Director of The Survey Research Group (Asia and Australia), AGB McNair Anderson and Reark Research.
Gordon has specialist research experience in the areas of agriculture, travel and tourism, workforce participation, health, banking and finance, transportation, food and beverage and customer satisfaction. He is a full member of the Australian Market & Social Research Society (AMSRS) and has been at the forefront of new research, marketing and advertising techniques.
Maryanne Knight, Director
Maryanne specialises in Event Management and Public Relations following 15 years of management experience in the Music Industry. Maryanne has managed major events for government, community and business such as:
- The Golden Stave Lunch – the Australian Music & Entertainment Industries raising money for charity - an annual luncheon for the Music Industry with over 1000 guests raising over $900,000 at the 2004 Golden Stave Lunch
- The National Landcare Awards for 500 guests at Parliament House, Canberra in 2002
- National & NSW Young Auctioneers Competition – over 2,000 spectators at this Competition held annually on the first day of the Royal Easter Show, Homebush
Lyn Penson, Director
Lyn is qualified in Workplace Training and Assessing, Human Resource Practice and Research (AMSRS). She specialises in Project Management, Customer Service, Human Resources, Workplace Training and Business Administration.
Lyn is responsible for managing the Accreditation Program for over 170 Visitor Information Centres in New South Wales. She has experience working within the travel and tourism industry and regional tourism organisations, in community planning for private and Aboriginal organisations, and in training development and workshop delivery. Lyn plays a pivotal role in Aurora’s business development, strategic direction, research and marketing service.
David Ward, National Agronomy Manager
David Ward is Aurora's Agronomy Manager working on the Demand Farming Australia© Project. David has sound agricultural experience spanning over a fifteen year period. David has successfully operated his own Consultancy, Solutions Agronomy, which supplied innovative agricultural solutions to over 30 farmers covering more than 30,000 arable hectares in and around the Liverpool Plains region. Through Demand Farming Australia, David will continue to work in the field he is passionate about whilst building on his previous experience as an Agronomist and his Associate Diploma of Applied Science from Emerald Agricultural College. David is keen to assist clients to achieve their desired production outcomes and build their businesses in a sustainable manner. David's other specialist agricultural interests include soil fertility management, crop rotations, specialty crops and renewable energy crops.
Lesley Johnson, Administration Manager
Lesley coordinates many projects and maintains the administrative aspects of the Accredited Visitor Information Centre Development Program and many research based projects. Lesley has vast experience across recruitment and selection, training, hospitality, customer service and all administrative areas.
Dominic Green, Legal Counsel & Economist
Dominic completed degrees in both Law and Economics at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in 2008, and completed his Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice through the Practical Legal Training Unit at UOW. Dominic’s experience includes commercial law, corporate and business structure, financing, and an extensive range of contracts drafting and administration. Dominic has a keen interest in the carbon economy.
Terry Sandell, Project Manager
Terry has a background in agronomy, project management and business management. Terry's focus is on the sustainable agricultural sector, heading up our Demand Farming activities and Greenline Biomass renewable energy projects.
Alisia Mason, PR & Marketing
Alisia has a background in Print & Online Media, specialising in Advertising Account Management, Marketing and Public Relations. In 2007, Alisia completed a Diploma in Business Management and Marketing at Martin Business College, Sydney.
Paul Fowler, Senior Manager
BA Acctg (UC), GDM (Monash), MBus Mktg (UTS), ACA.
Paul worked initially as a chartered accountant and has held senior financial positions in Australian companies. Paul has held senior sales and marketing positions over the past 10 years in media, advertising and telecommunications/IT. He has worked with major Australian companies as well as many SMEs to deliver integrated marketing solutions and sales driven strategies. At Aurora, Paul brings both financial knowledge and overall business development skills for all our clients. Paul is part of the senior management team at Aurora.
Deborah Paul, Qualitative Market Research Consultant
Bachelor of Social Science, University of Cape Town and member of Australian Market & Social Research Society.
An independent consultant with superior qualitative research experience, Deborah has developed an on-going working relationship with Aurora. Her experience in market research includes advertising, communications, new product development, health, land care, finance, agriculture, women’s issues, ageing plus other government policy research.
John Wood, Chemical Engineer
MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management with the CUB Award for overall excellence, John also graduated Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) – Honours from University of Sydney.
John is an adept workshop facilitator and is experienced in running leadership courses. He has extensive experience in Benchmarking for a wide range of industry and government organisations across regional Australia.
Dr Geoff Watson, Environmental Research & Marketing
Geoff specialises in Marketing and Environmental Research and is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the Charles Sturt University, Orange Campus. He has significant expertise in marketing practice and implementation within farmer groups, agribusiness and environmental stakeholders. Geoff is a member and past Branch President of the Australian Marketing Institute and past National President of the Agricultural Information Association of Australia.
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