Team


TAME THE BEAST OF BUSINESS

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Team


TAME THE BEAST OF BUSINESS

 

Resident Team

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Ron van Buuren
Managing Director

Ron utilises his unique background in major project delivery in global supply chain, business development, R&D and engineering supporting businesses from start-ups to multinationals to grow through improved manufacturing, teamwork, collaboration and creating effective processes to deliver.

LinkedIn

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Dr Darren Oemcke
Marketing Director

Darren specialises in growing businesses and implementing results utilising his unusual combination of skills in strategy, marketing, product development and project delivery. He is passionate about the effective utilisation of technology in business, production and customer relationships.

Twitter  |  LinkedIn

Colette Miels
Projects and Systems Coordinator

Colette has over 20 years' experience across a diverse range of industries, with a strong background in sales support and administrative roles. Having grown up in the state’s mid-north, she has developed an interest in the agriculture sector.

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Liz Mencel
WA Lead, Export & Business Specialist

Liz has 25 years’ experience in export marketing roles, including 15 years working with SME enterprises in the wine sector at various levels of the supply chain. She owned a successful wine export business over an eight-year period, exporting to Japan and the USA.

LinkedIn

Angela Oemcke
Marketing (BDM) Consultant

Angela is our in-house creative/writer with a focus on telling the stories around Australian wine. She has a background in wine retail, beer sales, wine writing, wine label tech and wine creative.

LinkedIn

 

Trusted Associates

Peter Burton
Project Supervisor

Peter specialises in construction management. He has worked on projects ranging from natural gas pipeline control to pivot irrigation installation. Peter has experience in product development, having overseen product trials on a variety of crops across Australia, India, Mexico, Japan and the USA.

LinkedIn

Mike Richards (CPA)
Consultant

Mike is an experienced economic development professional, manager, and business advisor with a broad base of advisory, finance, HR, grant/ tender writing, technology assessment and business development skills. He recently completed an Interim General Manager role for the Thylation group of companies.  He has extensive networks and is a strong collaborator.

LinkedIn

Geoff Thomas of

Axant Corporate Advisory

Geoff offers a unique mix of financial, business and technology knowledge. Bringing these skills together means he can successfully deliver corporate advisory solutions for a wide range of companies. Geoff has many years of investment experience in private equity and venture capital, successfully dealing with offshore and Australian investors and acquirers, and including board experience in listed and private companies.

LinkedIn

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Amy Orange of Fourth Sector Solutions
Social Enterprise Associate

Amy views business as a powerful driver to bring about significant and widespread change. She merging her years of experience in the non-profit community services sector and profit-for-purpose social enterprise to drive the fourth sector eco-system in South Australia.

LinkedIn

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Robin Shaw of Winery Tourism Aust.
Tourism Associate

Robin is an independent consultant working with wineries, tourism operators and regions to maximise their destination appeal and deliver memorable visitor experiences.  Robin provides customer service training to tourism operators, supports destination integration into digital operating platforms and models and targeting promotion.

LinkedIn

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Paul van der Lee, VAN DER LEE & Assoc.

Export and Business Associate

Paul’s skillset ranges across economics and finance; marketing; management, public policy and advocacy. He has a track record of achievement in business, not for profit, and Government organisations. He has extensive experience in economic development, regional development, wine, food, and tourism industry sectors.

LinkedIn

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Mel Blondell of Red Seed
Human Resource Associate

Mel is a leader in people practices that drive productivity. She specialises in organisational development, strategic HR management and people performance systems. She delivers both effective employees and the systems to deliver both performance and compliance.

LinkedIn

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Richard Beere of Fastrak Asian

Asia Tourism Expert

Richard Beere is a senior manager with a passion for building bridges between peoples, cultures and markets, and a proven track record of delivering business results above targets, revenue growth, successful market strategies, and profitable management of large, regional businesses.

LinkedIn

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Andy Clarke of The Dirt Dude

Agricultural Associate

A viticulturist with 20 years experience across multiple regions,and states in Australia in management, grape supply and development. Sustainable and profitable grape production has always been a key focus, with interest in exploring progressive and innovative tools and techniques

LinkedIn

Ben Kite

Management Associate

Ben has 18 years' experience in public policy roles, with expertise in major projects implementation, policy analysis and regulation. He is currently completing the Master of Wine Business at the University of Adelaide, and was a 2023 Mentee in the Wine Communicators of Australia Wine Industry Mentor Program.

Zachary Bailey of James Anthony Consulting

Zac is a technology leader with over eighteen years experience and numerous large scale project successes under his belt. Zac has a reputation for achieving effective outcomes, and is often a “go-to” person for Adelaide tech professionals on topics concerning software development and training.

LinkedIn

Liz Schoen of Liz Schoen Consulting

Liz is an independent wine business consultant specialising in European export, brand planning and domestic sales planning. She has a Bachelor of Wine Marketing from Adelaide University and an MBA from Sydney University. Liz spent 15 years at Samuel Smith & Son comprising 8 years managing on-premise and retail sales and 7 years managing European markets for Negociants International.

LinkedIn

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Jack Langberg
Economics Associate

Jack has been involved in a range of industry development including: a series of industry ScoreCards; strategic plans in various agribusiness industries; value chain analysis in wine, citrus and livestock; and the management of PIRSA’s Co-innovation Cluster Program.  While Jack finished working with PIRSA in early 2019, he continues to be involved in a wide range of industry and community development activities.

 

HYDRA CLIENTS

RECENT

100 Carribie Water, Adelaide Hills Wine Region, Accolade Wines, Adelaide and Mt Lofty Region Natural Resources, Amero Additive Manufacturing, Australian China Business Council, Australian Tourism Export Council, Australian Vintage Ltd, Australian Grape and Wine, Brown Family Wines, Burge Family Wines, De Bortoli Wines, Cider Australia, City of Playford, Department for Trade and Investment, Cloudsmith, Connect One Club, Defence Teaming Centre, Department for Water, Dudley Wines, Elixir Himalayan Water, Epicurean Collective, Fastrak Asian Solutions, Fletcher & Sons Foundry, Flinders University, Goyder Institute for Water Research, Inland Wine Regions Alliance, Invina Unique Wine Encounters, Liebich Wein, Mt Jagged Wines, Monadelphous Water, Murdoch Hill Wines, National Wine Centre, Onside Technology, Pandura Farms, Primary Industry and Resources SA, Remarkable State Wines, Riverland Wine, South Australian Spirits Producers Association, Tasman Sinks, University of Adelaide, Vinehealth Australia, Wine Australia, Winery Tourism Australia, Wines of Western Australia, Wine Industry Suppliers Australia, Yalumba Wines, Yarra Valley Water.

Through live management education programs that we have developed and delivered we have overseen student consulting projects for a wide range of clients, including: Adelaide Crows, AG Security, Australia China Business Council, Chaffey Learning Exchange, Charlesworth Nuts, Cornucopia Popcorn, Dematec, Elite Plumbing, Francis Strawberries, Kay Brothers Wines, Le Courrier Australian, Local Government Association, Marion Council, Meals on Wheels, Minda, Platform, Port Pirie Regional Council, Regional Development Australia, Robe Council, RSL, Suntrix Solar, Vale Brewing, Wound Management CRC, Zoos SA.

Mentoring

We have mentored dozens of businesses through: the FOMENT Accelerator, the Innovyz Accelerator (Medical & Environmental), Innovative Manufacturing Accelerator, the Conduit-Acel Accelerator, Venture Dorm, the Musictec incubator, Bridge to MassChallenge, the Wine Industry Mentor Program. The business cover a very wide range including: medical, advanced and additive manufacturing, environmental, water, wine production, hospitality, clothing manufacture, travel and tourism, AI, agribusiness and Agtech, marketing, biosecurity, human resources, loyalty programs, edutech, international education, software development, blockchain, marketing, creative sector, space/geospatial.

training

We have provided training, mentoring and developed training programs for a range of sectors including: agribusiness, universities (internal leadership training), universities (local and international students), wine sector, cider industry, tourism providers, exporters (multi-sector), banking.

 
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TAMING THE BEAST OF BUSINESS refers to our focus on making it easier for our customers to manage the multiple competing demands on them. We asked one of the famous Australian Mambo surf artists, Gerry Wedd, to develop some art work for this theme, which we are absolutely thrilled with.