Mike Tamaki is a walking example of Kiwi originality, former Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and founding force behind Tamaki Tours Ltd and Tamaki Maori Village. He entered the tourism industry as a tour coach driver in 1985 and formed Tamaki Tours Ltd in 1990 with his brother and their wives. With very little finance, they sold one of the brother’s prized Harley Davidson motorcycles to get a deposit on a 16-seater minibus. This marked the start of a journey to becoming what some say is New Zealand’s most successful privately owned Maori tourism enterprise. Tamaki Maori Village has received several tourism and business awards, and currently employs 120 well trained guides, teachers, performers, and professional staff. Mike has stepped back from the operational side of the business but remains a Director on the Board. He also drives several marketing strategy committees and sits on various Tourism boards.

No stranger to lampoons, lecturns, or lunacy, Jim Hopkins has been regaling audiences here and overseas with his own high speed versions of events for longer than anyone cares to remember. His public speaking career was boosted early on by the screening of the televised BNZ debates and he continues to aim his 'big gums' at the many tempting targets on offer in these politically correct times. Over the years he's worked as television news, current affairs and documentary presenter, and also as a radio talk-back hose in Auckland and Christchurch, where he still produces a weekly show for the regional TV channel. He began honing his literary skills by writing the best selling Blokes & Sheds, Inventions from the Shed, Mates and, most recently, Back in the Shed. A fifth book is expected out later this year and he also contributes a weekly column to The New Zealand Herald.