The past month has flown by and what a progressive month it has been, in fact a non-stop merry go round at times!
The IIMS Conference in London, Dinner and the AGM at Regent’s University were all successful, but I was saddened by the low number of members who came to London this year. As a consequence of the poor turn out, the management board has reassessed the future role of the London Conference and an announcement will be made soon. But for those who did attend, what a treat they had over the two days. I personally thought the presentations were not only relevant but also of the highest quality, delivered by people who were both knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects. You can watch any or all of the 10 videos that we made over the two days on the IIMS YouTube channel. And what a venue we chose for our Conference dinner. On reflection, the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms proved to be an inspirational choice, much enjoyed by those who attended.
I am also pleased to inform you that the September Report Magazine (edition 81) has been published recently. I recommend it to you for its sheer breadth and depth of content, much of it fresh and specially commissioned just for your benefit. Click to read the Report Magazine.
Surely none of us is in this business to win awards? However, it is always a beautiful thing to be recognised and acknowledged for what we do. So imagine my surprise to find out that IIMS had recently been nominated for an award in the Golden Shield Excellence Awards 2017 by the International Maritime Club in the ‘Leading Maritime Training Institute’ category. And what’s more we then learned that we had won the award! My thanks to Zarir and Allen, who collected the ‘gong’ on my behalf at the Old Library at Lloyd’s recently. Very proud indeed.
The process of restructuring the IIMS head office team is now underway. Cathryn Ward started in early September in what is an expanded role as Education, Training & Events Co-ordinator. We wish her well. And the reorganisation of the accounts function is now advancing with an announcement about a new team member and a different structure expected in the coming weeks.
And finally, I must steer our Certifying Authority examiners and large yacht and small craft members around the world to what looks like being a couple of cracking training opportunities in November. I look forward to catching up with many of you at either event face to face.
Survey well.
Mike Schwarz
Chief Executive Officer
