2013 RWTA CONFERENCE A REAL WINNER
The 2013 RWTA Conference & Exhibition, held at Sheraton Four Points Darling Harbour, Sydney, in August was a great success.
In terms of attendance and support it ranked in the top three most successful recent RWTA Conferences & Exhibitions, following Melbourne in 2010 and Launceston in 2011.
Over 140 delegates and partners attended the event. The exhibition was a sell out, well ahead of time, with a record 21 exhibitors, including 3 overseas companies. We sincerely thank the support of all exhibitors:
- Commonwealth Bank
- Bondor
- Xtralis
- TWUSuper
- Assa Abloy Entrance Systems
- Dexion
- Askin
- Vocollect Asia Pacific
- Barpro Storage South Africa/Dematic
- Hepworths
- Temperature Technology
- EMSC Australia
- Labourforce Impex Personnel
- Toyota Material Handling Australia
- Ampac Technologies
- Accellos Inc Canada
- Minus40
- GEA Refrigeration Componentry
- Microlistics
- Stow Australia
- Ulti Group New Zealand
We had terrific support from sponsors – our 3 Gold Alliance Partners (Commonwealth Bank, TWUSuper and GSA Insurance Brokers), Accellos Inc Canada, Americold Logistics, Carrier Transicold, Montague Cold Storage, Progressive Green, Retracom Group, Swire Cold Storage, Toyota Material Handling Australia and Treasury Wine Estates.
Delegates enjoyed 2 days of plenary sessions with excellent speakers covering a variety of industry issues, including our 2 international speakers generously sponsored by the Global Cold Chain Alliance, namely Corey Rosenbusch, President & CEO GCCA and Doug Thomas, President/CEO of Bellingham Cold Storage USA and Chairman IARW.
The Gala Dinner was another night of glittering entertainment, fine dining and dancing where three awards were presented.
The Greg Montague Award for 2013, in recognition of outstanding contribution to the RWTA and our industry, was presented to Cate McGuire Chief Executive Officer for Oomiak Industrial Refrigeration. Cate has been a tremendous supporter of the RWTA over many years in South Australia and also served on the National RWTA Board as the SA Representative. Cate was instrumental in progressing a number of recent initiatives, including the new RWTA website and reviewing the selection guidelines and scoring for the Frank Vale Award. Well done Cate.
A new Life Membership was also announced on the night, namely to Peter Quinn, previously Director of the Montague Group. Peter has served as National Chairman of the RWTA for four years and was previously Vice Chairman and Board Member for a number of years prior to taking on the Chairmanship. Peter actively worked on the consolidation of the RWTA as a national body in all respects, helped strengthen our association with GCCA and VTA and instigated a number of sub-committees. Congratulations Peter on your Life Membership.
The Frank Vale Award for 2013 was announced and the winner is Scott Barbour, QSR Team Manager, Americold Logistics, Queensland (see story in this edition).
We have received terrific feedback from delegates and partners, with expressed intentions by many members, including non-attendees this year, to attend the 2014 event.