On Tuesday this week, the Australian Marine Industry Awards judging panel came together on Zoom to judge the entries received for this years awards program. Zoom is certainly proving to be a fantastic medium for both personal and business communications and allowed the judging of this years awards to go ahead uninterrupted and to exactly the same standard and format as in the past.
All judges were impressed with the amount of exceptionally high-quality entries received, which definitely did not make their job any easier. The judging panel for 2020 combined a great cross section of skills and experience within the industry and all judges truly gave the applications their full attention and scrutiny. The 2020 judges panel included:
- MaryAnne Edwards, Chair Judge – Superyacht Australia
- Barry Jenkins – Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show
- Joe Akacich – BlackPond Marine Consultants
- Hillary Buckman – Ocean Media
- Michael Taylor – Austrade
- Rob Miley – Former Chairman of Tasmanian Maritime Network
- Thomas Wechselberger – Project Manager, Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning QLD
Mary Anne Edwards, Chair Judge commented, “I commend Eliza and the team at AIMEX for the attraction, collation and professional presentation of this year’s entries, as to attract 50 entries of such a very high calibre would be no mean feat in our current business environment. I am sure it was not easy for businesses making the time to put entries together when most owners are more focused on survival and trying to understand where this current market is going.”
“For those that did I have to say it is impressive and certainly reminds us all about the skills, expertise, quality and innovation of our industry here in Australia. All entries were extremely competitive and whilst there are always some that do stand out, this year it was probably closer than ever before and I look forward to being present on the night to acknowledge all who entered.”
Entries received this year further prove the capability of the marine industry across the export, superyacht and commercial sectors. The AIMEX team are very much looking forward to hosting the Australian Marine Industry Awards Gala Dinner on 12 November to celebrate the stars of our industry and will be sharing further details about this event in the coming months.
