What a fantastic annual meeting. Providence was a wonderful host city. The SNAME team that put this event together should be recognized for doing such a fantastic job.
The technical presentations, the committee meetings and the industry leadership provided by SNAME was first class. The members that attended from the Hampton Roads Section were very pleased with the event.
One item that deserves constructive feedback (and I hope this is viewed as healthy criticism), is the featured speaker at the dinner banquet. The topic and the information provided by the speaker was mesmerizing. Naturally, we are going through a very sobering time and it is important for us to recognize the issues in our industry with our eyes wide open and with brutal honesty. The speaker was remarkably well informed and his assessment of our current state was excellent. However, it was disappointing to me that the speaker did not discuss the opportunities that we have in the maritime industry and did not provide a vision of hope or any potential areas where SNAME professionals could achieve great results through leadership and determination. We heard a great deal about our problems in the maritime industry, but we heard very little about solutions or the leadership opportunities that are ahead of us.
Just prior to the featured speaker, we were treated to the presentation of 4 distinguished SNAME honorees who provided incredible stories of dedication, commitment and professional excellence. They were a tough act to follow. They exhibited the inspired leadership and emotional intelligence that the featured speaker failed to include in his remarks.
The lesson learned here is that SNAME is a technical organization centered around industry excellence. But we need to have leadership, innovation and our vision for the future incorporated into future featured speaker presentations. SNAME has to have heart and a vision of hope if we are going to lead our industry out of this global recession.
Bruce Easterson, Chair
SNAME Hampton Roads Section