SAIMC


SAIMC: From the President’s desk

March 2015 SAIMC

March is upon us with haste. It is one of the most important months in the SAIMC calendar as we elect the new council and welcome on board the new branch committees. I hope to see many of you at the AGM to be held at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo on 25 March at 15h30. There will also be a Special General Meeting to address some proposed changes to the constitution, as we continue with our efforts to modernise the SAIMC.

Some of you may be aware that I was scheduled to step-down as president this year as my maximum term had been completed. However, due to the unavailability of our vice-president, Oratile Semantle, to take over the reins this year because of his work commitments, I have agreed to serve for one final year. I look forward to leading this organisation to greater heights in 2015 with the support of a fantastic council and all our members out there.

This is also a very important month with respect to Africa Automation Fair (AAF). The launch event will be held on 10 March, where leaders of the industry will attend a VIP breakfast briefing by the organisers. The objective is to educate key decision-makers about the value proposition that the AAF has to offer, and hence the benefits of their organisation’s staff attending the event. The global nature of the event will be carried through at this breakfast, where an internationally renowned futurist guest speaker, Pieter Geldenhuys, from Switzerland, will address us on interesting future technologies. It promises to be a fantastic event!

Registration for the AAF has gone live on the official website www.africaautomationfair.com. Please register quickly to avoid having to pay the entrance fee at the door. You will also find an awards section on the website along with a call for nominations in the various categories. (See the list below.) These awards and their respective adjudication processes were carefully planned and set out by the SAIMC, together with the organisers, élancommunications, and the Industrial Instrumentation Group (IIG):

• Project of the Year Award (voted by IIG/SAIMC – nomination/entry form: http://tinyurl.com/p62vtcd).

• Training Company of the Year Award (voted by visitors registering online).

• Customer Service Company of the Year Award (voted by visitors registering online).

• Exhibitor of the Year Award (voted by AAF organisers based on the number of your customers registering online as well as attending AAF 2015).

• Marketing Team of the Year Award (voted by AAF organisers and Technews Publishing).

• Small/Medium Stand of the Year Award (voted by visitors attending AAF 2015).

• Large Stand of the Year Award (voted by visitors attending AAF 2015).

• Industry Personality of the Year Award (voted by IIG/SAIMC/Media/AAF organisers, see http://tinyurl.com/nl7b48c)

We encourage all industry players to participate in the nomination and voting processes. Please download the nomination forms as applicable and send the completed versions back to us as soon as you can. These awards will be presented at a special ceremony at the close of the AAF 2015.

Vinesh Maharaj
Vinesh Maharaj

Once again this month I wish to remind you all that our Industry Calendar http://saimc.co.za/events-calendar/month.calendar/2015/02/11/ has been populated with our SAIMC events for 2015. However, we still need our industry partners out there to send us their events, so this idea can live up to its name and the objective of diarising all the events happening in our industry. I implore the entire C&I fraternity to contribute to this calendar to provide a better co-ordination of activities! Please send your updates to [email protected].

As usual, please mail me your thoughts on [email protected]. I thank you all for taking the time to read this column. Hoping to meet you at the AGMs . . .

Working together, achieving more,

Vinesh Maharaj, President.



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