National Maintenance Conference Declared a Success

National Maintenance Conference Declared a Resounding Success.

The 2013 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference has been declared a resounding success by Event Director Craig Carlyle. Speaking after the annual event, held this year at Rotorua, Carlyle stated, “At every measure, from attendance numbers, to the feedback from engineers, exhibitors and the maintenance society itself, the 2013 event has been a resounding success that has exceeded our expectations and bettered all our previous results. Not only is that great news, it was achieved in an environment that has been tougher than we have ever experienced. Everybody stepped up to the plate, from our Event Management team working tirelessly year round to our committee members, whose unpaid commitment reflects the values of the society, investing our experience into future generations.”

The official attendance for the event was 175, causing some issues for the venue who had to send out for extra chairs and seating to cope. Event Manager Leanne Powley was enthusiastic in her praise of her own team and the event systems, “This event is such a privelage to work for; it is organised and structured to continuously learn and empower the team. Everything runs like clockwork because of the intense preparation behind the scene. This event has been running for 10 years now and has such a unique and friendly atmosphere, it just keeps bringing everybody back.”

The event is run by a core team, reinforced by Maintenance Engineering Society members who organise the speaking programme. During the event itself the entire society committee and IPENZ volunteers traditionally roll up their sleeves and assist in a military like operation.

The continuous learning ethic sees the team gathering immediately after the conference closes to review and improve for the next year. The annual process does not start there though, planning for the 2014 SKF National Maintenance Engineering Conference to be held in Hamilton on November 12,13 began in November 2012.

The professionalism underwriting this event belies the fact that it is run by volunteers who are simply humble engineers. While they do not pretend to be conference experts, they bring a insightful understanding of how industry fits together to achieve success. According to Powley, “Sometimes our greatest hurdle is pushing exhibitors to leverage their presence at the event. We have the capability and systems to help them reach out to their own customers but they are often more pleased just to have secured their place.” They must be doing something right, with 85% of exhibitors being repeat customers, stretching right back to the original 2003 event.
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