CEO blog

Firstly let me pass on my season’s greetings to all IIMS members who celebrate Christmas. May you have a peaceful and joyous holiday time.

The past twelve months have been memorable and I believe when we look back in time and reflect on 2016, our silver jubilee anniversary year, we will look back fondly and with pride. At a recent meeting with the head office team, I took the opportunity to share our achievements as an organisation and I think we were all genuinely surprised at what has happened over the past 52 weeks! It is always, in my opinion, important to recognise how far one has come before setting out one’s stall for the period ahead. Some of the things that go on behind the scenes at IIMS are not important to the wider world, but make a world of difference to the team – the installation of fast broadband, new PCs and a brand new server, for example, have transformed the way we work and our productivity this past year. And our progress as we embrace new technology and turn it to our members’ advantage is very pleasing.

Continue reading “Time for reflection at the end of an inspiring year”

It is a while since I last posted to my blog here. In truth, my time has not been my own since the IIMS London Conference on the first day of September. There are busy fools of course and people who are busy with a purpose. I certainly identify with the latter. The past couple of months have seen IIMS meeting, training and sharing knowledge with dozens of marine surveyors, both members as well as others in the marine world.

Only after the delivery of a presentation, or a paper, does the magnitude of what we do or say become apparent as the audience assesses and gives feedback. But what exactly do I mean by that? In my role as CEO of IIMS I have a duty to think carefully before I speak, to ensure I strike the right chord and to deliver a message that is relevant. It is a responsibility I take very seriously and I always check and double check my content before releasing it in whatever format.

Continue reading “The magnitude of what we do”

One of the things I enjoy most is getting out and meeting marine surveyors face to face and not just those who are members of the Institute. Because I work in a bubble at the IIMS head office for periods of time, it only by face to face meetings that I can learn more about the role of a surveyor and better understand the challenges surveyors are facing in their day to day roles. I also delight in being able to pass on news about the progress of the Institute too.

This was never truer than the recent two day Western Mediterranean Small Craft Working Group, held in Palma – click for a full report. To spend a couple of days with over 20 surveyors was a privilege. It gave us the opportunity to introduce a new group to the work of a coding Continue reading “Palma training was good and all is well with IIMS Canada”

The whole point of a blog I was taught was that it should be updated regularly. My apologies. The reason it has not been is testament to the sheer amount of activity that is going on in this, our 25th anniversary and Silver Jubilee year.

On that subject, much of my time in the first quarter of 2016 has been devoted to our celebrations and ensuring the special IIMS London Conference on 31 August and 1 September will be a success and memorable occasion. The result is, I believe, a very different and exciting two day event, which incorporates the Annual General Meeting and all at a very reasonable cost too. The morning of day one (31 August) offers delegates a small exhibition to enjoy and five high quality, technical workshops. At lunchtime we move seamlessly into the Silver Jubilee Awards for Excellence to be presented by Sir Alan Massey, CEO of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency. More nominations are required please to keep the judging panel busy – and who would not want to be in the running for such a special award and recognition? You can make nominations here until 30 June and I encourage you to do so.

Continue reading “25th Anniversary conference plans are complete”

Officially it is now Spring in the UK, although with night time temperatures still sub zero and snow around, we could be forgiven for arguing this point!

Life at IIMS is rarely dull. There have been some significant changes to report on since my last blog. Due to the increased work flow from the CMID Accreditation Scheme we are running for IMCA, we have run out of office space! This is actually a pleasant problem to have. So, after some negotiation, I am grateful to our tenants, Supported Living Ltd, who have agreed to release half of their space for our use. Hilary and Sam will move into that area to establish a Marine Surveying Academy nerve centre. Some slight modifications are required to the space and the builders are heading in this week to do their bit. We take up occupancy on 1 April.

Continue reading “It’s officially Spring in the UK”

As the Institute starts its twenty-fifth year of operation and prepares to celebrate its Silver Jubilee in 2016, I can report that things are busy at IIMS head office as we have hit the floor running.

Currently we are in the midst of migrating to a new server (finally replacing our 8 year old ‘ancient beast’). These things are never easy. We hit an unforeseen glitch last week, but the way is now clear and we expect to be fully operational on our new server environment imminently. At the same time, we have finally managed to find a solution to our appallingly slow internet connection that has dogged us for years. Simultaneously with the server migration, we are upgrading to a 30Mb broadband line. This is a very positive start to the year and will make us even more efficient!

Continue reading “An encouraging start to 2016”

So it has been an emotional and mentally draining week, but one which will linger long in my mind and one that I will look back at with great pleasure and pride. I am referring of course to the IIMS London Conference 2015 that took place on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

To put on an event of this scale takes many months of meticulous planning and preparation. I am grateful to those around me who supported and helped me thus ensuring we were able to deliver a great outcome for the sponsors (DGS Marine Group, Constellation Marine Services and Britannia Maritime Security) and the delegates who attended. Add in the fact that we are catering for a truly international audience; and the need to appeal equally to small craft as well as commercial ship surveyors. I believe we got it about right!

Continue reading “A tiring end to an emotional and successful week”