December QLD Source President's Report

It is hard to believe that the year is coming quickly to an end, at a rapid rate. Everyone I talk to says how busy they are in the rush towards Christmas – with just over three weeks to go at the time of this column. It is my last for the year. 

It has been another exceptional few months since my last column, with AWA Qld Branch hosting a sensational Gala Dinner. Restrictions eased before the event allowing full capacity and an almost sold-out event. There was glitz and glamour all evening. I also thought I would share something with you. I actually don’t know who wins the majority of the awards. The Branch committee undertakes the judging and I only find out at the same time as the audience. For me, I think it’s very appropriate. I’m not good at faking it so it's great to be just as surprised as the audience when the winners are announced.  

The Young Water Professionals Amazing Race was another fantastic event. The teams had a great day exploring the city. As you all know, I am a huge advocate of regional participation and I challenged the team to engage with regional teams for the Amazing Race. Who knows, we might even make it a national event!!  

We have also seen the QWater'21 Conference, 'Embracing Positive Change Through Disruption', held at Sea World Resort & Conference Centre last week. There was a sudden change in venue (COVID just keeps giving), but Sea World is a great venue and attendance was high. We also had several trade exhibitors; those companies and organisations are a great support to the industry.    

The AWA Board is also starting to look at the next strategy. Strategy22 has been very successful and much has been achieved. The new CX platform that has been launched will allow us, AWA, to better engage and provide a more targeted service. Obviously it is still a work in progress but, as you can all imagine, a strategy for AWA takes time to formulate and implement. It is a collaborative and iterative process with the AWA Branches and the Board.  

So, as we hurtle towards the end of the year, I would like to thank all committee members, past and current, and the members; I couldn’t have done it without you. Without you all, we wouldn’t be here to continue bringing you events, technical content and networking opportunities.     

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2022 will allow more freedom and movement as COVID is ‘tamed’, but I suppose, as the whole pandemic has shown us, things change - so watch this space!