At the lively Exhibition Hall just adjacent to the meeting rooms inside the beautiful CCB Conference Center in Dublin, Turkish Cargo sent in the “A Team” for special meetings and to show the carrier’s support for the global forwarding community.
   Say hello to Seref Kazanci (right), who was named Turkish Cargo Senior Vice President on July 1.
   Turkish Cargo VP Sales & Marketing Halit Anlatan (left) and Turgut Erkeskin (center), President, Turkish Freight Forwarders Association - UTIKAD and long time Vice President and serving board member of FIATA, are also in the picture.
   “It’s an ideal time to meet and greet as we move our agendas forward,” Turgut said.
Geoffrey

     As the FIATA Annual World Congress turned on the juice in Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, conferees experienced a high octane mix of Ireland hospitality and culture that opened this critical, week long event of high level forwarder meetings and sessions in grand style.

Opens FIATA Dublin

      On Wednesday, October 5 FIATA President Zhao Huxiang told conferees:
      “As we meet for our 54th Annual World Congress, we face a world challenged by infrastructure, finance, security, e-freight, and 3D printing, among other issues.
      “However, I believe we are quite resilient and have been on a remarkable upward journey that has brought about a landmark agreement with IATA, which will have great impact ahead.
      “FIATA is a success because networking comes to us naturally,” Mr. Zhao said.

Tom Terrific

      Thomas Thornton, President IIFA, put it on the line and didn’t mince his words:
      “There is no substitute for hard work.
      “Our Ireland membership includes unsung heroes, because they move global trade.
      “For example, one out of five hamburgers consumed in McDonald’s worldwide sources from Ireland.
      “Our export market in Ireland makes us good traders.
      “To you, delegates, remember life is for living, loving, and laughing,” Thomas Thornton said.

Customs Solutions

      World Customs Organization Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya was straight up, telling delegates:
      “Great to walk into a room of Irish dancers to step off into this conference wide awake and ready to go.
      “A very important facet of economic competiveness is trade facilitation and ease of customs border to border.
      “Progressive engagement with stakeholders is vital in this process.
      “Although e-commerce is a game changer, delivery of goods is still physical.
      “The closer we work together toward best practices and harmonization in every aspect of the supply chain, the more success we will see all around.
      “We must have trust between customs and industry as we work together for a better world.”

Speechifying Extraordinaire

      John Bruton, Former Taoiseach/Prime Minister of Ireland & EU Ambassador to United States was engaging, telling the packed house at FIATA:
      “Training is important, but we must imbue the next generation with ethical muscle—in other words [the knowledge] to do what is right.
      “We must adapt to the world of today.
      “There is a serious gap between needs and what is being done about those needs
      “It’s a failure of imagination.”
      “FIATA’s role is to create conditions for a benign and socially acceptable world.
”

Creating The Right Blend

      Ruth Waring, Managing Director of Labyrinth Consultants, is an expert representing the trucking industry in the UK.
      “Anytime you make a sales call or anywhere else you appear, set your mind to achieve an objective goal.
      “Whenever you network with one person, remember you are networking with all of that person’s contacts.
      “Be specific about what you are looking for,” Ruth Waring said.

YIFFY Awards Youth

      TT Club provides insurance to logistics worldwide.
      Michael Yarwood from the TT Club presented the annual Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFY Award).
      “This is 18th year of the YIFFY Award at FIATA.
      “The YIFFY is given to those candidates that submit a paper on multi-modal transportation of goods, including dealing with all aspects of what it takes to get the goods delivered.
      “This year submissions ranged from moving bales of cotton to a 40-foot, fire-breathing robot dragon.

From left to right—Lorraine Rutendo Zhou, Evgeny Kapustin, Shanon Gould and Kostiantyn Hapli.

      “There are four regional winners and one of them is picked to be the overall winner. The Yiffy award winner gets two weeks of practical and academic training, one week of academic training in London and one week of practical training based in one of the TT Club's regional centres (London, Hong Kong or New Jersey).
      “This year's regional winners were Lorraine Zhou from Zimbabwe, Evgeny Kapustin from Canada, Shanon Gould from Australia and Kostiantyn Hapil from Ukraine
      “The Young International Freight Forwarder of The Year was Shanon Gould.

Smart Talk

      VP Sales of AirBridgeCargo Robert Van de Weg shared some thoughts about “working smart” in air cargo, not to mention handling current global economic challenges.
      “Struggle drives change and ultimately it is survival of the fittest.
      “The world cannot do without freighters, a fact seen in that 50 percent of cargo moves by freighters.
      “Air cargo should have a professional, long-term vision as a B to B industry.
      “In all cases, the best universal advice moving ahead is know your customer,” declared Mr. Van de Weg.

The Takeaway

      FIATA Logistic Academy Chairman Issa Baluch said the Wednesday sessions were spot on, “especially our discussions today concerning e-commerce.”
      “The hard truth is that air cargo is at the tip of the iceberg, developing and integrating e-commerce into the mainstream, but at this point e-commerce is charging into everyone’s future.
      “Are we prepared for a world without borders?
      “Everything is on the table and in front of air cargo, including our procedures top to bottom, and including bottlenecks in customs clearance,” Issa said.
Geoffrey

     More than 50 United Cargo employees, colleagues, and sales and service partners ran, swam, and biked for charity in the Escape to Miami Triathlon in MIA on September 25.
     Through contributions made in the name of the triathletes, the cargo team raised more than $53,000 for Save the Children, a global charity whose vision is defined as      “A world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development, and participation."
     “The idea of the triathlon team was hatched at our Worldwide Team Meeting in February,” said United Cargo President Jan Krems.
     “We wanted to boost our department’s spirit and rapport, to encourage our team members to become healthier, and to raise money to benefit children worldwide. I believe we succeeded with all three goals, because everyone is talking about getting more teammates involved, beating their course times, and raising even more money next year.”
   Yes, “Fast Jacques Leijssenaar is in the big picture, and so is “Sexy Cargo” Jan Krems and other UA faves, but the lens caught our personal favorite: Helen“Heart Like A Wheel” Kristensen in full bike race mode and UA Perishables specialist Krisha“Cool As A Cucumber”Kucharski as she raced across the finish line.
Geoffrey

Vol. 15 No. 76
FIATA IATA In Historic Accord
Lightbox for October 3, 2016e
Midnight In Moscow
Chuckles for October 3, 2016
Hanjin 30 Days Later