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ARMSA Annual Conference 2003 (Rotation 2003 - conference text by Petro Ward of the South African Plastics Federation) May 21st and 22nd Ngonyama Lion Lodge
& Conference Centre Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa The
South African conference attracted 70 delegates this year, which included 55 from South
Africa and 15 from outside South African borders. Countries such as Kenya,
Ghana, Zimbabwe, Botswana, India, Germany, the UK and the USA were represented
at the conference.
ARMSA President Gary Lategan on the opening day. There were a number of speakers, including yours truly. I actually gave four papers covering:
First day speakers (left to right), Paul Nugent, Manuel Terzi, Martin Coles, Gary Lategan, Erich Boersch, Nick Aggett, Clive Robertson
Second day speakers (left to right), Paul Nugent, Dr. Rheinhold Lutz, Erich Boersch, Gary Lategan Five products were entered into the Product of the Year competition: Accelerate
Design entered a Scuba Diving Caddy; Ivy Blue entered a Vending Trolley;
Technitop entered the Nomad / Alpal Container; and C-Kayak entered two kayaks.
Congratulations to Technitop for walking away with the award this year. This is
the second time that Technitop has won this competition – so well done to you!
C-Kayak was kind in sponsoring the two kayaks they entered to the association
for fund raising. The kayaks were auctioned and an amount of R3500 was raised
which will be used to fund training initiatives in the rotomolding industry.
Technitop's award winning design for materials handling The
Student Design Awards Competition received a massive 58 entries this year (much
better than last year’s 22 entries)! The three Technikons (local teaching
facilities) that participated
this year were Technikon Northern Gauteng (3 entries); Cape Technikon (33
entries) and WITS Technikon (22 entries). Even
though most of the entries were very good, there could only be one winner. Both
the 1st and 2nd prizewinners were from WITS Technikon (who
participated for the first time this year), and the 3rd prizewinner
was from Cape Technikon. The first prize of R2500 went to Erik Ox of WITS
Technikon who entered a design for a Trailer for a car. The second prize of
R1500 went to Adriaan Hugo, also of WITS Technikon, for his design of a Portable
Outdoor Urinal. The third prize of R1000 went to Andrew van Aswegen of Cape
Technikon, who entered a design for a Downhill Bike Rack.
For the first time we offered prize money of R1500 to the winning
Technikon – in this case WITS! Congratulations to all our winners! It is great
to see young and upcoming talent in the industry. A huge thanks goes out to
Sasol Polymers for funding this project, and to Nick Aggett and Clive Robertson
for all their efforts and presentations to the technikons. Their hard work has
truly paid off and we are aiming for even more entries next year!
But the conference was not just about sitting in a room and listening to
presentations the whole day! Some fun was had as well! The chosen venue ensured
that there was lots of time for socializing and offered great networking
opportunities. Out of the 70
delegates that attended the conference, 50 decided to stay over at the venue.
The bush setting offered a relaxed atmosphere!
A pre-conference dinner (a South African Braai around a bonfire) was
held for all the speakers and committee members the night before the conference.
This ensured that the organizing committee and the speakers got to know each
other. On the first evening of the conference a cocktail function was held
(again around a bon fire). This was a great opportunity to relax after a long
day of conferencing, and at the same time catch up with those we don’t get to
see often. On the last morning of
the conference two vehicles took 25 delegates (who managed to get up at 05:00)
into the bush for a game drive. The smaller of the two vehicles just managed to
get away from four hungry female lions and made it out safely to tell their
tale!
ARMSA would like to thank
their sponsors, Sasol Polymers and Affirm Marketing Services, for their
continued financial support.
Next
year the committee is hoping to attract 100 delegates. A provisional
date has been set for Rotation 2004 – on 12 & 13 May 2004. So make a note
of the date and if you would like to present a paper at next
year’s conference please contact Petro Ward at pward@plasfed.co.za
or Gary Lategan at gary@atlasplastics.co.za After the conference, Orla and I headed for the Sabi Sands game reserve adjacent to the Kruger Park. This is incredibly rich in game and is renowned for sightings of all the major animals. En-route we stopped to take a look in God's Window which gives stunning views over the Kruger and into Mozambique beyond.
The lodge that we stayed at was situated on a water hole which meant that animals were coming and going all day. The grounds are protected by an electric fence but this did not stop a large bull elephant from walking straight into the compound.
However, the highlight of staying in these lodges is the chance to take part in game drives through the bush. Some of these were quite early and as you can see Orla had a tough time staying awake on the outward drive.
The wildlife is up close and personal. Not only did we encounter herds of elephant (below) but saw all the so called big five (elephant, leopard, rhino, buffalo and lion) on a single drive! Not to mention cheetah, giraffe, impala, warthogs, kudu, etc. An amazing experience.
One of the highlights was the chance to take a walk in the bush in pursuit of a small group of rhino. The half mile excursion was interrupted by the appearance of a rather large bull elephant who was as surprised to see us as we were him! You can see the expression on Orla's face at the time! That's the rhino in the middle some 150 yards ahead - the distance remained pretty constant as they moved every time they moved. Unfortunately, this is the classic shot of a rhino in the wild as they are very shy.
Our guide and protector (note the 0.5" bore elephant gun) Mike along with two of our traveling companions into the bush.
After the excitement of the Kruger, we headed even further east to the St. Lucia Wetlands area. This is a World Heritage Site encompassing a large coastal region where hippos and crocodiles live in abundance. Some of the crocs are rather large....
Hippos are rather large too and are in fact the most dangerous animals in Africa. You don't see too many signs like this in Ireland or Pennsylvania so we had to make a stop.
Thankfully the hippos decided to stay in the water and we came across two large pods (herds) in the river.
All-in-all another amazing trip to South Africa. There is so much to see and do - we will definitely be back. |
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