While economic conditions may still be disheartening, more than 200 exhibitors had products and services on display in mid-November at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center as the nation’s leading intermodal transportation and shipper trade groups held their annual collocated events. The trade show floor was buzzing with activity as more than 2,000 attendees milled with exhibitors at the Intermodal Association of North America’s 27th Intermodal Expo and the National Industrial Transportation League’s 102nd annual meeting and TransComp Exhibition, held Nov. 14-18. The Transportation Intermediaries Association’s fall meeting also was held contemporaneously. For a report on conference sessions, please click here. Photos by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT

Over 160 people turned out for CONECT’s 8th Annual Northeast Cargo Symposium on November 5th at the Newton Marriott Hotel in Newton, Massachusetts. The event’s theme “Turning the Corner Preparing for Growth” was addressed in three sessions; Transportation Panel; Import & Export Panel; and Economic World View. Among the big topics of the day was 10+2, which US Customs’ Richard DiNucci, Director Security Filing, addressed. The luncheon speaker Leslie Schweitzer, Senior Trade Adviser for the American Chamber of Commerce talked about US trade policy issues such as the lag time in implementing Free Trade Agreements. Charles Clowdis Jr. North American Manager of Global Transportation and Commerce for HIS Global Insight, gave his views on global economic recovery. Joan Padduck, Founder and past President of CONECT was honored as “Person of the Year.”

The 98th annual convention of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) drew some 400 leaders of the seaport industry from throughout the Western Hemisphere to Galveston, Texas, in late October.

While many of the functions of the Oct. 25-29 gathering took place at the waterfront Galveston Island Convention Center, the Tuesday, Oct. 27, evening reception was held a short motorcoach ride away, at the Tremont Davidson Ballroom in Galveston Island’s Strand Historic District.

The reception, featuring Nova Scotia-style food and musical entertainment, was sponsored by the Halifax Port Authority, slated to host AAPA’s next convention Sept. 19-23, 2010. For a report on convention business sessions, please see the article on the front page of this edition of AJOT. (Photos by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT)

A.N. Deringer hosted a one day tour to the Port of Montreal for their customers on Friday September 25th. The tour commenced with a visit and demonstration with US Customs and Border Protection officials in Highgate Springs, VT. The tour continued to the Port of Montreal’s headquarters for a virtual tour of the port using a lifelike model of the Port of Montreal which took a single individual 10 years to construct. The tour continued to Montreal Gateway terminals with an onboard demonstration of cargo operations on a Hapag Lloyd vessel. The tour concluded with a visit to the GT Group’s container Depot, the largest container depot in Canada and fourth largest in North America. This annual tour gave the group an excellent overview of the trade process with Customs entry and the complete intermodal dynamic.

As Carotrans closes in on the end of its third year of operation in Boston, it was the team's pleasure to sponsor what has become an annual Customer Appreciation Night. The night was a chance for the Carotrans Team to enjoy a relaxing evening with its many loyal, supportive customers. The event was held at The Tavern on the Water in Charlestown, MA, and a good evening was had by all in attendance; with close to 100 partaking in the festivities. The weather was nearly perfect, as was the scenic view of Boston from the restaurant's patio.

On June 16th, The Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) hosted its 17th annual meeting at the historic Henderson House in Weston Massachusetts. The well-attended event tackled many of the difficult issues facing not only the nation’s shippers (which were strongly represented in the audience) but also the ports and carriers. Among the more interesting sessions was the “Challenges for Local & US Ports.” In the session Mike Leone, who is both the Maritime Director of Massport and Chairman of the AAPA (American Association of Port Authorities), outlined the challenges facing not only the Port of Boston but also those in all of North America. Also in the session were Massport’s Director of Maritime & Bridge Security and the AAPA’s chairman of the security committee. For further information see www.conect.org...

On May 28-30 the World Wide Project Consortium (WWPC) held its 9th annual meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. The event, the largest thus far for the consortium, was held at the Westin Grand Hotel in Frankfurt/Main and, in addition to the business and networking agenda, featured a trip to the Technik Museum in Speyer and the nearby Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim.

The WWPC is a franchise-network for project forwarders and includes a membership that stretches around the globe. The WWPC and its affiliate organization, CEE (Cargo Equipment Experts), have been growing steadily with the boom in project cargo business. The directors of the management company, Wolfgang Karau, operations (wolfgang.karau@wwpc.eu.com) and Stuart Murdoch, administration (stuart.murdoch@wwpc.eu.com) have offices in Spain and Hong Kong respectively. Even in the current economic climate virtually all the members indicated to the AJOT that they expected their business to continue to improve...

The Coaltion of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) hosted the 13th Annual Trade & Transportation Conference in Newport, RI on March 18-20 at the Hotel Viking. Over 250 attended segments of the three day conference, a CONECT record. An Export panel was added to Wednesday’s agenda, and separate keynote speakers were featured onThursday and Friday, boosting expected attendance. Go to www.conect.org for further details and membership information. (Photos by Andrew Held)

Although most of the cherry blossoms in the nation’s capital weren’t yet in bloom, hundreds of Western Hemisphere port industry leaders nonetheless made their appearances in Washington last week for the annual spring conference of the American Association of Port Authorities. (Photos by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT)

More than 250 high-level industry executives gathered March 16-18 at Northeast Florida’s Amelia Island Plantation as the Jacksonville Port Authority hosted its first JAXPORT Logistics and Intermodal Conference.

Panel discussions and an evening reception highlighted the sold-out conference, for which attendance was limited to 252 attendees. (For a report on conference sessions, please see the article on the front page of this edition of AJOT.) Photos by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT

Nearly 400 port and steel industry professionals from as far away as Canada and Latin America gathered in Tampa for a glimpse into the future of steel trade. A two-day Port of Tampa Steel Conference, co-hosted by the Tampa Port Authority and Ports America Group, featured a panel of industry experts who addressed some of the most relevant topics in the steel industry today and offered insight into the economic forecast and trends, accompanied by timely and engaging presentations. (Photos by Andy Fobes)

The 41st Georgia Foreign Trade Conference was held January 25-27 at the Cloister in Sea Island Georgia. Over 300 industry professionals assembled to enjoy a series of stimulating presentations on today’s economic and logistics issues. Bill Dawson of the GPA was awarded a special tribute as “Mayor of Brunswick, GA for the day” for his many years of tireless commitment to the Georgia Foreign Trade Conference...

While the nation’s No. 1 sporting event of the year – Super Bowl XLIII – wasn’t until Feb. 2, a major forum for marine transportation leadership took place a couple of weeks earlier in Tampa, scoring big among stalwarts of seaports and related entities. (Photos by Paul Scott Abbott, AJOT)