As they say, a lot of water has run under the bridge (now the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge aka New Cooper River Bridge) in the forty years since the South Carolina International Trade Conference (SCITC) opened its doors back in 1973.  Back then the containership era was in its infancy, and ports that didn’t embrace the bold technology of the future were unknowingly dooming themselves to becoming bucolic backwaters removed from the mainstream of international commerce. But equally as important as the technology was the necessity of bringing the business community into the equation. It was an era when, as one longtime attendee aptly said, “more could be accomplished with a handshake than a pen.” For this reason the very choice of wordsSouth Carolina International Trade Conferencehad special import. It was inclusive of all of “South Carolina” not just the Port of Charleston, and the focus was “International Trade.” This was to be the networking, handshaking venue for international trade in South Carolina, a forum uniquely shaped for the local market. In broad strokes this simple choice of words created an enduring venue which has withstood through every sort of disorder from those intensely personal to the business downturns, global recessions and even natural disasters.   Although the SCITC is inclusive in reach, there is no doubt that the Port of Charleston is the epicenter for international trade in the South Carolina region and part of the draw – especially for attendees from outside the region - to the SCITC. As locals have long explained to visitors unable to grasp the importance, “Charleston is where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean.” For the Port, the SCITC provided a ready-made forum to update customers and stakeholders on the “state-of-the-port” and provide a personal outreach to potential clients.  A good portion of the ability to survive the four-decade roller coaster ride was the community being drawn together by the business international trade. It’s a tough business moving goods to and fro across the seas. Over the years the core of the SCITC attendees are the stakeholders in the port community. These range from the container ship operators, tug operators, harbor pilots, stevedores and port authority comprising the ocean transportation element. The freight forwarders, NVOs, consolidators, truckers and rail represent the landside portion. Finally there are the region’s importers and exporters who define the global trade segment of the business. All these individual elements have changed some over the years, but the links throughout the extended international trade community have provided fertile ground for the SCITC to grow. The SCITC probably wouldn’t have weathered the storms of time without a strong event schedule. The sessions have long reflected what’s pertinent to business “today” as Ron Plunkett, Maersk Line (SCITC chairman in ’77) said of the selection process. If the topic was OSRA (Ocean Shipping Reform Act) or the 50-mile rule, the SCITC Board tried (all volunteers like Kay Hargrove of International Forwarders, an indispensable behind the scene organizer) to find top-notch speakers to address the issue.  But it wasn’t only about the issue of the moment, many speakers had celebrity well beyond Charleston or even South Carolina (although often the connections were very local.) These speakers often hit on topics more germane to life in general. For example, in 2012, University of Kentucky Head Basketball Coach John Calipari, just coming off a NCAA national championship season, was the Luncheon Speaker.  Vince Marino, President of Container Maintenance and SCITC board member, grew up next to Calipari thus facilitating the speech. “Coach Cal” had to cut the questions shorter than he and the audience would have liked, as he was due in New York to interview a recruit later in the day. He wasn’t alone as a national sports figure with the keynote spotlight. Back in 2004, Coach Lou Holtz, Head Football Coach at the University of South Carolina (and a former Notre Dame coach,) made the luncheon address.  Perhaps the most unusual and best known of the keynote speakers occurred in 2006, when Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” took the stage. It’s rumored that 2006 chair Elizabeth Colbert-Busch had something to do with wrangling the presence of the presidential hopeful.  There have also been legions of “high level” industry professionals that have spoken at the SCITC over the years. Besides the port authorities own executives, the SCITC has been a venue for Hal Creel at the time Chairman of the FMC (Federal Maritime Commission).  Some of the circumstances reflected a sign of the changing times. C.C. Tung, at the time Vice President of Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas International Ltd. (OOIL) became a speaker. According to Rick Wen, OOCL (the SCITC chairman in ’98,) C.C. Tung was a replacement for his brother C.H. Tung, the former head of OOIL. Shortly after the SCITC, C.C. Tung was promoted to Vice Chairman of OOIL while C.H. Tung became the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong following the territory’s 1997 turnover from Britain to China. The keynote speaker that year was John Clancy, President of Sealand Services, the US containership operator later bought by Maersk (AP Moller).  The SCITC has also been a forum for looking at two-sides of a relationship, which literally happened in 2008 with James Capo, CEO of the US Maritime Alliance and Richard P Hughes Jr., [at the time] President of the ILA (International Longshoremen’s Association).  Another industry name speaker at the SCITC was Capt. Nicola Arena, chairman of MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company USA). According to Sergio Fedellini (MSC USA and Honorary Consul General Italy,) Capt. Arena’s contribution is the gift that keeps on giving as he introduced the MSC Cruise drawing, which is an annual SCITC highlight. Fedellini himself added to the mix as he introduced the annual tennis tournament as the golf tournament was already in play.  David Popowski, Popowski Law Firm LLC (a board member since ‘86 and past chair,) helped establish the Plunkett-Stoioff award named after Ron Plunkett and John Stoioff, both long time contributors to the conference and international trade community. Popowski said it was a little unusual as most awards [in respect to conferences] fall outside the event, but this one is unusual as it is for dedication to “international trade…and for dedication to the conference.”  There have also been some memorable and unique sidelights to the SCITC. The 2003 tour of the historic CSS H.L Hunley submarine from the American Civil War was a remarkable view of history that could only happen in Charleston.  It’s been four decades, but in many ways 2013 represents the beginning of a completely new era as containerization and international trade widen and evolve in ways never anticipated…except at conferences like the SCITC.