At the time of writing I have been in my position as Secretary General for nearly one year. And what a year it has been!
There was a lot to learn – in fact I am still learning on a daily basis – and this might be a good place to thank all the wonderful people, our Executive Committee, members and industry colleagues and friends who have made me feel so welcome given me their time and advice freely and generously. I am particularly grateful to my predecessor, Tom Willis, whose help was and is invaluable and who is a hard act to follow.
Our annual Congress was a great opportunity for me to meet many of our members which makes working with and for the IFBSO even more enjoyable.
Congress and our AGM was also the time when we introduced a number of new initiatives and a certain amount of change by launching a new tiered membership scheme, formed regional groups and welcomed new Executive Committee Members.
Since then we have worked on a new website, created a much stronger IFBSO branding for the IBI Boat Show Calendar and have signed up our first two Candidate Members.
Our Twitter and Facebook pages enjoy a good amount of traffic and we have received a surprising number of Newsletter subscriptions which is why we are introducing our first issue at the end of this year rather than next. We hope you enjoy your read!
Renate Maddocks-Born
