I am not on the Port of Sydney’s media list, so did not receive the press release headlined:
Port of Sydney to Host U.S. and Atlantic Canadian Ports During Port Days
Richard Hendrick
I actually knew the Port of Sydney would be welcoming the North Atlantic Ports Association (NAPA) and the Independent Marine Ports Association of Atlantic Canada (IMPAC) to town from May 30 to June 2, and that both organizations will hold their annual general meetings here and “partake” of Port Days, which run from May 31 to June 1 this year.
But it wasn’t until a reader (who said he’d been waiting all through my Fast & Curious piece on the Port of Albany’s wind turbine tribulations for “the other shoe to drop”) sent me the press release that I discovered the current president of NAPA is Richard Hendrick.
That didn’t actually mean anything to me until I looked him up and realized he’s the CEO of the Port of Albany, a position he’s held since 2008. (Prior to this, he’d been the port’s director of security and threat assessment and prior to that he’d spent 17 years as a detective on the City of Albany Police Department.)
Hendrick’s quote in the press release is beyond bland:
NAPA is pleased to hold their meeting in Canada, it has been a long time coming.
And there’s no specific mention of wind turbines anywhere in the release, although there is a reference to “green energy”:
Some of the topics over the three days of events include short sea shipping, green energy, growth of cruise, marine law, and state of the marine industry.
And the Port Days logo does, as I’ve noted before, include turbines:
So surely our port promoter, who has decided to turn part of the greenfield site into a wind marshaling hub, will hit Hendrick up for some tips? He’s got an in, after all—NAPA’s treasurer is none other than Port of Sydney general manager Paul Carrigan.
Mimosas
The schedule for Port Days, as posted on the Port of Sydney website, is laughably short on details and what details there are are a little disturbing. Take this item:
Source: Port of Sydney
I don’t think I would want to be “greated with Mimosas by local cultural animators,” thank you very much.
There’s a three-course luncheon with a “Keynote you won’t want to miss!” but you’ll just have to take the Port’s word for that because they don’t actually tell you who the keynote speaker is.
Between 2 and 5 PM you are encouraged to:
Check out the trade show, network with your industry, shop at our shops or do anything!
Although I have to say, “do anything” could be dangerous advice for people who were into the champagne at 7:30 am and are hanging out near open water.
The evening ends with a lobster dinner and “entertainment” and your guess is as good as mine as to what the entertainment will be, although it is described elsewhere as a “ceilidh.”
If I were paying $275 (plus HST and service fee) for full registration (which I’m not) I think I would want a little more information about what, exactly, I was signing up for.
But then again, I am clearly not the Port’s target audience.
