Highlights: Australian Steel Convention 2019

On September 15th – 17th, our General Manager Brett Mathieson pictured on the right, with ASI Chief Executive Mark Cain attended the Australian Steel Convention, Beyond the Pipeline.
Held at The Westin in Sydney, the two-day convention looked at the current infrastructure opportunities and beyond the project pipeline, focussing on forging more in-depth and meaningful commercial links that will see the steel industry continue to grow and thrive.

There were 250 attendees, including several international guests. Brett said that “it was a great opportunity to expand our network and build relationships with supply chain partners.”

Among the numerous speaker’s ones that stood out the most was Fiona Kerr Founder of the NeuroTech Institute, Fiona spoke on How technology Sculpts us from a neuroscientific perspective. Her presentation gave a fascinating insight into how our brain operates and how we can create a stronger and more meaningful relationship in all walks of our life by utilising old school communication vs communicating via technology. Our brain craves stimulation, and as it turns out; the more we stare at screens and send emails, the less” active” our mind is and the quicker we lose critical mental capacity. In simple terms, it reinforces the Watkins philosophy of making direct contact with our customers and supply chain partners will be beneficial to our business now and in the years to come.

Brett was also excited by the case study presentation of the new Bankwest Stadium in West Sydney. It demonstrated the value of early engagement and collaborative design. The stadium was delivered on budget and earlier than expected. Watkins Steel has been pushing early engagement and collaborative design for some years now, and it again reinforces that we are on the right track.

Rabia Siddique was also a very inspirational speaker, Rabia is an Australian Criminal and Human Rights Lawyer, Retired British Army Officer, Author and Hostage Survivor. Not so much a business story or learning but an amazing person whose story will inspire us all- google her if you have time.