Festive WA cheer on the river

Western Australia kicked off the 2011 festivities with a Christmas lunch held on a sunny 25 November 2011, with approximately 200 people enjoying the scenic setting of the South Perth Yacht Club beside the Swan River.

Each of the sponsors for the lunch – Enerflex, ROSEN and Denso – ran raffles with numerous attendees walking away with prizes. This was followed by a pipeline quiz hosted by new WA YPF Chair Ian Spence of CNC Project Management.

Prior to the lunch, Mr Spence also chaired a YPF speed mentoring session, giving new pipeliners the chance to learn from the experience of a number of the more seasoned members of the industry.

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A Melbourne Christmas at the ‘G

The 2 December 2011 brought the Christmas cheer to Melbourne, where 160 pipeliners felt the influence of new APIA President Kevin Lester through his choice of a new venue at the MCG, a change from the usual Hilton on the Park.

APIA Chief Executive Cheryl Cartwright spoke briefly about the success of the 2011 APIA Convention and also mentioned that the review AS2885.3 had now been completed (see page 30 for more details on the Melbourne launch). She said that all the launch seminars had been well attended, which showed how much the member companies supported the standard’s review.

A member of each of the sponsor companies, GHD and Petro Coating Systems, also stepped up to draw business cards to determine the winners of this year’s Christmas hampers – Nacap’s Vickie Saunders and Vermeer’s Peter Archibald.

Sydney’s artful celebrations

The Sydney Christmas Drinks were held at the Art House Hotel on 7 December 2011 with approximately 71 pipeliners in attendance. The event was sponsored by AJ Lucas Group and CNC Project Management, with Mr Lester and CNC's David Maloney both saying how happy they were to sponsor the APIA function and wishing everyone a merry Christmas.

As APIA President, Mr Lester also briefly spoke about the upcoming 2012 APIA planning meetings, welcoming all members to make suggestions and offer ideas.

Despite the fact that it was raining heavily outside, the pipeliners enjoyed the good company and a few laughs in a great venue.

Brisbane – bigger each year

A massive attendance of 440 people arrived at the Hilton for the Brisbane Christmas lunch on 9 December 2011. The large number of reserved tables also showed the diversity of the companies that are currently operating in the state, and their enthusiasm to involve their employees and clients in APIA functions.

Both Mr Lester and Ms Cartwright spoke, welcoming all the new board members as well as thanking Peter Cox for his previous term as APIA President.

Ms Cartwright presented the APIA Convention award winners Nacap Australia and Steve Dykes with framed presentations of their APIA annual awards, while describing the important contributions they had made to the industry. See pages 42-44 for more information.

Following the lunch, a YPF event was also held after the event at a nearby pub, with approximately 80 young pipeliners in attendance.

The lunch was sponsored by Bredero Shaw and Clough, and the YPF event was sponsored by Arrow Energy.