A Message From AmCham's CEO

Article by Niels Marquardt, September 2017

Welcome to the AmCham CEO Message for the action-packed month of September! The biggest news is that this will be my final message to you, as I prepare to hand over the reins as CEO to April Palmerlee from October 3. You can read all more about April’s background here. I have every confidence in the future of AmCham under April’s leadership, and look forward to watching from afar as she takes the organisation from strength to strength. 
 
The other major news is that this message is coming to you from our brand new CRM system, filled with exciting features that will make AmCham even more accessible and relevant to you. Some of the highlights include a searchable online member directory, a portal that allows greater self-service and will let you customise your interests and communication preferences, and virtual ‘communities’ that will let you interact with other worthwhile contacts in your networks of interest. As a start, I invite you to log in and update your profile, and explore how our new platform can bring value to you and your company. Your email address ({#party.Email}) is your username. To set a password, please select 'I don't know my password'. 

In June 2017 AmCham contracted an independent company, Peter Strohkorb Consulting International, to help us to better understand our members’ true sentiments and perceptions through a series of anonymous surveys and private 1:1 interviews. You, our members, told us you liked the way these were conducted and you responded by giving AmCham valuable feedback. I personally want to thank each of you for making the effort to contribute to AmCham’s future. In return I would like to summarise for you at a high level what you have told us: 

  •  More lower-fee events, geared towards networking
  •  More breakfast or after-hours events  
  •  More peer events 
  •  Recording and/or online streaming of events (particularly for interstate members)
  •  Make sure every event speaker delivers a practical take-away for the attendees
  •  Make available the event registration list prior to each event for networking planning purposes (already available to members)
  •  A directory of members with their key contact details
  •  List a directory of US Businesses in Australia
  •  Offer a Mentoring Service for more junior member employees

Over the coming months, under new CEO April Palmerlee, AmCham will continue to advise you on our progress. 
 
Finally, in just over two weeks’ time, our annual trade mission program will kick off in the United States! Starting the week of October 9-13, our Infrastructure Mission with Austrade led by Ambassador Joe Hockey will take Australia’s leading infrastructure players to meet key decision makers in Chicago, Indianapolis, Washington DC and Richmond Virginia. Then on October 15-20, our inaugural Defence & Aerospace Mission will take us to the Virginia Tidewater, Washington DC and Mobile, Alabama to meet with senior executives at some of the industry’s major companies, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Austal, Airbus, Huntington-Ingalls and more. We are also thrilled that South Australia’s Minister for Defence Industries, the Hon Martin Hamilton-Smith, will be joining our delegation as well! Finally on October 29 – November 3, AmCham’s annual Innovation Mission will visit Boston and Silicon Valley, to discover the ‘secret sauce’ that has made companies like GE, Microsoft, Cisco, LinkedIn, Twitter and others so successful in the rapidly changing business landscape. There are still a few places available on each of these Missions, so I encourage you to contact us if you would like to be part of our delegations this year.

Upcoming events:

Brisbane: Panel event on Innovation in a Lean Resource Environment, September 22

Melbourne: Uber and the Future of Australian Cities - What's Next? with David Rohrsheim, October 5 

Adelaide: The Hon Jay Weatherill, Premier of SA, October 11
 
Perth: Cost Reduction in an Uncertain Environment with Andy Woolgar, Managing Director of Subsea 7, October 17
     Disruption in the Supply Chain with Charlie Macdonald, CIO of DB Schenker, October 24
 
Sydney:  The NSW Boom and How Trade Will Benefit the State with Premier Gladys Berejiklian, November 10
 

New members in September 2017:
 
Since my last message, we are pleased to welcome the following new members on board: Marsh, Lyon Technics, Store A Box, The Results Companies, Ipswich City Council, Impressive Advertising, National Australia Bank Limited, Maddocks, Pongolabs and WA Defence Review. Please view our newest members here. If you are not already a member of AmCham, now is the time to join and increase your access to opportunity for the rest of 2017 and 2018.

 

Until next time,

Niels Marquardt
[email protected]
Follow me on twitter: @CEO_AmChamAU

P.S. If you would like to increase your access to opportunities, information and services of the Chamber, please select this link and AmCham will send you more updates with information about upcoming events, programmes and initiatives in your state.