Waterford Chamber scooped the award for Event of the Year at the Chambers Ireland Annual Chamber Awards yesterday (10th April 2019) for their Toys4Engineers Conference & Expo.
These national awards, sponsored by Zurich, are an opportunity to recognise best practice and to showcase the diverse activity taking place across the country led by Chambers.
Having topped the judging in the category with the most entries, Waterford Chamber President Kathryn Kiely said: “This award is testament to the hard work of the team who spend months planning Toys4Engineers and to be recognised by our peers in this regard is a tremendous achievement.
“Showcasing the strength of our engineering sector, across tech, pharma and life sciences, is hugely important for the region and plans are already afoot to build on the success of last year’s event, which saw over 80 exhibitors from across the country converge on WIT Arena.
“Waterford Chamber is committed to offering events of the highest standard catering to the needs of our members and being recognised for our endeavours is very much appreciated.”
According to Waterford Chamber CEO Gerald Hurley: “What began as a local event is now firmly established as a regional event and last October we were delighted to welcome a number of large companies from outside the region also, as far away as Sligo and Dundalk to Toys4Engineers. There is an appetite for businesses to showcase their technologies and innovations and we have been encouraged by the level of business that has been done in recent years. We intend on growing that B2B interaction this year by introducing a ‘Meet the Buyer’ section to the event, while also adding CPD certified Masterclasses with expert speakers.
“Toys4Engineers will also offer a platform for students considering a career in STEM to hear from the leaders in the field and also interact with the companies who are paving the way with graduate programmes.
“Following our win yesterday, we are more determined than ever to make this year’s event even better and cement the South East as leading the way in engineering.”
Siobhan Kinsella, President of Chambers Ireland said, “It’s fantastic to see such creativity and energy from Chambers across the country on display at today’s ceremony.
“The winning projects, as well as all of the shortlisted projects, are a reminder of what opportunities, knowledge and skills are available of a national standard which continue to be accessible through local Chambers. The utmost of congratulations to all the award-winning Chambers.”
Waterford Chamber was also shortlisted for Most Innovative Project for the Regional Leaders Programme.
The full list of winners for each of the awards categories is as follows:
Overall Chamber of the Year
County Kildare Chamber
Event of the Year
Waterford Chamber – Toys4Engineers Conference & Expo
Most Innovative Project
Northern Ireland Chamber – Learn Grow Excel – Business Support Initiative
Most Successful Policy Campaign
Cork Chamber & Limerick Chamber – Gearing up for the M20 Cork – Limerick Motorway
Local Authority Collaboration
South Dublin Chamber – Sustainable Business Partnership Programme with South Dublin County Council, South Dublin LEO & South Dublin Chamber
Best Chamber Marketing Campaign
Mullingar Chamber – Winterfest Mullingar 2018
