EVENTS
Delegates finding themselves a spot for The Wood Conference 2018.
8 Wood Conference 2018
th
The knowledge platform for timber experts across all disciplines
proved another successful event which hosted 617 official delegates.
By Benjamin Brits | Photos by HWZ International
T
he conference themed ‘Fascination Wood’, held at the
Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC),
was hosted by Hannu Garny who was again invited to
be the master of ceremonies for the day, and welcomed all
delegates and guest speakers.
In the opening note of the conference programme
George Kuratle, initiator of the Wood Conference and
owner of the Kuratle Group AG, gave his personal thanks to
Garny, “I am proud to be able to say that Hannu is a very
good friend of mine and he has accompanied the
conference for many years.”
Garny got the programme started saying that the year so
far shows many positives for the South African economy,
and humour was also exchanged in that 15 February 2018
was not only an important day as the conference was held,
but also coincided with a new president of the Republic
– an additional positive for the country.
SUCCESSION, PLANNING, PARTNERS
Roger Kuratle, head of corporate development of Kuratle
Group AG, officially opened the conference. He thanked
Zaida Davids, organiser of the Wood Conference for her
contribution in ensuring the event’s success, and he
welcomed all delegates and guests and wished all
attendees a valuable day.
8
APRIL / MAY 2018 //
He gave a brief update of the succession planning for the
Kuratle Group, being a family business, saying, “It is a
challenging situation but a very important task – making
sure the long-term interests, ideas and values of the
organisation continue but also to allow changes and
development as markets, people and economies change.”
Essentially the succession is well on track.
With succession also comes the core interest of the
company, which is the long-term commitment made eight
years ago to the conference. Discussions [prior to the
conference] over future plans were held on how the
company can continue support and offer a high-quality
conference. Various discussions and ideas addressing some
of the goals produced a strategic partner, the forum
holzbau, [which translated means the ‘congress of wood
construction’], which is a noted industry leader and
professional organisation. The eighth Wood Conference is
the first joint partnership in hosting the event between the
Kuratle Group and forum holzbau.
The aim of the collaboration is to assist in
implementation and further development in the
achievement of strategic goals. The initial agreement of
long term prosperity for a country and economy is
achieved through knowledge exchange and can only be
sustainable through education. Together with forum