We haggle, we argue, we twist arms and drink too much coffee. Yes, coming up with the winners in the judged categories of the TTJ Awards can be a gruelling process.
And none of the Awards categories is tougher to decide than the Career Development Award, where this year, sadistically, we made the judges’ job even harder by deciding to have under 25 and over 25-year-old winners. The aim was to recognise the valuable work going on in the timber industry in training new entrants to the sector, and the commitment of older candidates (who may have been in the trade a while) and their employers to keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date with continuing professional development courses and qualifications.
Although it made their decision more difficult still, all the judges said they were impressed by the quantity and high calibre of entries for the Award. They were particularly struck by the entrants’ own comments about their training; how they are applying it in their day-to-day work and how it had enhanced their contribution to their business and boosted their confidence in dealing with colleagues and customers.
What also stood out this year was the increasing spread of businesses putting candidates forward for the Award. We had entries from small to medium-sized timber traders, multiple merchants, sawmills, joinery manufacturers, and companies supplying products and services to the sector. It underscored an appreciation of the value of training running across the industry in its broadest sense.
We did eventually come up with our shortlist and winners for the Career Development Award, but deciding between the candidates really was not an easy task. It involved some hard-fought debate and all the judges wanted us to underline that fact.
And it’s not over yet. In coming days further industry panels will convene to judge our Best Technical Information Support, Environmental Achievement, Achievement in Engineered Timber and Excellence in Marketing Awards. By the time we get to the actual presentations on September 20, our caffeine levels will be off the scale.
