The evening dinners which took place at Casa Lidia offered stunning views over looking English Harbour: they were attended by a selection of people within the yachting industry; captains, brokers, managers & partners of ACREW along with other special guests who enjoyed great food, atmosphere and interesting discussions.
On the first evening the guests enjoyed a presentation on virtual reality within the yachting industry where each person was invited to test drive the product and offer their feedback on how this could be incorporated within the yachting environment. Each person had a different experience and reaction when wearing the oculus rift. Guests were presented with various locations, some were under water, guided through hotels, on a beach and on tall buildings all through virtual reality. This opened an interesting discussion where people voiced their opinions and allowed ACREW to draw some interesting conclusions from the evening. Everyone was in agreement that the product was realistic and they felt they were being transported somewhere else, they offered the pro’s and con’s of using such a product.
One guest voiced from their experience; the industry is most of all a business of personal relationships and that owners and guests like to experience a yacht personally when buying or chartering one. Another contributed by adding how you cannot compete with visiting a yacht in person as guests like to touch and feel the interior and feel the atmosphere on board. Virtual Reality could be a part of that but will never replace the personal touch of experiencing a live tour on a yacht. Besides that the question arose if madam would ever really wear goggles like these. However it was mostly agreed that these developments are the future and will be a part of the industry. For training and location viewing Virtual Reality is certainly seen as a big opportunity. Perhaps this will be the first path we investigate.
A brief discussion also took place on organising VIP tours for guests and the main feedback received was that all tours are custom made and have to fit the personal needs of the client. To achieve that in most cases; local knowledge is hired.
The second evening at the villa presented the guests with the concept of providing crew with online Continuous Professional Development (CPD). Guests had the opportunity to try out selected modules and offer their feedback. Concerns were raised that these were training qualifications looking to replace other recognised certificates so it was important to highlight that these modules are not training qualifications but rather ongoing development necessary for any professional. They are interactive, knowledge giving, fun and quick modules that provide captains and crew with new skills and knowledge or refreshes existing knowledge. It’s about getting better at your job, its about life long learning.
It was mentioned that crew are not always available to attend certain workshops and this online platform allows them to participate and learn a new skill in their own time. Another guest questioned that anything an online platform offers would be no more than anything you can find yourself on the internet, however, as someone else pointed out, crew don’t have time or maybe expertise in a certain area to go through the internet searching for answers, one platform would condense all the information and make it readily accessible, easy to use and manage by any crew member.
CREW LOVE DJs nights from EventsByZoom
Both dinners were also a fantastic opportunity to showcase the new service offered by EventsbyZoom: booking Superstars for Superyachts. EventsbyZoom provided the music during both evenings. Guests were also then invited to attend the CREW LOVE DJs crew club night held at the popular Abracadabra’s. Captain Lawrence Cockx aka Lozafunk from M/Y Deniki took to the stage to DJ during a fantastic evening celebrating the musical DJ skills of Superyacht crew! The next evening was the now infamous After Horn Party at Abracadabra’s where crew were treated to a night of music from international DJs Dani L Mebius and Praia Del Sol. Both parties contributed massively to the overall event and were a huge success.
Save the Date!
We are very pleased to announce that the 3rd edition of the STP&ACREW Superyacht Professional Development event will be held in STP Shipyard Palma 12th – 13th February 2015!
Watch this space for the full programme next issue.
Abigail Wallace
Managing Director
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