2018 Annual Assembly, Czech Republic

Our 3rd Annual Assembly was held from 18-20 March 2018 at the Prague Marriott Hotel, conveniently located in the Old Town providing easy access to many of Prague's most notable attractions, including Wenceslas Square and Charles Bridge.

Representatives from over 30 countries attended our conference to introduce their company, discuss cross trade and potential collaborations as well as providing information regarding their country’s regulations and requirements.

See Gala Dinner and Meeting Room photos

Our elegant Gala Banquet gave delegates the opportunity to relax before the busy 2 day event and included a fantastic Cymbalo band called Grajcar with traditional folk instruments who entertained us with arrangements of modern songs - see them online.

Cargo Connections President/C.E.O. Rachel Humphrey presented an Opening Session which provided a summary of the current industry outlook, highlighted some innovative membership tools and was followed by the Annual Award Ceremony.

We wanted to provide our guests with more than the usual bus tour so prepared a fun, interactive way for them to see the beautiful city of Prague. We all took part in ‘City Hunt’, a fun team building game where we used creativity, orientation skills and time management to solve a series of clues that combined history and legends as we walked through the beautiful streets of the Old Town in small groups. The game finished with an Award Ceremony. See Flyer.

We held a fun Twitter Competition and received some great entries showing both the hard work and social fun with the hashtags #cargoconnections and #logisticsleaders. The 1st prize of £1000 was won by Milestone Logistics (Spain) who kindly donated the amount to One Day Yes founded with the purpose of supporting Twashukuru Nursery School in Lamu, Kenya. The 2nd prize of a Registration Fee to our 2019 Annual Assembly taking place in Dubai was deservedly won by Delfino Global (Argentina) and the 3rd prize of a Gift Bundle was won by Globalistics (Philippines). See all entries.

Our last evening together was spent at Kolkovna Celnice, a local restaurant that accentuates the pride in the long and famous tradition of Czech beer brewing. Owned by the Pilsner brewery, the venue is decorated with period photos and brewing equipment. The fun night ended with dancing as we were entertained by Colorful Trio, a hugely talented band playing a wide range of musical genres from jazz standards, R&B, soul, pop to Latin-American music.

During the registration process for our meeting, we raised £1000 for Kangaroo House, which was opened in December 2005 in Prague to provide a temporary home for children from difficult family circumstances. Read more.

At the end of the meeting, Rachel said "With IATA reporting that air freight is growing at its fastest rate since 2010, this is a valuable time to look at increasing inter-trade and profitable partnerships within Cargo Connections. We could not have wished for a better event, and it really inspires us at the CC Head Office to see our Members working so hard during the gathering. It was wonderful to welcome so many new companies and the gathering shows we hold very exciting potential on becoming one of the world’s leading freight forwarder networks.”

2018 Annual Awards

• International Member of the Year: Alba Wheels Up (USA)
• Regional Award for Asia & Pacific: Athena Global Logistics (India)
• Regional Award for the Americas: Tri-Alliance Freight Services (Canada)
• Regional Award for Europe: Milestone Logistics (Spain)
• Regional Award for Middle East & Africa: Aura Freight Time Shipping (UAE)