2017 Board of Directors Election

If you are an ISS member, a key benefit is voting. Each January, members vote for eight individuals to join the ISS Board of Directors for three-year tenures, those who sustain the Society by their vision and prioritize the initiatives and actions undertaken each year for the good of the industry.

Each year’s ballot represents both end-of-term directors and nominees as submitted by members, another privilege membership affords.

As is the case each year, the 2017 ballot includes the large yacht industry’s most compelling people.

If you are not a member, join today! www.superyachtsociety.org/Members/Membership

You have until midnight 3 February 2017 to cast your vote. 

End-of-Term Directors

_____Erin Ackor—Moore & Company, P.A. * 3-Year Director; ISS Treasurer; Executive Committee

_____Andrew Doole—Show Management * Multi-Year Director; Gala Committee; Platinum Sponsor

_____JP Shipman—Allen Harbor Marina * 3-Year Director; Marketing and Membership Committees

_____Norma Trease—Yacht Knowledge * Multi-Year Director; Executive Committee; Board Representative; Treasurer;

       Numerous Committees

_____Derik Wagner—Wagner & Associates * 3-Year Director; ISS President; Numerous Committees

Nominated Directors

_____Capt. Glen Allen—Fleet Miami

_____Paris Baloumis—Oceanco

_____Paolo Bianchi—MDL Marinas

_____Stephen Crone—AYC Superyacht Recruitment

_____Jim Gilbert—Christensen Shipyards, LLC

_____John Jarvie—Oversea Insurance

_____Kristen Klein—Northrop & Johnson

_____Christina Norris—Oversee Yachts

_____Capt. Brendan O’Shannassy—KATANA GmbH

_____Bob Saxon—MarineMax Yachts

_____Robert van Tol—SYBAss

Good for You. Good for Your Business. Good for Our Industry.

ISS’s Mission is to Ensure Sustainability & Excellence in the Global Superyachting Industry.

ISS was founded in 1989 and represents the large yacht industry. Our mission is delivered by building alliances worldwide with regional and functional associations; to serve as a communications conduit for issues affecting the market place, owners, crew and industry members; and to recognise achievement as well as provide educational opportunities and networking events.

The organisation is member driven and reliant on the volunteer work of Board and regular members supported by our marketing and administrative staff. Our funding comes from our members and sponsors which in turn enables the ISS to work on initiatives that benefit the large yacht industry.

Following each quarter, we applaud those members who are new and who re-join by listing them in our newsletter. Thank you for your continuing support. 

Click here to see last quarter's membership list...Good for You. Good for Your Business. Good for Our Industry.pdf

ISS 2017 Student Membership Initiative - Partnership with Wright Maritime Group

ISS is pleased to announce Wright Maritime Group’s support in providing students currently attending educational curriculums that are relevant to a career in the yacht industry with a one-year free membership in ISS.

ISS President, Derik Wagner, comments, “WMG’s approach to sponsoring young industry professionals with an entrance to the ISS and its global reach opens unique career pathways to build important long-term relationships with top industry influencers.” 

WMG’s captain, AJ Anderson, adds, “The industry is served by mentoring our young professionals to be the next generation of leaders. WMG is honored to underwrite ISS’s innovative approach to building sustainability in our most important resource—the human factor.”

To enroll, students are asked to provide minimum information.

•          Name
•          Email address
•          School(s) enrollment
•          Career path, profession and interest in yachting

Send your information to ISS Administrator, Vanessa Stuart, info@superyachtsociety.org. Vanessa will email a confirmation of membership with the ISS membership logo.

Membership offers these benefits to young professionals

1.  Relationship building with:

•        new build shipyard executives
•        yacht management executives
•        major publication and event executives
•        senior Flag state regulators
•        renowned yacht designers and architects
•        like-minded professionals      

2.  Influencing regulated and non-regulated professional training curriculum

3.  Establishing position as a leading industry professional and creating personal opportunities

4.  Playing an important role in the industry’s direction

Board Member Profile-Derik Wagner-Wagner & Associates

Derik Wagner brings more than 15 years of global sales and management experience, recognized in the yachting industry for his role as Managing Director of MTN’s Yacht Service business where he led the company to the top of their game achieving recognition as the preferred supplier of global managed VSAT services for the superyacht industry.  Derik joined MTN in 2007 and by 2010 was servicing more than 50 percent of the world’s largest yachts with MTN broadband communications.  The MTN Yacht services business maintained this success through Derik’s tenure and in 2015 he served on the executive team responsible for selling the company to EMC, Emerging Market Communications.  He accepted his new position as Senior Vice President at EMC and President of the MTN Yacht Services Business Unit. It was shortly realized, however, that Derik had a greater vision and desired a more independent role in the industry.

He is now providing technology and communications consultancy as Wagner & Associates. Derik’s ultimate goal is to remove the complexity from technology to provide elegant and seamless solutions, enabling users to enjoy “connectasy” or ecstatic connectivity wherever they may be, whether on a yacht, plane, home, or any destination in the world. 

Derik is currently serving his third and final year of his three-year term as International Superyacht Society President. His main goal has been to grow ISS’s membership by streamlining and clarifying its value proposition to members. He has been working on a collaboration with superyacht builders to elevate the ISS Gala to a world class event that represents the leadership and design recognition it awards. In order to ensure sustainability and excellence for this industry, he has been a voice for a larger campaign to promote the yachting lifestyle to potential new yachting enthusiasts.

Prior to joining MTN in 2007, he served as senior account manager with France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) where he managed over 30 distributors throughout the Americas for mobile satellite services, representing Inmarsat, Iridium, and Thuraya Equipment and Airtime. Previously, Derik worked on the first VoIP gateways and Softswitch technology as an engineer with Lucent Technologies.

Wagner graduated with a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida. He was a founding member and served on the Board of the U.S. Superyacht Association (USSA) from 2007 – 2011, and again from 2013 -2014. He has served on the board of the International Superyacht Society since 2014, and is currently serving his third term as president. He is a previous Anchor Member of the MIASF, Marine Industries Association of South Florida.  Derik is a USCG licensed Captain and currently lives in South Florida with his wife and son.

Spotlight on Supporting Member-bluewater Yachting 

One company, one complete service

Bluewater is a world leader in yacht services with offices in Antibes, Fort Lauderdale, Palma, Davos, Hong Kong and Moscow. As the only major yachting company with experienced and dedicated teams in the five main sectors of the superyacht industry—brokerage, charter, yacht management, crew training and crew solutions—bluewater can cater to your every need.

Last Autumn, the winds of change blew through Fort Lauderdale, Antibes, Palma de Mallorca and other major yachting centers with the announcement that bluewater Yachting, International Crew Training (ICT) and Crew Unlimited (CU) merged to offer a comprehensive package of crew training and placement along with yacht management, charter, and yacht brokerage.

The three companies bring strong elements together from both sides of the Atlantic. Many large brokerage houses have integrated crew operations into their program to provide four aspects of crew and owner services, but with ICT, CU, and bluewater joining forces, the missing fifth element of expertise—comprehensive training—has now been included under one umbrella.

Both ICT and bluewater have developed their already substantive courses a great deal over the last few years. Combining the two venerable training institutions is a strategic merger of intellectual properties, incorporating the best aspects of both training centers, and the instruction teams from both sides of the Atlantic to create the best training program in the world. This gives everyone a tremendous lift because of the collective push producing a product that exceeds what either party had prior to the fusion.

For crew, it means more scheduling opportunities, more resources, and more places to train.  To solidify that training, courses are evolving to unify content and presentation. This makes a big difference when crew start school in Antibes or Palma and need to continue their education while working in Fort Lauderdale, or vice versa. Both training and crew training records are seamless. It can be thought of as a single international university with three campuses.

For both vessels and crew, bluewater has greatly improved the efficiency of the entire job and crew search process. The merger allows access to bluewater’s One Account crew placement package, a yearly subscription program that enables vessels to review, contact, and hire on their own from the expansive bluewater crew network. For the vessel, the cost of this program is completely offset by an equivalent value of training vouchers, enabling the vessel to send their crew for necessary training for the deck, engineering and interior departments at any of the bluewater training centers. Crew have greater placement options as part of the bluewater crew database.

Expertise in all five key areas of superyachting are now together on both sides of the Atlantic as one team, one company, one complete service, as bluewater Yachting.