Award winners in the other branches, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Territories, will be made over the next few weeks. Regional winners will compete for the national awards, which will be presented at the annual SAACI banquet during its conference at the NH Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West on 25 July.
The awards, which were started in 1997, recognise individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the enrichment and development of SAACI.
Van Eck, a SAACI national board member and chairman of the Eastern Cape branch, joined the association in 1999 and is a Certified Meeting Professional. Among others, he was responsible for the upgrading of the SAACI website and was chairman of the association's 2008 national conference that was held in Grahamstown. His award was for his long service and special contribution to SAACI.
Fowler, who manages her own, newly-formed event management company, originally joined SAACI as part of the Springbok Atlas corporate membership and has contributed towards the growth of the Eastern Cape branch by recruiting new members, being innovative when arranging networking events and raising sponsorships.
SAACI GM, Adene Pringle, says the Young Achiever Award has been introduced to recognise a person with a pioneering spirit and to encourage involvement of young industry professionals in SAACI.
