Simon Ward is one of my favorite moderators, which tells you everything about what I value in moderation if you know him at all.
To the untrained eye, moderation can appear deceptively simple. How hard could it be to ask a group of people a set of questions? A last-minute switch in London once from panelist to moderator answered that for me rather quickly. Try it sometime.
To be an agile, engaging moderator requires a proprietary blend of humility, curiosity, and humanness. It’s not about you, or anyone in particular — everything is in service to the conversation — but if there’s a place where you have an insight, well parsed, to slide in that fits the flow, by all means. Humorous slants are also welcome, including, as we saw this year, tongue-in-cheek marriage proposals inspired by a fetching number of capesizes (in this case, Melina’s). Sly rejections with circumstances outlined to justify them may also follow. To improvise well demands trust among the people you’re taking the ride with – especially if, like Simon, you never tell the panelists what they’re going to be asked ahead of time, nor can you predict where any given response may carry the conversation.
The Opening Remarks and Welcome speeches come from Natalia Margioli Komninou, FICS Managing Director, ICS Branch & Hellenic Management Centre as well as from Nicolas A. Tsavliris, FICS, Chairman ICS Greek Branch & Tsavliris Salvage Group. Natalia Margioli Komninou successfully completes 20 years with the Institute / HMC; what a milestone!
The ICS Greek Branch 20th Annual Forum this year was significant for many reasons beyond the milestone itself and the panel’s expertise, which included:
- Polys V. Hajioannou · Chairman & CEO, Safe Bulkers Inc.; President, Cyprus Union of Shipowners
- George G. Mangos · Principal, Interunity Group
- Ismini Panagiotidi · CEO & Founder, Pavimar S.A. and Icon Energy Corp.
- Milena Pappa · Board Member & Commercial Director, Star Bulk Carriers Corp.
The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers is traditionally a very British organization, yet the Greek branch has emerged as the largest worldwide due to its unique identity, shaped by the people who run it, the teachers (all of whom are working professionals within maritime), and the caliber of students this combination attracts.
There’s a freedom to the forum (or symposium, as Simon prefers to describe it) to let openness and unpolished dialogue unfold publicly, which is rare. Friction is both welcome and expected. This year both H.E. Vasilis Kikilias, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Hellenic Republic, and Thanassis Martinos, Managing Director, Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd., were unfortunately unable to attend due to last-minute business issues, though Mr. Martinos kindly shared a video expressing his regrets and offering some market predictions for the coming year as a way of making amends. Geopolitics — in particular Trump and the Net Zero Framework — took up more time than some of the panelists would have liked, which was openly vocalized. And yet this is what I enjoy most about the ICS Forum: the cast of characters may change at the last minute, a question won’t always land with the eloquence you’d hoped, but the exchange that ensues — perhaps even as a result of this — will feel more like a conversation between friends and colleagues than anything rehearsed ever could.
Simon also took a few minutes at the end of the panel this year to tell more of his story and how his time with the ICS Greek Branch has shaped it. As someone who has also chosen to make Greece my home for nearly a decade now, the sharp edges of his reflections felt familiar: the persistent feeling of being an outsider despite the length of time he’s lived here and the stray malaise it carries, in part due to a struggle to master the language, but more profoundly to settle on a sense of belonging that persists. Recently, though, without thinking, he found himself using the word “us” to include himself among the Greeks, and this reflex proved to be both a balm and a mark of acceptance – one he attributes in large part to his role in the ICS.
The Awards ceremony was more than touching!
I manage to find a moment to tiny mic him during the reception that follows, Collins glass of red wine in hand (the official vessels having disappeared instantly in the jubilant crowd), before he can slip off, giving him a chance to reflect on the evening while still in it. What makes a great moderator? I ask, after leading with the compliment. “Stupidity,” he tells me, sidestepping the warmth. “A lot of it.” My final question doesn’t land especially well either, and yet as I reflect on this, rather than feeling bothered or disappointed, it seems fitting for an evening that openly invites a bit of sparring, and I’m almost pleased.
As Simon himself states early in the evening, both as a reminder to the audience and a general grounding principle, “The only stupid questions (feel free to switch out stupid with bad, boring, or most any other vaguely negative connotation) are the ones you don’t ask.”
* Emma Collier co-founder and partner at further and further.
