Each year we have a lot of fun with WorkBoat's top 10 boats of the year. We call them Significant Boats. And like always, the owners, builders and designers will receive their awards during the International WorkBoat Show at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. The Significant Boats of 2019 Breakfast and Awards Ceremony is on Thursday morning, Dec. 5 .

The awards presentation is not open to the public, but the day before on Wednesday, Dec. 4 from 3:15 p.m. until 4 p.m., we are offering a Think Tank presentation previewing the Significant Boat Awards winners. It will involve the owners, builders and designers of this year's Significant Boats and it is open to everyone at the show. In fact, we encourage everyone to come in and ask questions of any of the people on the panel. This is a question and answer session for you. It may be the only time you will be able to ask them direct questions about their boats. And as moderator, I'll be on the panel to answer any questions you might have about how we arrive at the final list of 10 Significant Boats each year.

Diversity is a word that has grown in popularity recently. You like diversity? Well, check this out. This year's boats were built on all three coasts and the Great Lakes. They include an escort/shipdocking tug, a pilot boat, research vessel, agricultural freighter, whale watch vessel, ATB tug, tour boat, passenger ferry, dive/fire/rescue boat and a container/roll on-roll off (ConRo) ship.

So come on and join us at 3:15 Wednesday afternoon Dec. 4 in the Great Hall. (If you don't know where that is, grab a copy of the WorkBoat Show News and check out the full map inside.) Again, this is for you. I know you're busy. Everyone's busy, including the panelists. But they'll be there and so will I, and we'll have some fun with this I promise you. Don't leave us on stage talking to ourselves. It's embarrassing.

Ken Hocke has been the senior editor of WorkBoat since 1999. He was the associate editor of WorkBoat from 1997 to 1999. Prior to that, he was the editor of the Daily Shipping Guide, a transportation daily in New Orleans. He has written for other publications including The Times-Picayune. He graduated from Louisiana State University with an arts and sciences degree, with a concentration in English, in 1978.