OTC OMG
KODA had a bit of an adventure last week – travelling into Houston to visit the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC). Thanks for my 'sponsor' who provided a day pass for me.
While KODA is still refining (no pun intended) its value proposition to the Oil and Gas market, we really enjoyed talking to people. OTC was a great chance to get in touch with future suppliers and clients alike. Plenty of what KODA has done before could easily be reworked to serve this exciting sector.
‘Data’ is becoming a big selling point. The Oil and Gas industry seems to be taking a mature and pragmatic approach to it all – which is refreshing. Yes, it is easy to capture data: flows, concentrations, pressures etc. but turning that into useful outcomes is often overwhelming or even worse, over looked.
In times of low oil price there is additional focus on maximizing asset utilization (and yes, cutting some costs) and systems which can promise to generate 1% more revenue might just be the kind of innovations that keep a company in business.
Big Boy’s Toys
I’ve always been a fan of anything high tech, awesome, big or all of the above. There was no shortage of contenders at OTC.
Fugro had a pretty sweet underwater ROV at its booth. Apparently they own 150 of these things. What attracted me the most to it was the level of craftsmanship that went into its construction. Every wire was the exact length it needed to be, was labelled, protected and properly routed. Several appendages folded neatly into the rig and you could see the care in design, manufacturer and fit-out in everything – just what you need when you are repairing undersea pipelines.
Bell Helicopters wins my ‘I didn’t expect to see that when I walked in, but wow award’ for the conference. To be honest, I didn’t expect to get let in the tent at all figuring that O&G CEOs are the most likely to be interested in executive choppers. Instead, I was faced with a 20 passenger, two pilot beast – the Bell 525. Very nice. Big, beautiful and high-tech; perfect for when you need to get to an offshore rig fast.
Sore Feet and 3 pens
No need to say it, but KODA had some sore feet by the end of the day. I slept pretty soundly that night, comforted by the fact that I showed a great deal of restraint – only collecting about 3 pens for my efforts. Some people just go crazy – walking up and down each aisle going from booth to booth grabbing anything they can add to their bulging show bags. Witnessing a handle snap and the panic in one merch-pirate’s eyes as their corporate dowry spilled everywhere kept me entertained.
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Until next time, KODA.