We would like to sent out a big 'Thank You' to those who visited and provided feedback on the compensation survey at the Professional Development Booth during the Virtual Expo. PPDM Members, you can explore the compensation survey interactive analysis here
PPDM's Certification Committee needs YOU! We are looking for volunteers to help this great committee continue to grow our CPDA program. Contact certification@ppdm.org for more information on how you can make a difference!
Thank you to everyone who attended our first ever Virtual Expo! On March 12, 2020, we committed to transforming the April Expo to a virtual experience, while simultaneously rebooking the physical event for the end of September (New dates: September 29-30, 2020). PPDM was fortunate to have a strong, five-track agenda in place, thanks to the Houston Leadership Team. The event saw 326 registrations, from nine countries and a variety of companies, along with two days of great presentations, networking and visits to our Exhibitors. Going forward, our plans for a physical conference on September 29-30 are in progress. We look forward to seeing everyone in person at the end of September for what is certain to be a great Expo!
As many of you will have heard, we have investigated options for moving forward with the 2020 Houston Professional Petroleum Data Expo in light of the current pandemic COVID-19 crisis. For March 31-April 1, 2020, the Houston Expo will still take place as a virtual event. Virtual conferencing offers us the opportunity to move our entire event to an online environment. Our conversations with several of you so far indicate that you are very supportive of this opportunity. Through this environment, you will have an opportunity to participate in the conference talks, see our exhibitors, and recognize our sponsors (who make it possible for you to attend at an incredibly low price).
As a virtual conference, we can offer participation opportunities to many international members, who otherwise may struggle for approval or funding to travel. We have already heard from some who are hoping we will move forward this way. More information will be available soon on the event page for how our attendees can attend the conference, so stay tuned.
We now have the new dates for the physical event – September 29-30, 2020. Registration is now open. Note, anyone previously registered will be transferred to this event automatically..
If you are planning to sit the May 13, 2020, Certified Petroleum Data Analyst (CPDA) Exam and have not yet submitted your application, you will have a bit more time. The deadline to submit your exam has been extended to April 3, 2020. More information is available on our Certification website or contact our registrar.
The PPDM Q1 luncheon was held in the Devon Energy Conference Center on Tuesday, February 18th. Cynthia Hazard, Senior Manager for EPAM Systems, captivated a crowd of nearly 80 as she presented a talk entitled “Just Because You Build It, Doesn’t Mean They’ll Come.” She discussed adoption challenges organizations are facing around digital and technology implementations. She reviewed why it’s important to have a ‘people’ strategy along with a digital strategy and provided examples of implementations that had positive results and those that didn’t and why. Cynthia concluded by providing steps to implement key change management principles on any project to drive user adoption and value realization.
Cynthia has spent more than 20 years partnering with executives and senior leaders to drive strategy, innovation, business process improvements, and transformation. She is an effective coach and mentor to client teams and colleagues, and a subject matter expert in organizational change management, strategic communications, process improvement, and human capital engagement.
Many thanks to Devon Energy for a beautiful venue and a delicious meal. Watch for details on our upcoming OKC Petroleum Data Workshop which will be held May 12th at Gulfport Energy. Our theme this year is “Reducing Costs and Increasing Revenue with Data Maturity”. We are accepting abstracts for this event with a submittal deadline of March 10th and you may use our abstract submission form.
Sam Cook with Esri packed the house at our Denver Q1 Data Management Luncheon held at BPX Energy. Sam presented a talk entitled “An Introduction to Geospatial Intelligence: Context, Content, and Value.” Spatial analysis provides individuals and organizations a scientific approach to uncovering the relationships between places, objects, people, and activities relevant to their goals. With the emergence of effective and scalable artificial intelligence (AI), spatial machine learning has emerged as an incredibly valuable mechanism to automate and enhance existing workflows. This session discussed the key components of geospatial AI, the case for its distinction, and the value it provides.
Sam Cook is a geospatial analytics professional with a background in defense and intelligence. His current role emphasizes the development, deployment, and evangelizing of a spatial machine learning and artificial intelligence body of knowledge to help Esri’s clients achieve greater success.
EnergyIQ whetted everyone’s appetite with a wonderful spread made up of Chicken Milanese, Pesto Pasta, Caesar Salad, Bread Sticks, and Homemade Desserts. Not a soul went away hungry!
Thanks so much to our event sponsors, BPX Energy and EnergyIQ as well as our Luncheon Series Sponsors, Stonebridge Consulting and WellDrive, and our Platinum Sponsor, geoLOGIC stystems. Without the support of companies like these, our events would not be possible!
The PPDM Q1 2020 Petroleum Data Luncheon was bursting at the seams when Jon Snyder with OspreyData delivered a compelling talk entitled “Real Time Data In Oil and Gas, How to Prepare for It”. Occidental Petroleum hosted the 94 attendees in their awesome conference facility and EnergyIQ satisfied everyone’s appetites with a delicious barbeque spread. During Jon’s talk, he delved into issues and challenges producers have with real time data in Oil and Gas. He focused in on how organizations need to prepare for building a strong data backbone by examining the collection and storage of this critical data. Jon discussed steps and metrics that should be considered when evaluating the quality of the real time data a producer has. Jon ended by introducing exciting opportunities that can be developed with advanced analytics and machine learning from real time data.
Jon is a Petroleum and Reservoir Engineer with over 10 years of experience with large and small producers such as Encana, Venoco and Burlington Resources. Jon turned his interest and affinity for analytics and is now using his extensive field expertise to help develop Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning solutions for OspreyData as Director of Client Engagement.
Don’t miss our upcoming Petroleum Data Expo which will take place at the Westin Memorial City on March 31-April 1. This year’s theme is “Using Digital Transformation to Transform your Future” with over 70 speakers and panelists presenting materials in five different tracks. There will be over 20 exhibitors as well so be sure to register for this amazing event by going to www.ppdm.org/hexpo20. If you register by March 3rd, the member rate is $219 and non-member rate is $399 for two full days of excitement and great content. Individual membership is available for only $100 so if you aren’t a member, you can become one and attend the Expo for only $319. Hope to see you there!!
In our continued drive to understand how we can best serve our industry, we are testing the need to expand our Professional Development portfolio to Facilities Data. Below is a survey link which we would appreciate if you could take a 10 minutes to fill out and share in your network, it's only a few minutes from your day to give back your industry. Thank you in advance. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PPDM_Facilities_Training
Over the 2019 holidays, the petroleum data management community lost a valuable and well-respected member. Mark Priest, a Practice Partner with Wipro in Houston, participated in many PPDM work groups and committees, providing insight, expertise and a good sense of humour. Mark began his E&P Data Management career in 1988 at Maxus Energy in Amarillo, Texas where he helped Geoscientists and Engineers convert from paper to PC's and workstations. He served as project manger for E&P Data Management projects for Triton Energy and Burlington Resources before joining Schlumberger-GeoQuest in 1997. While with Schlumberger, he worked in numerous Data Management roles in Texas, Nigeria, and Angola. Margaret Barron, Chief of Professional Development and PPDM, shared some memories of Mark "Mark was a true visionary and one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. He made time for people. As a mentor, collaborator, educator and friend, Mark always went above and beyond to bring joy and positivity to the table. He joined PPDM as a volunteer in 2010 and we'll never forget that first group meeting in Houston when Mark turned up in a Hawaiian shirt! He set the tone for the rest of the day, which will go down in history as the most productive and fun committee meeting ever. Mark was loved and will be missed by so many, leaving the world void of one less extraordinary person.