Thank You to All for Your Support
On the heels of a GeoConvention program that exceeded expectations despite a perfect storm of unfavorable economic conditions, a competing event and a date change, I would like to start by thanking our sponsors, exhibitors, presenters, delegates, volunteers and visitors for their continued support through the thick and the thin. Your participation in GeoConvention 2016 is very much appreciated and speaks loudly to your commitment to the success of GeoConvention.
The goal for GeoConvention 2016 was to simply return as much as we could to all of our supporters in these difficult times – lower price points for our delegates, further pricing reductions for those who were unemployed, unique sponsor benefits, and an exhibit floor layout that was designed to yield the best possible exhibitor and visitor experience. This was seen as our opportunity to give back to our supporters and our members for their years of support.
In addition, GeoConvention 2016 aimed to introduce new initiatives and programs as we continue to grow the event beyond the standard annual format that has been the GeoConvention model of the past, to an industry-leading technical and networking program that will set the new standard going forward.
We were very privileged this year to have an exceptional committee that was able to drive these new initiatives and achieve our goals by putting together a diverse technical offering including financial discussions, a session for those who find themselves unemployed, a workplace diversity and culture session as well as specialized sessions hosted by the Canadian Society for Gas Migration (CSGM) and another hosted by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). In total, we hosted 239 talks over 37 sessions with another 78 poster presentations, numbers that were similar to even some of our best years. I am extremely proud of our team of volunteers who took the 2016 challenge head-on to provide amazing technical content, meaningful networking events and diverse luncheons. Of particular note, the Alumni event saw a substantial increase in attendance from last year with the focused attention of the committee in driving the success of the event by ensuring return for the universities who participated and for their alumni.
Our exhibit floor, while smaller than years past, was well attended with a drop of only 200 visitors from 2015 with the common feedback being that the business being done and the conversations that took place were some of the best they had experienced on an exhibit floor. Again, I would like to thank all of our exhibiting companies for joining us!
In looking forward, under the formal Partnership Agreement between the CSEG, CSPG and CWLS, now in its second year, GeoConvention will continue to grow in our diversity, reach and footprint with the fulltime commitment and consistent direction of the GeoConvention board. As part of this growth, our two-day offsite program will be coming up in the winter of 2017 as we push the opportunities that GeoConvention provides in terms of unique technical content, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.
For 2017, the formal GeoConvention conference and exhibition is back in May: May 15th through May 19th with the CSPG Core Conference being hosted on the 18th and 19th. Please join us as we continue to build on the strength of our technical program and our diversity as we grow GeoConvention, the premiere geoscience conference in Canada.
Dustin Menger
Director, GeoConvention Partnership
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