Held from 1-3 September 2014, 30 delegates from across the Australian gas industry attended the two-day seminar which included a one-day workshop by David Marshall AM, Media Consultant and Strategist with Taskforce Media and Communications Strategists.
The participants each delivered a 17-minute presentation to their peers and mentors.
APIA Chief Executive and Australian Gas Industry Trust (AGIT) Director Cheryl Cartwright welcomed the delegates, commenting that it was a shame many of the industry’s older pipeliners didn’t have the same opportunity while coming through the ranks, as many who have attended pipeline conferences in the past could attest.
Federal Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane formally opened proceedings with a unique insight on the state of the Australian gas industry and the challenges it faces in moving forward.
The workshop itself provided the participants with a number of valuable insights for public speaking, developed from Mr Marshall’s 25-plus years working in communications and getting to the heart of what makes for a good, or sometimes disastrous, public speaker.
As for the presentations, fortunately there were no George W. Bush-esque moments and a marked improvement was noticed by all following the initial ad-hoc speeches as part of the first day’s workshop.
Caleb Simmich, Mechanical Engineer, GPA Engineering, won Most Outstanding Presentation covering Challenges associated with interconnecting networks of pipelines of various ages, while Nikhil Maharaj, Graduate Pipeline Engineer, Oil Search, was presented with the Encouragement Award for his presentation Danger from above: Managing risk on an above ground pipeline network, focusing on the challenges surrounding pipeline maintenance in Papua New Guinea.
Ian Spence, General Manager Environment, CNC Project Management, was also awarded Best Impromptu Speech at the end of the Colloquium.
The 2014 Gas Speak Colloquium also provided a number of social and networking opportunities, with this year’s attendants treated to a motivational speech by Thankyou Water Co-Founder Daniel Flynn at local venue, The Boat House by the Lake.
Closing the Colloquium, Gas Speak mentors Chris Blogg, Executive Technical Adviser, Rinnai; Anthony Cooper, General Manager Commercial Services, Eco Vantage; Andrew Creek, Managing Director, SIT Gas Controls; Steve Davies, Policy Manager, APIA; Barbara Jinks, gas industry consultant and Saul Milner, gas market consultant, all commended the quality of this year’s speakers, before wrapping up what was deemed a successful event on the gas industry calendar.
