AAPG’s Young Professional Meet-n-Greet and the Young Professional Network Challenge events continue to prove themselves to be powerful networking forums for individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and in all stages of their careers.
Since their inception at the Annual Convention and Exhibition in 2009, these two events have become a staple of nearly every major AAPG meeting, including the most recent Rocky Mountain Section (RMS) meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., and the International Conference and Exhibition (ICE) in Singapore.
Debut at RMS
The first annual Meet-n-Greet at the RMS meeting in mid-September opened with a flurry of business card swapping and story exchanging as students, young professionals and mentors met to expand their network connections.
In fact, the RMS Committee worked diligently throughout the three-and-a-half day event to include YPs in the meeting program, including:
- Reserving space for YPs at each meeting function.
- Introducing them to members of their own professional networks.
- Providing a space to advertise upcoming YP activities – including happy hours and monthly “Dine and Discuss” events.
- At Dinosaur Journey, the YPs enjoyed dinner and toured the museum.
- On the final night, the RMS YPs hosted a screening of Scott Tinker’s film “Switch” at
the Avalon Theater. The festivities concluded with a drawing for two copies of the Colorado Geological Survey’s book, “Written in Stone” (graciously donated by Weatherford).
Around the World
At the AAPG ICE Meet-n-Greet the following week in Singapore, nearly 125 students and young professionals from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Pakistan, Australia and Thailand were paired with about 30 mentors from around the world.
The event encouraged students and early-career geoscientists to network with seasoned industry professionals – many of whom have participated in previous Meet-n-Greet events.
Among the mentors were past and current Executive Committee members, both AAPG president-elect candidates, Region officers, committee chairs and members and AAPG Executive Director David Curtiss.
The discussions on careers, personal development, experiences in industry and future meetings and workshops continued during the YP Network Challenge. This event challenged 25 participants to build their professional networks by interacting with AAPG’s members and exhibitors. More than 28 dedicated mentors and volunteers and 30 exhibitors facilitated this opportunity, offering guidance and expertise to the many young geoscientists in attendance.
Three cash prizes (donated by AAPG) and two fossils (donated by Herman Darman) were awarded to Network Challenge participants via a random drawing at the Student Reception. Anindya Satya Putri, Syukron Ady Purnawiranto and Muhammad Ahmed Raza received $200, $100 and $50, respectively, while the fossils specimens were presented to Kinanti Hapsari and Bellinda Nur Cintalady.
On behalf of the YP Committee, thank you to everyone who made these events possible. The Meet-n-Greets and Network Challenges are essential – not only to facilitating discussion across many levels of the AAPG global organization, but also for sustaining the interest of students and young professionals in AAPG activities.
The continued success of Meet-n-Greet and Network Challenge events provides solid evidence of the importance of cultivating relationships with young geoscientists who will become the future leaders of AAPG.