Jan. 24, 2013, is set to be a banner day for AAPG’s DPA division, which is sponsoring a unique high-impact event on that date in Houston.
It’s the Playmaker Forum, chaired by AAPG Honorary member and DPA president Charles Sternbach.
Numerous AAPG members and others are familiar with the highly popular and heavily attended series of Discovery Thinking forums conceived and chaired by the forward thinking Sternbach. These successful forums have had a five-year run and are going stronger than ever.
“I wanted to expand the conversation from discoveries to prospects,” Sternbach said.
“Discovery Thinking is about discoveries, and Playmaker is about prospecting,” he continued. “The concept is that discoveries are the prospects that work.
The upcoming daylong meeting has a speaker roster of industry heavy hitters who will share insight on some of today’s hottest plays – and more.
There’s even a “Top 10” on the program dubbed Ten Habits of Highly Successful Oil Finders.
“The thought was, wow, if we did a program like this we could advance all the goals of DPA that include providing member services, helping with all the prospecting, professional skills and inspiring our members,” Sternbach noted.
“We’re also working to get a lot of young professionals involved,” he said. “In just one day, they can learn skills on prospecting from the experts that they can use immediately.
“This is not your father’s drawn out 10-week-long industry course,” he said. “This is right now; this is the bottom line.
“I think the one-day format is an incredibly potent format,” he added. “It’s easier for people to break away to attend, and they get a lot of value for the trip if they come in from other cities.
“We intended to really pack it in with the program.”
Harold Hamm, the high-profile CEO of Continental Resources, will step up to the dais as keynote speaker. Additionally, Hamm will be honored as the recipient of the DPA Heritage Award, the division’s highest award, in recognition of his contributions to the industry and for providing inspiration to other professionals.
Coincidentally, the meeting will take place two weeks prior to the annual winter NAPE meeting in Houston.
“That way, people can use the skills learned to better evaluate prospects and deals,” Sternbach asserted. “If they’re still in the process of creating marketing material, two weeks gives them enough time.
“This kind of program we’re providing is fundamental to what AAPG members are the best in the world at doing – prospecting and oil finding,” he said. “These skill sets drive our economic engines, yet a lot of conferences these days tend to be commercial and not focused on professional skill sets like the Playmaker program will do.”
If you’re concerned that it’s too late to participate in some manner in this sui generis happening, not to worry.
Sternbach emphasized that corporate sponsorship opportunities are still available.