Regina 鈥� This Oct. 4 will be the 4th Annual Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Supply Chain Forum, and the Regina event has been growing every year.
This year鈥檚 event will again take place at the Regina Delta Hotel.
Last year was the first time they held a trade show. This year they expanded, and it sold out. So they expanded it again, and it, too sold out. Now, according to organizer Eric Anderson of the Saskatchewan Industrial & Mining Suppliers Association Inc. (SIMSA), they will have basically double the number of booths for the trade show compared to last year.
But there鈥檚 a limit as to how far they want to go, as Anderson stressed the importance of putting buyers and suppliers together. They had considered moving to a larger venue, but are very hesitant to do so. If the trade show is too large, then the buyers won鈥檛 have the time to get to see all the vendors. That face-to-face contact is important.
鈥淭he success and growth of our show is based on bringing buyers and sellers face-to-face,鈥� he said.聽聽
And that鈥檚 the key focus of this event. As opposed to a typical trade show where companies have booths and hope a buyer comes by, this event has the big companies in the business 鈥� the largest oil companies and pipeline companies in Saskatchewan, present and explaining in their presentations what they are looking for. Husky,聽TransCanada, Crescent Point Energy, Enbridge, Teine Energy, Baker Hughes, Federated Co-operatives Limited (refinery and oil extraction), Stantec, and Schlumberger have already confirmed their participation, and Anderson said on Aug. 27 the are talking to a few more.
鈥淲e have more participation from the Tier 1, Baker Hughes and Schlumberger. They鈥檒l buy from our membership,鈥� Anderson said.
Next year they will seek to add more engineering firms, companies that are often important in the procurement process.
If you are attending, it鈥檚 time to get your elevator pitch polished. The speed networking event is a huge draw for the event. Each of the major player has a table, and several will have multiple people there to speak to. Participants get five minutes (strictly timed) to make a pitch to that oil or pipeline company. They can pitch a product, or perhaps ask who it is they need to speak to within the organization. When the time is up, it鈥檚 time to get going and let the next person make their pitch.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing piece of five minute conversations,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淵ou can figure out if you have a hope with a company.鈥�
They鈥檙e expanding the length of time for speed networking to nearly two hours this year so there are plenty of opportunities for people to get in on the action.
鈥淔rankly, that piece with worth more than everything,鈥� Anderson said. They did it at previous shows like this, and also had it for SIMSA members at this past June鈥檚 Global Petroleum Show in Calgary. Several of the same companies, the biggest players in the Saskatchewan oilpatch, took part in June.
The keynote presentation will be by Brad Bechtold, national director of oil and gas mining transformation for Cisco Systems. His presentation will focus on digitization, and how that works in oil and gas. Anderson pointed out Cisco is a globally leading company in this regard.
There is a fee to attend - $200 a head for the early-bird registrations, and $400 each after Sept. 21. Those fees generally means all in attendance will be active in the industry, as opposed to the general public checking things out.
Anderson said the tradeshow booths, at $500 a pop, are roughly one-third the price of those at competing events.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the business focus, what projects are coming up, what they are buying, and who you want to talk to,鈥� Anderson said of highlights of the forum.
The Government of Saskatchewan is a partner in organizing the show. For more information, the website is simsa.ca.
