Elena Loginova , 莫斯科石油天然气大会
Release Date: 2010-12-06
Elena Loginova, Director of Moscow Oil and Gas Conferences, has been interviewed by Russiaenergy.com on the eve of the Fifth International Offshore Drilling Equipment Conference (NEFTEGAZSHELF) that is taking place on December 9, 2010 in Radisson Slavyanskaya in Moscow. Elena has shared invaluable insights into the work of Moscow Oil and Gas Conferences that are essential to find customers for oil and gas service providers.Elena, what are the main tasks of your annual conferences?
First and foremost, communication. It means that our task is to create an environment for comfortable and informal communication that is not always possible during forums and conferences. To make it more clear, let’s see how they are structured. The speakers make a presentation or deliver a speech; the audience asks very few questions, so that the participants are engaged in a passive way. As a rule, all speakers are tied to a rigid schedule and have no time for a Q&A session at the end of their delivery when, to make the matters worse, at least half of the audience is no longer there. Unfortunately, this is a common scenario for both conferences and round tables whereas the latter are by definition supposed to be interactive.
So, what solution do the organizers see for this issue?
Firstly, there are a few issues here, both on the editorial side - choosing topics that interest the participants and are easy to engage the main part of the participants in the discussions - and on the technical side such as the size of the badge.
What is the connection with the size of the badge?
At our first conferences, we used a plastic card with the name and company of the participant printed in very small letters readable from a very close distance only. That was making it difficult for the participants to network, so we changed that. Besides, you need something interesting for the coffee breaks, lunches and the gala dinner, to make it easier for the participants to network. In event management, even the slightest details count, anything can spoil the impression or destroy the relaxing atmosphere that the participants look forward to at every event.
For me, the essential feedback after our events is: “Thank you Elena, I finally managed to talk to X, and got invited to make a presentation in his or her company". The participants look to expand their horizon, want to feel the pulse of the market, its trends and, of course, promote their business. If they don’t get interesting information or find no potential partners, they withdraw and there is nothing that can make them stay.
It’s no secret that I was offered to organize a very posh forum with Ministers in President Hotel in Moscow but, as this format implies zero communication between the speakers and the audience, I was unwilling to abuse of the people’s trust to me as organizer who is responsible for efficient communication at the events.
Nevertheless, is participation of state officials useful to introduce them to the problems that the market players experience?
If you mean lobbyism, this is a different story. For instance, a month ago we were helping the Union of Oil & Gas Producers of Russia and the Russian Association of Oil and Gas Equipment Producers to organize a discussion on oil service companies at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia. This kind of event does not imply networking with partners and customers, discussions, talks and lunches with the interesting speakers. Getting through to the authorities is a different issue.
Today, a lot of forums establish different industry-oriented awards. What about Moscow Oil and Gas Conferences?
By all means, our participants always get useful surprise presents during the breaks. Of course, I’m joking. I understand that you mean honorary titles, awards, cups, etc. Actually, we don’t want to distinguish this or that person among the others, and neither do we plan to do that in future. We believe that this is the responsibility of the related ministries. To my mind, a respected conference organizer would not invite a big boss to the jury just for the sake of inviting a big boss. Everyone should mind his own business. The only certificate that we issue is a thank-you letter to the participants on behalf of “Bim”, an animal charity that we cooperate with. Part of each participation fee finances animal refuges.
What oil and gas publications support your projects?
A well-built system of recommendations is our main driver in terms of information support. First of all, we are the long-standing partners of VNIIOENG (the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for Organization of Management and Economics in Oil and Gas) and its daughter publications. We also maintain partner relations with different central and regional oil and gas publications such as Neft Rossii (Oil of Russia), Neft and Capital (Oil and Capital), Neftegazovoe Oborudovanie (Oil and Gas Equipment), Burenie i Neft (Oil and Drilling). In general, we try to attract experienced professionals in the oil and gas industry that, fortunately, are still there in Russia.
It takes a good track record to establish smooth partner relations with the industry. How did it start? Do Moscow Oil and Gas Conferences have any regular participants?
Of course, we do have regular participants, and that witnesses the industry’s interest to our events. However, you’re quite right to note that this was quite challenging at the very beginning. Most importantly, we had people who believed in us. One of the enthusiasts who has breathed life into our project was Felix Lubashevsky, a successful businessman who not only helped to attract interesting participants but was also a great organizer of our first events. He was doing it in a very exciting and informal way and was sometimes introducing very clever and unexpected changes in the scenario. Once, he suddenly announced an unplanned break saying that "People are tired, they need to talk". We had to rush to find waiters who were supposed to arrive later. This made us realize that the golden rule is to keep the reports short. From then on, our events were more and more of a club format. Moreover, Felix is not a former official and is not an ‘appointed’ businessman. He hates hypocrisy. Thanks to that, our conferences have never been ambiguous or pathetic, and the speakers were never chosen according to their formal position.
The reason why I make such a point of Lubashevsky’s informal management style is because the organizers, in general, often tend to plan the speaker list according to a formal score - that is, they only invite people from the core Ministries and from the regional administration. There is no focus on speakers as personalities: in such a score, each invited speaker represents his or her position, not his or her professionalism, ideas and charisma.
One of the main projects of Moscow Oil and Gas Conferences is e-platforms for the oil and gas industry. Could you tell us more about your online conferences?
Today, the professionals spend a lot of time online, and it would be wrong to ignore this chance to meet their colleagues. Professionals from different cities, countries and continents take part in online discussions: Sergey Chernenkov, a very professional oil and gas expert, works in Libya, Joseph Shrago, an experienced IT expert, works in St-Petersburg, Valery Afanasyev, the best Russian translator in oil and gas, works in Zhukovsky. Oleg Glushkov, an expert in investments, works in Moscow, Nikolay Kuzmichev, an expert in well operation, works in Almetyevsk, Lubov Zubova, an experienced geoscientist – in Bugulma. There are also many experts from the related industries: Andrey Korzhubaev, one of the authors of Russia’s Energy Strategy and one of the best experts in the economy of China, is a popular blogger. This shows that with an e-platform, any participant can organize an online conference in his or her professional area.
Can we say that the development of e-technologies will soon replace "real" conferences?
I can’t agree with that because of the importance of real contacts and live communication in oil and gas especially. Internet is a good helper to establish contacts but it does not substitute a real platform for networking. Internet communities are a good place to share information, discuss problems and look for answers but real communication is still the only condition to collect orders for drilling and oil and gas equipment.
Elena, thank you very much for your time and we hope that Offshore Drilling Equipment 2010 will be a very successful conference!
Thank you. On my behalf, let me thank Focus Communication and Russiaenergy.com for regular coverage of topics that are essential for the oil and gas industry and its partners.
| Company: | 莫斯科石油天然气大会 |
| Position: | Director |
| Country: | 俄罗斯 |