Building Bridges: My Journey Begins…(December 2007)

Abstract

As I begin my year as 2008 SPE President, I express my humble thanks for the opportunity to serve you and lead our Board of Directors. Also, I want to thank my friend and fellow Stanford alumnus, 2007 SPE President Jaleel Al-Khalifa, for the leadership, guidance, and direction he has given to the SPE for the past 12 months. Jaleel, you represented SPE very well; you reached the peak of Mt. Everest, climbing the trail you described in your September 2006 JPT interview. With your help, SPE's strong team of volunteers, our international Board of Directors, and our excellent staff, we will move forward to climb new heights. As I indicated in my interview with John Donnelly in last month's JPT, one of my primary goals for the year is to give direction to the SPE Long Range Plan. The Long Range Plan guides the Board of Directors in developing SPE's programs and strategies. The plan is updated on a regular basis but its adoption by the Board of Directors occurs only after it is discussed and modified by a committee of diligent groups of SPE members. I also said that I wanted to be an effective ambassador for SPE, which is reflected in the title I have chosen for my JPT column. As President, I want to build bridges and more effectively connect SPE to its members, industry, and the general public. Also, I want to stimulate a higher level of volunteerism among SPE members. Much is going on in SPE's operations. The SPE has hired a new Managing Director for Middle East, India, and North Africa activities, Waleed Refaay. He is based in our Dubai office. We welcome Waleed to the SPE management team and look forward to working with him…. In October, SPE opened a new regional office in Moscow, which will fall under the management of Lawrence Slade, Managing Director Europe, Russia, and West Africa, in SPE's London office. The Moscow office will allow SPE to more effectively serve its members in Eastern Europe, Russia, and other countries in the region. During my professional career, I have been able to travel to more than 40 countries. As a result, I can count personal friends on six continents (I may make it to Antarctica, but am not placing any bets on that). I look forward to reconnecting with many of them in the coming months and to making many new friends. With more than 70,000 SPE members out there, I have many potential connections to make.