The 2022 AGA Operations Conference & Spring Committee Meetings was a great event. The level of happiness to be back face-to-face was undeniable. New Orleans was a great venue and attendees really seemed to love the second line procession to the networking event. In fact, based on the positive feedback heard we have made our decision to hold our 2024 Global Excavation Safety Conference in New Orleans!
From a damage prevention perspective, there were many great sessions. Some highlights include:
• Tracey Bryant, CenterPoint, discussing Aligning Public Awareness & Damage Prevention for Success.
• Erika Lee, CGA, presented an update on the CGA Next Generation report.
• Kim Gozelski and Kevin Armato, PG&E, conducted an excellent session titled, “Let’s Not Make Things Complicated: Improving PG&E’s Damage Prevention Playbook.”
• “A Look into Liberty’s Lifesaving Behaviors,” presented by Ester Di Giovanni of Liberty, covered all aspects of safety training.
• Jerry Schmitz, VP Engineering Staff, and Alexander Murray, Damage Prevention Administrator, discussed “Creating a Damage Prevention Culture.” This session resonated with me because I have been personally promoting damage prevention culture for 20+ years. It was great to see two departments team up to spread a shared message.
• “Evaluating Operation Training at Southwest Gas,” presented by Paul Gustilo, was a great broad-based session.
Their event was a tremendous success, and we look forward to joining them again in 2023.
CONFERENCE OVERVIEW
The Operations Conference is the natural gas industry’s premier gathering of utilities, distribution, and transmission operators. Leaders and technical experts from across North America and the world attended the event. Developed by gas operators for gas operators, the event is the industry’s largest annual forum with more than 700 operations management in attendance. The event offers technical sessions with topics, to include but not limited to: gas measurement, pipeline integrity, operations advocacy, system safety, environment, storage, engineering, renewable natural gas, construction, maintenance, gas control, supplemental gas, corrosion control and plastic materials. Attendees share technical knowledge, leadership strategies, and learning events promoting the safe, reliable, and cost-effective delivery of gas to the end-user.
