This past Tuesday I got the opportunity to keynote the Society of Petroleum Engineers(SPE) Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference. There were around 2,000 attendees at the conferences and 800 at my event.
I was particularly eager to speak to SPE because it has incredible reach in the energy industry with over 100,000 members. Further, they changed the format of the conference to bring me in. Usually, the keynote event is a panel of executives discussing technical and economic issues–but after reading The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, several of the organizers decided that the audience should be educated about the moral and communication issues of the oil and gas industry.
Some key topics I discussed were:
- Reacting to the conversation vs. reframing the conversation (Arguing to 0 vs. Arguing to 100).
- The anti-impact moral framework vs. the pro-human moral framework.
- The moral case for fossil fuels.
- Becoming a thought leading individual, company, and industry.
The audience reacted very enthusiastically (contradicting the myth that engineers are low -emotion!) and when I looked at my LinkedIn messages later that day I saw this: “Alex. I have to say, that presentation at the HFTC today was amazing. I ordered your book this morning. Cheers!”
From @Kelsieschmelsie via Instagram:
“I love the site of an expanding city. Innovation and production are the anchor of the American dream. We raise our standard of living by working together to create and build new and exciting projects and technologies, so we can learn and grow exponentially. I am so appreciative of the mental thought and work that went behind creating a world where I can enjoy and learn and not just survive.I am excited to be apart of this age, and examine the changes and growth of an ever expanding city. @alexepstein22 Thank you for being the voice of the human mind.”
“I wanted to personally let you know how much I enjoyed your presentation during the Energy Summit in Fresno on Wednesday! You are a very eloquent speaker with a sincere passion for educating people on the real issues involving energy. I myself am a Food and Energy Entrepreneur and I have been pioneering innovative solutions for the inevitable crisis at hand. I loved your talk and all of the information you shared.”
– Victoria after Fresno EDC presentation on 1/18
“My colleagues and I enjoyed and benefited from listening to Alex’s speech at the Fresno County Energy Summit yesterday. He delivered thought-provoking content persuasively, inspiring the attendees to think about energy issues clearly using the right process and standard of value.”
– Jonathan after Fresno EDC presentation on 1/18