Auctioneer Alan Aldridge of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & son holds the violin of Wallace Hartley, the instrument he played as the band leader of the Titanic, on the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the ship, April 15, 2013 in Devizes, England.
All too often, energy conferences and events feel as old as the industry itself – except with smart phones and PowerPoint slides. The standard format can leave participants scanning a room full of people glued to their phones or tablets, while a speaker meanders through a slide presentation, but New York Energy Week is looking to change all that.
“Most events are run by people as old as the industry, folks embedded in oil and gas. We’re looking to flip these events on their head,” Advent Integrated’s Adam Smith recently told Breaking Energy.
Smith’s firm deals with energy and energy-related issues in a marketing capacity and handled much of the messaging for New York Energy week, including building the website. Advent Integrated is hosting a branding and marketing workshop before the Energy Data Jam on June 26th at Google’s Manhattan office.
“[NYEW is] far more collaborative and social, most of the people coming to the meetings are students, entrepreneurs, people with startups, it’s more grassroots and innovative than any other recent energy events,” said Smith.
The goal is to combine the best aspects of traditional energy production and delivery with new sources, approaches and ideas. “Meshing old energy with new energy offers enormous potential. Sometimes the old model is like the Titanic, it’s hard to turn quickly,” he said speaking about the traditional utility company business model.
“The other side is that [Hurricane] Sandy could have been a tipping point that woke consumers up to what’s going on with the utilities providing their power. Choice is now the theme. Utilities see ‘sleeping customers’ who just pay bills and don’t ask questions, but now they [rate payers] want to engage more with power providers and help choose how their energy is generated and delivered,” Smith said.
“Companies are also realizing it’s no longer just weather and market movements that impact their business, but the demand side as well,” he added.
Advent Integrated is also a NYEW founding sponsor, which is unusual for an energy event. “There has never been a branding and marketing sponsor behind an energy event, but this is bringing energy into the modern age.”
“It’s fun to be a part of the shift within this industry and that’s our role with clients,” said Smith.
