Back in 1940, the founders of IADC sought to build a firmer foundation for the drilling industry by defining the Association’s original 10 aims. Those aims were guided by the understanding that this “firmer foundation” would require contributions from us all toward varying collective efforts.
Over 80 years later, the result is the Member-led organization that gives voice to the industry and assists the people within it however they need it to be.
Upcoming IADC Activities for 2022
With 2022 getting underway, IADC is preparing to continue many of the initiatives that began humbly as a few people gathered together to find the available solutions to the problems of the times. These have grown slowly into the good work involved for the many regular, long-standing conferences, committee meetings, and chapter events that the industry marks on their calendars.
Involvement in Committees
One of the simplest ways to get involved is to join 1 of 18 Committees that address the always-evolving complexities of the drilling industry. Committees are foundational to IADC as they differentiate across the various special interest groups in our very technical industry.
Committee members participate on Planning Committees for the various oil & gas conferences like IADC/SPE International Drilling Conference, collaborate within working groups on establishing industry-wide standardization like DDR-Plus, and competency programs like the recently launched Subsea Competence Assessment Program (to name a few).
With as big as the industry feels sometimes and as many members as IADC has, it’s important to remember a few things this year as you draw up your professional goals for 2022:
Start Off Simply
Not everyone knows exactly what Committee, Chapter, or Conference they’d like to help out with. Don Caffey, Training & Development Manager at Latshaw Drilling, didn’t know what he wanted to do. He just wanted to do something.
Since that 1st phone call 13 years ago, Caffey’s leveraged his professional experience to volunteer his time to IADC’s RigPass and competency programs to make them the best they can be. He even was part of the advisory panel that developed RigPass To Go. The training course was had pre-packaged, facilitator-based content that allowed companies to minimize cost in lieu of spending resources building their own custom course.
Solutions like these make provide the industry the tools they need to stay adaptable and resilient.
After Caffey pivoted his career into the industry’s HSE space after 15 years in law enforcement, he was able to grow resume in ways he probably hadn’t considered when he first decided to get into the training safety, like adding “adjunct professor for a state university” for a few semesters, teaching Advanced Field Applications in Petroleum Safety to the next generation of industry professionals.
It’s no secret that being a proactive IADC Member can accelerate your professional development. Members get access to the resources, networking opportunities, and industry events that have kept this industry innovating and improving for the past 80+ years.
Coffey’s success was due, in part, to his decision to reach out to those with more industry experience. This can be helpful if you are pivoting into the industry or starting out in a career, which leads to another crucial recommendation on getting involved.
Connect with Other Members
Grace Hurley, Product Marketing Manager at Nabors Industries did not start out in the oil & gas industry. Having bounced around a few jobs in Wealth Management, Staffing & Recruiting, Industrial Distribution right after college, Hurley joined Nabor Industries in spring 2019. has recently gotten involved with IADC’s Young Professionals (YP) Committee as Co-Chair:
We’re excited to have Hurley on the YP Committee as she continues to chart how she wants her career in oil and gas to grow and blossom. The important thing, though, is that Hurley’s open to keeping the dialogue going with herself and (most importantly) others. This leads to the reason why cross-company conversations is important for the drilling industry.
Share Insights Across the Industry
There are many reasons to attend the many IADC committee meetings, technical conferences, chapter events. IADC was founded on the tenets of collaborative deliberation and collective action.
Derek Hibbard, Global Head HSSEQ Compliance and Performance Improvement at Seadrill, has participated in or led various IADC committees for the past 15 years. He currently sits as the current Chair of the HSE Committee:
After his long-standing participation and contributions to the committee and willingness to stayed engaged with the Advanced Rig Technology, leadership opportunities opened up to Assaad that allowed him to grow.
We all know that there are many benefits to being a member of a professional business association.
Make the Industry What You Want It to Be
As an IADC member, you have the opportunity to engage in a variety of professional development opportunities, including networking with business professionals from other companies, volunteering for leadership positions within the association, and attending meetings and conferences.
A similar thing happened 3 years ago to former YP Committee Co-Chair, Garrett Reinert, Operations Superintendent at Valaris, after having been in the industry since 2013:
Reinert’s said “Yes” to a lot of invitations, joining every committee he could join and attending all of the events that her could make. Because, Reinert didn’t simply think of it as “professional networking” but more like an additional piece to his chosen career, engaging with like-minded individuals.
“Continuous improvement” is not just a mantra that goes on trade show banners. With each rotation of the drill stem; with each cutting from the latest tungsten carbide drill bit; with each ounce of the newest drilling mud recipe with the best-balanced polymer additives, IADC Members are working to make themselves and their companies better.
What Other Members are Saying about Their IADC Involvement
