Agenda Snapshot

Tuesday, September 4, 2012
6:00pm - 7:30pm – Future Leader Reception (invitation only)

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
8:00am - 4:00pm – Future Leader Working Session (invitation only)
10:00am - 6:00pm – Attendee Registration
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Welcome Cocktail Reception

Thursday, September 6, 2012
8:00 am – 5:00pm – Conference Day 1
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – Cocktail Reception
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm – Dinner, ECC Achievement Award Presentation and Dessert Reception

Friday, September 7, 2012
8:00 am – 3:00pm – Conference Day 2

Optional Events to be announced

Saturday, September 8, 2012
8:00am – 1:00pm ECC Golf Tournament

Optional Sessions and Events to be announced

Conference Sessions

Plenary Session 1: Geopolitical Shifts – Hazards Hidden Below the Surf

moderated by Elias Kerzabi, Eli Lilly

Many companies are finding that their ability to understand the dynamics of the political and regulatory landscape is vital to delivering successful projects. The uncertainty caused by potential geopolitical flux not only pervades discussions in the business planning process; it can trigger risks at every aspect of project execution.  Devoting the time and resources for broad due diligence, a  sound planning phase that considers potential changing tides, and finally vigilance during execution are critical to a successful project.

This plenary session will present both an owner’s and a contractor’s perspective of geopolitical risks that can threaten project success, examine strategies for mitigation and draw on some real world case-studies of success and failure.

Plenary Session 2: Increasing Project Complexity

moderated by Larry East, Albemarle

The complexity of our projects continue to grow due to the many challenges we face as defined in our conference theme.  In addition to these challenges we also face the market imposed requirements for speed of development and execution.  As our businesses grow and expand across the globe we find ourselves tackling projects with complexity never before encountered and in locations we have never before entered.  Success requires us to be decisive and agile – quick to make decisions to progress our projects with agility to adjust on the fly.  Speed to market drives the behavior of the owner and contractors respond with leveraged capabilities of the technical community across the globe.  At the same time we are challenged more and more with requirements for flawless execution even as our complexity grows and speed to market increases.

Plenary Session 3: Managing the Multi-Generational Workforce

moderated by Judd Kuehn, Chevron

In today’s workplace we are faced with a dynamic issue of managing people from as many as 4 different generations at once.  Today we have Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and even a few Generation Z (Net Gen) workers in our offices.  Each of these generations has unique strengths and ways of approaching their work.  Understanding these differences and how they can be perceived as weaknesses by other generations is key to making our workplace more productive.  This Plenary session will explore some of these differences and how we can bridge the gap between the generational perceptions.

Breakout Sessions
Global Mega Trends…moderated by Tom Brookins, The Dow Chemical Company
The consolidated patterns of social, cultural, economic, and environmental activity driven by the increase in world population - will change the way people live and the products and services they demand. The increasing demand for energy and feedstocks in a world of ever reducing resources is one of the most important challenges we continue to face going forward. What new capacities and capabilities will the capital project industry need to deliver to be able to meet the challenge?

Shale Resources – Managing a Boom…moderated by John Nobles, Burns & McDonnell
The development of Shale Resources is a game changer for our industry. Wall Street, Overseas Investors, New Companies are all pushing for rapid success. A panel of early Industry Leaders will discuss their response to this pressure to keep their projects safe, reliable, and responsible and meet the business needs in key areas of site development, community relations, safety standards, and personnel growth and development.

Cool Projects…moderated by The ECC Future Leaders, led by Bao Vang, Chevron
Engineering and construction projects are benefiting from increased capital spend through advancements in technology and execution techniques. These projects aim to highlight the innovative solutions used to overcome challenging yet rewarding project environments.

Contracting Risk Management…moderated by Samar Walther, ConocoPhillips
The Capital Project Contracting Community continue to struggle with advanced risk identification & contractual mitigation solutions. We believe it is possible and highly desirable that contractual risks be identified early in the FEL process and addressed. Since not all risks are created equal, how do we take a balanced approach to minimize their impact upon the project, contractor community, owner and the contract? Our journey will begin by recognizing the common risks, how these risks are addressed in the contract and conclude with rendering potential solutions.

Capital Projects as a Career – Handling the Demands...facilitated by Gary Berman, WorleyParsons
Attend a limited-seating roundtable working session with 80 to 100 of your fellow attendees to discuss the demands of our chosen profession led by a trained facilitator. Discussions will touch on stress and time management, balancing work and life issues, team-building and creating a work environment for innovation and increasing our focus while maintaining our health and quality of life. Join your fellow owners, contractors and suppliers, representing all generations and experience, in sharing your coping mechanisms for dealing with our demanding jobs. If your takeaway is only one new tactic to increase the quality of your life while making you more efficient in the workplace, this session will have been hugely successful. Be sure to sign up when you register as attendance will be strictly controlled.

Renewable Energy – It Ain’t Easy Being Green …moderated by Allison Drobniak, Wood Group Mustang
Both challenges and opportunities abound for the new emerging market sectors that we call renewable energy. Is the world prepared to handle the carbon impacts, water intensity issues and other demands on the supply chain? Are these really game changers when it comes to energy security? Join us for discussion around what a viable future looks like for renewable energy – is there really hope for a diversified global energy world beyond traditional fossil fuel?

Cyber Security…We are Under Attack! … led by Shannon Johnson, HIMA Americas
Cyber threats are all around you. Join us to learn how you are vulnerable, what’s at stake for your projects, and what you can do to prevent it.

Making Flawless Safety Performance an Achievable Goal…presented by Ira Hanan, ExxonMobil
Managing a large-scale, multi-disciplinary project team with diverse personalities and cultures certainly has its share of coordination and execution challenges. Nowhere can this be more so than in the safety arena, where 100% acceptance and adoption of the safety plan is mandatory for every team member. Through this presentation you will learn 4 simple principals and associated systems that can be implemented immediately on your project to create a safety culture which everyone will embrace. These systems have been successful on numerous projects with outstanding results. Implementing these principals can also provide the added benefit of improving overall team performance and creating an environment where everyone truly enjoys coming to work each and every day.

Culture Management…moderated by Manuel Junco, WorleyParsons
The ability to work cross-culturally is an essential success factor for companies competing in the global industry. Learn about the challenges we face while working in various countries, and the importance of being a successful multicultural manager.

Capital Projects Groups - What Have We Learned? …moderated by John Nobles, Burns & McDonnell
A strong owner capital projects group is key to project success. The organization and depth of these owner groups have significant variation and are frequently changing to meet rapid growth (or shrinking) in project portfolios. Leaders of these groups will discuss their long-term viewpoints and learnings on organizational options (i.e. centralize/decentralize) and development of individuals.