December 2017 Vol. 72 No. 12
Editor's Log
Past, Present And Future: New Start For Oildom Publishing
by Robert Carpenter, Editor-In-Chief
It’s been a momentous year for the company formally known as Oildom Publishing. But as it fades into the annuls of its historic past, the company’s progeny are moving forward with what promises to be an exciting and equally successful future.
Third-generation owner Oliver Klinger left active involvement in the company on May 1 with the execution of the formal sale of Oildom Publishing to Gulf Publishing. Ollie is still serving as a consultant for two years, sharing valuable information and advice with us as needed.
But as significant as the transition to new ownership has been, personnel changes represent an equally significant impact – and opportunity.
Ollie’s successor as publisher is Brian Nessen, another long-term media professional. He will manage a group that includes Underground Construction, Pipeline & Gas Journal, Pipeline News, Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition and Pipeline Opportunities Conference – basically the old Oildom group.
Brian brings more than 25 years of management, sales and marketing experience in business-to-business media and trade shows in oil and gas, power generation, chemical processing and automotive markets. His expertise and insight are a welcome addition to all our products. Already, his influence is being felt in a positive manner.
It was 22-years ago this month, when then publisher Ollie Klinger and I hired Jeff Share as the new editor for Pipeline & Gas Journal. He came to us from a long-term newspaper background and had recently just finished an industry book, The Oil Makers. Also hired at the same time was another respected industry veteran, Rita Tubb, who primarily worked with Pipeline & Gas Journal, but also contributed to Underground
Construction as well.
Age catches us all. Rita retired a year ago, now it is Jeff’s turn to retire this month. Together, they were instrumental in breathing new life into Pipeline & Gas Journal, making it the number one publication in the oil and gas pipeline market – by any metric, no matter what pretenders would have you think. But now it’s time to move forward with new direction, vision and sense of purpose.
The new Pipeline & Gas Journal Editor is Joe Hollier. He joins us with a wealth of experience that will guide the magazine through the complicated world of energy pipelines. Joe has served as manager of corporate communications for three major energy companies: Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, Kinder Morgan and El Paso. Before that, he worked in front of and behind the news cameras for NBC, CBS and Fox affiliate stations in Houston. Joe is already settling in and fits well with our personnel and corporate culture.
Replacing Rita as executive editor is Jeff Awalt. He started his career writing for several newspapers, moved over to the Associated Press, and spent time in the corporate media relations field. He is an excellent writer and I fully anticipate that he going to become a major editorial force on both the Underground Construction and Pipeline & Gas Journal editorial teams.
In addition to the magazines, our major trade events, Underground Construction Technology International Conference & Exhibition and Pipeline Opportunities Conference are also going through changes.
First up is UCT 2018 New Orleans which will be held Jan. 30 – Feb. 1. We’re very excited to be coming back to the Crescent City for the first time since 1996. It’s not that we haven’t been interested in returning, but New Orleans is one of the top three destination cities in the country, and finding the right dates has been a challenge.
Attendees will be seeing both subtle and obvious changes at UCT. With new ownership, we’re now able to draw upon a wealth of resources in the trade show markets that will allow us to steadily grow and improve the event.
It’s been a wild couple of years for Oildom. Much has happened and we’re adjusting to many staff and cultural changes. But as the Oildom name fades and we adapt to our new home, I’m convinced that the timing for all was perfect. In the publishing business, success comes with the right products, right team and right vision.
Our past has been one of success and industry involvement. We’re on course to continue that legacy and achieve even greater accomplishments in the future.
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