OTC: from the Astrodome to lockdown

Very sadly, and under anything but normal circumstances, this is clearly not the case this year. Balmoral has been part of OTC since its inception 50 years ago. Whether that was our chairman and colleagues attending the very first shows, to us occupying booth space in the old Astrodome, through to our participation on the UK Pavilion at the NRG Center in recent times, OTC has played a key role in the growth of our company.

Many long-term connections and collaborations were initiated in the sprawling halls of the exhibitions and conference, which, at its peak, attracted around 110,000 visitors during the four-day event.

Similarly, the networking opportunities surrounding the exhibition and conference are legend. Here, also, fruitful business contacts and friendships are made and strengthened.

For 2020, though, this has all changed. Although we are communicating daily with our clients around the world via the latest tech, nothing quite beats the experience of face to face meetings. How long will it be until we ‘press the flesh’ again, if ever?

This year we planned to introduce a new white paper on bend stiffener design methodology and update the market on our latest distributed buoyancy clamping technology. Not to mention the development of our very exciting patented cable protection systems for fixed and floating offshore wind farms.

However, like everyone else, we can only do this remotely for the time being. That doesn’t stop us planning for a return to OTC in 2021 though and we look forward to seeing you there, if not before.

In the meantime, we are very much open for business. If you had planned to visit us on the showfloor at OTC, or not, we would be pleased to hear from you – whichever channel you use.