Czech
Petroleum industry professionals from all around the world met in Prague
by Zuzana Adamson
EVENT NAME
IDW (International Downstream Week) 2018, IDTC (International Downstream Technology & Strategy Conference), and BBTC 2018 (Bottom of the Barrel Technology Conference).
ORGANISERS
Euro Petroleum Consultants (EPC), co-hosted by Unipetrol and Orlen Group. Euro Petroleum Consultants, located in the UK, is a leading independent consulting company with worldwide experience in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.
EVENT DATES
May 22-25, 2018
NUMBER of PARTICIPANTS
350
EVENT VENUE
Hotel Marriott Prague, gala dinners hosted by The Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle and The U Pavouka Medieval Tavern
EVENT DESCRIPTION
This well-known and long-established event is a platform for all parties involved in the petrochemical industry and was created to review current challenges, exchange opinions on the industry’s prospects, and discuss partnership opportunities.
Ivan Soucek, Director of the Association of Chemical Industry of the Czech Republic, explained that the event, “is rotating in European destinations, and returned to Prague after ten years, as Prague was the place for the International Downstream Week in 2008.” Last year, Dubrovnik hosted IDW. This year’s delegates were pleased, as Prague is a beautiful city for people coming from South Korea, France, UK, USA, China, Russia and elsewhere – delegates came from about 40 countries in all.
On the first two days of a very focused and informative conference, the first conference, IDTC, introduced papers from representatives of influential companies, while the final two days were for BBTC. To help attendees learn more about products from the industry, the organisers prepared an educational game. The organisers split the delegates into groups named after modes of transport such as cars, motorcycles, trains, planes, and so on.
As MICE CEE representative, I attended the event and found myself in a “boat” group. Each group had 10 minutes with one exhibitor. Rotating among the exhibitors, we collected labels – sometimes there were questions to answer, sometimes a presentation of the company to hear, and then we were supposed to respond to questions and talk to exhibitors.
Once finished, both exhibitors and groups had to determinate the best group and the best exhibitor. It was fun and at the same time, an excellent way to introduce ourselves to each other and make connections for future business cooperation.
The delegates enjoyed Prague and the gala dinner at the Lobkowicz Palace at the Prague Castle.
