There is a growing, if cautious optimism as we enter March.  The rig count is growing, slow but steady.  Oil & gas prices are rising.  Our battered industry is seeing a glimmer of hope.  There is a pent-up desire to get out and interact with people.  I don’t think that we will take this social interaction for granted for some time.  Our chili cook-off was a good example of this.  People came out and had a good time.  Going forward we will have a mix of virtual and in-person events.  I certainly understand that everybody’s personal situation is different, and we respect that.  But we are a social industry, and it is important to have social and professional interaction.  Come and join us when you are ready!

March is DBITS month!  This stands for the Drill Bit Industry Technical Steering committee.  We are organizing this to discuss and address the issues in this important segment of the industry.  Andrew Poor and Matt Bose are helping to organize.  We expect this to consist of Operators, Service Companies and Manufacturers.  We have several bit, oriented activities, so if this is your area of interest this is your month!  I expect to form more of these types of committees for different topics going forward.

As we continue to respond to a constantly changing world, there are changes taking place in our organization as well.  We are reorganizing the board into topical committees.  I mentioned the Drill Bit committee as a first installment.  There are a myriad of topics that can be available and we will be rolling those out as we can.  If you have ideas or would like to join a committee, please let me know.

In other changes John will be phasing out of some his responsibilities as he pursues his career in Digital Marketing.  I want to thank him for his contributions as we weathered a pivotal 2020.  He was instrumental in helping with our transition to the virtual world.  All of the best in the new endeavors!