Friday, August 12- The show is on the road! On this episode, Yasmin Massey, Guidry Sue, Monique Roberts, Heather Kleinpeter, Benton Thell Gillis, Joe Klimas, Lauren Tipton, Chris Krin, Erin McKay, and Todd Cash all join the show to share about their experiences. This episode focuses on the Louisiana Gas Association Pipeline Safety Conference and the value it brings to the industry.
Quick Links:
James Cross on Linkedin
Jim Schauer on Linkedin
Episode Transcript
[0:00] [music]
Jim Schauer: [0:25] James, we’ve transitioned once again back out to the main room.
James Cross: [0:29] We’ve moved a lot this week already.
Jim: [0:32] I like it, though.
James: [0:33] We’re not even 24 hours in.
Jim: [0:35] We are not, we’re fluid and dynamic. move it around. We met our new friend from Entergy, Yasmin.
Yasmin Massey: [0:42] That’s me.
Jim: [0:43] I was about to say, Yasmin.
James: [0:45] You stole her whole intro.
Jim: [0:47] I’m sorry.
Yasmin: [0:48] You can put the accent on the I, Yasmin.
Jim: [0:51] Wait, Yasmin?
Yasmin: [0:52] Exactly.
Jim: [0:53] Please introduce yourself to the audience.
Yasmin: [0:55] I’m Yasmin. I’ve been with Entergy now for a year. Prior to that I was in piping engineering with oil and gas.
Jim: [1:04] You’re an engineer by training?
Yasmin: [1:06] Yes.
Jim: [1:06] Where’d you go to school?
Yasmin: [1:07] University of Alaska?
James: [1:09] Oh, hold on.
Jim: [1:11] Wait a minute.
James: [1:12] Let’s unpack that a little.
Jim: [1:13] Yes, slow up.
James: [1:15] How did you end up here and how do you end up in Alaska?
Yasmin: [1:18] Alaska was just like a little adventure. I grew up in Florida and then I just wanted something different.
Jim: [1:25] I have a connection on the dots. Keep going, keep going.
Yasmin: [1:28] I was up there and we had economic crisis down here. It was safe up there with the oil industry cushioning everything. I stayed there, finish school started my career and then my sister was living here. I decided about four years ago it was time to move.
[1:50] Getting out of Alaska is difficult because it’s so far away and the logistics once you pull that band aid off.
Jim: [1:59] This is interesting because you mentioned two things. Florida, West Palm Beach, where were you at?
Yasmin: [2:04] Destin.
Jim: [2:05] Up in the Panhandle and my wife lineage is from the Klinken tribe and she is in the Raven clan. Her tribe is from the Alaska area. She’s a generation away from that, but very close to it. She now resides in Florida. She’s been in the industry too. Long time.
James: [2:27] What a stretch.
Jim: [2:28] Yes.
James: [2:28] All right. Have you been the LGA before?
Yasmin: [2:32] Yes, I attended in November 2021.
James: [2:39] How do you feel about the association, our industry as a whole? You like it here is it home?
Yasmin: [2:46] Yes, I like it, It’s a good vibe. Everyone remembers each other. I noticed that you and…
James: [2:54] This guy.
Yasmin: [2:55] Yes.
[2:55] [crosstalk]
Yasmin: [2:55] Its a better family feel.
Jim: [2:58] I know.
James: [2:58] This is what we do.
Jim: [3:01] This is a our family. Everybody here, this is our family. Extended, but…
James: [3:06] It’s really cool. Go ahead.
Jim: [3:10] No, go ahead.
James: [3:11] We’re new at this, too. We’ve got people everywhere. Is this your first time out this year at a conference, or since the pandemic?
Yasmin: [3:26] I attended AGA in May, but that was a little different, it wasn’t the vendor stuff.
James: [3:33] That’s just for here.
Jim: [3:35] Oh, you were here for that. Did you go over to the House of Blues, then, and do the thing?
Yasmin: [3:38] I did not.
Jim: [3:39] That was good. That was crazy.
James: [3:40] Good choices.
James: [3:40] Jimmy, you were here for that, weren’t you?
Jim: [3:42] I was here for that. I sit on the LNG committee.
James: [3:45] You probably met him there for the first time and didn’t even know it.
Jim: [3:48] I would have…
Yasmin: [3:49] He would have remembered Yasmin.
Jim: [3:51] Yeah, Yasmin.
James: [3:52] That’s true. We will never forget that. Yasmin, it’s been awesome. Thank you for joining us.
Yasmin: [3:56] Thank you.
James: [3:57] Thank you so much.
Jim: [3:56] Thank you for keeping our systems safe…
James: [3:58] Absolutely.
Jim: [3:59] with re‑engineering and putting new pipes in and everything. Thank you. It’s great to call you our friend.
James: [4:05] We’ll be right back.
Jim: [4:09] Lead us in, James, please.
James: [4:10] We are back.
Jim: [4:12] You guys have the connection here.
James: [4:12] We are back, and we have a very special guest. I’ve heard about this person. It’s almost like a legend at this point.
[4:23] I’ve been in the industry for almost six years. My father‑in‑law, his name’s Don Embry, he worked for Targa for a number of years and was part of that OQ program over there. I have no clue what that was.
Jim: [4:41] Back then.
James: [4:42] I’m sure he told me stories upon stories about things I had no clue about, and I just nodded. Fast‑forward, I joined the industry.
Jim: [4:52] Energy Worldnet.
James: [4:53] He asked me what I do, and I started telling him about it. He’s like, “You know that’s what I do, right?”
James: [5:02] One thing leads to another, and, sure enough, I’m in the industry where he left. I tell him I’m going to LGA, and he said, “I hope that you get to see my good friend Sue Guidry from Targa.”
[5:15] Today is the first time I got to meet her. We talked on email a little bit, everybody brokered it all, and then y’all know each other before I did.
Jim: [5:23] There’s a little email going on.
Sue: [5:25] [laughs]
Jim: [5:25] They’re like, we have to meet this Sue Guidry from…
Jim: [5:28] Targa. She’s going to be an LGA. She’s a VIP. They’re going back and forth, back and forth.
James: [5:33] VIP, you can tell by the crown.
Jim: [5:34] Finally, I chimed in. I’m like, “Wait a minute, guys. Sue and I are on a hug basis.”
Jim: [5:38] Every year, when we see each other at an event, we give a hug.
Sue: [5:41] Definitely.
Jim: [5:42] We’ve known each other for years, back to the Royal Sonesta days.
Sue: [5:45] The Royal Sonesta days, yes.
James: [5:47] Never speak of it again.
Jim: [5:49] I said, “We are going to see Sue and connect a lot of dots.”
James: [5:53] Love it.
Jim: [5:53] This is the most before here.
James: [5:54] It really was…
Jim: [5:55] This is the family lineage. I love that.
James: [5:57] and she hugged me.
Sue: [5:59] Oh, my God, his father‑in‑law, I love Don Embry. We work together. We actually built Targa’s OQ program.
Jim: [6:04] Together?
Sue: [6:04] Together. We were on the committee that did it. There were about five of us and we built the OQ program.
[6:12] Don was just so much fun to be around. Him and Cal rang, and a whole bunch of other people. They’re great people.
James: [6:19] I’ve heard all these names.
Sue: [6:21] I was very fortunate. They mentored me. Of course, if you ask them, they’ll say that I bullied them. It’s whatever.
Jim: [6:29] Knowing Sue, when she says I may have bullied them, she may have coerced them a little bit.
Jim: [6:35] Is that on brand? Is that on brand for Sue?
Sue: [6:39] Yeah. Now, with the LGA. As the current president of the LGA.
Jim: [6:46] You are current? Or incoming?
Sue: [6:49] No, I am current.
James: [6:50] You’re current.
Sue: [6:50] I became president last October, in October of 2021.
[6:55] We had a conference here in November. I said, “You know, this is so off‑beat for us because we don’t do it in November.” Because of COVID, it changed the nature of things.
[7:07] We did a mini conference here. Maybe 300 people showed up. As we ended the conference, Steven Giambrone, with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, said, “Hey, what can we do to make it better next year?”
[7:21] I said, “We can start now,” and we did. I am so thrilled because the LGA is just a great organization [inaudible] .
[7:31] The people that I work with, which I’m the only woman on the board right now. We’ve had more women in the past but right now I’m the only woman.
[7:40] Most of the board members have said, “We don’t have a problem with you being president. We’re used to taking orders from a woman.” [laughs] It’s fine.
[7:49] As we came into this and they made me the president, the guys would all say Madam President. I said, “I don’t like that term.” I said, “Can you just shorten it to Her Royal Highness?” Hence the crown.
James: [8:03] Now it all comes together.
Sue: [8:06] It all makes sense now. When we started planning the conference, one of the ladies with the Tapman Group, who is our management agency for the LGA.
Jim: [8:15] They do a fantastic job.
Sue: [8:16] They do an awesome job.
Jim: [8:17] Friends of the show.
Sue: [8:19] David’s a great guy.
Jim: [8:21] Yes.
Sue: [8:22] His staff, Jamie Bling.
James: [8:24] I was going to say, the real people do.
Jim: [8:27] Jamie.
Sue: [8:26] Jamie Bling, Lauren Gaffin, Jamie Freeman, and they have been awesome. I will tell you, if I ask a stupid question, they will come back and they say, “We can make that happen.” It’s awesome. They’re great to work with.
Jim: [8:42] Can I say it, this will play with coffee working with Jamie Bling?
Sue: [8:46] Yeah.
Jim: [8:46] Jamie was like, “What do you mean?” I’m like, “We just need a little bit of space.” She’s like, “You got your space, grab it there, we’ll give you tables.” She makes Boom, boom, boom.
James: [8:54] She was awesome.
Sue: [8:56] They keep us on track. They keep us moving in the right direction and the LGA board. This year, I’m excited we’ve got new members in the board. We’re actually seeing a couple of old members return to the board.
James: [9:13] That’s great.
Sue: [9:13] From different companies, and it’s been great, and it’s always so much fun because I get to meeting and I’m going to people saying “Hi, I’m Sue Guidry, I’m the president. Who are you?” They go, “Oh, I’m the new board member from wherever.”
James: [9:26] That’s great.
Sue: [9:27] Great. We encourage people to get involved with our committee and our education committee, especially because the mission of the LGA is training and education. We have a facility on the state police grounds in Zachary.
Jim: [9:44] Known as GASTEC?
Sue: [9:46] Known as GASTEC.
Jim: [9:46] I’ve heard about it.
James: [9:47] We have.
Jim: [9:48] I know a guy that keeps talking about it several times.
Sue: [9:52] We are so excited that Rusty Burrows is our education committee chair. I have not seen Rusty here.
Jim: [9:59] I have not either.
Sue: [10:01] I don’t know if he’s here. We are working hard to get at least one to two trainings in this year, but we are wanting to beat that up toward next year.
[10:11] At the beginning of the year, the curriculums comes out and we’re able to sign up and get those trainings that they need, the education that they wanted.
James: [10:19] We want to be part of that too, for sure. In any way, we can help.
Sue: [10:25] We are also hoping that, as that training progresses, we will be able to offer the training facility to come, to say, “Hey, you’ve got some hands‑on training stuff that we can bring to our employees.”
James: [10:38] Absolutely.
Sue: [10:39] Would we able to rent that facility or if you’re an LGA member, and we want to encourage the people to become members, of course and be able to have use of those facilities, the training, the conference, everything.
Jim: [10:52] Just to give our audience a little bit of an idea, there’s like a little mini‑village there that embodies homes with. People can work on live systems, sort of work in a controlled environment…
Sue: [11:03] In a controlled environment.
Jim: [11:05] control the pipes in the ground. It’s a wonderful event.
Sue: [11:09] Our deal is that we’re going to work first with the gas side, with the gas distribution, gas transmission. We are already soliciting our transmission members for old equipment, processors, things that we can use on the liquid side.
[11:26] We’ve even had some interest from the state police saying, “Hey, can we…
James: [11:30] Can we train with you?”
Sue: [11:32] Can we go with you and even our firefighters? To say, let’s simulate a propane release and how we’re going to handle it.” We’re like, “Yes. Let’s do these things.”
James: [11:43] I love that. Its cool.
Sue: [11:45] This energy is there with everything.
Jim: [11:47] It’s wonderful.
Sue: [11:48] It’s awesome. We’re hoping that maybe it’ll be after my reign is over.
James: [11:53] Reign.
Sue: [11:54] At least we’re working towards…Well, if you’re a queen, you have to have a…
James: [11:58] I know.
James: [11:59] I love that.
Sue: [12:02] I do have the wave.
James: [12:04] We’re going to have to have you come back on. I will tell you. This is my first time at an LGA event. I’ve tried really hard to get here. He’s talked my ear off about them.
Jim: [12:13] For years.
James: [12:14] I will tell you. I fell in love with it already. I’m in here 24 hours, and I love everything about it.
Sue: [12:21] I have to tell you. This is so much above what we even thought we would get for this year.
James: [12:28] So great.
Sue: [12:28] We are so excited.
James: [12:30] We need to have you on within your reign before your reign is over. We would love to have you on the show to talk about some of the initiatives going on an LGA…
Sue: [12:40] I would love to do it.
James: [12:41] and talk a little bit more depth about them because we can talk all day.
Sue: [12:45] My problem is, yes, you’re going to have a hard time shutting me up.
Jim: [12:48] Not you, Sue. Not you.
James: [12:49] That doesn’t seem right. Sue, it’s been awesome. Thank you so much for everything you do.
Sue: [12:55] Thank you. Of course, tell Don hi for me.
James: [12:57] I will.
Sue: [12:57] Jim, I’m apologizing for my cold hands. It’s freezing in here.
Jim: [13:01] We’re on a hug basis.
Sue: [13:01] That’s it. We are on a hug basis. I would hug you closer, but I have a glass of wine on my hand.
Jim: [13:05] That’s right.
James: [13:06] So considerate. All right. Hey, we’ll be right back.
Jim: [13:08] Thanks. Appreciate it. We’ll be right back.
James: [13:09] 1986 I had one.
Monique Roberts: [13:10] Hey, I have a year for you guys.
James: [13:13] Let’s go.
Monique: [13:14] 1996.
Jim: [13:15] I remember it well.
Monique: [13:16] 1996 was the year that the Louisiana Pipeliners Association was founded.
James: [13:21] She got us on track.
Jim: [13:22] No, wait a minute now, Monique. Monique Roberts, please introduce yourself to the audience.
Monique: [13:27] Will do.
James: [13:27] Please. One thing at a time.
Monique: [13:29] Hi. My name is Monique Roberts and I’m here representing the Louisiana Pipeliners Association tonight. We’re sponsoring the reception tonight because we are #PartnersInPipelineSafetyWithLGA. I’m, actually, also the first recipient of the Louisiana Pipeliners Scholarship 25 years ago.
Jim: [13:51] I’m sorry, how many?
Monique: [13:53] 25 years ago, that was at our inception. My father…
James: [13:59] You won that when you were five?
Monique: [14:00] Exactly.
James: [14:01] That was a Jim joke.
Monique: [14:03] Thank you.
James: [14:04] I was surprised that you didn’t pull it.
Monique: [14:07] Young and beautiful.
Jim: [14:07] I was ready to pull it out.
James: [14:08] It’s one of his favorite things.
Jim: [14:10] I was going to say four but…
Monique: [14:14] Louisiana Pipeliners Association was started, actually, by my dad, Mark Roberts.
James: [14:18] That’s awesome.
Jim: [14:18] Is that right?
Monique: [14:19] I’m a multi‑generational pipeliner. Yeah, you can’t get out.
James: [14:22] I heard that.
Monique: [14:23] The Louisiana pipelines are like mafia. You can’t get out.
James: [14:26] You heard that here first.
Jim: [14:29] We’re friends, aren’t we?
James: [14:30] Yeah. We’re good.
Jim: [14:32] We’re friends.
James: [14:32] We’re good. Are we in on it?
Monique: [14:30] We are. Everybody’s friends.
Jim: [14:32] We’re OK.
Monique: [14:30] There’s a lot of groups of people that work together. We work together a lot with the Louisiana Gas Association. We love working with them. We love partnering with them as well. Louisiana Pipeliners Association, which is louisianapipeliners.org.
Jim: [14:49] I’m sorry, one more time.
Monique: [14:52] Louisianapipeliners.org.
Jim: [14:55] org?
Monique: [14:55] Yes. We’re a nonprofit organization and our main goal is to bolster the economy and Louisiana related to oil and gas pipelines. We do a lot around scholarships actually.
[15:09] We’ve given out over the past 25 years, 1.7 million dollars in scholarships.
Jim: [15:15] That’s intense.
Monique: [15:18] It’s literally the coolest thing we do.
Jim: [15:20] That’s intense.
Monique: [15:20] It is.
James: [15:20] That’s one thing, being involved in a bunch of associations across the US and more. Seeing all those scholarship money that’s raised no matter what.
[15:34] I’m a part of OGA and seeing that money. TGA, LGA, Pipeline, there’s so many. There’s so much money being poured in to these next generation of Natural Gas and Pipeline.
Jim: [15:48] I love the emphasis that we have in our industry about trade schools, the importance of them now, in the past and more importantly in the future. It’s a wonderful thing.
Monique: [16:00] We really want to support the next generation of pipeliners. We also want to make sure that they understand that giving back is very important.
[16:07] That’s some of the questions that we ask all of our interviewees is how they give back and how they volunteer because we all volunteer to be a part of these organizations.
[16:15] You said OGA, Oklahoma actually had the first Pipelines Club and Association.
James: [16:20] be the Tulsa one or Oklahoma as a whole?
Monique: [16:25] I am not going to start in on that…
James: [16:26] I just want to hear about it, the next board meeting.
Jim: [16:33] Let it go.
Monique: [16:34] We do have Pipeliner clubs in Atlanta, you have Rocky Mountains, Appalachian. Of course, Houston is a huge organization as well. I was a part of the Houston Pipelines Association back when I was in college and got those scholarships as well…
James: [16:49] You tell them about the Louisiana stuff?
Monique: [16:51] No, but I cleaned up…
Monique: [16:52] If I beg you’re going to get them all.
James: [16:57] This week, next week she is in Minnesota.
Jim: [17:03] Don’t you know? Thank you for that there scholarship.
James: [17:06] Got them all.
Monique: [17:11] I don’t think I could pass.
James: [17:12] She is still living off of her scholarships.
Jim: [17:14] I would have helped you. We would have gotten it.
James: [17:17] This is how it was sponsored tonight.
Monique: [17:19] Isn’t that cool? Isn’t that really cool? There’s so many great organizations out there, there are bolster the pipeline industry, it’s really cool.
Jim: [17:29] A little tidbit, I am trembling with anticipation because tomorrow, we’re going to have a full segment with you.
Monique: [17:37] Oh gosh.
James: [17:38] Apparently she’s subcontracting it out.
Monique: [17:41] I am, I’m trying to invite people.
James: [17:42] What happens is can I have guests on my show? I don’t know if she even knows that we’re here tomorrow?
Jim: [17:48] No, I think all of a sudden. Do you know how a podcast work?
Monique: [17:53] I don’t want to have to talk the whole ‑‑ I talk so much, literally anyone that knows me knows that I talk so much.
Jim: [18:00] We love that about you. That’s what we love. Somebody that can out talk me. I love situations where I can just go like this. All right, wow.
James: [18:08] Your energy is infectious, we love you. Thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you for this awesome event. All the works you do [inaudible] for our industry.
Monique: [18:19] Absolutely, thank you so much for bolstering our economy and our industry as well. You guys do great job for that. Thank you.
Jim: [18:26] It’s a team effort. Everybody adds to it. We’ll be back.
James: [18:29] [laughs] I’ve never had an audience this close.
James: [18:33] I’m intimidated.
Jim: [18:34] He was right there.
James: [18:38] Let us know how we do.
Jim: [18:40] He is on top of us with our, I’m not going to say our new friend, but our friend.
Heather Kleinpeter: [18:45] Oh, certainly, friend.
James: [18:47] Definitely.
Jim: [18:48] Friend, connected on LinkedIn. We’re just talking about having some political figures that may be running for Governor of Louisiana.
James: [18:57] No big deal.
Jim: [18:58] What was the other one you said?
James: [18:59] What a name drop.
Heather: [19:00] He’s a congressman, Garret Graves.
Heather: [19:03] I can name drop?
James: [19:04] That’s your call.
Jim: [19:05] They’re going to be guests.
James: [19:07] It’s your future, I’m not.
Heather: [19:10] Are you Louisiana residents?
Jim: [19:12] No. West Palm Beach, Florida.
James: [19:14] Unfortunately, no.
Heather: [19:15] Well, we’re all holding hands.
James: [19:16] That’s OK, we are from Texas.
Heather: [19:19] There you go.
James: [19:20] We’re basically neighbors.
Heather: [19:21] Billy Nungesser is definitely running for governor. Is our attorney general who…His name has just escaped me. He’s not going to be happy, but…
James: [19:34] That’s OK.
Jim: [19:35] That’s all right.
James: [19:36] You want to start over?
Heather: [19:38] No.
Jim: [19:38] Heather Kleinpeter. She is a friend of ours, and we’re excited to have her on. Tell a little bit to our audience about your role in your organization, what you do in some of your niches.
Heather: [19:50] Sure.
Jim: [19:51] Wait, that’s a big word for me, niches in the market.
Heather: [19:55] I believe you could speak in much bigger words, I believe in you.
Jim: [19:58] Sometimes.
Heather: [19:59] Niches. I am business development for Vantage Contractors, which does vegetation management, right of way management. We will get out in the marsh and make sure that your platforms are proper and that you’ve got everything you need to be able to have a clear line…
Jim: [20:15] Safe.
James: [20:16] Very cool.
Heather: [20:19] We have a great safety record, by the way.
Jim: [20:22] I’m sure you do.
Heather: [20:24] Definitely the best.
James: [20:24] Love it.
Heather: [20:28] Term I like to use, but that’s what I do. I’m here having an incredible time at this…
James: [20:34] Great event.
Heather: [20:35] conference because it’s been one of the most effective conferences I’ve been to. In terms of decision makers, people I have a hard time meeting with because they have had a little bit of that under restriction. I highly recommend this conference.
James: [20:52] I agree. I’ve been very impressed with it. This is my first one…
Jim: [20:56] His first one. How many have you been to?
Heather: [20:58] My first one at this…
Jim: [21:02] I think this is my 14th or 15th year.
Heather: [21:04] Wow.
Jim: [21:06] I started when I was four.
Jim: [21:07] Watch out, lightning was going to strike me. I agree with you. It really is a great conference, and until you actually get here and embrace it, that’s when you really see the value of it.
Heather: [21:20] That’s absolutely right.
James: [21:21] I’ll tell you, being around these folks, it feels like home. It feels like our industry, and it is, right?
Jim: [21:26] It is.
James: [21:27] You can tell the people here don’t care about state lines, don’t care what role you’re in, don’t care which operator you work for or what it might be. It’s all about a greater cause…
Heather: [21:38] That’s right.
James: [21:39] which is what I really like.
Heather: [21:42] You’re absolutely right, that’s a great point. No one said, “What do you want from me?”
James: [21:47] What are you going to sell me?”
Heather: [21:48] They’re all just like, “How can we connect?” Exactly, “What are you going to sell?” I was telling him, one of my favorite things about being in business development is that I’m not selling anyone. I’m here to say, “What do you need?”
Jim: [22:02] What’s your pain, what’s your problem?”
Heather: [22:04] That’s right. It may not even be what I do.
Jim: [22:05] No, but you may know somebody that does it, and you connect to that.
Heather: [22:08] That’s correct.
Jim: [22:09] Oh, she is…
James: [22:11] That’s his love language.
Jim: [22:13] That is my love language, right there, because it comes back tenfold to you. You help one person out, then all of a sudden people are going to be like, “Heather knows her stuff. She really helped me out.” It comes back.
Heather: [22:24] In our audience, our very close audience for Air Patrol, Thell has been my angel, because I didn’t know people in this industry when I got into it, and through Louisiana Pipeliners I know Thell and I know Shane Crochet, and those guys are just…
James: [22:42] Salt of the earth.
Heather: [22:44] Correct.
Jim: [22:44] Thell and I spent some time out in California together, had a great time and really bonded out there. We have a great friendship, and it’s everlasting.
Heather: [22:57] We should create another California trip to Napa.
Jim: [23:03] Oh, I’ve been there.
Heather: [23:04] Because, you know.
James: [23:05] This episode is sponsored by wine.
Jim: [23:07] I celebrated 11 years sober on July 10th, but I’ve been to more wine tastings, because I have a friend that has a vineyard out there.
Heather: [23:16] Spit it out.
James: [23:17] Wine smelling.
Jim: [23:18] No, I smell it.
Heather: [23:19] It smells great.
Jim: [23:19] People ask me how I can do it. I’m like, “Well, it’s like flowers. You don’t eat flowers, you smell them.” If you get down to it, you can really tell the difference between the wines by smelling.
Heather: [23:28] My cousin is a master sommelier.
Jim: [23:30] Really? In Napa or Sonoma?
Heather: [23:33] No, in Philadelphia. Just a hobby, honestly, but it’s interesting. They go through a lot of…It’s not easy.
Jim: [23:44] No, it’s not.
James: [23:45] We have one on that staff.
James: [23:47] We really do.
Jim: [23:48] Who? Do I know him?
Heather: [23:51] Wait, is it me?
Jim: [23:51] Is he really? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
James: [23:53] Not a master. That’s not his job either, [laughs] just for the record. He does that on his own. [inaudible] .
Heather: [24:01] It’s a hobby, that’s right. For a lot of people, it is a hobby.
James: [24:03] I just like to drink it.
Heather: [24:06] Me too, and it’s hard to find…My cousin took that into candle making, so the scents…
James: [24:12] I used to make candles. Me and my wife had a candle business for about five, six years.
Jim: [24:18] Really?
James: [24:18] We made candles at home.
Heather: [24:20] You see how these things, they bring themselves out. [laughs]
James: [24:21] We sold a lot of candles.
Jim: [24:23] Really?
James: [24:24] Yeah, I got some stories.
Jim: [24:25] That is something I have never…
James: [24:27] We lived in an apartment at the time. You would think of, “Oh, I bet your house smells so good.” When you make every candle, there’s a special smell that smells like nothing and everything, all at once.
Jim: [24:41] Did you become numb to the smells after a while?
James: [24:44] Oh, no. It was the worst.
Heather: [24:45] Comfortably Numb.
James: [24:47] Like you didn’t enjoy it anymore.
Jim: [24:48] Pink Floyd. I see what you did right there.
Heather: [24:51] See what I did?
Jim: [24:53] I caught it.
James: [24:54] We could go on and on, but…
Heather: [24:57] You are all the best.
James: [24:59] Thank you so much for joining us.
Heather: [24:57] Thank you. I had a great time.
Jim: [25:00] Follow her on LinkedIn.
Heather: [25:01] Heather Kleinpeter, Vantage Contractors.
Jim: [25:04] We just connected. She is a great person for the industry. You need to go for the board of directors position in the next year or so here at LGA. Mark my words.
Heather: [25:12] I agree.
Jim: [25:13] I pointed out.
Heather: [25:14] I’ve threatened it already.
Jim: [25:15] Do it. You’re going to be great. We’ll see you.
James: [25:18] We’ll be back.
Jim: [25:18] We are having a LinkedIn session right now. Now, for those…
James: [25:23] Training session.
Jim: [25:23] of us that are training session about tagging properly in LinkedIn which is very important to increase exposure. What’s the other word I’m looking for? Something into the…
James: [25:34] engagement?
Jim: [25:35] Engagement. That’s the word. Industry engagement.
Jim: [25:39] That’s a good morning.
James: [25:41] That’s what we’re trying to do. Oil and gas.
Jim: [25:44] That’s why we are here.
James: [25:45] Our old friend is here who…
Jim: [25:48] We’re new friends. Neo friends.
Thell Gillis: [25:50] We are. Yeah, and we’re…
James: [25:53] We have inside jokes.
Thell: [25:55] We did this at the Royal Sonesta.
Jim: [25:58] We did, years back.
Thell: [26:00] 10 years ago.
Jim: [26:01] We did. That’s when we first started to meet.
Jim: [26:04] Then we reconnected right after COVID out in California at Common Ground Alliance.
James: [26:10] Do you know how many people have sat in Royal Sonesta this week?
Jim: [26:16] Have you been in it yet or not?
Thell: [26:17] This will be my first time.
James: [26:18] They remodeled, right?
Jim: [26:20] No. Did they?
James: [26:21] I thought they did.
Jim: [26:21] I hope not.
James: [26:22] I think they just…
James: [26:26] I hope so.
Jim: [26:28] Maybe after the flood they did. Please introduce yourself to the audience.
James: [26:33] Oh, yeah. We forgot we’re on a podcast.
Thell: [26:35] Thell Gillis, Bar Air Patrol. What does Bar Air Patrol do, Thell? Come on. Give us…
James: [26:44] What’s that all about? Just imagine you met me for the first time.
Jim: [26:44] Tell us.
Thell: [26:45] Gillis: James, Interestingly enough, we do Nationwide Ariel Discovery.
Jim: [26:53] Let’s peel back that on. What does that mean?
James: [26:55] Keep going baby.
Thell: [26:56] All right. We have 45 aircraft across the US. We’re flying for pipelines. The right of ways to look for geo hazards, anomalies…
James: [27:06] dead vegetation.
Thell: [27:07] vegetation management. For example, we fly shell offshore every day because obviously what they don’t want to have occur is a BP incident where a platform gave out a machine on the water. Now they are attributed to an environmental catastrophe.
[27:26] The owner operators are insistent on maintaining the integrity of the infrastructure. We provide that on a daily basis nationwide.
[27:39] I have 45 aircrafts. I have 82 pilots. They’re salaried, licensed, just like me, same benefits. Then what differentiates us is we maintain a 135 Charter certificate with the FAA. I have the same safety standards that American, Delta, United and Southwest. I could charge you to fly on my aircraft, but we don’t.
Jim: [28:04] I got you, but…
James: [28:05] We get to ride for free though?
Thell: [28:08] I always have a pilot and an observer. There’s a method to that madness.
[28:12] If you think about an independent operator, so somebody like an or operator, that hires one guy that flies a Cessna 182, and he’s on his own, you’re flying, at a point perpendicular to the right of away. He’s got a tablet, a camera, and an iPhone, but wait a minute…
James: [28:32] He’s flying a plane.
Thell: [28:33] He’s flying a plane at 500 feet at 125 knots. He’s got a tailwind, he’s flying at 135. You’ve got a multitasking. This is not a safe environment.
[28:44] We always have a pilot and an observer in every aircraft.
Jim: [28:47] In other words, you take safety all the way through.
Thell: [28:50] Absolutely.
Jim: [28:51] I love that.
Thell: [28:53] We were one of the first to have our own safety management system. When you look at the aviation audits that we go through on an annual basis. Shell and Chevron, they’re some of the toughest, Exxon Mobil.
[29:07] We pass these aviation audits annually with flying colors.
Jim: [29:10] How can our audience find you guys?
James: [29:12] Flying colors.
Jim: [29:13] Oh, I saw the pun there.
Thell: [29:15] What’s that?
Jim: [29:15] How can people find you easily? What’s your website?
Thell: [29:19] It’s www.barrairpatrol.com.
Jim: [29:27] They can get ahold of you through that?
Thell: [29:28] Absolutely. Or they can go to LinkedIn because all my information, my cell phone number, my email address, all of that.
James: [29:35] He’s a master of LinkedIn now.
Thell: [29:36] Well, I know now. I learned.
James: [29:37] We’re getting there. We’re upgrading as we go.
Thell: [29:39] I got educated.
James: [29:41] We’re building on that…It’s about continuous improvement.
Jim: [29:44] Wait a minute, Jim Schauer, David Love, Daytona Beach, 2022.
James: [29:49] Jim Schauer, James Cross…
[29:51] James… 2019 to 20‑now.
Jim: [29:56] I’m like, “I’m still learning.” I’m like, “What do you mean tag somebody? Tag your it.” They’re like, “No, at sign.”
Thell: [30:03] You’re never too old to learn.
Jim: [30:04] Thank you, my friend. It’s always great having you.
Thell: [30:09] It was a pleasure.
James: [30:10] I’m going to go with the high five for LinkedIn. We’re going to nail this thing. We’ll be right back.
Jim: [30:13] Thanks.
[30:15] When we connect the dots in the industry, Monique Roberts was just on a few minutes ago. She left. She comes back…
James: [30:21] Master recruiter.
Jim: [30:22] with Joe. She’s like, “Have you met Joe yet?” We’re like, “We’re going to meet him right now.” All of a sudden we said…
James: [30:27] Joe said, “What is this thing over here?”
Jim: [30:30] [laughs] He did.
Joe Klimas: [30:30] I had to idea. I’ve seen you talking for a few hours and didn’t know what was going on.
Jim: [30:36] We do this podcast during COVID time as a way to reach out to our energy industry just to give safety topics, best practices. They’re non‑salesy. It’s thought leadership, seven habits.
[30:49] Anything to reconnect or keep connected with our industry is why we did it.
[30:53] It’s a pleasure to have you on. Would you mind introducing yourself to the audience and who you’re with?
Joe: [30:58] My name is Joe Klimas. I am an engineering manager for Plains All American Pipeline and an office out of St. James, Louisiana.
Jim: [31:08] There we go.
James: [31:09] Have you been involved with the LGA for a while?
Joe: [31:14] Yeah, for quite a while.
James: [31:16] What’s quite a while?
Joe: [31:19] I can’t really pin it when I started. Maybe 10 years.
Jim: [31:24] That’s good.
James: [31:25] You’ve been around that long.
Jim: [31:34] Remember the old Royal Sonesta days, have grown to the Crowne Plaza days, now to the Hilton days. It’s great to see the membership growing.
Joe: [31:41] On and off. I’m not a member.
James: [31:44] That’s all right. We won’t judge you. We’re good.
Jim: [31:49] What’s the biggest challenge that you see in the roles that you have at Plains All American?
Joe: [31:56] The role I have is I’m capital projects…
Jim: [31:59] What’s your biggest pain these days?
Joe: [32:01] The biggest pain is growth. Right now, growth in the oil industry is not there. The market conditions aren’t good for growth in crude oil right now. It’s a different mindset where we’re just improving assets rather than building assets. We’re trying to make what we have better.
[32:26] Make more money for us and compliment us, and also we re‑established new contracts with customers. Right now we’re just trying to chug along and maintain where it’s…At some point we’re going to have to get into some growth.
James: [32:44] Have you been here since yesterday? Did you come in today?
Joe: [32:47] Just for today, for the pipeliners. I have commercial meetings tomorrow.
James: [32:51] They’re back out.
Joe: [32:52] I wish I was here.
James: [32:53] You didn’t get to catch any of the sessions today or…
Joe: [32:56] All day, today,
James: [32:57] Some great sessions.
Joe: [32:58] All the sessions FBI was pretty cool.
James: [33:02] Man I missed that one I saw.
Joe: [33:06] They talked about, cyber security.
Jim: [33:10] InfoSec.
Joe: [33:12] Unbelievably bad on how people get sucked in. How they can find the weak‑link in your chain and they just get in there. They watch you for a year before you even know. That’s crazy, isn’t it?
James: [33:28] We teach a course on that. We have some training on InfoSec that we’ve worked on and built with our experts. It’s crazy how simple some of it can be too. You don’t think about people still looking over your shoulder or, skirting in the door, behind you and simple things like that.
James: [33:52] for years. You wouldn’t think about it.
Joe: [33:54] I would say like to say a department store. They’ll wait until it’s holidays coming and…
Jim: [34:03] Busy.
James: [34:04] High traffic.
Joe: [34:05] High traffic Black Friday. What is it black…
James: [34:10] The day after Thanksgiving?
Jim: [34:11] The day after Thanksgiving will hit him like that morning.
Joe: [34:15] On the busiest days.
James: [34:18] They pick it.
Joe: [34:20] They’re smart. Criminals are unfortunately smart. We need to be smarter and.
James: [34:24] Great topic, Joe. Thanks for coming.
Joe: [34:28] Well, I appreciate.
James: [34:29] See that was easy as pie.
Joe: [34:33] All right.
Jim: [34:37] We barely walked away and we’re back because, why?
James: [34:41] We have a very special guest.
Jim: [34:42] We have are our good friend Lauren, who, we just spent for the first time officially today, but she looks familiar. We’ve seen her at other events.
James: [34:50] How did you hear about us? Why, how did we
Lauren Tipton: [34:53] I walked by.
James: [34:54] That’s how it happened
Jim: [34:56] Go ahead tell your story.
Lauren: [34:58] I don’t remember honestly. It feels like a lifetime ago but its been about a minute or an hour. [laughs]
Jim: [35:03] Jamie Blink, our friend from the Tapman group, who is running this great organization, came to me and said, “I want you to meet Lauren,” and all of a sudden…I said, great and she’s like, I don’t know where she is and all of a sudden she brought you over.
Lauren: [35:17] Absolutely.
James: [35:17] Lauren do us a favor. Introduce yourself, who you’re with, and what you do.
Lauren: [35:24] I’m Lauren Tipton, I’m with Elemental Compliance and I’m a co‑founder and co‑owner. One of the things that I’m really excited about here is being the secretary for young pipeline professionals. USA for the 2021 to 2023 service year.
Jim: [35:40] Let’s peel back that onion.
James: [35:42] Unpack that.
Jim: [35:43] Let’s peel that back.
Jim: [35:44] What does it mean? What does that organization mean?
James: [35:45] Tell us a little bit about that.
Lauren: [35:48] Young Pipeline Professionals is a organization with the mission to connect, educate and develop the future leaders of the pipeline industry. We’re based in the USA, but we have sister organizations, through Young Pipeliners International in Canada, Mexico, China, India, all over the world
[36:06] Our goal is to provide education to the next generation of leaders. We do that, through educational webinars, through our symposium, that’s every other year. Through networking events, to just connect all of our members and bring them together and increase your knowledge base.
Jim: [36:26] I’d be far understated of I say. That is a great initiative. We need that in our Industries and I’ll say, Industries are market segments all the way round. That’s fantastic because we know, we haven’t…
James: [36:37] She [inaudible] identifies as a Young Pipeliner, are there like 100 in this.
Lauren: [36:43] If he identifies as 35 or under he can join.
James: [36:45] Man you just missed it.
Jim: [36:47] She said if I identified as one, no, now i want to support this…
James: [36:53] Can we give you grandfather then…
Lauren: [36:55] We actually have opportunities for [inaudible] to be mentors, advisors…
Jim: [37:00] I want to do it.
Lauren: [37:01] Yes. Absolutely.
Jim: [37:02] I do. I absolutely want to…
Lauren: [37:04] We look for people to provide educational webinars.
James: [37:02] Do you know who needs to get involved young pipeliner.
Jim: [37:09] Jeff, Isabell, Steve Allen.
James: [37:11] I’m thinking on the other side. do you know someone young in your life that maybe could do.
Jim: [37:18] Summer Shower, my daughter just graduated from…
James: [37:21] Maybe you could mentor her or her and y’all can both get in.
Jim: [37:27] Summer Shower. We’re coming for you for this. This is going to be going to be good.
Lauren: [37:32] We can have student members to. People that are in a technical path or getting a degree in something that could support pipeline can still join and get a taste for what we do. Join our webinars connect with other people and then potentially find a job in pipeline.
Jim: [37:49] That’s good.
Lauren: [37:50] We got it all
Jim: [37:53] What’s the best way for people right now to go on their device, and do something, how would they find you?
Lauren: [37:59] They would go to Y‑P‑P‑U‑S‑A‑dot org and there is a big button that says join now and membership is free. You need to just enter your information, and our membership engagement person reviews the application and you should be admitted within a week.
Jim: [38:14] I’m being serious if I were to go there being at my age but I wanted to be a mentor or be a…
Lauren: [38:22] You could reach out to our email which is also on our website and go through that method.
Jim: [38:29] I bet you there’s people out there like me that say, this is a great thing. We want to share that knowledge, because that’s the biggest issue we have.
[38:35] Is that we have a lot of our generations that are retiring and they have a wealth of this knowledge that’s going to leave with them and we need to keep it in the industry and keep us…
James: [38:44] We want to give it all away.
Lauren: [38:48] That’s why were exactly our goal.
James: [38:50] Thank you so much for joining us.
James: [38:53] We’ve already committed. We going to have her back on.
Jim: [38:56] For a full segment?
James: [38:56] For a full one.
James: [39:00] We’ll be right back.
Jim: [39:03] We’re back. We’re going to hear is, there’s always a story we have, I come back to the booth and James picks up…Can I just show this real quick on the camera.
James: [39:12] It’s very well wrapped.
Jim: [39:14] This is at the booth.
James: [39:15] Here, I’ll get closer. Look at this.
Jim: [39:23] Look at the roles. Look at the layers. What is this? He’s like, “It’s a cinnamon roll.” Sue Guidry had one last night and she was hiding it.
James: [39:32] She almost killed a man over it.
Jim: [39:33] A guy was going to grab it. She’s like, don’t you touch my cinnamon roll It’s all of a sudden. One pops up here and who delivered it?
James: [39:41] Chris.
Jim: [39:42] Chris, introduce yourself. Please to the audience.
Chris Krin: [39:45] I’m Chris Krin. I work for the Louisiana Department of Resources. I’ve been with them a year and a half, as an inspector. In the Northwestern part of the state.
Jim: [39:57] The Monroe Shreveport, Bossier. I’ve been there.
James: [40:03] What for those that maybe aren’t local to Louisiana? Can you explain a little bit what that group does.
Chris: [40:13] We’re just compliance. We make sure everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to. We are partners for Film Z.
James: [40:18] Like the PSC and other places. All of them up here. Sorry, we’re just going to get into this. Tell us about the cinnamon rolls, more importantly, why I’m cinnamon rolls? What’s the story?
Chris: [40:41] Honestly, I got bored and one of the themsa classes
Jim: [40:47] Allegedly.
Chris: [40:51] This is when we were doing them all virtual. I was sitting at home, listening to him talking computer, anyway. It’s all sourdough and it’s my homemade sour dough, I did not buy a starter. I made it myself. You mix flour and water and set it on the counter to it bubbles.
Jim: [41:07] I got to tell you a story. There’s a place out in San Francisco, on the Wharf that has famous for sourdough bread and all they do every day is just add more ingredients. Conceivably you could be eating sour dough bread from 100 years ago.
[41:26] They never, clean it out. They always just add more stuff in.
Chris: [41:30] That’s a year old. The starter is.
Jim: [41:33] Is it?
James: [41:34] I thought you meant this cinnamon role.
Chris: [41:35] No, no, no.
James: [41:36] I was like it takes pretty…
Chris: [41:37] The cinnamon roll was made on Sunday.
Jim: [41:40] The starter you understand that and that stepped out there. They say it’s 137 years old starter. This is fantastic.
James: [41:48] Hold on, we probably shouldn’t eat while we have a podcast people that don’t see the video or just confused.
Jim: [41:54] I’m sorry, were devouring this.
James: [41:57] You learned this during that time and you just decided I’m going to surprise everybody with someone.
Chris: [42:05] I’m not a small person, if I ate all the bread that I made, I would be a much larger person. I can’t make a small amount. I just make a bunch of them and give it away.
Jim: [42:17] Have you thought about selling them?
Chris: [42:19] I have, but then it becomes a job.
Jim: [42:22] Not a passion and a hobby. I tell you what though for.
James: [42:27] That’s why we don’t get paid for the podcast.
Chris: [42:29] Another thing is, how much would you pay for that?
Jim: [42:31] A buck, two bucks.
Chris: [42:36] There’s 10 hours of work in there.
Jim: [42:40] You should be paying five bucks for it.
Chris: [42:42] Exactly.
James: [42:42] I’d trade a hat for it.
Jim: [42:45] That’s what brought Chris over. I said, “Why did you bring this [inaudible] .” He goes, “Your hats are awesome, right?” He wants a hat.
Chris: [42:52] They’re all out.
James: [42:58] We’ll take care of you. Chris, thanks for the cinnamon roll.
Chris: [43:02] No problem.
James: [43:03] Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for all you do here in the great state of Louisiana.
Jim: [43:08] Thanks for keep us safe and talking to people and educating them. That’s a key to what you do. Yep, don’t want. I can I shake your hand but I’m a man. I don’t know what we did. There we go home.
James: [43:21] All right, we’ll be right back.
Jim: [43:22] Keeping us safe. Right here.
Jim: [43:24] We are back our neighbor. James, I got to tell a story. I’ve been walking out of my hotel room every night and then down at the hall at the end, there’s a sweet. There’s his heart he’s going on.
James: [43:35] Where is it going?
Jim: [43:35] People are partying with, I cut one of them like who’s in there? I wish I was invited lo and behold. I walked by our been invited. OK, I walk by our booth Partners next door and the room number of like oh that’s like for down. That’s who’s having the party.
[43:52] Erin is our friend from next door year? Erin, please introduce yourself to the audience.
Erin Mckay: [43:57] Hi, I’m Erin Mckay with Evergreen compliance and my AKA, is that compliance lady. We have software that scrapes all of the data and guidance of the films of websites and makes it. You can actually find it here with that.
James: [44:12] Your the compliance lady.
Erin: [44:15] I am the compliance lady.
James: [44:17] You literally have a booth that says “The compliance lady.”
Erin: [44:20] I actually have a great big sign over there. [laughs]
James: [44:24] Are you a long time LGA?
Erin: [44:26] This is my first time in LGA. Is it really?
James: [44:29] How has it been?
Erin: [44:30] It’s a been amazing. In the past used to go to API and a lot of the bigger ones and of course with co…I literally started development of this tool right when COVID started and so we’ve had a slow roll as you can imagine getting it out and..
James: [44:44] A lot of time to hone it.
Erin: [44:47] That’s actually what we did. We developed it we honed it we rolled it out to people we knew. I did a lot of it from Zoom and emails because I know people all over the country. This has been so fun to be here face to face.
[44:59] Even people that know me, that know what I’ve been doing now that [inaudible] I should show they’re like, “Oh, my God, I didn’t know it to do that.”
[45:04] It’s been amazing. We did a vendor track today. There was a ton of people in there so it’s been amazing.
Jim: [45:10] How do people find you with your website?
Erin: [45:13] That compliancelady.com.
Jim: [45:14] I’m sorry, one more time.
Erin: [45:16] That compliancelady.com.
Jim: [45:17] I love that.
Erin: [45:18] That’s a bit hard to remember.
James: [45:23] Thank you so much.
Erin: [45:24] Thank you so much. It was good to see.
Erin: [45:26] and come on up to the party.
Jim: [45:28] I think I’m going to have to stop by tonight.
James: [45:29] I mean it is next door.
Erin: [45:31] Thanks you, guys.
Jim: [45:32] Thank you.
James: [45:32] Nothing like Todd Cash, joining us.
Todd Cash: [45:37] Thank you, guys. Good to see you.
Jim: [45:39] Good to see you.
James: [45:40] Busy week this week.
Todd: [45:42] It’s been good.
James: [45:43] It’s good to be back. You’ve been here a long time you and Jim.
Todd: [45:47] We got in Venice.
Todd: [45:48] I started 2008.
Jim: [45:49] 2008 that’s when I started coming also…
Todd: [45:56] It’s been we’re going on 14‑plus years and it’s been great.
James: [46:00] Don’t say that out loud. It makes it more.
Todd: [46:03] More than 10.
James: [46:04] This is my first one though. I will say it’s been amazing. I’ve said it over and over. I’m sure audiences tired of hearing it but really, I’ve been super impressed. I don’t know that I’ve been at a conference where everybody was so open.
[46:20] That was very conversational, lot of the sessions you’re in like just turned into conversation. I really like that, and I sat in on years earlier.
Jim: [46:30] We wanted to bring you on because one tell us who you with and the solutions that you bring Industry. Let’s peel back the onion. What did you present on today? Let’s let our revenge attacks words in it.
Todd: [46:42] Today I presented on ESG Environmental Social Governance about how it relates to what we do as an industry, Grow and how we can take credit for the things we already do. That address those things, you know, you reducing emissions. While you’re fixing leaks all the time, take credit for that. We’re training people all the time, take credit for that.
[47:03] That’s a big part of the social. It’s all right. You got cyber security programs. There you go. It doesn’t have to be this animal. They have to be completely afraid of, right?
James: [47:12] It seems like this whole new concept and really when it’s packaging at all or the label and it was very clear. I even joked about, I think we’re just going to adopt it for our culture, as a whole because it still works. If everything falls in those. Obviously in our world, our environmental is a little different.
[47:33] Being a technology company, but all Other stuff is that? I mean training to I saw you were talking about ISO that’s governance, right?
Todd: [47:42] I mean, if you guys put in replace your light bulbs, right about.
James: [47:48] Using our hosting provider and their stats, my proxy.
Jim: [47:52] It’s really becoming aware. It’s almost like pipeline Safety Management Systems where you might be doing a lot of these tools right now, but you’re just unaware…
James: [47:59] They aren’t tracking in a measuring them, right? Exactly.
Jim: [48:02] Its like everything else if you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen…
James: [48:09] For the good bad and the ugly.
James: [48:11] If your going to document it you better do it or make an attempt..
Todd: [48:16] Don’t make you promises that you can’t keep that. That’s, the big thing. You see a lot of that there, people are expected. They think they have to do that. You don’t just say this is what we’re going to do, this is where we’re moving towards and show progress and it’s that simple.
James: [48:31] Did we cover who you’re with and know and what you guys do?
Jim: [48:38] Didn’t know, we jumped right in the presentation, but give a little shout‑out to your company.
Todd: [48:46] I’m with in store gas. We’re the largest privately‑owned underground storage unit in the US and I have with us. We have six facilities about 130 billion in base gas 170 miles of transmission pipeline, all up and down Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and New Mexico.
Jim: [49:13] Very nice. Well, Todd, it’s been awesome.
James: [49:15] We appreciate everything you do.
Todd: [49:17] Thank you. Thank you for your time today.
James: [49:19] For chatting with us speaking with. I love the session. Scott came out talking to me about, I had to leave early to some other guy had a session I appreciate you. Thanks for coming on, and we’ll be right back, right?
[49:31] See you in a bit.
Jim: [49:33] This is LGA a at its finest. There’s a final night.
James: [49:38] People are laughing, I mean, really, I’m looking around it.
Jim: [49:45] Did he just take a champagne bottle? Never mind.
James: [49:49] I don’t know. What a weeks, Jimmy.
Jim: [49:53] I’m envious of you and I’m also envious of myself. One for you. You get to go home tomorrow. We were we whooped it up a Bourbon Street last night we met so far probably 599 people out of the 700 here smells like and but I get to give a presentation tomorrow from 2:00 to 3:00.
[50:14] I’m glad I’m happy that I get to stick around to do that.
James: [50:18] Then you’re flying out Friday it’s because my good show you said it. We met a lot of people. I swear I think we recorded with 30 people close to it. 25 many people this week that’s kind of be a record for us that’s for sure. We’ve never been so popular.
[50:38] Met tons of new friends, which is saying something because we know a lot of people we do and we were just talking about that that and we met a lot of new people Very cool people.
Jim: [50:52] We did meet a lot. I could already tell these are friends for life these aren’t just acquaintances. These are people that we’re going to be bonding with and strategizing and collaborating with going forth, these guys are going.
James: [51:06] I love it.
Jim: [51:08] Can you hear it? I don’t know.
James: [51:10] Our audio so good now.
Jim: [51:12] It’s fantastic. I love the interaction, it’s been great.
James: [51:16] Jimmy, I’m going to call the shot again. I’ll tell you what, we recorded a live episode that people are going to get to see with Miss Monique Roberts and I tell you what best show we’ve ever done. I love our guest. You know I do but telling you this place is out of control.
[51:39] It was great. She’s a rock star. I love that. We got to do it in her home state where she and her family so respected heard a different to come out.
Jim: [51:51] Her grandfather I mean, she’s third generation.
James: [51:54] Incredible right and we had a blast and we had fun doing it. We got done and we both looked at each like best episode ever.
Jim: [52:02] What was the one? Nice thing about it. We did it need to me. That was a term. We’ve been using where we would sitting all together here. Nothing against Zoom, we love Zoom. I mean, it helped us so much. And the continues help us. When we can get side to side, elbow and elbow knee Danny. It’s great.
James: [52:18] We’ve been on quite the run the summer. It’s I don’t want to say it’s strong too close, but it’s drawing to a close and then we’re going to kick it to the fall you know I’m saying from our show standpoint?
[52:33] We’re going to kick into the fall and we’ve got a handful more do to knock out and fall but it’s been cool to hang.
[52:41] It seems like we got to hang out for five times in the last two months. That’s been very rare over the last couple of years.
Jim: [52:50] It has been, it has been extremely rare, and, but it’s been extremely valuable on so many ways…
James: [53:00] here, I will say this that to then go on hiatus for a little bit, take a break, but to get to come here to LGA, that you’ve talked to me about this conference for years and…
Jim: [53:12] Years.
James: [53:13] It was so cool to get to come down here, have a guide to take me through it all, and it delivered. I mean, I’m telling you.
Jim: [53:23] Did it meet your expectations?
James: [53:24] Best conference I’ve been to all year, and I’m not just saying it because LGA is looking at me. I mean it. I’ve really enjoyed it. I love the content. Every session I attended was impressive. Good content, conversational, nobody had their guard up.
[53:42] We were talking about real stuff, real situations, with real inspectors, with real PSC members from all over.
Jim: [53:52] Multi‑states.
James: [53:53] Sign me up. I’m on. I’m in. Sign me up.
Jim: [53:56] You’re a believer now.
James: [53:57] I want to come back. It’s going to be hard for me not to come back to this conference every year.
Jim: [54:01] That’s my point is, once you’re there it’s like hard to say, “No, I can’t go back,” because there’s so much.
James: [54:06] I love the people.
Jim: [54:07] Yes. Oh, without a doubt.
James: [54:09] I’ve always loved people in the south, I’ll just do. Special group here. You can tell where their hearts at, you can tell everybody has a singular mission, do this thing great, do it safe. I just love seeing it.
Jim: [54:26] I’m glad I finally got you here, I’m glad you experienced it, I’m glad you embraced it, and I’m glad you’re going to come back. I haven’t missed one, and I think it’s been 14 or 15 years, other than COVID.
[54:39] I will continue because there’s, again, so much valued, not just here but regionally at small. Again, when we have operators from the Northeast to California coming here, think about that folks.
James: [54:54] Says a lot. I said it before, but so many inspectors here, so many films of folks, PSCs, came on and talk to us like it was no big deal. I mean, that’s the part that I loved about it. Who are we talking to, Jonathan, from Alabama PSC.
Jim: [55:15] Randall and…Oh, Randall’s here. Chris.
James: [55:17] He wouldn’t come on talk to us yet, but down there, folks. Looking to make a difference, not just running with the book throwing it at people. I mean, it was really need to get sit down. We got a cinnamon roll.
Jim: [55:34] From Chris. Yeah, state inspector. Brought over a cinnamon roll.
James: [55:38] Are you kidding me?
Jim: [55:38] No.
James: [55:39] He’s the bad guy? He brought us a cinnamon roll. I love that. It’s good show, man.
Jim: [55:47] All right, brother.
James: [55:48] Good to do it with you too.
Jim: [55:49] Absolutely. All right. Book it for next year. We’re back. Next year, here.
James: [55:52] It’s all right, man. It’s been great. We’ll see you next time.
Jim: [55:56] Stay safe, everyone.
[55:57] [music]
Transcription by WatchingWords