Exhibitor hopes the fish will lure buyers
Sales manager uses aquarium as a display for subsea device
A rotary vane subsea valve actuator is not exactly an attention grabber, even at the Offshore Technology Conference.
But Jeff Boyer has a solution for standing out in a conference crowded with thousands of exhibitors hawking boring but important valves, connections, monitors and other equipment. His gimmick: fish.
12,000 feet below
At his booth, five saltwater fish swim in an aquarium around the rotary vane subsea valve actuator, a 3-by-3 inch cube used at 12,000 feet below sea level to remotely open, close and monitor a valve.
“They stop, they first walk up to see what’s in the tank,” Boyer said. “And if it’s someone out of the oil and gas world, they notice it’s a fairly innovative product.”
Boyer, a sales manager for the manufacturer, ITT Corp. of White Plains, N.Y., first used his sales technique six years ago, when he brought an aquarium that he built in his garage.
Captive Aquatics
He’s upgraded since, teaming with Captive Aquatics, a Houston company that installs aquariums. Boyer and his aquarium guy spent five hours Saturday setting up the display.
In the field, the actuator would be surrounded by the worms, blind sharks and clear shrimp without eyes that live that far underwater. But at the OTC, blue, green and pink rubber coral reefs catch the eye of passers-by.
A bright orange and white clownfish, a bicolor angelfish and a few wrasse fish, popular for home aquariums, circle the control equipment.
An orange tube connects the tank to the building’s air pressure, which Boyer uses to power the actuator, instead of the hy- draulics employed in deep waters.
The valve releases bubbles for the fish to swim around every time it opens and closes in the tank.
Boyer has run into occasional problems over the years.
A few times, the tube started spraying water, showering Boyer as he showed the technology to potential customers.
Occasionally, someone has tapped Boyer on the shoulder to let him know about a dead fish floating in the tank.
Outside of the aquarium circuit, about 300 of these actuators are in the water right now, spanning the North Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, Boyer said.
The product, introduced in 2011, was designed by a team of engineers in White Plains and produced at a factory in South Carolina.
But the OTC marketing is mostly a one-man operation: Boyer sets up his aquarium, takes photos of the actuator next to a company mug on his desk to show its size and sells the product at the conference.
Stress for everyone
Boyer expects the display to help attract a dozen sales leads by the end of the conference.
And he hopes the fish all make it back to Captive Aquatics after being in the OTC spotlight.
With crude prices so low, and the industry in a downturn, the conference can be stressful enough for oil and gas professionals.
But, Boyer adds, “it’s a very stressful environment for a fish.”