During this long event, is it good to look sharp, or better to just be comfortable?
For those OTC attendees who stick to the more traditional business look in a suit and tie, few clothing items are better indicators of one’s continent of origin. Many Europeans can be found in slimmer-cut suits — with closely tailored jackets, skinny ties, narrower pants with cuffs cut high — while their North American counterparts tend to flap across the trade floor in big suit jackets and loose pants.
As for why two the continents have divergent suit tastes, that’s for others to consider. Even some OTC salespeople working the floor admitted the European style tends to cut a sharper image.
But Jacob Rodriguez, a technical sales engineer for Houston-based Corrosion Materials, said he still prefers American wing tips to European-style slim dress shoes. Why? It’s simply a matter of comfort. The European style — bolder, slimmer, maybe — looks good but makes for a hard day on the trade floor. Ryan Maye Handy
Sweetening the deal
Many exhibitors at the Offshore Technology Conference put out pens and tote bags to attract visitors to their booths. But the Nigerian pavilion was carpeted with food. Seemingly
Tough stretch
Attendance at the Offshore Technology Conference fell for the fourth consecutive year. every booth in the pavilion had something to offer hungry visitors from trays of snack chips, bars of Toblerone chocolate and tubs of pistachios.
“Hospitality is important,” said Rosaline Itam, personal assistant at Lee Engineering of Lagos. She had a big bowl of candy, including Kit-Kat bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Dove Bars and Hershey’s Kisses, that she was offering to everyone who came by.
The candy is a way to break the ice. Visitors stop by, get a brochure and reach inside the dish for a treat or two. And for the visitors who eat too much chocolate? Lee Engineering has bottles of water. L.M. Sixel
Can you export this?
Every year, one of the nice customer services at the OTC is the bevy of shoe shiners stationed throughout NRG Park, offering a final touch to any business outfit for people out networking.
But it’s the growing international percentage of the OTC attendance that brings more business to the shoe shine stands, especially the European contingent, said Wilbert Fleming, of Joe’s Shoe Shine Services.
He credited the French, British and Dutch contingents for being a bit more fashion forward and wanting an extra gloss to their dress shoes.
“They love it,” Fleming said. “Every time they say, ‘You ought to come to my country.’ ” Jordan Blum
Everything must go
Exhibitors don’t like to lug their bulky stuff back home after the OTC is over. The solution? Sell it, especially if what they’re selling is popular in the consumer market.
OrionCase is a distributor of Pelican storage boxes for the oil and gas industry, custom designing the interiors to hold tools and oil field equipment. The company also sells Pelicanmade insulated tumblers and coolers that keep food cold for days.
At the OrionCase booth, there were bargains to be had Thursday. The 30-quart cooler — perfect for hunters and fishermen — was reduced to $130 from $224.99. Stainless steel tumblers were $15 and $20.
Dale Thibodeaux, a salesman for the Lafayette, La.-based OrionCase, said he was hoping to sell the dozen or so on hand so he wouldn’t have to cart them back to Louisiana. L.M. Sixel