Chamber Cancels Friday Sessions Set for Y.O.U.N.G. Expo
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Friday's "Digging Deeper" breakout sessions for the third annual Youngstown, Ohio Utica and Natural Gas Conference and Expo have been canceled because of a scheduling conflict at the last minute that involves two of the featured speakers.
"It's just a testament to the business and what's going on in the industry because everything is just so fast-paced," says Bergen Giordani, director of special events at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
The sessions, scheduled at the Holiday Inn-Boardman in Boardman, were to focus on logistics in the midstream sector of the oil and gas industry. The three speakers scheduled were Mark Butta of Crosstex Energy, Scott Hallam of Access Midstream and Jim Privett of Nisource Midstream.
A notification on the events page of the chamber’s website says it was notified of the cancellations over the weekend and believed it could not find replacement speakers of "high enough caliber to fill their void." Refunds will be issued to anyone who had paid for Friday's event, the chamber said.
Even as Giordani explained the development Tuesday, preparation was under way for Thursday’s events. Crews worked around the newly constructed booths and atop the newly laid carpet, and built the main stage. As a man stood on a steel girder hundreds of feet in the air and used a rope to lift equipment from the floor, Giordani said of the cancelation, “We're looking at it as a positive thing and we're really just going to push Thursday more,"
The expo will offer 95 exhibitors Thursday, slightly fewer than last year, Giordani said. "We're attributing that to the influx of oil and gas trade shows in the region,” she said. “Everyone's just kind of wore out this season."
With the deadline to pre-register for Y.O.U.N.G. having expired Tuesday, the Regional Chamber is looking to give anyone who still wishes to attend the chance to do so by offering unlimited walk-ins at the door at $100 per person.
Giordani reports nearly 800 people registered early for the Thursday events and "We expect to be over a thousand by the time the show is through with all the walk-ins."
The chamber will also accept walk-ins for the casino-themed networking event tonight at the Holiday Inn-Boardman and for tomorrow’s after-hours reception at the Tyler History Center with the cost at the door being $40 and $25 per person respectively.
Copyright 2013 by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.