A Day in The Life: Careers in Energy
Earlier this February, I participated in the Canadian Energy Museum's Careers in Energy tour, where youths get to learn and ask questions about working in the industry. Being Argus' Marketing Coordinator, I'm excited to educate them about the less obvious professions in the energy sector.
It was a bright, beautiful, blue-sky day, and when the group of students (grades two and five) arrived, the morning started with a museum tour. Deanna, our guide and the CEM's Administrative & Education Coordinator, gathered everyone around and started the journey in the 'rock room.' She told us how oil was created 400 million years ago when the area was at the bottom of the sea as part of the Devonian Reef in the Early Cretaceous age.
The next room told the story of the historic oil rush and the desperate search for oil in Canada's western provinces in the early 1900s. On February 13th, 1947, a significant crude oil discovery triggered the boom that made Alberta what it is today. The Leduc #1 was the site of this discovery and where the museum now sits.
My favourite room in the museum is full of dioramas of oil wells and oil sites (both land and sea), some created by Don Hunter, son of Vern 'Dryhole' Hunter, a geologist on the Imperial rig that is now the Leduc #1. The room also houses many vintage parts and tools that were used in the quest to remove crude from the earth.
I am always learning something new about Alberta's rich oil & gas history when I tour the museum!
Once the tour ended, we gathered in the auditorium and I spoke to the kids about what I do at Argus. Describing what Marketing is to children is a fun challenge as I needed to use examples that would be familiar, such as Lego ads they have seen on TV and how they bring awareness and interest to the products companies sell. I explained that there is a difference between Marketing and Sales, but they work together to sell a product. When I talked about Social Media management, they were surprised to learn you could have an entire career managing social accounts. There might be some future social media managers in the crowd!
My co-worker, Dave Kool (Quality Process Representative), was up next and has worked in a machine shop for over 30 years. He captured the kid's interest with some of the many neat things he has built in his career. As a machinist, he can create anything from metal, from complex parts required for oil projects to unique requests such as dental implants and horseshoe moulds. During the question period, there was a request to make a metal hedgehog as that was the child's favourite animal! Sadly, he didn't have any hedgehog blueprints on hand.
Once we were done speaking, the kids got to tour the museum again and had a science experiment planned for the afternoon. At this point, Dave and I had to return to work.
Participating in these presentations is fun, and I always enjoy answering the kid's many questions about working in the energy industry. Thank you to the museum for including me in these events!
Angela White, Marketing Coordinator
Visit the Canadian Energy Museum - https://www.canadianenergymuseum.ca/
