Project for Weatherford International

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Challenge: The Abu Dhabi training center was built and is maintained in the free zone area southwest of Abu Dhabi in the desert. The three story training center is located in an industrial complex just blocks from the Persian Gulf.  This building has 14 teaching/training rooms with an auditorium that seats up to 100 persons on a tiered floor.  The facility also has a large high-bay shop for actual hands on training and testing. Weatherford spent millions on this complex, but was not getting the expected foot traffic to justify such an expenditure. The facility manager reached out and requested aid. In addition, Weatherford spends thousands of dollars to exhibit their integrated systems and tools at industry tradeshows in the region. These shows are temporary in nature and usually three days is the maximum length of time an exhibit will be accessible by the customer.

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Solution: I took an unused dining space conspicuous from the lobby and located across the hall from the main auditorium and designed and built a semi-permanent, interactive display and demonstration space. This resource could be shared by the region sales teams to bring customers and executives from Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other global locations. This display area educates the customers about the individual technologies behind the integrated solutions for digital oilfield projects and standard production optimization. The room is filled with graphics, tools, video, and interactive exercises and demonstrations. The room is designed to function effectively for self-guided visits and fully guided tours.

 

The project took three months to design and build although meetings on this topic began back in February of 2015. The 70 inch video monitor sets the stage with a flashy overview before the customer can step foot into the space. All visuals, tool displays, and interior design of the space was executed from my office in Houston. A local contractor was given detailed plans to construct and execute onsite. The layout includes the construction of a separate canteen space to be used by Weatherford employees and guests for lunch and to host catering for visitors to the space and the training facility.  The launch plan and marketing plan included structured client technology days managed by local sales and marketing managers in their respective regions to arrange group visits to the space and the training center.

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