2021 – A Year for Change and New Opportunities

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2021 – A Year for Change and New Opportunities

DATE:

April 5, 2021

BY:

Diane C. Lear, Vice President of Operations and Member Services, NHA

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2021 – A Year for Change and New Opportunities

NHA thanks our sponsors:

Gilkes

The waterpower industry continues to navigate the effects of a global pandemic. How we work, how we interact, and how we learn have all changed dramatically over the past year … and, frankly, continue to change.

We’ve all gotten very good at connecting through Teams, Zoom, Go to Meeting, and Webex.

We’ve let each other into our homes via web cams like never before.

Home life and work life have merged; boundaries are blurred. Think barking dogs, crying kids, and ringing doorbells.

Here at the National Hydropower Association (NHA), 2020 for us – like many of you – was challenging, heartbreaking, and frustrating. We had to cancel in-person events, pivot to offering education and networking virtually, and greatly missed coming together face-to-face with our members, colleagues, and friends.

But, NHA, like the waterpower industry at large, is resilient.

We’ve found ways to cope, to carry on.

And, as we look forward, we are excited and energized about what awaits us, what awaits the industry.

CHANGE AND GROWTH

A strategic goal for NHA in 2021 is to provide programs and services that bring value to NHA member organizations as well as the overall industry.

To meet this goal, in 2021 we are:

  • Expanding our industry event offerings
  • Providing this new media platform, POWERHOUSE, to serve as the industry’s official information source

In both of these efforts, NHA is extremely grateful to the many companies and organizations who are contributing financially to these efforts.

Companies who are exhibiting and sponsoring at NHA-owned industry events can be found at these links:  Waterpower Week sponsorsClean Currents exhibitorsClean Currents sponsors

Founding sponsors of the POWERHOUSE media platform are:

  • Black & Veatch
  • Eaton
  • Emerson
  • GE Renewable Energy
  • Mavel
  • Kleinschmidt
  • Voith

EXPANDING INDUSTRY EVENT OFFERINGS

Starting in 2021, NHA is expanding its event offerings to the waterpower industry.

We are introducing the all-new Clean Currents Conference + Tradeshow in October 2021 and have refined our long-standing Waterpower Week annual event, which occurs later this month, April 27-29, 2021.

Both events play key roles — but very different roles — in connecting and educating the North American waterpower industry.

Waterpower Week has pivoted to become the industry’s national conference focused on legislation, regulation, and markets.

The new Clean Currents becomes the industry-wide annual event, bringing all sectors of the industry together to learn, innovate, and do business. It’s visionary; by the industry, for the industry.

To further explore the differences in the two events, read: https://www.hydro.org/nha-conferences/

PROVIDING NEW MEDIA PLATFORM, POWERHOUSE

On February 1, 2021, NHA launched its media platform, POWERHOUSE, to serve as the industry’s official information source. The platform has two components: a weekly e-mail and a website hub.

Each week, NHA publishes and deploys a weekly POWERHOUSE email to subscribers. NHA is taking advantage of available technologies … machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) … to deliver a “smart” weekly e-mail, individually customized for each recipient – based upon personal digital consumption patterns. Over time, the AI-tool essentially learns each recipient’s topic preferences based on evolving behavioral observation, and automatically customizes the content for that individual.

Articles from the email are housed on a special section on NHA’s website. This section is the place to bookmark for industry information/business intelligence/insights.

Through POWERHOUSE, we are committed to delivering high-quality content in innovative, interesting ways that provide added value to readers.

One of the founding sponsors of the POWERHOUSE, Black & Veatch, says its hydro team views the NHA as the voice of the waterpower industry in North America. “We are proud to be a founding sponsor of NHA’s POWERHOUSE media platform,” said Jay Anders, P.E., Associate Vice President, Black & Veatch. “We highly encourage you to take advantage of the service by signing up to receive the free weekly email.”