On December 12, 2013, I had the pleasure of attending the 16th annual Platts Global Energy Awards with my father and CEO of ZE PowerGroup, Dr. Zak El-Ramly; my mother and Corporate Secretary of ZE, Salwe El-Ramly; my sister, ZE’s Director of Global Markets, Manal El-Ramly; and Shilpa Mullan, Director of Sales for ZE’s New York office. The awards were held in New York City at the historic Waldorf Astoria hotel. With the fantastic venue all decked out for the holiday season, and everyone dressed to the nines, this black tie affair made for quite an elegant and visually stunning evening.
ZE attended the event because our CEO, Zak El-Ramly, was among the finalists for a Platts Lifetime Achievement Award. Finalists were chosen from a list of over 200 nominations from 26 countries in recognition of true vision and leadership over the course of their careers. While Zak did not take an award home, he stood among the truly great in our industry.
Several speakers kept the night interesting, beginning with Platts’ CEO Larry Neal. In his opening address, Mr. Neal remarked that the Platts Global Energy Awards had become the industry forum for recognizing excellence and unique achievements in the industry, and likened them to the Academy Awards; it is easy for anyone in attendance to see there is truth to the comparison, as the event certainly brought the best and brightest people that made tremendous contributions to the industry to the forefront.
CNBC news anchor Amanda Drury was the official MC of the evening while Randy Majors, Vice President of Global Sales, along with the Vice Presidents & General Managers for Metals & Agriculture, Oil, Power and Petrochemicals (Andrew Goodwin, Andy Bose, Jim Simpson, Leon Yeo, respectively) made the award presentations to the winners in the various categories.
Winners came from all over the world, and from a variety of different industries. It was truly an honor to be amongst the people nominated, and to be in a room filled with individuals who not only have such fantastic potential, but who do so much for the energy industry and society at large. Thanks to Platts for inviting us, and for being such gracious hosts.
For a full listing of the winners and more details on the event, click here.