July 01, 2014
New York Energy Week: The Surprising Things
First principles are important. Rooting New York Energy Week in the priorities established by a community of volunteers, participants, sponsors and advisors paid off in the second iteration of the event series last month with panels of exceptional insight, unusually impactful networking and deserved attention for an industry that too often flies under the radar in the country's largest city.
The energy business has traditionally been a centralized affair, and large energy events have had their content dictated by central groups of organizers. But the business itself is going through a transition to a model of distribution generation, origination and engagement and New York Energy Week's highly unusual model of distributed leadership and its broad net for ideas is emblematic of that shift.
A distributed system can be hard to manage, but experience, systemization and clarity of purpose are remarkably effective in getting the benefits of a large organization without the cost of wasted time, effort and overhead. New York Energy Week's second year was an excellent example of how compelling ideas, clear communication and defined task sets can set free creativity in solving problems and ultimately result in events so reflective of multiple forms of expertise that they overshadow the outcome of traditional command-and-control management approaches.
More from CNAS
-
Does OPEC Still Matter?
Commentary
On April 28, the United Arab Emirates announced that it would leave OPEC, effective May 1 — ending nearly six decades as an OPEC member. In terms of oil production, it is the ...
By Rachel Ziemba
-
Why China's Rare Earths Grip Is Hard to Break
Video
China's near-total control of the rare earths industry has become one of its most potent geopolitical levers. Chris Kennedy, who leads economic statecraft analysis at Bloomber...
By Chris Kennedy
-
Who Will Make Money on AI?
Reports
The private sector is playing a leading role in advancing the frontier of artificial intelligence (AI). As a result, commercial incentives are likely to have a significant imp...
By Geoffrey Gertz & Emily Kilcrease
-
USTR Hearing on Section 301 Investigations into Structural Excess Capacity
Congressional Testimony
On May 5, 2026 Emily Kilcrease, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at CNAS testified at the Office of the United States Trade Representa...
By Emily Kilcrease
