The industry still needed to communicate, learn and support its communities, but the traditional ways of doing that were no longer available.
That constraint became the catalyst for Allstream.
A Different Way to Think About Building a Business
During this period, I was reading Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The book challenges many of the traditional assumptions about entrepreneurship.
Instead of spending months producing lengthy business plans, raising large amounts of capital or building an oversized team before taking action, the authors encourage entrepreneurs to begin with what they already have. Their message is straightforward: simplify the idea, embrace limitations and start creating something useful.
Three principles stood out.
Less Can Create More
Complexity can become a hidden tax on a business. Every additional layer, system or unnecessary option consumes time and resources.
The lesson was especially relevant during COVID. We did not have the ability to recreate the traditional conference experience overnight. What we could do was build a simple platform that helped people find the industry activities that were still happening.
Constraints Can Encourage Innovation
A lack of time, money or resources does not always prevent innovation. Sometimes it creates it.
COVID put everyone’s back against the wall. Associations, businesses and professionals had to find new ways to communicate. Outdoor activities, charitable events, digital programming and video conversations became practical ways to keep the industry connected.
The circumstances were difficult, but they forced us to stop waiting for the perfect solution and begin building with the tools and knowledge already available.
Find the Value in Your By-Products
One of the most memorable lessons in Rework is the idea of selling or creating value from your by-products.
The book points to the example of Ford Motor Company. Ford’s manufacturing operations generated large quantities of sawdust and wood waste. Instead of treating that material as something to discard, the company found a way to process it into charcoal briquettes.
The product was originally sold as Ford Charcoal and was later renamed Kingsford Charcoal. What appeared to be waste became the foundation of another valuable product.
That lesson helped me recognize Allstream’s own “charcoal.”
Our Charcoal Was Industry Knowledge – and Events That Brought People Together
My by-product was knowledge of what energy events were still going on, and news of new projects that kept people working.
Through years of supporting oil and gas boards, planning committees and community organizations, I had developed an understanding of the key energy events that bring our industry together.
I knew which association meetings created meaningful professional connections. I understood the importance of scholarship fundraisers. I saw how technical conferences educated the workforce, helped companies introduce new technologies and gave younger professionals access to experienced industry leaders.
That knowledge had always been part of the work, but it had never been treated as a product of its own. – A Centralized Energy Calendar for the Midstream Community.
COVID changed that.
We created Midstream Calendar in 2020 as a centralized resource to help energy professionals discover the energy events, educational programs, outdoor activities and charitable fundraisers that were still moving forward.
We also launched video podcasting efforts to give industry leaders and organizations another way to share information when face-to-face communication was limited.
These were practical solutions to an immediate problem: helping the industry get back to work while continuing to support the communities and charitable causes that depended on it.
From a Midstream Energy Calendar to an Industry Resource
Midstream Calendar quickly gained support across the energy community.
It was adopted and used by leading nonprofit and professional organizations, including GPA Midstream and its regional chapters, Pipeliners Associations across the United States, API-related organizations and other industry groups.
As the world reopened, the platform’s reach expanded beyond regional meetings and scholarship fundraisers. Allstream began working with global conference organizers and major industry events associated with organizations such as ADIPEC, Gastech, API and Reuters Events.
What started as a way to help people find events evolved into something larger: an industry publishing and communications platform built around connection, education and positive energy news.
Midstream Calendar demonstrated that the value was not simply in listing a date and location. The real value was understanding why an event mattered, who needed to know about it and how digital content could extend its impact far beyond the people physically attending.
The Evolution of Allstream Energy Partners
That original idea became the foundation for Allstream Energy Partners.
We expanded from event discovery into publishing, podcasting, digital marketing, website development, video production, public relations and industry-focused content. We created additional platforms serving upstream, downstream, renewable energy, power generation, datacenters, and other developing sectors by making dedicated energy calendars for each market sectors.
Allstream Insiders emerged as the publishing side of that vision… helping companies share project announcements, facility investments, technology developments, leadership updates and other positive news affecting the energy industry.
The common thread has always remained the same: HELPING THE PEOPLE and companies that build, operate, maintain and support critical energy infrastructure become easier to find, understand and trust.
Today, that mission also includes helping companies prepare for a new era of discovery.
Traditional search engines are no longer the only gatekeepers. Buyers, engineers, procurement professionals and executives increasingly use artificial intelligence platforms to research companies, compare capabilities and summarize potential solutions before making direct contact.
That is why Allstream Energy Partners now helps energy companies improve their visibility across traditional search, AI-generated answers and large language models through:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
- AI-optimized website development
- Industry-focused publishing and content development
The technology has changed, but the purpose has not. We are still helping the industry find one another.
Built From the Industry, for the Industry
Allstream Energy Partners was not created by outsiders attempting to learn the energy industry from a distance.
It grew from years spent supporting the associations, boards, events, scholarship programs, businesses and professionals that make the industry work.
That experience shaped how we communicate. Energy companies do not need generic marketing language. They need content that accurately explains their capabilities, respects technical complexity and reaches the people responsible for projects, operations, maintenance, procurement and investment.
Our understanding of the industry became our advantage.
Like the charcoal example in Rework, the value was already present. It simply needed to be recognized, refined and placed into a form that could serve others.
The Vision Ahead
The long-term vision for Allstream Energy Partners is to become the most trusted digital connection point between energy companies, industry organizations, major projects and the professionals who support them.
We envision an integrated ecosystem where publishing, events, podcasts, video, websites, traditional search and AI discovery work together.
Our goal is to help credible energy companies:
- Share their project experience and technical capabilities.
- Promote positive developments across the energy industry.
- Reach decision-makers through trusted industry platforms.
- Build websites and content that can be understood by people and AI systems.
- Support professional associations and charitable initiatives that strengthen the industry.
- Preserve and share knowledge that might otherwise remain hidden within companies or professional networks.
Turning Knowledge Into Fuel (Charcoal) for Growth
Allstream began during a period when the industry could not gather in the same room. We built a our energy calendar to help people find one another, created video conversations to keep information moving and used our industry knowledge to support organizations facing unprecedented limitations.
The circumstances created the necessity. The constraints inspired the creativity. The community gave the idea momentum.
Our “charcoal” was never sawdust. It was our knowledge of the events, organizations and people that educate the energy industry and bring it together.
Once we recognized the value of that knowledge, it became the foundation for Allstream Energy Partners. Today, we combine that industry experience with publishing, digital marketing, AI-optimized websites, SEO, AEO and GEO to help energy companies communicate their expertise and become easier to find, understand and recommend.
We found our charcoal. Now, we use it to help energy companies keep cooking—building their visibility, strengthening their brands and creating new opportunities for growth.
