AAPG/DPA Discovery Thinking Forums began in 2007. This initiative of the 100th Anniversary committee featured discoverers telling stories
about new field or new play discoveries at invited Forums at AAPG Annual Meetings. These immediately became a popular and integral part
of the
ACE Technical Program. Global interest required that Discovery Thinking forums should also become a part of the ICE Technical
program, which they did in 2012.
In the decade since inception, 18 Discovery Thinking Forums have been hosted at both ACE and I
CE events. More than 100 speakers and their
co-authors have presented discoveries they know well commonly to standing room only audiences. We owe these “100 who made a difference”
heartfelt gratitude as we celebrate the AAPG Centenary. They have generously
gifted us with hard won and costly insights leading to
significant discoveries. They offer analogs for technical and business success. Their greatest lesson to us? As Michel T. Halbouty said of
pioneering wildcatters: “If they could do it, why can’t we?” During the two Discovery Thinking Forums planned for the Houston ACE 2017,
we pay tribute to the 115 men and women who have participated in these forums. We will feature several brief representative vignettes of
previous presentations spotlighting valuable
exploration lessons. These will be distributed throughout a lively program of 8 new significant
discoveries in a morning and afternoon forum.
Resources hosted on the AAPG Search and Discovery website (Special Collections, Discovery Thinking) form an enduring heritage to modern
and future explorers. Multimedia presentations of previous Discovery Thinking talks have been viewed more than 40,000 times (as of this
writing). In addition, AAPG/DPA has launched Playmaker Forums, 1-day stand-alone events on Discoveries. Playmakers also offer a
collection of multimedia presentations. Thanks to all the presenters. We celebrate their success and thank them for leaving their heritage better
than they found it. May they inspire us to continuously make new discoveries.