Two years ago Emily Calvert, Chloe Sparks and I were invited to give a view of the industry from a young energy professional perspective. We described ourselves as millennials. We described ourselves as energy nerds. We described ourselves as being part of a diverse and multi-cultural group that wants to learn to become great at what we do.

The Young Energy Professionals Network is wishing you holidays filled with fun and laughter. We can’t wait to see you next year. We will be back with more updates in February 2019.

This month we are taking NZ to the world, and bringing the world to NZ. We wish all the best to our Future Energy Leaders who are in Milan representing New Zealand on the world stage this week. And next week we are delighted to welcome four young professionals from around the world to Wellington.

This year New Zealand has the honour of hosting the Asia Pacific Energy Leaders' Summit, which presents a unique opportunity to network some of the visionaries of our industry!

This year's theme is the 3D Vision. New Energy Perspectives will offer an invaluable insight into the global forces that are driving the Energy Sector's three D's: Decentralisation, Digitisation and Decarbonisation. The 2018 Summit will feature outstanding keynote speakers and industry leaders from business, energy and technology, and will help decision-makers navigate the disruptive forces that are provoking profound global change. It's a critical time to bring new perspectives and insights to the challenges, especially from outside of the traditional energy sector.

The Young Energy Professionals Network is delighted to launch our new Mentoring Programme. The programme is designed to give you a chance to meet with different leaders and decision makers for a coffee each month. You could make a dozen new industry contacts each year!

A big thank you to all YEPN members who responded to our online satisfaction survey earlier this year, and congratulations to Buddhika Rajapakse for winning a complimentary ticket to the Downstream Conference! The feedback received shows that our events and newsletters provide value to our members, and we are committed to keeping it that way. You identified the themes of Environment, People and Economy as very relevant to you, and we will make sure we address these topics in depth and involve you in the network's discussions.

One of our members has passed us some information about 2 back-to-back energy-related events hosted by the School of Management at Victoria University and supported by ORSNZ through its Energy and Natural Resources Special Interest Group (ENR SIG) and industry sponsors.

The Young Energy Professional Network was founded in 2015 by New Zealand's representatives in the Future Energy Leader programme. Since then, we have been invited to present our views in front of Executives across the industry at the Downstream conference. We have held events, drinks, and regular newsletters. Now is the time to reflect on our activities and ensure we keep delivering value to our members.

As we are winding down (or gearing up) for Christmas, the World Energy Council (WEC) has reached out to us to nominate exceptional individuals to join the Future Energy Leaders 100 cohort (FEL, or FEL100 for short). New Zealand is currently represented by 3 members: Z Energy's Tina Frew, Transpower's Bennet Tucker, and Powerco's Daniel Gnoth. They took part in the last WEC's summit in Lisbon, and reported back about what they learnt to YEPN and BEC members last week. See below for more information about the FEL application process and more information about their presentation.

Whilst the suspense is still building up over the new NZ government formation, YEPN is ready to launch its three-year strategy and indicative programme. Our Network is apolitical, but we are proud to share and foster common values, some of which were presented at the Downstream Conference last year. We are also fortunate to draw inspiration from global views and ideas, as our Future Energy Leaders (FELs), Tina Frew, Daniel Gnoth and Bennet Tucker will soon be heading to the World Energy Leaders' Summit in Lisbon. Don't hesitate to join us on 14 December to hear about their insights from this event.