That’s A Wrap!
The PODS Spring Forum, one of our key annual events, was a wild sucess yet again! We broke records again for attendance from May 20-21, 2026 in Houston, Texas kicking off the last day of the Esri Energy Resources GIS Conference.
This forum continues to be a premier opportunity to connect with fellow professionals, discuss the latest developments in pipeline data management, and share best practices. It’s the ideal setting to advance the use of the PODS data model for enhancing pipeline safety and integrity.
We look forward to seeing you at the next one!
PODS Spring Forum 2026 Presentation Download
PODS Spring Forum Keynote Presentation Download
PODS receives Esri's Make A Difference Award at ERGIS
PODS Gold Sponsor Presentations Download
PODS Spring Forum 2026 Registration
May 20-21, 2026
George R. Brown Convention Center & Embassy Suites
Integrity & Regulatory Module Workshop & Lunch
Included on Day 2 at Embassy Suites Discovery Green.
Where to Stay
1515 Dallas Street, Houston, Texas, 77010
Esri Energy Resources GIS Conference
George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, TX
PODS Principal Partner
PODS Spring Forum 2026
GOLD Sponsors
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Volunteer of the Year (Individual)
The Volunteer of the Year is awarded to the person who has made the biggest impact on the PODS Community through participation, innovation, leadership, and just plain grit and hard work. Without this person, PODS and the PODS Model would not be all that it is today!
Innovation Award (Individual, Team or Member Company)
Who has the best ideas for advancing pipeline data management from a technical aspect? The Innovation Award is for the person, team or company who always seeks to build a better mousetrap and contribute to the consistent growth and innovation of PODS.
Strategic Implementation Award (Operator Member Company)
Awarded to a PODS Operator Member who took a major step implementing the latest version of PODS and is prepared to share their story. Maybe they combined databases while implementing or they had multiple changes and upgrades going on at once or major roadblocks during the project. Whatever the challenge, this organization showcased stellar implementation.
PODS Migration Award (Operator or Service Company Member)
The PODS Migration Award seeks to acknowledge a Service Company supporting a new PODS implementation or a new Operator member using the PODS model for the first time. Seeking nominations of Operator Companies who have a successful implementation of PODS from another platform (or their supporting service company) and can showcase immediate improvements and success within their organization. Or a service company member showcasing the successful development strategy to implement PODS at an organization.
Service Company of the Year
To be the Service Company of the Year, you are the organization who donated the most time, energy, effort and/or sponsorship to PODS in a volunteer capacity. There are so many ways to support the PODS Community with committees, working groups, etc. This company supported their team with the leeway to perform above and beyond for the benefit of the community – they showed up and got the job done!
Operator of the Year
As Operator of the Year, you are the Operator who best exemplifies the mission and vision of PODS and the PODS Community. You are the Operator willing to share your experience with proven benefits and advancement due to use of the PODS Model. This Operator has supported their teams to engage with all of the resources the PODS Community has to offer while translating the value of PODS for pipeline safety, asset knowledge management, regulatory compliance and optimized operations.
Spring Forum 2026 Agenda
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May 20 | PODS Spring Forum Day 1, 10 AM-4:30 PM:
George R. Brown Convention Center — Room 320
Side-by-Side With Esri ERGISMay 20 | PODS Social & Dinner, 5 PM-8 PM:
Hearsay Restaurant adjacent to Embassy Suites Discovery GreenMay 21 | PODS Spring Forum Day 2, 8 AM-Noon:
Embassy Suites 2nd Level Breakout Rooms
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PODS Spring Forum Day 1
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 | George R. Brown Convention Center
Room 320, side-by-side with Esri ERGIS
8 – 9:45 AM – Check-in & Coffee – APR User Group Meeting available to all
10 AM – Welcome & Opening Remarks – Todd Patterson
- Overview of PODS Community, annual report and strategic direction
10:30 AM – PODS Awards Presentation
- Annual recognition of community contributions, innovation, and leadership
10:40 AM – Keynote Presentation – Pete Veenstra with Terracon
- Data quality, validation, and governance frameworks
11:00 AM – Sponsor Spotlight Presentation – Magnolia River
- Ted Tomes and Poonam Samudrala from Western Midstream will present with Marissa Anderson and Andy Tanner from Magnolia River on Lessons Learned from their recent migration and integration of PODS 7 with APR, Utility Network, ILI and Regulatory Modules
11:30 AM – Lunch
12:45 PM – Sponsor Spotlight Presentation – Geonamic
- PODS-Structured Integrity Data: The Fast Lane for Pipeline AI/ML
- Changming Du and Yan Wang from Geonamic will showcase new AI tools with PODS Member Data
1:15 PM – Sponsor Spotlight Panel – Petro IT
- Rick Roberts from Petro IT will lead a panel discussion with Josh Cox from Williams and Chad Hultman with ONEOK on landing the new class rule into procedures and GIS/PODS
1:45 – Break
2:00 PM – Joint PODS + Esri Session featuring Jeff Allen, Luke Hutmacher, Malika Pande, Patrick Boes
- Esri Principal Partner & Advantage Program Updates
- Demonstrations of PODS aligned workflows in ArcGIS
3 PM – Full Session Adjourn – Esri Booth Teardown for Service Companies
3:15 – 4:30 PM – Operator’s Only Session Room
- Operators meet privately to discuss challenges, regulatory pressures, data governance, and best practices
5 – 8 PM – Social & Dinner at Hearsay On the Green | Embassy Suites Downtown Houston
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PODS Spring Forum Day 2
Thursday, May 21, 2026 | Embassy Suites Downtown Houston
7:30 AM – PODS Board Meeting & Strategic Planning Session
8 AM – Forum Check-in & Coffee, Foyer/Balcony
8:30 AM – Breakout Sessions
- Discovery Room A
- FOG (Friends of GIS) “Old Guys Meeting”
- Great opportunity to engage with some “seasoned” PODS brains. Ask questions on why things were done and how we got here!
- PODS 101 – Data Quality, Validation, & Governance Frameworks
- FOG (Friends of GIS) “Old Guys Meeting”
- Discovery Room B
- Enterprise Architect Updates
- Advantage Program (Esri) Planning Meeting
10 AM – Break
10:20 AM – Committee & Working Group Updates
- TCG & TCDM
- Core Model Review & Discussion
- What is working and not working in PODS
- Lessons learned and what could be avoided or fixed
- Scholarship
- Membership
- TEE (Training, Education and Events)
- Working Group Meetings / Modules & Discussion
- What are we building now and what do we want to build next
11 AM – Break
11:15 AM – Integrity & Regulatory Module Workshop & Luncheon with PHMSA, TX RRC & CER (Canada Energy Regulator)
- Annual volunteer working session to review PHMSA/RRC updates and validate NPMS attribute alignment, modeled after 2025’s Workshop
12:30 PM – PODS Spring Forum 2026 Complete!
Peter Veenstra
Terracon Consulting Inc.
Pete offers 30+ years of consulting, data product management, and system implementation experience in the geo-spatial industry. Peter now serves as the Director of Data Governance at Terracon Consulting Inc. a Geotechnical, Materials, Environmental, and Facilities Engineering Services and Consulting company located in Olathe, Kansas, USA. He has worked in the geospatial and AEC industries as an analyst, programmer, software architect, GIS consultant, Director of Product Development, and Implementation. He served as the technical architect and Board Member for the Pipeline Open Data Standard (PODS) data model. His specialties include data governance, data model design, data literacy, data workflows, data architecture, and data analysis. In his free time, it is all about family, ice hockey, fly-fishing, bass guitar, painting, and noodling around with maps.
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PODS Spring Forum 2026 Sponsors
