Midstream Matters: Attendees Praise Convention and Offer Tips to Make It Even Better

By Sarah Miller, President & CEO

We are excited to share feedback gathered from the many responses to our survey about the 2025 GPA Midstream Convention. Thank you to all who took the time to complete our survey. Your input is valuable and will be used to help make future events even better.

First, the 2025 Convention was a success:

• 1,817 attendees - a new post-pandemic high
• 92 speakers
• 55 sessions
• 549 companies in attendance
• A second consecutive record year in sponsorships, including 85+ sponsors

We were pleased by the overwhelmingly positive response - 99% said they received "excellent" or "good" value from this year's Convention compared to the time and money spent to attend.

Strong majorities (more than 90%) said the Convention met or exceeded their expectations for networking and making connections, learning something new, and vendor offerings. Most attendees said they'd be willing to recommend the GPA Midstream Convention to a colleague or friend. Nearly 60% said they will definitely attend the 2026 Convention.

Among the hundreds of survey responses and volunteered free-form comments, several common topics emerged:

LOCATION

A strong majority of attendees were happy with the San Antonio location and the Marriott Rivercenter venue. However, 46% of attendees have attended three or more conventions in the same locations and some respondents expressed interest in holding future conventions in other locations.

Events like the GPA Midstream Convention book several years in advance to secure adequate space at a suitable venue. Indeed, we signed contracts for convention space through 2029 several years ago. Fortunately, we anticipated our community's interest in exploring new venues. While the fabulous team at Marriott's Rivercenter in San Antonio will again host our event in 2026, the Convention will be held at the spectacular Loews property in Arlington, Texas in 2027 and 2029. San Antonio's Marriott Rivercenter will be our host again in 2028.

We are currently contracting for 2030 and beyond and researching the locations you suggested, including Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, and Oklahoma City, while also exploring return visits to San Antonio. We have found it is prudent to host the Convention (and our board meetings) outside of Houston, where many of our members have office space, so that our attendees can focus on our event without getting pulled back into the office. Your reservations at our host hotel also help us keep event costs lower.

SESSION TOPICS

Survey respondents shared interest in future-focused topics, especially AI and data center demand, more regulatory updates, increased information about carbon capture and decarbonization, LNG, and operational troubleshooting and optimization.

Several of these topics were part of the 2025 agenda - nearly 500 individuals joined Carson Kearl's analysis of AI and data center issues, and more than 100 heard an agency update directly from PHMSA's Deputy Administrator Ben Kochman.

We know the event schedule - with multiple concurrent events and overlapping start and end times - makes getting to everything impossible. We have also heard that attendees appreciate the optionality and diversity of sessions.

Did you know that members select all session topics? For example, the Program Committee selects the sessions for the commercial track. The technical, advocacy, safety, and communications committees all determine the speakers at their applicable sessions. If you want to be part of the selection process, consider joining the Program Committee, or our open technical, advocacy, safety, and/or communications committees.

CONNECTING WITH OTHER ATTENDEES

We asked if you thought any particular companies were missing from the Convention. Some responses identified companies who had representatives in attendance. We are sorry you missed each other! The Midstream Go app identifies every registrant for the event and permits registrants to text each other directly through the app. We hope you can use the app to find each other next year.

HOSPITALITIES

We are grateful for our sponsors who hold hospitalities at the convention site. They support us by paying a sponsorship fee and then coordinating directly with the hotel to design and host their own parties with their own creative themes. We publicize all such on-site hospitalities to every Convention registrant, including those held in the hotel public spaces on Tuesday night and those private events held in rooms upstairs throughout the Convention week. We appreciate you visiting these hospitalities and learning more about our sponsors.

CONVENTION STRENGTHS

Like our members, GPA Midstream is committed to continuous improvement, and we will use these survey results to build upon the event's strengths:

1. Networking and Relationship-Building - attendees overwhelmingly told us the Convention is a great place for high-quality networking, access to key industry contacts, and opportunities to reconnect with peers and customers. More than 90% said the event met or exceeded expectations in this area.
2. Strong Value - Attendees think attending Convention is worth the investment, are likely to return, and that the content, connections, and exposure more than justify the cost.
3. Quality of Content and Relevance of Topics - We appreciate the suggestions to improve while we also note the high scores from most attendees regarding what they characterized as timely, relevant topics, strong technical tracks, high-quality speakers, and sessions tied to current industry issues.
4. Vendor Offerings and the Exhibit Hall Experience - More than 90% said the vendor area met or exceeded expectations. There were requests for even more, which we are exploring.
5. Event Organization and On-Site Execution - In a tribute to Director of Meetings & Events Melodi Foster and everyone with GPA Midstream involved in producing Convention, most attendees thought the event was well-run. Comments mentioned smooth logistics, helpful staff, clear communication, and appreciation for the Marriott Rivercenter facility and team.

The strong message from the survey - even from those who offered suggestions for improvement - is that the GPA Midstream Convention is a great event. We're committed to making it even better next year. If you've been to Convention previously, we look forward to seeing you again in 2026. If you haven't attended yet, we invite you to join us in San Antonio next September.

And, if you have ideas on how to make future conventions great, we encourage you to join a committee and get involved. GPA Midstream is a member-driven organization, which means our Convention is too. This is your opportunity to shape future events and lead midstream into the future.