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Roundtable Guidelines 1. Purpose of Roundtables a. Roundtables are moderated User
discussion groups which focus on operations, maintenance, and
technical support issues for a specific gas turbine or
specific range of gas turbines, typically set by application or power. b. Roundtables promote networking
between Users with common equipment and focus on the solution of technical
support problems to improve User’s gas turbine operating safety,
environmental performance, extend User’s overhaul intervals, minimize
repair costs, improve availability and reliability, improve
efficiency and mutually discuss technical support problems on the gas turbine
units under discussion. c. Roundtables do not discuss or review
Users individual financial metrics or compare commercial or financial
data. Roundtables are a technical forum. d. Any discussion of or action on the
following topics is not allowed in Roundtables: i. Individual member cost data. ii Specifics and details of any contract
between a member and any OEM iii. Inter-member collaboration of any form
on any contracting or commercial terms. Note: Such activity can take place
within a recognized or contracted industry joint venture or operating agreement but
GTUI is not the proper forum for such discussions. iv. Sharing of one OEM’s
information with another OEM or 3rd party supplier. v. Due to the assumed international
attendance at any session, discussions should not disclose
information that is subject to Export Controls (e.g., Export
Administration Regulations of the 2. Roundtable Structure & Definition of OEM’s
and gas turbines a. Roundtables
are moderated, structured discussion groups focused (generally) on one gas
turbine from one OEM. Roundtables are technical forums for
User networking and seeking solutions to common problems. Roundtables
are not commercial or vendor problem resolution forums. b. A
Roundtable is generally structured around discussion of one (1) gas turbine
model or frame size e.g., Rolls Royce RB-211, GE Frame 5, GE LM2500/2500+,
or one Original Equipment Manufacturer e.g., Solar or Ruston. In some cases,
a range of gas turbine sizes may be combined into one Roundtable, e.g. GE
Frame 7&9. c. Roundtables
may cover more than one OEM’s equipment over the time of the annual
event so as to cover all gas turbines of interest to Users and allow
inclusion of smaller fleets. d. Roundtables
do not cover more than one OEM in a given session to avoid conflicts of
interest. e. Roundtables
are defined by the Board of Directors to cover those gas turbines of interest
to a significant number of GTUI members. Roundtables are not set up for gas
turbines with little or no User interest or commercial application.
Obsolescence may also cause certain gas turbines to be combined into one
Roundtable. f. OEM’s
are those commercial entities that originally manufactured the gas turbine or
who have since taken over provision of technical support for a gas turbines
application by way of merger or combination. Invited OEM’s are those
OEM’s whom the Board of Directors determines have commercially and
operationally significant numbers of gas turbines operated by GTUI members.
Not all gas turbine OEM’s will be Invited OEM’s. g. Packagers
of gas turbine equipment are business entities who assemble machinery systems
to deliver a complete operational machinery system including driver, driven,
auxiliaries, accessories, and enclosure to a User for commercial operation.
Packagers of gas turbines have a significant influence on User’s experience
in operating and maintaining such units. Some packagers may also be licensed
overhaul and service entities for one or more OEMs. Packagers will not be
offered OEM status at GTUI. Packagers of gas turbines can be included in
their primary OEM’s delegations for GTUI Conferences. These entities
will have the same privileges as their sponsoring OEM. Packagers who use
multiple OEM’s gas turbines will have to select one primary OEM to
sponsor their attendance at GTUI. h. Roundtables
focus on the operational mission of the gas turbine and its required support
systems and look to the OEM for final resolution of any and all performance
issues relating to either the gas turbine or support systems regardless of
supplier. Likewise, the OEM is considered to be ultimately technically
responsible for the work and products of licensees, manufacturing associates
and business associates, etc. 3. Roundtable Organization a. A
Roundtable is led by the Chair and Vice Chair of the Roundtable. b. The Roundtable Chair has the authority to
declare any Roundtable attendee out of order and/or direct them to leave the
Roundtable for behavior counter the common good of the Roundtable and GTUI c. The
Roundtable Chair must report to the GTUI membership at the closing session on
the significant issues discussed in the Roundtable, attendance, and general
level of interest in the gas turbine being discussed. Comments on OEM support
are also encouraged. d. Roundtable
notes are taken and coordinated by the Vice Chair. The Vice Chair ensures complete
transmittal of data and notes taken in the Roundtable to the Roundtable Chair
for the Annual Roundtable Report to the GTUI. At the discretion of the Chair,
Roundtables may also use volunteers from the Roundtable attendees to assist
in note taking. Volunteers are required to ensure complete transmittal of data
and notes taken in the Roundtable to the Vice Chair for inclusion in
the composite Roundtable notes. e. Roundtable
Chairs/Vice Chairs will forward any questions for their OEM received prior to
the conference to the OEM Team Leader and the Vice President of
GTUI (OEM Liaison Officer) for handling with the OEM and inclusion in the
OEM’s presentation to GTUI. The Roundtable Chair/Vice Chair should stay
in contact with this activity to ensure questions are fully addressed. f. User
attendees will be encouraged via registration materials to formulate questions
and issues in writing for early submission per above. 4. Selection of Roundtable
Chairs and Vice Chairs a. The
Roundtable Chair and Vice Chair are chosen by the Board of Directors from
senior Users, Voting Members or Emeritus Members. b. Roundtable
Chair and Vice Chair terms are generally one (1) / two (2) years with the
Vice Chair normally succeeding the Chair at the end of two years and a new
Vice Chair being appointed by the Board of Directors. 5. Training of Roundtable Chair
and Vice Chair a. The role of
Roundtable Chair and Vice Chair is essential to the function of the GTUI.
The role of Chair requires experience with gas turbines (ideally with the gas
turbine under discussion), recognized senior standing in the User forum,
knowledge of the industry and key issues, sensitivity to the interests of all
Roundtable attendees including OEM’s and the ability to keep the Roundtable on
track and provide a stable, organized discussion forum for all. Given the
above, not all GTUI members can be effective Roundtable Chairs and training
in historically successful Roundtable techniques will help all potential
Chairs. b. The
Board of Directors will provide training on Roundtable leadership techniques
and the requirements for Roundtable discussion topics to all Chairs and
Vice Chairs. The training will generally occur the day prior to the
conference. c. Completion
of Roundtable Training will generally be required to serve as a Roundtable
Chair and Vice Chair. Roundtable training for Assistants may be waived on an
individual basis by the Board of Directors Chair on recommendation of the
Roundtable Chair. d. The Board of
Directors may, in its sole judgment, appoint Roundtable Chairs who have
not completed Roundtable training provided the appointed individual is
generally recognized by skill, experience and personality as having the
required skills, background and judgment to effectively run a Roundtable. 6. Roundtable Notes and
Information a. Users
and Roundtable attendees are encouraged to take their own notes on Roundtable
discussions of interest to them and are ultimately responsible for their own
technical content takeaway information. b. Published
notes of Roundtable discussions are encouraged, but not required. c. The
Roundtable Vice Chair will generally be in charge of note generation, either
personally or with assistance from a volunteer Assistant. Questions generated within a Roundtable for
the OEM will have the OEM answer delivered to all attendees of the Roundtable
either by the OEM at the Conference or through the Roundtable Chair. d. Roundtables
focus on open sharing of operations, maintenance and technical support issues
between Users for the benefit of Users only. Information exchanged within the
Roundtable is not for attribution to a specific User as one User's problem
often affects other Users. e. Roundtable
discussions are considered “Confidential” to Users and
participants and may be used within a Users company or organization but are
not for dissemination beyond GTUI or the Users company or organization. The
Roundtable Chair will determine which, if any, notes would be helpful to the
OEM in resolving/addressing problems identified by the Roundtable. Generally,
Roundtable notes will not be forwarded to an OEM without editing by the
Roundtable Chair and will only be forwarded to the OEM by the OEM Liaison
Officer of the Board of Directors. f. Use
of Roundtable information by attendees in their routine business duties is
acceptable as long as the source is protected and individual nature of the
information is stated (i.e., the source of the data is acknowledged as an
individual not a “corporate” or “GTUI” position).
GTUI does not condone or allow the use of Roundtable data in commercial
negotiations; OEM problem resolution or other commercial
forum—Roundtable data is solely to help Users operate and maintain
their gas turbines more effectively. Users must make their commercial
decisions entirely on their own using data as they see fit. The use of
Roundtable material in “ambush negotiation” or “vendor
bashing” is not condoned and will be grounds for termination of an individual’s
right to attend Roundtables and/or GTUI. g. Distribution
of Roundtable Notes will generally be made only to those attending the
Roundtable or otherwise at the discretion of the Roundtable Chair. As the
GTUI moves to an Electronic Forum, Roundtable notes will be available on the
Internet for all registered Member attendees (with password security) with
the exception of OEM’s and their licensees, service shops, or affiliated
organizations. OEM’s will be specifically constrained from accessing
other OEM’s information and question responses in the GTUI Electronic
Forum. Violations by an OEM will be grounds for sanction by the GTUI Board of
Directors up to and including expulsion. 7. OEM Involvement in Roundtables a. OEM
involvement in Roundtables is permitted with specific approval of the
Roundtable attendees. The Roundtable Chair will be responsible for
coordinating such OEM involvement including timing, who from the OEM should
be involved and other matters. Generally, the OEM will only be involved for a
limited number of Roundtable sessions to allow the Roundtable to discuss
problems and issues freely and formulate questions for the OEM. OEM
involvement in any Roundtable is limited to technical personnel and
discussion of technical issues—sales or promotional discussions are not
allowed. b. OEM’s
may never attend Roundtables other than Roundtables dealing with their own
nameplate gas turbines. Attempts to engage in such activity will be
considered a serious ethical breach and reported to the OEM’s executive
management and may be subject to additional sanction by the GTUI Board of
Directors up to and including a suspension or ban on attendance at GTUI by
the individuals or OEM’s involved. c. Questions
for the OEM generated by the Roundtable during the Conference should be fully
answered and reported back to the Roundtable during the Conference, if at all
possible. Any questions not resolved will be carried over for future action. 8. Roundtable Quality
Assurance a. Board of Directors members and Emeritus
Members will periodically monitor the Roundtables for effective leadership
and solicit comments from attendees to improve the Roundtable and generate
new leadership candidates. b. Any
attendee at GTUI is encouraged to approach the Roundtable Chair and Vice
Chair directly with any feedback or suggestions for Roundtable improvement.
Any attendee may also approach any Board Member or Emeritus member directly
to provide feedback on Roundtable function. c. The
OEM Liaison Officer of the Board of Directors may also contact senior OEM
management to seek information on their perspective regarding Roundtable
function, quality of issues developed, and handling of problems generated and
to give feedback to the OEM regarding their contribution to the Roundtable. d. All
Roundtable attendees have the option of filling out a questionnaire to assess
the performance of these sessions. The Board of Directors will analyze the
results of the data gathered from the questionnaires. 9. Guidelines for Corporate
and Personal Behavior in Roundtables a. Roundtables
cannot function effectively without highly professional behavior on the part
of all attendees. All attendees, including OEM’s and any Knowledge or
Service Providers, will receive these guidelines in their registration
material and must subscribe to the following guidelines to attend Roundtables
and participate in GTUI: i. Roundtables are moderated discussion
groups. The Chair will ensure that all interested parties have the
opportunity to address issues fairly. ii. The Roundtable Chair has absolute
authority to declare attendees out of order or to limit discussion as
required to technical issues or issues of interest to the majority of
attendees. iii. The Roundtable Chair will endeavor to
ensure that all those who come to GTUI with an operational issue or problem
leave with the best answer GTUI can provide—either through the
Roundtable or from other Users—and will limit discussion accordingly or
schedule extra Roundtable sessions as required. iv. Persons and Parties that are not either
Users or the OEM of the gas turbines under discussion are cautioned that
information developed in the Roundtable is “not for attribution”
and cannot be used outside GTUI for any commercial purpose. Inappropriate use
of Roundtable or GTUI data is cause for revocation of attendance privileges. v. Roundtables are strictly technical
forums focused on User issues or other issues of interest to the gas
turbine community. Commercial discussions of any nature are not allowed. .
vi. No commercial promotion or sales promotion of any kind is
allowed from any party or person. vii. Personal and corporate behavior that is
not in the best interests of and does not further professional, open,
non-partisan discussion of gas turbine problems and the solution of
such problems is not allowed in Roundtables. Examples of such behavior
include, but are not limited to, the following: a. self promotion is allowed from
OEM’s, consultants, service providers or other attendees. b. No
exaggerated or promotional claims or “chest thumping” by operators,
suppliers or other attendees is permitted c. No
inflammatory or defamatory statements of OEM and/or supplier performance or operator competence, also known as “vendor bashing” or “ambush
discussions” are allowed. Discussion
is strictly limited to technical issues and solving User problems. d. Discussion
not focused on problems and the solution of problems with gas turbines is out
of order in Roundtables. Personal or financial/commercial issues must not be
discussed in the Roundtable. e. Questions
or statements that lead to a predetermined conclusion, also known as
“leading questions” or the practice of “leading of the witness”, are allowed—especially from parties with any potential conflict of
interest viii. Any parties with potentially competing commercial interests
must focus entirely on helping Users with the technical issue at hand
and not participate in promotional activity and take any sales or
commercial discussion elsewhere. This allows technical issues to be the
Roundtable focus and minimizes any potential conflict of interest. ix. OEM’s
may not schedule off-site entertainment or other off-site
meetings for Users during GTUI. Violations by an OEM will result in sanction
by the GTUI Board of Directors. All Users are encouraged to attend
only sanctioned GTUI activities at the Conference Venue and
contribute to the OEM’s understanding of all User
concerns. x. If requested
by a User Member as a matter of technical necessity and
coordination of User and OEM resources, meetings between a
single User and an OEM may be conducted during GTUI with concurrence of the
GTUI President and Annual Conference Chair. Such meetings must be focused
on resolution of immediate technical, safety, and/or operational concerns, limited in
nature, and not detract from the overall purpose of the GTUI. Such meetings
must be limited in scope and attendance. |
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Copyright © 2006, All rights
reserved. Gas Turbine Users International. |
