In the final print issue of the magazine, editorial team members shared some of their favorite photos, moments and thoughts.

WE CREATED SPIRIT MAGAZINE  in late 2006 with the expert help of ConocoPhillips Creative Services designers. The CEO had been sending copies of other oil and gas company magazines to the manager of corporate communications with yellow sticky notes that read: “This is nice.” Eventually the manager of corporate communications realized the CEO wanted ConocoPhillips to have its own magazine. I was hired in July 2006 to make that happen.

Over the past 11 years, we produced 44 issues, with the mission of telling the ongoing story of company operations and people. There were many remarkable aspects of the magazine, but perhaps the most extraordinary was the fact that we did it all in-house with employees and contractors writing, editing, proofreading, taking photographs and even printing at our own Bartlesville print shop until the split in 2012. By my estimate, more than 15,000 ConocoPhillips people were recognized in its pages in one way or another.

The evolution of spirit Magazine has been steady and inevitable. From 2007 to 2009, we printed 65,000 copies quarterly and mailed one to the homes of every employee and retiree around the world. After the 2008 financial downturn, we stopped mailing and, as use of our online magazine grew, we reduced printed copies to a mere 2,500.

Saying goodbye to such a labor of love is bittersweet, but the opportunity to use our talents in the limitless, multimedia digital world offers an exciting new beginning.

I hope you’ll enjoy this look back at the best of spirit Magazine, and continue to join us as we transition to spiritnow.

Ray Scippa, executive editor

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I GOT MY FIRST SPIRIT MAGAZINE ASSIGNMENT a few months after I came to ConocoPhillips in 2012. Executive Editor Ray Scippa was in Bartlesville, already on the press, and in need of a last-minute addition to a cover story on the Technology Ventures group. I chased down the people involved and quickly knocked out the copy. It was apparently good enough to earn me a place on the elite magazine team.

I wrote my first cover story in fourth quarter 2012 on the company’s Technology group, interviewing the chief technology officer, people in the business units and Conoco­Phillips engineers and scientists doing cutting-edge research at the labs in Bartlesville. I was hooked. Little did I know I’d be so interested in complex technical topics, and my greatest challenge remains making these stories comprehensible — and hopefully interesting — to a broader audience.

Over the past five-plus years, I’ve had an opportunity to visit ConocoPhillips locations and report on innovative projects being executed by talented, committed people. Some of my favorite articles have covered SPIRIT Award recipients, Faces of ConocoPhillips subjects, Polar Tankers and water-related research and pilot projects.

I’ve heard from friends and associates across the business spectrum that they’ve never seen a publication that comes close to ours in terms of content, photography and print quality. I will miss the print publication but look forward to moving forward into the digital world.

All in all, it is a pleasure, honor and welcome challenge to cover the people and business of ConocoPhillips.

Jan Hester, assistant editor

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An excerpt from the first Sharing Insights

First Quarter 2007

ConocoPhillips is launching spirit Magazine at a critical time in our industry. Energy is a foundation of the world economy, and has helped fuel the great economic strength of dozens of nations. But today, skyrocketing demand worldwide and instability in many energy-producing regions are creating unprecedented competition for resources. With so much at stake, we recognize the need to engage in an open, honest discussion, informed by the facts on how we can best meet rising demand and enhance energy security.

For more than 100 years, ConocoPhillips and its peers have been dedicated to the reliable, efficient and cost-effective production of energy for consumers — a role we’ll play for many generations to come. We clearly need more energy in all forms … We particularly need more oil and natural gas. In the United States, they power 97 percent of our transportation — cars, trucks, trains, planes and ships — and go into 96 percent of all manufactured goods — plastics, medicines, machinery. The list is endless.

spirit Magazine will look closely at every aspect of our business, with particular focus on the people who “make it happen” day in and day out.

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Faces of ConocoPhillips

One of the original feature concepts of spirit Magazine, Faces of ConocoPhillips, has profiled just shy of 150 people since 2007, including employees, retirees, contractors, family members and even shareholders. It will live on as an integral part of spiritnow on the new website. Pictured here are (left to right) Jerry Poppenhouse (First Quarter 2014); Jumadil Kubro (Second Quarter 2017); Dean and Karen Davis (First Quarter 2017); Rufus Gandhi (First Quarter 2016); Karen Stiles (First Quarter 2015) and former CEO and Phillips 66ers basketball star Pete Silas (Third Quarter 2009).

 

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A legacy of photographic excellence

Over the years, our stunning photography has taken the reader around the world to the places where the people of ConocoPhillips live and work. A heartfelt thanks to our gifted and adventurous photographers: Kjetil Alsvik, Patrick Currey, Salvador Garza, Garth Hannum, Gus Morgan, Rich Ostrem, Hall Puckett, Enrico Sacchetti and Martin Vargas