Bethany Haley, Vice President, Membership

The Jones Alumni Newsletter featured spotlight alumni is on NIRI-Houston’s very own, Bethany Haley. Read the newsletter.

Many thanks!

 The ride started in Anahuac, Texas at Fort Anahuac Park and continued along a scenic route through many fascinating sights and highlights. Riders spent the night in Galveston where they enjoyed an informal dinner with other cyclists, friends and family. Day two brought the riders north along the west side of Galveston Bay, through Kemah where they finished outside of Baytown, Texas at the Royal Purple Racetrack.

Participating in the ride was Hope Novosad – VP, Programs for NIRI-Houston and Manager, IR at Houston Wire & Cable Company and Joel Charron – Region Vice President at Curran & Connors. The pair rode with the City of LaPorte Road Dawgs, along with Hope’s husband, Matt Novosad who is a LaPorte Police Officer. The Dawgs raised $3,505.75 for the foundation and despite the wind and rain, the team had a great time. “The ride was a challenge, but having our team and our three children cheering us on at the finish line was priceless,” said Novosad.

Day one on the Ferry from Crystal Beach to Galveston. From left to right, Officers Novosad and Whitchurch, Joel Charron and Hope Novosad.

When Spring resident Ronnetta Eaton received the news in September 2007 that she again had cancer in her left breast after being cured four years ago, she admitted she nearly gave up hope.

“I was devastated. I thought my world was at an end,” Eaton said. “I describe it as a sense of impending doom.”

“I know my girls watch everything I do and pick up on everything I do,” Eaton said. “I could let it get to me and I could have a bad attitude about it, or I could pick myself up… I knew I was gonna have to change the way I look at things and that’s what I decided to do.”

On Sept. 21, Eaton’s first novel, “Straight from the Breast – A Breast Cancer Story of Inspiration,” was released, published by her publishing company, RYCE Books. The 202-page novel features journal entries Eaton wrote on www.breastcancerstories.com, where she began writing in 2007 after her second diagnosis.

“It’s a personal achievement for me and my hope is that I can inspire and encourage with my story,” Eaton said. “I’m just Ronnetta. If I can do this, anyone can do this.”

Eaton was initially diagnosed in 2003 with cancer in her left breast, but was cured after a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation. Only considered at stage one and the cancer smaller than 2 centimeters, doctors said her chances of getting the disease again were “minimal.”

In fact, she had her third daughter, Jaysen, following her recovery, even though it is “frowned upon” for breast cancer survivors to have children in case the cancer comes back. She was diagnosed again in 2007 and received a mastectomy, or breast removal, and endured six months of chemotherapy.

While she planned to publish her journal entries just for her daughters, Eaton said online feedback from her entries made her decide to publish it into a book. The novel is $15 and can be purchased at www.ronnetta.com or by calling 888-748-0849. She said it is a compilation of 31 chapters telling different aspects of her experience with breast cancer since 2003.

“It’s about how the whole experience has changed my life,” she said.

The chapters deal with various issues Eaton went through, including insurance problems, being diagnosed a second time, chemotherapy and its side affects, as well as dealing with breast removal.

Despite having her breast removed, Eaton said she was surprisingly fine with it and was more concerned with her lack of hair from the chemotherapy. However, she attempted reconstructive surgery to repair the breast in December 2008 and it failed, admittedly a “scary experience” for Eaton, who was in intensive care for four days.

Surgeries in June and December of 2010 were successful to repair the breast, she said.

Eaton will also be running in the upcoming Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Houston on Oct. 1. She has walked “on and off” since 2003, and is running with her own team this year: Ronnetta’s Breast Friends. Eaton said educating others on breast cancer awareness is very important to her, so that those diagnosed know they can overcome the disease.

“The worst thing about my diagnosis wasn’t the disease itself, but what I thought about it and how afraid I was,” Eaton said.

For more information on Eaton or her novel, go to www.ronnetta.com.

The new, easy-to-navigate website will not only keep you up-to-date on our wide range of educational programs, services and publications, it’ll better support our events calendar and current news blog – all of which are relevant to the Houston chapter.

In addition to our new website, NIRI Houston has created a members-only Linkedin Group, which provides exclusive access to IR-related job postings, speaker presentations and discussion threads.

We look forward to your hearing from you on the new website and the members-only Linkedin community – now is the perfect time to get involved with NIRI Houston.

Ready to start the conversation now? Add a comment below and tell us what you think!

When:
Wednesday-Thursday, September 14-15, 2011

Where:
The Downtown Club
1100 Caroline Street
Houston, TX
view online map

Registration:
Registration is complimentary and open only to corporate practitioners.

“Hope Novosad is the VP of Programs for the Houston Chapter. Hope is an ideal member of NIRI – actively engaged, always recruiting, consistently networking on behalf of NIRI and volunteering at every opportunity. She does not miss an event or a meeting and she consistently volunteers outside of her already demanding role on the board. As our VP Programs, Hope has tirelessly worked to strengthen the quality and diversity of our content and speakers. Specifically she has focused on balanced programming – mixing hot topics and trends in IR with professional, communications and leadership development for our members. She has recruited professional speakers and authors and leveraged the expertise of respected peers.”

“Lee’s appointment recognizes not only his outstanding professional qualifications and extensive knowledge of the global offshore drilling industry, but also the importance we place on a strategic focus on growth and increasing shareholder value,” said David W. Williams, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Lee’s broad understanding of the competitive landscape, world markets and finance coupled with his engineering background not only make him uniquely qualified, but will also provide an added dimension to our management team as we continue to develop our plans for the future.”
Ahlstrom holds a master of mechanical engineering degree and a bachelor of mechanical engineering degree from the University of Delaware. He has 20 years of energy industry experience and previously served as Director, Investor Relations at Burlington Resources and held various management positions at UNOCAL Corporation, including Manager, Planning & Strategy, Deepwater, USA, Manager, Investor Relations and Executive Assistant to the President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to UNOCAL, Ahlstrom held the position of Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company and held various engineering positions with Exxon Company, U.S.A.

Additionally, Simon Johnson, who held the position of General Manager, Marketing and Contracts, has been named Vice President, Marketing and Development. In this position, Johnson will be directly responsible for the Company’s marketing and contracting efforts in West Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle East and South East Asia/Australia. Johnson graduated from Curtin University, Perth, Australia and has worked in the drilling industry for the past 15 years with several companies and in various operations and marketing roles in Australia, Aberdeen and most recently in Singapore where he was responsible for Seadrill’s marketing function in the Middle East and SEA.

“We are delighted to have Simon as part of our management team and believe his energy, knowledge and experience make him an ideal addition to our worldwide marketing effort,” said Williams.

About Noble Corporation
Noble is a leading offshore drilling contractor for the oil and gas industry. Noble performs, through its subsidiaries, contract drilling services with a fleet of 76 offshore drilling units (including seven ultra-deepwater rigs and four jackup drilling rigs currently under construction), located worldwide, including in the Middle East, India, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, the Mediterranean, the North Sea, Brazil, West Africa and Asian Pacific. Noble also owns and operates a dynamically positioned floating production, storage, offloading vessel. Noble’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NE”. Additional information on Noble Corporation is available via the worldwide web at http://www.noblecorp.com.