The International Liaison
Committee (ILC) has been a communication channel for the international
membership since its establishment by the AAPG Executive Committee 15
years ago.
The committee's mission
is:
- To promote international
participation in AAPG by providing a forum for international members
and affiliated societies to communicate with the Executive Committee.
- To provide support and
counsel to AAPG committees and international regions and their associated
service teams regarding international education, conferences, research
and membership.
- To help identify candidates
for AAPG awards and honors.
In addition, the ILC liaises
between 17 AAPG standing committees involved in international activities
and the Executive Committee.
Nahum Schneidermann chaired
this committee until 1998, bringing his expertise in international affairs,
contacts and global network to AAPG. Pinar Yilmaz has been the chair
since 1998, with George Kronman (1998-1999), Dan Shaughnessy (1999)
and Maria Antonietta Lorente (1999-2001) as vice chairs.
ILC membership started with
a few who were interested in networking and has grown to involve many
around the world. The ILC has become a focal point in bringing issues
and solutions to AAPG expansion in international arenas.
Some of the challenges facing
AAPG internationally include:
- "Value for money" of
dues.
- Barriers to international
membership (cost and approval process).
- Competition from other
societies (SEG, SPE, EAGE).
The ILC report on "barriers
to membership" helped in addressing some of the issues common to international
areas. Those issues include:
- How to make AAPG membership
a "guild" that is perceived as something prestigious.
- Increasing student chapters
and student memberships.
- Finding sponsors for
Active membership applicants.
- Cost issues.
- Timely delivery of the
EXPLORER and BULLETIN.
One of the outcomes from
this study is a pilot program for "group membership," where eight people
can share a membership to receive one set of the EXPLORER and the BULLETIN,
and be included in all of the mailings.
Several countries have been
selected for this pilot program, which will start later this year in
Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
In 1999, AAPG established
six international regions (Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin
America and Asia) in order to deliver AAPG services faster, cheaper
and more effectively. Since these regions cover very large areas with
multi-cultures, languages and petroleum provinces, timely and effective
delivery of services remains a challenge.
Although Canada, Asia and
Europe are well established in their regional organization and steering
committees, the other regions are lagging behind in their organizational
structure.
In the interim, the ILC
and AAPG service teams are liaison to these regions for AAPG services
(Distinguished Lecture tours, short courses, finding regional nominees
for AAPG awards and honors, international meeting site selection).
By the end of 2001, all
of these regions are expected to be in place.
for both international and
domestic meetings.
First, "international" designation
for awards has been eliminated. There now are simply AAPG awards and
honors, and any member, anywhere can be nominated by the AAPG Advisory
Council.
Second, there are two named
awards for technical excellence in international conferences -- for
best paper (Gabriel Dengo Memorial Award, or the Dengo Cup), and for
best poster (Ziad Beydoun Memorial Award). These awards are equivalent
to the Matson Cup and Jules Braunstein Award, which are presented for
the best technical paper and poster at the AAPG annual meeting.
There also are two named
awards for students at international conferences -- the Carlos Walter
Campos Memorial Award for best student paper, and the Ozan Sungurlu
Memorial Award, for best student poster.
Both awards carry a $500
cash prize.
Another issue is the future
of international meetings (focus and proliferation of meetings competing
for the same sponsorship dollars, technical papers and volunteers for
organization).
Most ILC members have been
involved in some way in AAPG's international meetings. One of the most
important aspects of these meetings is the site selection, and an ILC
proposal to streamline requests to hold international meetings in different
locales resulted in a form that must be completed by those seeking a
meeting.
The purpose of this effort
is to have a plan for international conferences where the local society
or national oil company partnerships can lead to collaborations for
a timely technical program content, and business drivers to better serve
the membership needs.
This effort was recently
given to the Committee on Conventions for action.
The ILC is the center of
international events at AAPG as well as providing global network opportunities
to its members. Anyone interested in learning more about the international
events as well as ensuring faster, better and cheaper AAPG services
should become a member.
We do have fun!