The 2003-04 AAPG Membership Enhancement Drive program goal was threefold:
- Involve
the societies and regions.
- Increase
the number of recruiters.
- Emphasize
recruiting Active members.
It worked.
A lot of
the emphasis on this contest was the recruitment of Active members,
and this included recruiting current Associates to transfer their
membership to Active. Bruce A. Falkenstein, Houston, wins the top
recruiter prize without adding a single new member; all 12 of his
recruits were upgrades to Active membership.
As winner,
Falkenstein will receive his registration, four night's hotel and
travel to AAPG's International Meeting and Exhibition in Cancun,
Mexico, Oct. 24-27.
Falkenstein,
vice president of exploration and geology with Transmeridian Exploration
since its founding in 2000, was previously with BP Amoco for 20
years. He was the Houston Geological Society's membership chairman
for 1988-90, and is on the MED ad hoc committee.
Of the total
364 recruited applicants during the MED contest this year, 227 are
for Active and 137 for Associate, so it seems this part of the goal
was accomplished.
Encouraging
the Affiliated societies and international regions to get involved
was another MED goal, according to MED chairman Dan Smith.
Result?
The society participation rate was 76 percent, and all of the regions
participated with a total overall of 302 recruiters. This also reflects
a lot of members who recruited just one member, thus accomplishing
another aspect of the goal, Smith said.
To be eligible
for the prize money each society and region had to accumulate recruiter
points equal to at least 3 percent of their member count taken at
the beginning of the contest last Sept. 1. Six societies and one
region qualified.
The winners:
- Baton
Rouge Geological Society wins first place for the societies, a
prize of $1,250.
- Pittsburgh
Association of Petroleum Geologists takes second place, and wins
$1,000.
- The
Everglades Geological Society takes third place, and the $500
award.
(Congratulations
to the Abilene and Alaska societies and the Professional Geologists
of Indiana for being in the running.)
Internationally,
the Africa Region wins the top prize of $1,250.