AAPG
annually invites all officers, committee chairs, affiliated society
presidents, leaders from sister societies and members of the headquarters
staff to Tulsa for a weekend of communication, brainstorming and
building relationships.
This year's
event was held in January, and participating were:
- More than 20 leaders
from affiliated societies.
- Thirteen leaders
from sister societies.
- Chairs from 32 of
our 36 standing committees.
- Three of our six
International Region presidents.
- The Executive Committee
and twenty-eight staff members.
This year
we used a new venue (for us), the Williams Learning Center, which
was secluded in the countryside near Tulsa. A seminar on "Making
the Most of Meetings" started off the weekend's work sessions.
Then it
was time for business, and we tackled six subjects of interest or
concern to the Association.
Incidentally,
click here to see the
PowerPoint presentations for most of these summits.
Editor's Summit on Electronic
Publishing.
John Lorenz, AAPG
Editor, and Ben A. Van der Pluijm, GSA Editor, chaired the first-ever
geological intersociety publishing meeting. Representatives from
SEG, SEPM, MSA, The Geological Society of London and several other
organizations met for a full day to share their experiences and
ideas on electronic publishing, the future of association publishing
and trials and tribulations.
A highlight was a
report from members of an Intersociety Aggregate Committee on
their investigation of the potential for all geological associations
to aggregate their archives and future publishing to provide seamless
searching and usage of geological and related scientific data.
AAPG's Digital Spatial Data
Bret Fossum, chair
of the AAPG Computer Applications and Internet Committee, organized
a mini-summit on AAPG's Digital Spatial Data plans, goals and
dreams. The vision is to create a one-stop, on-line shopping center
for digital geoscientific data — the first and last place to
search for publically available, non-commercial, digital geoscientific
data.
Popular Geology Publcations
Steve Sonnenberg, candidate
for president-elect, and Jim Granath, publications chair, led
an excellent mini-summit on popular geology publications. Great
ideas were generated, and the Publications Committee is looking
for contributors, editors and authors. Check the Web site for
one you like, or tell these fellows of your own ideas.
GeoTours
Susan Landon, candidate
for president-elect, chaired a mini-summit responding to member's
requests for GeoTours — a combination of exciting geologic destinations
combined with excellent cultural and historical targets. Your
ideas, too, are welcomed, as we set up a new committee for this
activity.
Diversity within AAPG
Bob Countryman, chair
of the Membership Committee, and Sherilyn Williams-Stroud, chair of the National Association of Black Geologists
and Geophysicists Membership Committee, led a ground-breaking mini-summit on diversity
within AAPG. Their Web report is very thought-provoking and an
excellent contribution.
Public Outreach
Lee Allison, chair
of Public Outreach, had an animated group for his mini-summit,
and their ideas expand the mission of the committee and are reaching
out for a broad spectrum of member participation. Visit their
ideas on the Web site.
Add to
all of this a little music, staff and presidential roasting, and
great weather. It all made this not just a work session, but a bit
of fun, too!