The AAPG Advisory Council is entrusted with matters involving ethics and discipline, long-range planning, constitutional review, nominations for officers and honors and awards and other special projects as requested by the Executive Committee. That long-range planning piece is very important, yet easily lost in the flurry of nominations and honors and awards. Fortunately, under the leadership of past presidents Rick Fritz, Mike Party and Denise Cox, the AC is examining the status of geoscientists and how they are viewed within the industry and by the public, the future of petroleum and energy, and the future for geoscientists.
These future-focused examinations will inform AAPG strategy, supplementing past deep dives into AAPG’s inner workings. As we know, strategy is the overarching goal, whereas tactics are the actions or steps to achieve the strategy. Within AAPG, it is tempting to delve into the tactics because we as geoscientists are natural problem-solvers, but in doing so, we risk ignoring the big picture. It is hard to see the forest when one is down in the weeds.
AAPG strategy must address significant challenges that have been known for several years. Of these, the most threatening is the steady decline in voting membership.
AAPG voting membership has been decreasing steadily since 1986, as shown in the accompanying plot of membership versus time. Total membership in AAPG – all member classes – increased with global and U.S. E&P capital expenditure in the previous decade. Voting membership in AAPG did not follow the same trend. During this time, AAPG was serving ever more people, but these people did not elect to become a long-term part of our community. Participation in the form of full, voting membership is the hallmark of a sustainable value proposition. As you have read repeatedly in the EXPLORER and other AAPG communications, change is necessary.
The March 2022 President’s Column in the EXPLORER stated that “numerous member-led task forces over the last 10 years made recommendations that were not accepted for adapting AAPG to help it thrive as our business environment changed.” At least one member requested more information, so here it is.
| AAPG Strategic Initiatives |
| Fritz/Gillis SPE Merger Discussions 2021-2022 |
| Krystinik Governance Tactical Action Group (TAG team) 2021 |
| Hewett Strategy TAG team 2021 |
| Ball Treasurer Report/Recommendations 2020 |
| Lemiski AC Strategic Long-Range Plan 2020 |
| Sternbach new business options in 2017 |
| Hogg Ad Hoc on Future Scenarios 2016 |
| Krystinik Ad Hoc on AAPG Governance 2015 |
| Weimer Advisory Council 2013 |
AAPG leaders have attempted to address strategic challenges for decades through various initiatives listed in the accompanying table. Even earlier, AAPG past President Pete Rose empowered several ad hoc committees to evaluate various aspects of AAPG. And before that, the Oil and Gas Journal in 1999 published a commentary by then Landmark President Robert Peebler proposing that AAPG, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the Society of Petroleum Engineers form a single society, confirming that there is nothing new under the sun.
As we prepare for the 2022-23 fiscal year, you can see that there are plenty of ideas and studies to draw from. Augmenting these studies is the expertise of the AAPG staff in Association management, which will help in assessing how to allocate AAPG staff and financial resources to member programs and services. Balancing priorities will be critically important. Planning is complicated by the need to reengineer how and what AAPG does, while also conducting the ongoing business of AAPG, including major events in rapid succession.
As always, feedback and patience are appreciated.