Board of Directors Message

This year has seen a lot of changes in the CSEG communications. The fiscal challenges for the CSEG and the need to quickly reduce the deficit led to the decision to go (mostly) digital. The need for swift action meant that changes were not analysed in advance perhaps as much as would have been ideal. Fortunately, the transition to digital is going well. Thanks to the RECORDER committee for all of their hard work, and thanks very much to our long term advertisers who have stuck with us. We may continue to print the convention RECORDER each year, as it is popular and cost effective. We anticipate the other RECORDER editions will remain digital.

Over the next while, we are looking at ways to take advantage of the digital platform of the RECORDER and website, to enrich content and improve the members’ and readers’ experience, and to build value for our advertisers. We are continuing to document and working to improve the “hits” to our website. Because our older archives are open, we already receive a lot of attention from the global geophysical community (see John’s ‘President’s Message’ from June 2017). Thanks for your patience while we work on these initiatives – ideas are always welcome.

We are also working to improve our use of other digital platforms such as social media. In particular, we are expanding the use our LinkedIn page. LinkedIn can be a great forum for the membership to talk. Any member can start a discussion. We can talk about RECORDER articles and technical issues, we can talk about educational opportunities and giving back through the Foundation, we can talk about social and networking events past and future, and we can even talk about what we should talk about.

In my humble opinion, what we can talk about extends to broader issues and scientific topics that affect many of us. We as geoscientists, with a knowledge of the earth’s history, and/or a knowledge of business, may have a useful perspective on many topics. My father is a meteorologist and he has said that he “is proud that his daughter followed in his footsteps, just in a different media”. My dad’s thought highlights to me how related our fields are. We all benefit from interaction and open discussion.

This fall, we will start LinkedIn discussions about each RECORDER edition to encourage members to participate. The RECORDER welcomes diverse opinions in both articles and letters, and LinkedIn can be a forum to greatly increase the constructive interaction of the membership, building on ideas sparked by RECORDER submissions.