Executive Message

Member services – sounds exciting, sure, but is it really that thrilling?

I thought I’d take the opportunity to enlighten the CSEG members on what the Member Services portfolio is responsible for and some of the changes that have occurred over the past year. Torr Haglund is the Director and I serve as assistant and will be assuming the Director’s role at the end of the current term.

Early in the term, the decision was made to move the Junior Geophysicists Forum from under the Outreach committee to Member Services. Concurrent with this move, the JGF now has more autonomy and control of their own finances. Corporate sponsorship for the JGF was difficult to attract, due to the struggling economy, but the JGF committee persevered and were able to put on a well organized and highly attended event. Kudos to all those involved.

An ongoing effort to deliver more value to our membership has resulted in some significant changes to fee structures. Nonmember pricing has been instituted for the majority of events, while keeping member prices constant. Courses, luncheons, etc are all designed to have non-member prices in effect for 2010. Some of the larger ticket items will have non-member prices that are significant enough that taking out a CSEG membership will be worthwhile. Thanks to Sheryl and Jim at the CSEG office for helping to move this initiative forward.

In the same vein, our corporate members will also see changes in 2010. The executive has already approved the member rate for employees of corporate members taking DoodleTrain courses. We will continue to examine our corporate membership benefit structure to try to evolve with technologic and business changes. I would welcome any suggestions that the membership might have along these lines.

Right now, we’re busy planning and organizing a Volunteer Appreciation event, as a thank you to all those hardworking people who devote countless hours of their own time to help make the CSEG the socially active and financially viable organization that it is. It’s a cliché to say that it wouldn’t be possible without your efforts, but it bears repeating. I would like to thank all of you and encourage you to continue your efforts to make the CSEG a strong and vibrant society.