Executive Message

When you are reading this message we will be approaching Christmastime with the all the parties, gifts and family gatherings. It’s a time of the year to look back and be thankful for the many blessings you’ve had. We at the CSEG also look back over the year in review as we plan for the new year ahead. In the finance area we are budgeting for the New Year and closing the books on the current year. This year has been another good year for the CSEG financially with the outlook of another solid surplus. The CSEG runs most of its programs on a breakeven basis although this can swing from a small loss to a small profit depending on how the attendance compares to our forecast. This year saw the launch of a new event, the CSEG Symposium that was budgeted for a breakeven scenario although, with the excellent turnout, it generated a small profit. This was due in large part to the great leadership of the event. We have some activities for which there is no income like our CSEG office space. Our main revenue generators, in addition to our membership fees, are the annual joint convention (CSEG, CSPG & CWLS) and the DoodleTrain week in November. Both events are run mostly by volunteers. The convention has two paid staff to run the day to day tasks although it is the many volunteers who plan, organize and staff most of the convention activities that lead to its success. The DoodleTrain is also staffed by many volunteers and aided by corporate donations such as classroom space. The course offerings and attendance are up this year.

This will lead us into looking where to use the surplus again this year. Our society has ample financial reserves to carry the society forward through years when the industry is struggling. The CSEG executive will look at this at our December meeting to decide where to allocate it. In previous years this has been given to the CSEG Foundation to build up their corpus. They have been steadily increasing our reach across Canada through the Canadian Distinguished Lecture tour and university scholarships for a few examples.

My two year term with the first year as Assistant Director of Finance and then this year as Director of Finance for the CSEG is up this coming March. I have enjoyed the opportunity to serve the society and you over these two years. I leave you in capable hands as our current Assistant Director of Finance, Wade Brillon, will take over my role after the annual meeting in March.