Past President’s Column

As one of the departing CSEG executives in May, I want to say that my last three years of involvement with the Society have been some of the most interesting and rewarding of my career. As the outgoing Past-President, my term is now coming to a close. My role has diminished this past year, and a strong and capable leadership team has been steering our society with Rob Kendall at the helm as President, assisted by Vice President Ron Larson.

As I am sure was the case for all of my predecessors, I find it difficult to express my feelings of gratitude in a manner that conveys the totality of the experience. I started my term by recognizing the immense contribution that our volunteers make each and every day to our society, and I will close it with the same message.

One of the most important observations that I have made during my term of office – as Vice President in 2010/11, President in 2011/12 and then Past President in 2012/13 – is that virtually all progressive changes in our Society occur as a result of many hands on the tiller. We can all look on with pride at just some of the many advancements made and milestones that were achieved in our society during my tenure, and attribute them to our many unnamed volunteers spanning several years:

• In 2011, the CSEG moved into a new office on the fifth floor of 400 - 5th Avenue which now houses the CSEG staff and convention management staff;
• Early in 2011, the Joint Annual Convention Committee (JACC) started morphing into a true pseudo-corporate entity mandated by the joint societies to manage future conventions. This year the JACC will take on the name GeoConvention and, after 2014, manage all future joint conventions;
• Two new CSEG Awards were created and awarded in 2011 – the Technical Achievement Award for outstanding technical contributions over the past five years, and the Special Commendation Award for significant contributions to the Society or the industry as a whole;
• In April, 2011, the CSEG executive voted unanimously to endorse a proposal to hold the inaugural CSEG Symposium in honour of Dan Hampson and Brian Russell. As a result of its unqualified success, future Symposia will be held to honour those geophysicists who have distinguished themselves with their geophysical contributions to the Canadian oil and gas industry, enhanced understanding, and are well-known internationally;
• A rebranding effort for the Society was initiated in 2011 and the results will be unveiled at the Annual General meeting in May, 2013;
• In 2011, the CSEG assumed operatorship of the annual convention, and the ensuing 2012 Joint Annual Convention “Vision” was one of the most successful conventions on record, both in attendance and in net revenues back to the member societies;
• The Canadian Journal of Exploration Geophysics was re-introduced in September 2011 after a 12 year hiatus. This online publication of peer-reviewed papers has regained its rightful place as a cornerstone of our Society’s technical contribution to the profession;
• The Chief Geophysicists Forum published their monumental reserves document on Geophysical Applications – Using Geophysics for Reserves and Resources Classification and Assessment in December, 2011;
• The inaugural Microseismic User Group meeting was held in February, 2012, and continues to be a strong lunchbox technical discussion forum;
• Early in 2012, as a result of a financially successful 2011 year and the hard work of innumerable volunteers, the CSEG Foundation reached the milestone $1 million mark for their corpus.

As a final thank-you gesture to all of the volunteers and staff that make up our Society, please accept my warm and heartfelt gratitude for your hard work and selfless dedication, and to the members-at-large, thank you for the opportunity to let me serve the Society for the past three years in the various presidential capacities. Your Society continues on as the vibrant, innovative and successful grass-roots society that it has always been, driven forward by its members.